diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/exciting-sanderson-31d3c9 b/.claude/worktrees/exciting-sanderson-31d3c9
deleted file mode 160000
index 9d733dd..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/exciting-sanderson-31d3c9
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 9d733dd6f0589c29f6c531073b052b63ebfbc715
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-10-1-multi-conn b/.claude/worktrees/phase-10-1-multi-conn
deleted file mode 160000
index d4ba5fa..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-10-1-multi-conn
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit d4ba5faaacfd1d10c8d5f6ff08c27ebf006aef97
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-2-logical-clock b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-2-logical-clock
deleted file mode 160000
index 77b51c8..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-2-logical-clock
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 77b51c8d1225ace8ab868e8a0e4414307f8aab43
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-3-mvstore b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-3-mvstore
deleted file mode 160000
index 8c9c745..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-3-mvstore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 8c9c745e911f57b411395716cc6bb0fb8b8ba0c4
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-4-begin-concurrent b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-4-begin-concurrent
deleted file mode 160000
index e7befda..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-4-begin-concurrent
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit e7befda852466d46d43a21e52a031f4b137c1238
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-5-read-path b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-5-read-path
deleted file mode 160000
index 7cadb35..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-5-read-path
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 7cadb35313cab2db5c9f2eed9a98e5bd75b672e9
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-6-gc b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-6-gc
deleted file mode 160000
index 6e4acaf..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-6-gc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 6e4acaf6fe5a23abd80322388824b2e1031eb59c
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-7-sdk-busy b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-7-sdk-busy
deleted file mode 160000
index c1336be..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-7-sdk-busy
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit c1336beb0c8205e2e69b156203be72949d54874a
diff --git a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-8-multi-handle-sdk b/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-8-multi-handle-sdk
deleted file mode 160000
index a57cf0f..0000000
--- a/.claude/worktrees/phase-11-8-multi-handle-sdk
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit a57cf0fdb95090c4300798caf4bc273b2fe35504
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 428becf..6941c84 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -44,3 +44,12 @@ examples/wasm/pkg
 
 # macOS
 .DS_Store
+
+# Local agent / Claude Code worktrees. These shouldn't ever get
+# committed — but `git add -A` from main while a worktree is live
+# under .claude/worktrees/<name>/ will capture it as a gitlink
+# (mode 160000) because the worktree dir looks like a submodule to
+# the parent index. Ignoring the whole tree prevents that whole
+# class of accident. (The release commit 937f8b4 hit exactly this
+# bug; the next commit untracks the leftover gitlinks.)
+.claude/worktrees/
diff --git a/scripts/bump-version.sh b/scripts/bump-version.sh
index dda5c8e..d699811 100755
--- a/scripts/bump-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-version.sh
@@ -222,6 +222,21 @@ fi
 
 echo
 echo "Done. Next steps:"
-echo "  cargo build    # refresh Cargo.lock with the new versions"
-echo "  git diff       # inspect the twelve-file bump"
-echo "  git checkout . # or back out if it looks wrong"
+echo "  cargo build                    # refresh Cargo.lock with the new versions"
+echo "  git diff                       # inspect the twelve-file bump"
+echo "  git checkout .                 # or back out if it looks wrong"
+echo
+echo "When the diff looks right, commit + tag with the EXACT message the"
+echo "release workflow's detect job expects (regex"
+echo "  ^release: v[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\$"
+echo "in .github/workflows/release.yml). Any other message and the"
+echo "release pipeline silently skips publish:"
+echo
+echo "  git commit -am 'release: v${VERSION}'"
+echo "  git tag v${VERSION}"
+echo "  git push && git push --tags"
+echo
+echo "If a push lands with a different commit-message format, the"
+echo "release workflow can be retriggered manually:"
+echo
+echo "  gh workflow run release.yml -f version=${VERSION}"