diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index f467431..512cfaa 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -149,6 +149,50 @@ jobs:
             { print }
           ' CHANGELOG.md > CHANGELOG.md.tmp && mv CHANGELOG.md.tmp CHANGELOG.md
 
+      # main requires signed commits, and Gitea refuses to merge a pull request
+      # that carries an unsigned one. The key Gitea signs merge commits with
+      # lives on the server and is not reachable from a runner, so the bump
+      # commit is signed here with a dedicated release-bot key that the instance
+      # trusts via TRUSTED_SSH_KEYS. Generating that key, trusting it and storing
+      # the secret is documented in docs/ci.md.
+      - name: Configure signing as Release Bot
+        env:
+          SIGNING_KEY: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_BOT_SIGNING_KEY }}
+        run: |
+          if [ -z "${SIGNING_KEY}" ]; then
+            echo "RELEASE_BOT_SIGNING_KEY is not set - the bump commit would be unsigned and unmergeable." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if ! command -v ssh-keygen > /dev/null; then
+            echo "ssh-keygen is missing from the runner image; git cannot make SSH signatures without it." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # The secret holds an OpenSSH private key ("-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE
+          # KEY-----"). git signs by shelling out to ssh-keygen, which wants that
+          # key on disk next to the .pub it is pointed at, readable only by us,
+          # and rejects it unless the final newline survived the round trip.
+          keydir="${RUNNER_TEMP:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}}/release-bot-signing"
+          install -m 700 -d "${keydir}"
+          printf '%s\n' "${SIGNING_KEY}" | tr -d '\r' > "${keydir}/key"
+          chmod 600 "${keydir}/key"
+          # Doubles as a format check: a truncated or re-wrapped key fails here,
+          # with a clearer cause than "gpg failed to sign the data" later on.
+          if ! ssh-keygen -y -f "${keydir}/key" < /dev/null > "${keydir}/key.pub"; then
+            echo "RELEASE_BOT_SIGNING_KEY is not a usable OpenSSH private key (passphrase-protected, truncated, or re-wrapped on paste)." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # No Gitea account backs this address; TRUSTED_SSH_KEYS verifies the
+          # signature without an account lookup, so it is a label, not an identity.
+          git config user.name 'Release Bot'
+          git config user.email 'release-bot@unsupervised.ca'
+          # Named gpg.format for historical reasons; "ssh" is what switches git
+          # over to signing with the SSH key above rather than a GPG key.
+          git config gpg.format ssh
+          git config user.signingkey "${keydir}/key.pub"
+          git config commit.gpgsign true
+
       - name: Open pull request
         env:
           TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
@@ -157,10 +201,14 @@ jobs:
           branch="release/bump-${next}"
           api="${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/api/v1/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
 
-          git config user.name 'Release Bot'
-          git config user.email 'release-bot@unsupervised.ca'
           git checkout -b "${branch}"
           git commit -am "Bump version to ${next} and open changelog section"
+          # A commit that came out unsigned would otherwise go unnoticed until
+          # someone tried to merge the PR, so fail here instead.
+          if ! git cat-file commit HEAD | grep -q '^gpgsig'; then
+            echo "Bump commit is unsigned; refusing to push it." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
           git push origin "${branch}"
 
           curl -fsS -X POST "${api}/pulls" \
diff --git a/docs/ci.md b/docs/ci.md
index aa45132..96ffe79 100644
--- a/docs/ci.md
+++ b/docs/ci.md
@@ -43,3 +43,59 @@ The Composer download cache lives at `/composer/cache` — `COMPOSER_HOME` is
 The image has to exist first. Add the version to the `php` matrix in
 `ci-php`'s `.gitea/workflows/publish.yml` and merge, then add it to the `test`
 matrix in `.gitea/workflows/ci.yml` here.
+
+## Signing the version bump commit
+
+`main` is a protected branch that requires signed commits, and Gitea will not
+merge a pull request containing an unsigned one. The `bump-version` job in
+`release.yml` therefore signs the commit it makes, using a dedicated
+`release-bot` SSH key rather than the key Gitea signs merge commits with —
+that one is `[repository.signing] SIGNING_KEY` on the server and no runner can
+reach it. Keeping the CI key separate also means it can be rotated on its own
+if the secret ever leaks.
+
+There is deliberately no `release-bot` Gitea account. A key attached to an
+account is only consulted for signature checking after it has been through the
+web *Verify* flow, and that flow has no API — a bot account would need an
+interactive login to be worth anything. Listing the key under
+`TRUSTED_SSH_KEYS` instead makes Gitea verify commits signed with it without
+any account lookup, which is all the protected branch asks for.
+
+Set up once for the instance, and again only if the key is rotated:
+
+1. Generate a passphrase-less key (it has to be usable unattended):
+
+   ```
+   ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C 'release-bot@unsupervised.ca' -f release-bot -N ''
+   ```
+
+2. Add the public half to `app.ini` and restart Gitea:
+
+   ```ini
+   [repository.signing]
+   TRUSTED_SSH_KEYS = ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza... release-bot@unsupervised.ca
+   ```
+
+3. Store the private half as the **organisation** Actions secret
+   `RELEASE_BOT_SIGNING_KEY` (Org → Settings → Actions → Secrets): the whole
+   `release-bot` file verbatim, `-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----` header
+   and footer included — not the `.pub`, and not a GPG export. Organisation
+   secrets are readable as `secrets.RELEASE_BOT_SIGNING_KEY` from every
+   repository in the org, so no repository-level copy is needed. Delete both
+   local files afterwards.
+
+Two consequences of trusting the key instance-wide are worth knowing. Any
+commit signed with it verifies in *every* repository on the instance, not just
+these — the trust is in the key, not in a user with permissions you can scope.
+And the signature is attributed to `SIGNING_NAME` / `SIGNING_EMAIL`, not to the
+`Release Bot <release-bot@unsupervised.ca>` committer the job sets; that
+address backs no account and is only a label.
+
+The job fails fast if the secret is missing or `ssh-keygen` is absent from the
+runner image, and it re-reads the commit it just made to confirm a signature
+is attached before pushing — an unsigned bump commit would otherwise look fine
+until someone tried to merge the PR.
+
+Nothing else in the pipeline signs anything: release tags are made by a human
+through Gitea's release UI, and the merge commit is signed by the server when
+the PR is merged.