diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a716c3e..3209493 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - **`NotificationConfigCreate` schema test failure**: `NotificationConfigBase.name` was a required field (`...`) but the unit test and the database column both use a default of `"My Notification"`. Changed the Pydantic field to `default="My Notification"` to match the DB default and allow callers to omit the field.
 
 ### Added
+- **Automatic release numbers** (`pyproject.toml`): Added `version_toml = ["pyproject.toml:project.version"]` to `[tool.semantic_release]` so that `python-semantic-release` now writes the computed version back into the `project.version` field of `pyproject.toml` on every release. The field is initialised to `0.0.0` and will be bumped automatically from that point forward.
+- **Release badge** (`README.md`): Added a dynamic "GitHub Release" shield that always shows the latest published release tag.
+- **Releases section** (`README.md`): Added a "Releases" section explaining the Semantic Versioning / Conventional Commits workflow and the version-bump rules.
 - **Semantic Release** (`release.yml`): Automated versioning and GitHub Release creation on every push to `main` using `python-semantic-release`. Reads conventional-commit prefixes (`feat:`, `fix:`, etc.) to determine the next version and updates `CHANGELOG.md`.
 - **`pyproject.toml`**: Project metadata and `[tool.semantic_release]` configuration for `python-semantic-release`.
 - **GitOps auto-deployment** (step in `ci.yml`): After a successful Docker build on `main`, a new `update-k8s-manifest` job checks out `christianlouis/k8s-cluster-state` (using the `GH_PAT` secret) and updates the backend and frontend image tags in `apps/gmail-puller/preprod/gmail-puller-stack.yaml` to the new `main-<sha>` image, then commits and pushes.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 009d184..ccf931f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 [![Lint](https://github.com/christianlouis/inboxconverge/actions/workflows/lint.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/christianlouis/inboxconverge/actions/workflows/lint.yml)
 [![Security Scan](https://github.com/christianlouis/inboxconverge/actions/workflows/security.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/christianlouis/inboxconverge/actions/workflows/security.yml)
 [![Docker Build](https://github.com/christianlouis/inboxconverge/actions/workflows/docker-build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/christianlouis/inboxconverge/actions/workflows/docker-build.yml)
+[![GitHub Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/christianlouis/InboxConverge?sort=semver&label=release)](https://github.com/christianlouis/InboxConverge/releases/latest)
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
 [![Python 3.11+](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.11+-blue.svg)](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
 [![Docker](https://img.shields.io/badge/docker-ready-blue.svg)](https://www.docker.com/)
@@ -239,6 +240,28 @@ Detailed documentation lives in the [`docs/`](docs/) directory:
 | [Coding Patterns](docs/CODING_PATTERNS.md) | Code style and conventions |
 | [SaaS README](docs/README_SAAS.md) | Multi-tenant SaaS platform details |
 
+## Releases
+
+This project uses [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/) and
+[Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) to automate
+release numbering. Every push to `main` triggers the
+[Semantic Release workflow](.github/workflows/release.yml), which:
+
+1. Inspects commit messages since the last release.
+2. Determines the next version number (`patch`, `minor`, or `major`) based on
+   the commit prefixes (`fix:`, `feat:`, `feat!:` / `BREAKING CHANGE`).
+3. Creates a git tag (`vX.Y.Z`), updates the `version` field in
+   `pyproject.toml`, generates a GitHub Release with release notes, and
+   updates `CHANGELOG.md` — all automatically.
+
+| Commit prefix | Version bump |
+|---------------|-------------|
+| `fix:`, `perf:` | Patch (`0.0.x`) |
+| `feat:` | Minor (`0.x.0`) |
+| `feat!:` / `BREAKING CHANGE` | Major (`x.0.0`) |
+
+Browse all releases on the [Releases page](https://github.com/christianlouis/InboxConverge/releases).
+
 ## Contributing
 
 Contributions are welcome! Please read [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for guidelines on:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f35fabe..5e41677 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "inboxconverge"
-dynamic = ["version"]
+version = "0.0.0"
 description = "Multi-account email forwarding and processing service"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.12"
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Issues = "https://github.com/christianlouis/InboxConverge/issues"
 Changelog = "https://github.com/christianlouis/InboxConverge/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md"
 
 [tool.semantic_release]
+version_toml = ["pyproject.toml:project.version"]
 version_source = "tag"
 commit_version_number = true
 tag_format = "v{version}"