diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 1492ab5..e156f84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -131,6 +131,30 @@ jobs:
           echo "create_tag=$CREATE_TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "Final Version: $VERSION"
 
+      # Notes are written under `## Unreleased` as work lands, and changelog.py
+      # ignores non-version headings - so without this the release ships with
+      # every note still unreleased and users see none. v1.6.1 shipped that way.
+      # Must run BEFORE the tag: the tag is what the build jobs check out.
+      - name: Stamp the changelog with this version
+        id: stamp
+        if: steps.get_version.outputs.create_tag == 'true' && steps.get_version.outputs.version != ''
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ steps.get_version.outputs.version }}"
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+          # Exit 1 means "nothing to stamp" (no Unreleased section, or empty) -
+          # a normal outcome, not a failure, so don't fail the release for it.
+          if python3 scripts/stamp_changelog.py "$VERSION"; then
+            git add CHANGELOG.md CHANGELOG_ro.md
+            # [skip ci] or this push to main starts a second Release run.
+            git commit -m "chore: stamp changelog for v$VERSION [skip ci]"
+            git push origin HEAD:${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}
+            echo "Stamped and pushed."
+          else
+            echo "Nothing to stamp; leaving the changelog alone."
+          fi
+
       - name: Create and Push Tag
         if: steps.get_version.outputs.create_tag == 'true' && steps.get_version.outputs.version != ''
         run: |
@@ -194,6 +218,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          # The tag, not the triggering commit: the changelog is stamped in
+          # create-release, so only the tag carries the shipped release notes.
+          ref: v${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }}
 
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
@@ -269,6 +297,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          # The tag, not the triggering commit: the changelog is stamped in
+          # create-release, so only the tag carries the shipped release notes.
+          ref: v${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }}
 
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
@@ -346,6 +378,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          # The tag, not the triggering commit: the changelog is stamped in
+          # create-release, so only the tag carries the shipped release notes.
+          ref: v${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }}
 
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
@@ -423,6 +459,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          # The tag, not the triggering commit: the changelog is stamped in
+          # create-release, so only the tag carries the shipped release notes.
+          ref: v${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }}
 
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ff1ab9d..ea2b862 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 - **Children's Videos Download Again, in Full Quality**: Videos marked "Made for Kids" on YouTube — children's songs, Bible stories and the like — all failed with "This video is not available", even though they play perfectly in a browser. YouTube holds those back unless the app can run a piece of its code, so the app now carries the small engine needed. They download at full 1080p again, and any link that still refuses is retried a second way before the app gives up
+
+## v1.6.1
 - **Sharper App Icon**: The icon shipped at a single small size, so Windows stretched it for shortcuts, folder views and notifications — it looked fuzzy nearly everywhere. It now includes every size Windows asks for, up to 256px
 
 ## v1.6.0
diff --git a/CHANGELOG_ro.md b/CHANGELOG_ro.md
index 5cb4fb2..77aeef6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_ro.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_ro.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 - **Videoclipurile pentru copii se descarcă din nou, la calitate maximă**: Videoclipurile marcate „Made for Kids” pe YouTube — cântece pentru copii, istorioare biblice și altele — eșuau toate cu „Acest videoclip nu este disponibil”, deși se redau perfect în browser. YouTube le reține dacă aplicația nu poate rula o bucată din codul lui, așa că aplicația include acum micul motor necesar. Se descarcă din nou la 1080p complet, iar un link care tot refuză este reîncercat pe a doua cale înainte ca aplicația să renunțe
+
+## v1.6.1
 - **Pictogramă mai clară**: Pictograma era livrată într-o singură dimensiune mică, așa că Windows o întindea pentru scurtături, foldere și notificări — arăta neclară aproape peste tot. Acum include toate dimensiunile cerute de Windows, până la 256px
 
