diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 9e785a4..d9ad0fc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ jobs:
   verify-draft-release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
-      contents: read
+      # contents: write is required to view draft releases via the Releases
+      # API — with contents: read, gh release view returns 404 for drafts.
+      contents: write
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 37fcefa..e18ee07 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "1.0.0"
+  ".": "0.0.0"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
deleted file mode 100644
index b32a0eb..0000000
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-# Changelog
-
-## 1.0.0 (2026-04-23)
-
-
-### Features
-
-* port broker core from reference implementation (phase 1a-1f) ([#4](https://github.com/meigma/github-token-broker/issues/4)) ([30e1f70](https://github.com/meigma/github-token-broker/commit/30e1f7016f940a8f12e4e0dc7ec05c262ef41d10))
-* tag-triggered publish pipeline with attestations ([#11](https://github.com/meigma/github-token-broker/issues/11)) ([c51372f](https://github.com/meigma/github-token-broker/commit/c51372f8df3180b01512d068fcb25229d79140ad))
-
-
-### Bug Fixes
-
-* enforce repository owner before minting tokens ([#7](https://github.com/meigma/github-token-broker/issues/7)) ([6682886](https://github.com/meigma/github-token-broker/commit/66828864904e049b27b1e4e16bb8c6df13d122a1))
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
index 2e85fc6..8b0e57a 100644
--- a/release-please-config.json
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   "release-type": "go",
   "include-v-in-tag": true,
   "draft": true,
+  "force-tag-creation": true,
   "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
   "packages": {
     ".": {}