docs: standardize release workflow and improve documentation quality

.github/workflows/dotnet-cd.yml

@@ -138,10 +138,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create GitHub Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2.5.0
         with:
-          name: "v${{ steps.version.outputs.semver }} - ${{ steps.version.outputs.stadium }}"
+          name: "v${{ steps.version.outputs.semver }} - ${{ steps.version.outputs.stadium }} 🏟️"
           tag_name: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag_name }}
           body: |
-            # 🏟️ Release ${{ steps.version.outputs.semver }} - ${{ steps.version.outputs.stadium }}
+            # Release ${{ steps.version.outputs.semver }} - ${{ steps.version.outputs.stadium }} 🏟️
 
             ## Docker Images
 

AGENTS.md

@@ -81,9 +81,11 @@ dotnet build && dotnet test
 
 **Pre-commit checklist**:
 
-1. Run `dotnet build --configuration Release` - must build successfully
-2. Run `dotnet test` - all tests must pass
-3. Check code formatting and style
+1. Update CHANGELOG.md `[Unreleased]` section with your changes (Added/Changed/Fixed/Removed)
+2. Run `dotnet build --configuration Release` - must build successfully
+3. Run `dotnet test` - all tests must pass
+4. Check code formatting and style
+5. Follow conventional commit format (enforced by commitlint)
 
 ### Running the Application
 
@@ -153,6 +155,66 @@ curl http://localhost:5000/health
 
 **First run behavior**: Container initializes SQLite database with seed data. Volume persists data between runs.
 
+## Release Management
+
+### CHANGELOG Maintenance
+
+**Important**: Update CHANGELOG.md continuously as you work, not just before releases.
+
+**For every meaningful commit**:
+
+1. Add your changes to the `[Unreleased]` section in CHANGELOG.md
+2. Categorize under the appropriate heading:
+   - **Added**: New features
+   - **Changed**: Changes in existing functionality
+   - **Deprecated**: Soon-to-be removed features
+   - **Removed**: Removed features
+   - **Fixed**: Bug fixes
+   - **Security**: Security vulnerability fixes
+3. Use clear, user-facing descriptions (not just commit messages)
+4. Include PR/issue numbers when relevant (#123)
+
+**Example**:
+
+```markdown
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Added
+- User authentication with JWT tokens (#145)
+- Rate limiting middleware for API endpoints
+
+### Deprecated
+- Legacy authentication endpoint /api/v1/auth (use /api/v2/auth instead)
+
+### Fixed
+- Null reference exception in player service (#147)
+
+### Security
+- Fix SQL injection vulnerability in search endpoint (#148)
+```
+
+### Creating a Release
+
+When ready to release:
+
+1. **Update CHANGELOG.md**: Move items from `[Unreleased]` to a new versioned section:
+
+   ```markdown
+   ## [1.1.0 - bernabeu] - 2026-02-15
+   ```
+
+2. **Commit and push** CHANGELOG changes
+3. **Create and push tag**:
+
+   ```bash
+   git tag -a v1.1.0-bernabeu -m "Release 1.1.0 - Bernabéu"
+   git push origin v1.1.0-bernabeu
+   ```
+
+4. **CD workflow runs automatically** to publish Docker images and create GitHub Release
+
+See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md#how-to-release) for complete release instructions and stadium naming convention.
+
 ## CI/CD Pipeline
 
 ### Continuous Integration (dotnet.yml)
@@ -165,7 +227,7 @@ curl http://localhost:5000/health
 2. **Restore**: `dotnet restore` with dependency caching
 3. **Build**: `dotnet build --no-restore --configuration Release`
 4. **Test**: `dotnet test --no-build --verbosity normal --settings .runsettings`
-5. **Coverage**: Upload coverage reports to Codecov and Codacy
+5. **Coverage**: Upload coverage reports to Codecov
 
 **Local validation** (run this before pushing):
 
@@ -384,6 +446,7 @@ curl -X DELETE https://localhost:9000/players/1 -k
 
 ## Important Notes
 
+- **CHANGELOG maintenance**: Update CHANGELOG.md `[Unreleased]` section with every meaningful change
 - **Never commit secrets**: No API keys, tokens, or credentials in code
 - **Test coverage**: Maintain high coverage with xUnit tests
 - **Commit messages**: Follow conventional commits (enforced by commitlint in CI)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -44,30 +44,87 @@ This project uses famous football stadiums (A-Z) that hosted FIFA World Cup matc
 
 ### Added
 
+- Token efficiency strategy for Copilot/AI agents with optimized instruction loading and improved token counting script (#364)
+
 ### Changed
 
