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+# Release Notes
+
+The `initial` and `next` subdirectories of this directory are for release notes.
+
+At the start of a release development cycle, the contents of `next` should be deleted
+and replaced with those of `initial`.
+Release notes should be added to `next` by editing existing files or creating new files.
+
+To prepare the release notes for a release, run `golang.org/x/build/cmd/relnote generate`.
+That will merge the `.md` files in `next` into a single file.
+
+The files are merged by being concatenated in sorted order by pathname. Files in
+the directory matching the glob "*stdlib/*minor" are treated specially. They should
+be in subdirectories corresponding to standard library package paths, and headings
+for those package paths will be generated automatically.
+
+Files in this repo's `api/next` directory must have corresponding files in `*stdlib/*minor`.
+The files should be in the subdirectory for the package with the new API, and should
+be named after the issue number of the API proposal. For example, for an api/next
+file with the line
+
+    pkg net/http, function F #12345
+
+there should be a file named net/http/12345.md.
+At a minimum, that file should contain either a full sentence or a TODO,
+ideally referring to a person with the responsibility to complete the note.