 ## v1.6.0
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index ba0feb8..eb2ffdd 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ The build bundles config defaults from `config/`, platform binaries for mpv/ffmp
 - **Documentation (`docs/`)**: In-app help (Markdown), with `_ro` variants
   - `main_help.md`, `settings_help.md` (+ `main_help_ro.md`, `settings_help_ro.md`)
   - Release notes live at the repo **root**: `CHANGELOG.md` + `CHANGELOG_ro.md`. `release.yml` copies `CHANGELOG*.md` into the dist root, so a new translation ships without touching the workflow. **Keep the two files structurally identical** — same sections, same bullet counts; `tests/test_changelog.py` asserts it.
+  - **Write new notes under `## Unreleased`; the release stamps them.** Nobody moves them by hand — `scripts/stamp_changelog.py` renames that heading to `## v<version>` in the `create-release` job, **before the tag is cut**, and commits it with a skip-CI marker in the message, or the push to `main` starts a second Release run.
+  - ⚠ **Never put the literal skip-CI token in a commit message or a PR body.** GitHub honours it anywhere in the message, body included — and a squash merge uses the PR body as the commit message, so it silently skips CI on `main` too. It cost a CI-less PR here. Describe it in prose (as this line does) and keep the real token inside the workflow file. The build jobs therefore check out **the tag**, not the triggering commit, or they would ship the pre-stamp file. If `## Unreleased` is gone, add the heading back when you write the next note; the stamper never re-creates it.
+  - ⚠ **`changelog.py` ignores non-version headings**, so a note left under `## Unreleased` is invisible to users — no error, it simply never appears. **v1.6.1 shipped that way and showed its users nothing.** The stamper is what prevents it; `tests/test_changelog.py` pins the whole chain, including that `notes_since()` returns nothing before stamping and the note after.
 
 - **Tests (`tests/`)**: pytest suite
   - Core download: `test_downloader.py`, `test_download.py`, `test_video_check.py`, `test_old_video_deletion.py`, `test_edge_cases.py`, `test_multi_channel.py`
diff --git a/scripts/stamp_changelog.py b/scripts/stamp_changelog.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..419e846
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/stamp_changelog.py
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Turn the `## Unreleased` section into `## v<version>` at release time.
+
+Why this exists: `app/backend/changelog.py` deliberately ignores non-version
+headings, so anything sitting under `## Unreleased` is invisible to users. Notes
+are written under that heading as work lands, and nothing ever moved them - so
+v1.6.1 shipped with every note still unreleased and showed its users no release
+notes at all.
+
+`release.yml` runs this in the `create-release` job *before* the tag is created,
+and commits the result, so:
+  * the tag - and therefore every built artifact - carries the stamped file, and
+  * the notes leave `## Unreleased`, instead of being re-shipped verbatim under
+    the next version too.
+
+Deliberately does NOT re-add an empty `## Unreleased`: whoever writes the next
+note adds the heading back. An empty section would only be a thing to explain.
+
+Both language files are stamped identically, which is what keeps
+`tests/test_changelog.py`'s structural-parity assertion true.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+
+UNRELEASED_RE = re.compile(r"^##\s+Unreleased\s*$", re.IGNORECASE | re.MULTILINE)
+CHANGELOGS = ("CHANGELOG.md", "CHANGELOG_ro.md")
+
+
+def section_body(content: str, start: int) -> str:
+    """Text between the heading that starts at `start` and the next `## `."""
+    rest = content[start:]
+    nl = rest.find("\n")
+    if nl == -1:
+        return ""
+    body = rest[nl + 1:]
+    nxt = re.search(r"^##\s", body, re.MULTILINE)
+    return body[:nxt.start()] if nxt else body
+
+
+def stamp(content: str, version: str) -> tuple[str, str]:
+    """Rename `## Unreleased` to `## v<version>`. Returns (new_content, note)."""
+    heading = f"## v{version}"
+    if re.search(rf"^{re.escape(heading)}\s*$", content, re.MULTILINE):
+        return content, f"already has {heading}"
+
+    match = UNRELEASED_RE.search(content)
+    if not match:
+        return content, "no Unreleased section"
+
+    # An empty section must not become an empty version section - a release
+    # with no user-visible change should list nothing, not a bare heading.
+    if not section_body(content, match.start()).strip():
+        return content, "Unreleased section is empty"
+
+    return content[:match.start()] + heading + content[match.end():], f"stamped -> {heading}"
+
+
+def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
+    ap.add_argument("version", help="version being released, without a leading v")
+    ap.add_argument("--root", default=".", help="repository root")
+    ap.add_argument("--check", action="store_true",
+                    help="report what would change, write nothing")
+    args = ap.parse_args(argv)
+
+    version = args.version.lstrip("vV")
+    if not re.fullmatch(r"\d+\.\d+\.\d+", version):
+        print(f"error: {args.version!r} is not a x.y.z version", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 2
+
+    changed = False
+    for name in CHANGELOGS:
+        path = os.path.join(args.root, name)
+        if not os.path.exists(path):
+            print(f"{name}: missing, skipped")
+            continue
+        with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            content = f.read()
+        new, note = stamp(content, version)
+        print(f"{name}: {note}")
+        if new != content:
+            changed = True
+            if not args.check:
+                with open(path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+                    f.write(new)
+    # Exit 1 with nothing to do, so the workflow can skip an empty commit.
+    return 0 if changed else 1
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/tests/test_changelog.py b/tests/test_changelog.py
index 6be2a95..b2bfb27 100644
--- a/tests/test_changelog.py
+++ b/tests/test_changelog.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 """
 