-### Fixed
+- Bump Swashbuckle.AspNetCore from 10.1.0 to 10.1.2
+- Bump docker/login-action from 3.6.0 to 3.7.0
+- Bump softprops/action-gh-release from 2.2.0 to 2.5.0
+- Bump actions/checkout from 6.0.1 to 6.0.2
+
+### Deprecated
 
 ### Removed
 
+### Fixed
+
+### Security
+
+---
+
+## [1.0.0 - azteca] - 2026-01-22
+
+Initial release. See [README.md](README.md) for complete feature list and documentation.
+
 ---
 
 ## How to Release
 
-To create a new release:
+To create a new release, follow these steps in order:
+
+### 1. Update CHANGELOG.md
+
+Move items from the `[Unreleased]` section to a new release section:
+
+```markdown
+## [X.Y.Z - STADIUM_NAME] - YYYY-MM-DD
+
+### Added
+- New features here
+
+### Changed
+- Changes here
+
+### Fixed
+- Bug fixes here
+
+### Removed
+- Removed features here
+```
+
+**Important:** Commit and push this change before creating the tag.
+
+### 2. Create and Push Version Tag
+
+```bash
+git tag -a vX.Y.Z-stadium -m "Release X.Y.Z - Stadium"
+git push origin vX.Y.Z-stadium
+```
+
+Example:
+
+```bash
+git tag -a v1.0.0-azteca -m "Release 1.0.0 - Azteca"
+git push origin v1.0.0-azteca
+```
+
+### 3. Automated CD Workflow
+
+The CD workflow automatically:
 
-1. Update this CHANGELOG with release notes under the appropriate version heading
-2. Create and push a version tag with stadium name:
+- ✅ Validates the stadium name against the A-Z list
+- ✅ Builds and tests the project in Release configuration
+- ✅ Publishes Docker images to GHCR with three tags (`:X.Y.Z`, `:stadium`, `:latest`)
+- ✅ Creates a GitHub Release with auto-generated notes from commits
 
-   ```bash
-   git tag -a v1.0.0-azteca -m "Release 1.0.0 - Azteca"
-   git push origin v1.0.0-azteca
-   ```
+### Pre-Release Checklist
 
-3. The CD workflow will automatically:
-   - Build and test the project
-   - Publish Docker images to GHCR with three tags (`:1.0.0`, `:azteca`, `:latest`)
-   - Create a GitHub Release with auto-generated notes
+- [ ] CHANGELOG.md updated with release notes
+- [ ] CHANGELOG.md changes committed and pushed
+- [ ] Tag created with correct format: `vX.Y.Z-stadium`
+- [ ] Stadium name is valid (A-Z from table above)
+- [ ] Tag pushed to trigger CD workflow
 
 ---
 
@@ -81,10 +138,21 @@ To create a new release:
 ### Changed
 - Changes in existing functionality
 
-### Fixed
-- Bug fixes
+### Deprecated
+- Soon-to-be removed features
 
 ### Removed
 - Removed features
 
+### Fixed
+- Bug fixes
+
+### Security
+- Security vulnerability fixes
+
 -->
+
+---
+
+[unreleased]: https://github.com/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/compare/v1.0.0-azteca...HEAD
+[1.0.0 - azteca]: https://github.com/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/releases/tag/v1.0.0-azteca

README.md

@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 [![.NET CD](https://github.com/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/actions/workflows/dotnet-cd.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/actions/workflows/dotnet-cd.yml)
 [![Quality Gate Status](https://sonarcloud.io/api/project_badges/measure?project=nanotaboada_Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi&metric=alert_status)](https://sonarcloud.io/summary/new_code?id=nanotaboada_Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi)
 [![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/_apis/build/status%2FDotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi?branchName=master)](https://dev.azure.com/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/_build/latest?definitionId=14&branchName=master)
-[![Codacy Badge](https://app.codacy.com/project/badge/Grade/ac7b7e22f1cd4d9d9233b36982b0d6a9)](https://app.codacy.com/gh/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/dashboard?utm_source=gh&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Badge_grade)
 [![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/graph/badge.svg?token=hgJc1rStJ9)](https://codecov.io/gh/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi)
 [![CodeFactor](https://www.codefactor.io/repository/github/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi/badge)](https://www.codefactor.io/repository/github/nanotaboada/Dotnet.Samples.AspNetCore.WebApi)
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-white.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
@@ -30,18 +29,14 @@ Proof of Concept for a RESTful API built with .NET 8 (LTS) and ASP.NET Core. Man
 
