diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
index 3f2b1a4..03a36bc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ jobs:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
           ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
-          RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL: ${{ vars.RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL }}
+          RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL: ${{ vars.RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL || secrets.RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL }}
         run: bun run release-please
 
       - name: Dispatch publish workflow for stable release
diff --git a/.prettierignore b/.prettierignore
index 684b5ad..322d255 100644
--- a/.prettierignore
+++ b/.prettierignore
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ coverage/
 .git/
 .vite/
 bun.lock
+CHANGELOG.md
 ghostty/
diff --git a/docs/release.md b/docs/release.md
index 4c328d6..cd18f25 100644
--- a/docs/release.md
+++ b/docs/release.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Release Please owns the canonical changelog structure, commit sections, headings
 The AI path uses an AI SDK `ToolLoopAgent` with scoped tools. It can list the release commits and inspect GitHub commit diffs for those SHAs before producing the structured editorial summary. The tools reject SHAs outside the current release scope.
 
 - Configure `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` as a repository secret to enable AI editorial notes.
-- Configure `RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL` as a repository variable to choose the model.
+- Configure `RELEASE_NOTES_MODEL` as a repository variable or secret to choose the model. The workflow reads the variable first and falls back to the secret for compatibility with secret-only setups.
 - If either setting is missing or model generation fails, the runner logs the reason and falls back to default Release Please notes.
 
 ## Next publishes
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ The Release Please config intentionally uses the `prerelease` versioning strateg
 
 When the pipeline has been test-driven successfully and maintainers are ready for a stable release, remove the prerelease settings from `release-please-config.json` so the next Release Please PR can promote to a normal `0.5.0` release.
 
+## Formatting generated release notes
+
+`CHANGELOG.md` is generated by Release Please and is intentionally excluded from Prettier checks. Release Please can emit markdown spacing that Prettier would rewrite, so excluding the generated changelog avoids failing CI on release PRs for formatting-only differences.
+
 ## Manual recovery
 
 - Rerun `Release Please` on `main` to recreate or update a release PR.