diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..32fda69e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+name: Build
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - master
+      - 'release/**'
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - master
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 20
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
+
+      - name: Build site
+        run: yarn build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index 2c07e882..dfcdeb90 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
-name: Deploy Flamingock Docs site
+name: Publish Flamingock Docs site
 
 on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - master
+  workflow_dispatch: {}
 
 jobs:
   deploy:
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..411ce05e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# Release process
+
+This document describes how changes to the Flamingock docs site get built, reviewed, and published.
+
+## Overview
+
+Two workflows split CI (automatic) from publish (manual):
+
+| Workflow | File | Trigger | What it does |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Build | `.github/workflows/build.yml` | Push to `master` or `release/**`; PRs targeting `master` | Installs deps, runs `yarn build`. Verifies the site compiles. Never publishes anything. |
+| Publish | `.github/workflows/deploy.yml` | Manual (`workflow_dispatch`) only | Builds and deploys the site to the `gh-pages` branch via `yarn deploy`. |
+
+Pushing to `master` (or a `release/*` branch) **only** runs the build check — it never triggers a deployment. Publishing to production (`docs.flamingock.io`) is always a deliberate, manual action.
+
+## Day-to-day workflow
+
+1. Branch off `master`, make changes, open a PR.
+2. `build.yml` runs automatically on the PR — must pass before merge.
+3. Merge to `master`. `build.yml` runs again on `master`, confirming it still builds. Nothing is deployed.
+4. When ready to publish, a maintainer triggers the **Publish** workflow manually (see below).
+
+## Publishing a release
+
+1. Go to the repo's **Actions** tab on GitHub.
+2. Select the **Publish Flamingock Docs site** workflow.
+3. Click **Run workflow**.
+4. In the branch/tag dropdown, pick the ref to publish from:
+   - `master` — publish the latest mainline docs.
+   - `release/1.4`, `release/1.5`, etc. — publish from a maintained release branch (e.g. to hotfix docs for an older, still-supported version without pulling in unreleased changes from `master`).
+5. Run it. The workflow checks out the selected ref, builds the site, and pushes the result to `gh-pages`.
+
+No separate input field is needed — GitHub's manual-run dropdown natively lists every branch and tag in the repo, so any `release/*` branch becomes selectable as soon as it exists.
+
+## Release branches (`release/x.y`)
+
+Release branches are created ad hoc, only when needed — there's no branch pre-created per version. Typical case: a docs fix is needed for an older, already-released version whose content has since diverged from `master`.
+
+To cut one:
+
+```bash
+git checkout -b release/1.4 <commit-or-tag-for-1.4>
+git push origin release/1.4
+```
+
+Apply the fix on the branch, open a PR against it (or push directly if the team agrees), then publish from that branch using the manual workflow above. `build.yml` also runs automatically on pushes to `release/**`, so these branches get the same build verification as `master`.
+
+## Why this model
+
+Mirrors the release setup used across the rest of the Flamingock projects (see `flamingock-java`): CI runs automatically and cheaply on every push/PR, but anything that touches production is a deliberate, auditable, manually-triggered action — never a side effect of `git push`.