 ## Features
 
-- 🔌 RESTful CRUD operations for football player data
-- 📚 Interactive API documentation
-- 🚦 Fixed window rate limiting
-- ⌨️ Input validation
-- ⚡ In-memory caching (1-hour TTL)
-- 💿 Relational database with ORM
-- 🏗️ Layered architecture pattern
-- ⌛ Asynchronous operations throughout
-- 📝 Structured logging to console and file
-- 🩺 Health check endpoint for monitoring
-- 🐳 Full containerization support
-- ✅ Comprehensive unit tests
+- 🏗️ **Clean layered architecture** - Repository pattern, dependency injection, and async operations throughout
+- 📚 **Interactive API exploration** - Swagger UI documentation with health monitoring endpoints
+- ⚡ **Performance optimizations** - In-memory caching, rate limiting, and efficient database queries
+- 🧪 **High test coverage** - xUnit tests with automated reporting to Codecov and SonarCloud
+- 📖 **Token-efficient documentation** - AGENTS.md + auto-loaded Copilot instructions for AI-assisted development
+- 🐳 **Full containerization** - Multi-stage Docker builds with Docker Compose orchestration
+- 🔄 **Complete CI/CD pipeline** - Automated testing, code quality checks, Docker publishing, and GitHub releases
+- 🏟️ **Stadium-themed semantic versioning** - Memorable, alphabetical release names from World Cup venues
 
 ## Tech Stack
 
@@ -190,7 +185,7 @@ graph TB
 
 Interactive API documentation is available via Swagger UI at `https://localhost:9000/swagger/index.html` when the server is running.
 
-> 💡 **Note:** Swagger documentation is only available in development mode for security reasons.
+> 💡 Swagger documentation is only available in development mode for security reasons.
 
 **Quick Reference:**
 
@@ -273,7 +268,7 @@ docker compose build
 docker compose up
 ```
 
-> 💡 **Note:** On first run, the container copies a pre-seeded SQLite database into a persistent volume. On subsequent runs, that volume is reused and the data is preserved.
+> 💡 On first run, the container copies a pre-seeded SQLite database into a persistent volume. On subsequent runs, that volume is reused and the data is preserved.
 
 ### Stop the application
 
@@ -304,18 +299,39 @@ Releases follow the pattern: `v{SEMVER}-{STADIUM}` (e.g., `v1.0.0-azteca`)
 
 ### Create a Release
 
-To create a new release, tag a commit and push the tag:
+To create a new release, follow this workflow:
+
+#### 1. Update CHANGELOG.md
+
+First, document your changes in [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md):
+
+```bash
+# Move items from [Unreleased] to new release section
+# Example: [1.0.0 - azteca] - 2026-01-22
+git add CHANGELOG.md
+git commit -m "docs: prepare changelog for v1.0.0-azteca release"
+git push
+```
+
+#### 2. Create and Push Tag
+
+Then create and push the version tag:
 
 ```bash
 git tag -a v1.0.0-azteca -m "Release 1.0.0 - Azteca"
 git push origin v1.0.0-azteca
 ```
 
+#### 3. Automated CD Workflow
+
 This triggers the CD workflow which automatically:
 
-1. Builds and tests the project in Release configuration
-2. Publishes Docker images to GitHub Container Registry with three tags
-3. Creates a GitHub Release with auto-generated changelog
+1. Validates the stadium name
+2. Builds and tests the project in Release configuration
+3. Publishes Docker images to GitHub Container Registry with three tags
+4. Creates a GitHub Release with auto-generated changelog from commits
+
+> 💡 Always update CHANGELOG.md before creating the tag. See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md#how-to-release) for detailed release instructions.
 
 ### Pull Docker Images
 
@@ -332,7 +348,7 @@ docker pull ghcr.io/nanotaboada/dotnet-samples-aspnetcore-webapi:azteca
 docker pull ghcr.io/nanotaboada/dotnet-samples-aspnetcore-webapi:latest
 ```
 
-> 💡 **Note:** See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) for the complete stadium list (A-Z) and release history.
+> 💡 See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) for the complete stadium list (A-Z) and release history.
 
 ## Environment Variables
 
@@ -366,7 +382,7 @@ For containerized production deployment:
 STORAGE_PATH=/storage/players-sqlite3.db
 ```
 
-> 💡 **Note:** Additional environment variables (`ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production` and `ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:9000`) are set in the `Dockerfile`.
+> 💡 Additional environment variables (`ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production` and `ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:9000`) are set in the `Dockerfile`.
 
 ## Command Summary