diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f3ad0c23..ef31053e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_sha }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Create tag and GitHub release
         run: |
@@ -59,7 +60,16 @@ jobs:
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
           git tag -a "$VERSION" -m "Release $VERSION"
           git push origin "$VERSION"
-          gh release create "$VERSION" --title "$VERSION" --generate-notes
+
+          PREV_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 --match '[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*' "$VERSION^" 2>/dev/null || true)
+          if [[ -n "$PREV_TAG" && "$(git rev-list --count "$PREV_TAG..$VERSION")" == "1" ]]; then
+            # Single squash commit since the last release: use its message verbatim
+            # instead of --generate-notes, which would just restate the same one commit.
+            NOTES="$(git log -1 --format=%B "$VERSION")"
+            gh release create "$VERSION" --title "$VERSION" --notes "$NOTES"
+          else
+            gh release create "$VERSION" --title "$VERSION" --generate-notes
+          fi
 
       # A tag pushed by GITHUB_TOKEN does not trigger build-image.yml's push-tags event
       # (GitHub suppresses it to avoid recursion), so dispatch the build explicitly.
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index affe6b02..6b937c91 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
-- Worklfow tests now run in parallel and asserts no new migrations
+- Workflow tests now run in parallel and asserts no new migrations
 
 ## [3.6.0]
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 84d9aacb..830d67df 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 [![Github Actions](https://github.com/cortex-lab/alyx/actions/workflows/main.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/cortex-lab/alyx/actions/)
 [![Coverage Status](https://coveralls.io/repos/github/cortex-lab/alyx/badge.svg?branch=github_action)](https://coveralls.io/github/cortex-lab/alyx?branch=master)
+[![DOI](https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.21513696.svg)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21513696)
 
 Database for experimental neuroscience laboratories
 
@@ -34,12 +35,18 @@ Contribution checklist:
 - [ ] update version number in `./alyx/alyx/__init__.py`
 - [ ] update `CHANGELOG.md`
 
+Release process:
+1. Open a PR from your feature branch into dev
+2. On dev, bump the Alyx version and update the changelog
+3. Open a PR from dev to master
+4. When CI passes, make a squash commit into master using the version as the commit title, and changelog section as the message
+5. Actions will automatically create a new release, deploy containers, and assign a DOI
 
 ### Running tests
 
 Continuous integration is set up. But before submitting a PR or commit,the tests can run locally. First install the test dependencies with `pip install -r requirements_test.txt`.
     - `./manage.py test -n --parallel` parallel test without migrations (fastest)
-    - `./manage.py test` test with migrations (recommended if model changes)
+    - `./manage.py test` test with migrations (recommended if models change)
 
 ### Documentation contribution guide
 
diff --git a/deploy/app/template.env b/deploy/app/template.env
index 4176616e..bf8a9463 100644
--- a/deploy/app/template.env
+++ b/deploy/app/template.env
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ GLOBUS_CLIENT_ID=525cc543-8ccb-4d11-8036-af332da5eafd
 TZ=UTC  # Alyx datetime timezone. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
 DJANGO_MEDIA_ROOT=~/uploaded
 DJANGO_TABLES_ROOT=~/tables
+COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=alyx-deploy
 # DJANGO_MEDIA_ROOT=~/scratch/uploaded  # add if local storage
 # DJANGO_TABLES_ROOT=~/scratch/uploaded # add if local storage
 # DJANGO_MEDIA_S3=https://alyx-uploaded.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploaded/  # add if s3 (overrides local media)
diff --git a/requirements_test.txt b/requirements_test.txt
index 17ffb944..f1154b5f 100644
--- a/requirements_test.txt
+++ b/requirements_test.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # for code coverage
 coverage
 coveralls
+# pin ruff explicitly -- it's otherwise pulled in transitively and unpinned via ONE-api,
+# so a new ruff release can silently start failing CI with no code change at all (see
+# cortex-lab/alyx#1027: ruff 0.16.0 added new default rules, 821 new findings overnight)
+ruff==0.15.22
 # for ONE cache table generation tests
 pyarrow
 pandas
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 84140abf..d98a681c 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ source = alyx
 concurrency = multiprocessing
 parallel = True
 omit =
+    */wsgi.py
+    */gunicorn_wsgi.py
 
 [coverage:report]
 exclude_lines =