diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28673fa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-validation.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+name: PR Validation
+
+on:
+  pull_request_target:
+    types: [opened, edited, reopened]
+concurrency:
+  group: pr-validation-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  validate-and-label:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Validate PR title and assign label
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          github-token: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
+          script: |
+            const title = context.payload.pull_request.title;
+            const prNumber = context.payload.pull_request.number;
+
+            const allowedScopes = ['feature', 'fix', 'docs', 'improvement', 'revert', 'breaking', 'ci'];
+
+            const scopeToLabel = {
+              feature:     'feature',
+              ci:          'ci',
+              fix:         'bug',
+              docs:        'documentation',
+              improvement: 'improvement',
+              revert:      'revert',
+              breaking:    'breaking-change',
+            };
+
+            const match = title.match(/^\[([^\]]+)\]\s+\S+/);
+
+            if (!match) {
+              core.setFailed(
+                `PR title must follow the format: [scope] description\n` +
+                `Allowed scopes (case-insensitive): [Feature], [Fix], [Docs], [Improvement], [Revert], [Breaking], [CI]\n` +
+                `Example: [Feature] Add SeaweedFS bucket auto-creation`
+              );
+              return;
+            }
+
+            const scope = match[1].toLowerCase();
+
+            if (!allowedScopes.includes(scope)) {
+              core.setFailed(
+                `Invalid scope "[${match[1]}]".\n` +
+                `Allowed scopes (case-insensitive): [Feature], [Fix], [Docs], [Improvement], [Revert], [Breaking], [CI]\n` +
+                `Example: [Fix] Resolve crash on startup`
+              );
+              return;
+            }
+
+            const labelName = scopeToLabel[scope];
+
+            // Remove any stale scope labels from a previous title edit
+            const allScopeLabels = Object.values(scopeToLabel);
+            const currentLabels = context.payload.pull_request.labels.map(l => l.name);
+
+            for (const stale of currentLabels) {
+              if (allScopeLabels.includes(stale) && stale !== labelName) {
+                await github.rest.issues.removeLabel({
+                  owner: context.repo.owner,
+                  repo: context.repo.repo,
+                  issue_number: prNumber,
+                  name: stale,
+                });
+                core.info(`Removed stale label: ${stale}`);
+              }
+            }
+
+            // Apply the correct label if not already present
+            if (!currentLabels.includes(labelName)) {
+              await github.rest.issues.addLabels({
+                owner: context.repo.owner,
+                repo: context.repo.repo,
+                issue_number: prNumber,
+                labels: [labelName],
+              });
+            }
+
+            core.info(`PR title valid — scope: [${scope}] → label: ${labelName}`);
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index a2cfb4f2..2b062cd9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,23 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "$GITHUB_ACTOR"
           git config user.email "$GITHUB_ACTOR@users.noreply.github.com"
 
+      - name: Extract Chart Version and check RC
+        id: version_check
+        run: |
+          CHART_VERSION=$(grep '^version:' charts/mlrun-ce/Chart.yaml | awk '{print $2}')
+          if [[ -z "$CHART_VERSION" ]]; then
+            echo "Error: Failed to extract version from Chart.yaml" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "version=$CHART_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          if [[ "$CHART_VERSION" =~ -rc ]]; then
+            echo "is_rc=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "Chart version: $CHART_VERSION (RC release)"
+          else
+            echo "is_rc=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "Chart version: $CHART_VERSION (stable release)"
+          fi
+
       - name: Add Helm Repos
         run: |
           helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable
@@ -52,18 +69,57 @@ jobs:
         env:
           CR_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
 
