diegosouzapw
diff --git a/‎AGENTS.md‎
Lines changed: 12 additions & 0 deletions b/‎AGENTS.md‎
Lines changed: 12 additions & 0 deletions
@@ -594,6 +594,18 @@ inside your feature branch (a base-red fix is its own freeze-gated `fix/release-
 PR); and if you must open a PR anyway, add `⚠️ base-red inherited: #<issue>` to the PR body so
 reviewers and CI babysitters do not chase ghosts.
 
+### Sync-back landings are fast-forward, never squash
+
+A `main → release/vX+1` sync-back (Phase 5 of `/generate-release`, or any later "bring main's
+post-release commits over" PR) must reach the release branch as the merge commit it already is:
+`git merge-base --is-ancestor origin/release/vX+1 <head>` then
+`git push origin <head>:refs/heads/release/vX+1` (GitHub marks the PR merged). Squash-merging it
+drops `main` from the release branch's ancestry and the next sync-back re-conflicts on every file
+main touched (551 conflicts on the v3.8.50 → v3.8.51 sync before the two-step merge). After
+landing, `git merge-base --is-ancestor origin/main origin/release/vX+1` must be true — and check
+that `config/quality/eslint-suppressions.json` / `quality-baseline.json` carried main's freezes
+(they merge as "ours" silently). Details: `.agents/skills/generate-release/phases/phase-5-next-cycle.md`.
+
 ---
 
 ## Upstream contributions