Makefile

@@ -81,6 +81,14 @@ fix: ## Format Go and templ sources, tidy go.mod
 
 image: ## Build and tag an image as vYYYYMMDD-N. Creates a git tag.
 	@test -n "$(FOODSTER_REPO)" || { echo "set FOODSTER_REPO in .env"; exit 1; }
+	@# A release tag must point into main, or the tag records a commit that
+	@# was never released.
+	@branch=$$(git symbolic-ref --short HEAD); \
+	if [ "$$branch" != "main" ]; then \
+		echo "releases are cut from main, not $$branch:"; \
+		echo "  git switch main && git merge --ff-only dev"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
 	@day=$$(date +%Y%m%d); \
 	tag="v$$day-$$(( $$(git tag -l "v$$day-*" | wc -l) + 1 ))"; \
 	echo "==> $$tag"; \

PRD.md

@@ -360,7 +360,10 @@ on the server and run with Docker Compose.
 
 - **Branches**: `main` carries released versions only, so its history is the
   deployment history and every release tag points into it. Development happens
-  on `dev` and merges into `main` when a release is cut.
+  on `dev`, and `main` is protected on the remote: it accepts no direct
+  pushes, so a release arrives as a pull request from `dev`. `make image`
+  additionally refuses to run outside `main` — that one has to be local,
+  because the tag and the image are made before anything reaches the remote.
 - **Versioning**: CalVer `vYYYYMMDD-N`, where `N` is the Nth build of that
   day. `make image` derives `N` by counting the day's existing git tags,
   creates the new tag, and bakes the version into the binary through

README.md

@@ -50,16 +50,31 @@ One static Go binary. No Node.js, no bundler, no separate database server.
 ## Branches
 
 `main` holds released versions only. Every release tag points at a commit on
-`main`, so its history is the deployment history.
+`main`, so its history is the deployment history. **Nothing is committed to
+`main` directly** — it moves only by fast-forwarding `dev` into it.
 
-All development happens on `dev`. Merge into `main` when cutting a release,
-then build and push the image from there.
+All development happens on `dev`. `main` is protected on the remote: it takes
+no direct pushes, so a release arrives through a pull request.
 
 ```sh
-git switch dev          # where the work happens
-git switch main && git merge dev && make release
+git switch dev                              # where the work happens
+# ... commits ...
+make check                                  # lint, unit tests, smoke
+git push origin dev
+
+tea pr create --base main --head dev        # or open it in the forge
+# merge the pull request, then:
+
+git switch main && git pull --ff-only
+make release                                # builds, tags vYYYYMMDD-N, pushes the image
+git push origin --tags
 ```
 
+`make image` additionally refuses to run from any branch but `main`, so a
+release tag can never point at a commit that was not released. That check
+lives locally because it has to: tags and images are built before anything
+reaches the remote, so protection there cannot catch it.
+
 ## Quick start
 
 ```sh