 import os
+import sys
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -187,3 +188,76 @@ def bullets(section):
 
     for a, b in zip(en, ro):
         assert bullets(a) == bullets(b), f"bullet count differs for {a['version']}"
+
+
+# --- stamping a release ---------------------------------------------------
+#
+# Notes are written under `## Unreleased`, and this module deliberately ignores
+# non-version headings - so a release that never stamps them shows its users no
+# notes at all. That is what v1.6.1 did. `scripts/stamp_changelog.py` runs in
+# release.yml before the tag is cut.
+
+import subprocess
+
+STAMP = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "scripts", "stamp_changelog.py")
+
+
+def _write_pair(tmp_path, en, ro):
+    (tmp_path / "CHANGELOG.md").write_text(en, encoding="utf-8")
+    (tmp_path / "CHANGELOG_ro.md").write_text(ro, encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+def _run(tmp_path, *args):
+    return subprocess.run([sys.executable, STAMP, *args, "--root", str(tmp_path)],
+                          capture_output=True, text=True)
+
+
+def test_stamp_renames_unreleased_to_the_version(tmp_path):
+    body = "# Changelog\n\n## Unreleased\n- did a thing\n\n## v1.0.0\n- first\n"
+    _write_pair(tmp_path, body, body)
+    r = _run(tmp_path, "1.6.2")
+    assert r.returncode == 0, r.stderr
+    for name in ("CHANGELOG.md", "CHANGELOG_ro.md"):
+        out = (tmp_path / name).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        assert "## v1.6.2\n- did a thing" in out
+        assert "Unreleased" not in out
+        # Everything else is untouched.
+        assert "## v1.0.0\n- first" in out
+
+
+def test_stamp_is_idempotent(tmp_path):
+    """A re-run must not stamp a second time - it would swallow the next
+    version's notes into an already-released section."""
+    body = "# Changelog\n\n## Unreleased\n- new\n\n## v1.6.2\n- old\n"
+    _write_pair(tmp_path, body, body)
+    r = _run(tmp_path, "1.6.2")
+    assert r.returncode == 1, "nothing should have changed"
+    assert "already has" in r.stdout
+    assert (tmp_path / "CHANGELOG.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8") == body
+
+
+def test_stamp_leaves_an_empty_unreleased_alone(tmp_path):
+    """A release with no user-visible change must not get a bare heading."""
+    body = "# Changelog\n\n## Unreleased\n\n## v1.0.0\n- first\n"
+    _write_pair(tmp_path, body, body)
+    r = _run(tmp_path, "1.6.2")
+    assert r.returncode == 1
+    assert "empty" in r.stdout
+    assert (tmp_path / "CHANGELOG.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8") == body
+
+
+def test_stamp_rejects_a_bad_version(tmp_path):
+    _write_pair(tmp_path, "## Unreleased\n- x\n", "## Unreleased\n- x\n")
+    assert _run(tmp_path, "not-a-version").returncode == 2
+
+
+def test_stamped_notes_become_visible_to_users(tmp_path):
+    """The whole point: before stamping, notes_since() returns nothing."""
+    body = "# Changelog\n\n## Unreleased\n- the fix\n\n## v1.6.1\n- older\n"
+    _write_pair(tmp_path, body, body)
+    before = cl.notes_since(body, "1.6.1", "1.6.2")
+    assert "the fix" not in (before or ""), "unreleased notes must be invisible"
+    _run(tmp_path, "1.6.2")
+    after = cl.notes_since((tmp_path / "CHANGELOG.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8"),
+                           "1.6.1", "1.6.2")
+    assert "the fix" in after