diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 9fa1f9c..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-name: release-please
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-permissions:
-  contents: write
-  pull-requests: write
-
-jobs:
-  release-please:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
-        id: release
-        with:
-          config-file: release-please-config.json
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: build workspace packages after release PR opens
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release-created }}
-        run: bun install --frozen-lockfile
diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
deleted file mode 100644
index e18ee07..0000000
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-{
-  ".": "0.0.0"
-}
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index b71b8f3..ea1181b 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Never import backwards — if you find yourself needing to import `@echohello/we
 
 ## Git
 
-- Branch from `main`. Conventional commits (release-please manages versions).
+- Branch from `main`. Conventional commits for readability (calver tags are stamped on push to main, not derived from commit messages).
 - PRs target `main`. CI runs typecheck + lint + test.
 - Never commit `.env`, `dist/`, `node_modules/`, `*.log`, `daemon-keypair.json`, `server-id`.
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 42ae7b2..334c9cb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ See [docs/providers.md](docs/providers.md).
 
 ## Project status
 
-Alpha scaffold. Daemon, protocol, client, and surface stubs are in place. CI and release-please are follow-ups. Architecture decisions live in `docs/` and the build-research notes that fed this repo.
+Alpha scaffold. Daemon, protocol, client, and surface stubs are in place. CI runs on every PR; calver `YYYY.MM.DD[-N]` release tags are stamped on every push to main. Architecture decisions live in `docs/` and the build-research notes that fed this repo.
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 934059a..0000000
--- a/release-please-config.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "packages": {
-    ".": {
-      "release-type": "node",
-      "package-name": "supaplane",
-      "changelog-path": "CHANGELOG.md",
-      "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
-      "bump-patch-for-minor-pre-major": true,
-      "draft": false,
-      "include-component-in-tag": false
-    }
-  }
-}