-      - name: Extract Chart Version from Chart.yaml
-        id: extract_version
+      - name: Find first RC tag for this version
+        if: steps.version_check.outputs.is_rc == 'false'
+        id: first_rc
         run: |
-          CHART_VERSION=$(grep '^version:' charts/mlrun-ce/Chart.yaml | awk '{print $2}')
-          if [[ -z "$CHART_VERSION" ]]; then
-            echo "Error: Failed to extract version from Chart.yaml" >&2
-            exit 1
+          VERSION="${{ steps.version_check.outputs.version }}"
+
+          FIRST_RC=$(git tag --sort=version:refname \
+            | grep "^mlrun-ce-${VERSION}-rc\." \
+            | head -1)
+
+          if [[ -n "$FIRST_RC" ]]; then
+            echo "range=${FIRST_RC}^..HEAD" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "Range start: first RC tag ${FIRST_RC}"
+          else
+            # Hotfix with no RC — use previous stable tag so notes cover only this version
+            PREV_STABLE=$(git tag --sort=version:refname \
+              | grep "^mlrun-ce-[0-9]" \
+              | grep -v "\-rc\." \
+              | grep -v "^mlrun-ce-${VERSION}$" \
+              | tail -1)
+            if [[ -n "$PREV_STABLE" ]]; then
+              echo "range=${PREV_STABLE}..HEAD" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+              echo "Range start: previous stable tag ${PREV_STABLE}"
+            else
+              echo "range=HEAD" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+              echo "Range start: none (first ever release)"
+            fi
           fi
-          echo "version=$CHART_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Generate release notes with git-cliff
+        if: steps.version_check.outputs.is_rc == 'false'
+        uses: orhun/git-cliff-action@v4
+        with:
+          config: cliff.toml
+          args: >-
+            ${{ steps.first_rc.outputs.range }}
+            --tag mlrun-ce-${{ steps.version_check.outputs.version }}
+            --ignore-tags "mlrun-ce-${{ steps.version_check.outputs.version }}-rc.*"
+        env:
+          OUTPUT: RELEASE_NOTES.md
+
+      - name: Update GitHub Release with release notes
+        if: steps.version_check.outputs.is_rc == 'false'
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
+        run: |
+          gh release edit "mlrun-ce-${{ steps.version_check.outputs.version }}" \
+            --notes-file RELEASE_NOTES.md
 
     outputs:
-      version: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.version }}
+      version: ${{ steps.version_check.outputs.version }}
 
   deploy_ce_onprem:
     needs: release
diff --git a/charts/mlrun-ce/Chart.yaml b/charts/mlrun-ce/Chart.yaml
index 7f066992..16ed4151 100644
--- a/charts/mlrun-ce/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/mlrun-ce/Chart.yaml
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ sources: []
 maintainers:
   - name: MLRun
     email: mlrun@iguazio.com
-    url: https://www.mlrun.org/
+    url: https://www.mlrun.org/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cliff.toml b/cliff.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aa741b03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cliff.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+[changelog]
+header = ""
+body = """
+{% for group, commits in commits | sort(attribute="group") | group_by(attribute="group") %}\
+    ### {{ group | striptags | trim | upper_first }}
+    {% for commit in commits %}\
+        - {% if commit.scope %}*({{ commit.scope }})* {% endif %}\
+        {% if commit.breaking %}[**breaking**] {% endif %}\
+        {{ commit.message | split(pat="\n") | first | upper_first }} \
+        ([{{ commit.id | truncate(length=7, end="") }}](https://github.com/mlrun/ce/commit/{{ commit.id }}))\
+        \n \
+    {% endfor %}
+{% endfor %}\n
+"""
+trim = true
+footer = ""
+
+[git]
+conventional_commits = false
+filter_unconventional = false
+split_commits = false
+commit_preprocessors = []
+commit_parsers = [
+  # skip merge commits
+  { message = "(?i)^merge", skip = true },
+
+  # new PR title format (enforced by pr-validation.yml): [scope] description
+  # allowed scopes: feature, fix, docs, improvement, revert, breaking, ci
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[feature\\]", group = "Features" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[fix\\]", group = "Bug Fixes" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[docs\\]", group = "Documentation" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[improvement\\]", group = "Improvements" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[revert\\]", group = "Reverts" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[breaking\\]", group = "Breaking Changes" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[ci\\]", group = "CI/CD" },
+
+  # conventional commits format: feat: / fix: ...
+  { message = "(?i)^feat", group = "Features" },
+  { message = "(?i)^fix", group = "Bug Fixes" },
+  { message = "(?i)^refactor", group = "Improvements" },
+  { message = "(?i)^docs?", group = "Documentation" },
+  { message = "(?i)^chore\\(deps\\)", group = "Improvements" },
+  { message = "(?i)^revert", group = "Reverts" },
+
+  # historical [ComponentName] format — infer type from the verb in the message
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[[^\\]]+\\].*(fix|bug|broken|regression)", group = "Bug Fixes" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[[^\\]]+\\].*(add|support|enable|upgrade|update|migrate|connect|expose|allow)", group = "Features" },
+  { message = "(?i)^\\[[^\\]]+\\]", group = "Other" },
+
+  # plain English fallback
+  { message = "(?i)^(fix|bug)", group = "Bug Fixes" },
+  { message = "(?i)^(add|update|upgrade|support|enable|migrate|expose|allow)", group = "Features" },
+  { message = "(?i)^(remove|disable|clean|deprecat)", group = "Other" },
+
+  # catch-all — anything that didn't match above
+  { message = ".*", group = "Other" },
+]
+protect_breaking_commits = false
+filter_commits = false
+tag_pattern = "mlrun-ce-[0-9].*"
+skip_tags = ""
+ignore_tags = ""
+topo_order = false
+sort_commits = "newest"