diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 210d290..bcd0522 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.5.1"
+  ".": "0.6.0"
 }
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index d337661..fb0a76a 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@
 
 These instructions apply to all work in this repository.
 
+## Release Notes and Commit Messages
+
+- Write release notes around delivered capabilities and meaningful user or operator impact, not individual implementation tasks.
+- Use one entry per cohesive feature. Consolidate its implementation steps, supporting documentation, and fixes made before its first release. Preserve distinct fixes to previously released behavior, breaking changes, and migration instructions.
+- Reserve `feat:` for new capabilities and `fix:` for meaningful corrections to existing behavior. Use appropriate maintenance types such as `ci:`, `test:`, `build:`, `refactor:`, or `chore:` for internal work; do not misclassify changes merely to hide release notes.
+- Include standalone documentation release notes only when they communicate a significant user-facing change.
+- Before merging, review all commit messages that will land on `main`, including their bodies. Release Please can interpret additional conventional-commit messages in a body as separate changelog entries. Prefer a squash merge with one capability-level summary for a cohesive feature, and preserve the required DCO trailer.
+- Before a release, review the generated changelog and consolidate redundant entries. Keep `CHANGELOG.md` and the release PR description consistent. Release Please may regenerate both, so verify the curated entries after its final run; do not assume a manual PR-description edit is persistent.
+
 ## Commits
 
 - Every commit must include a Developer Certificate of Origin `Signed-off-by:` trailer. Create commits with `git commit -s` and use the contributor's configured name and email.
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8315315..75ce60e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.6.0](https://github.com/cytechmobile/sendium/compare/v0.5.1...v0.6.0) (2026-10-23)
+
+### Features
+
+* **performance:** add reproducible local and AWS benchmarking for HTTP and SMPP, with automated deployment, reporting, and cleanup.
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **dlr:** retain provider correlations for seven days ([7bb60b6](https://github.com/cytechmobile/sendium/commit/7bb60b658cbb93f0f25f4ab440aacd696f917d6a)).
+
 ## [0.5.1](https://github.com/cytechmobile/sendium/compare/v0.5.0...v0.5.1) (2026-09-16)
 
 
diff --git a/performance/harness/pom.xml b/performance/harness/pom.xml
index eeab0a4..d2cfe20 100644
--- a/performance/harness/pom.xml
+++ b/performance/harness/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>gr.cytech</groupId>
         <artifactId>sendium</artifactId>
-        <version>0.5.2-SNAPSHOT</version> <!-- x-release-please-version -->
+        <version>0.6.0</version> <!-- x-release-please-version -->
         <relativePath>../../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
     <artifactId>sendium-performance-harness</artifactId>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 714c4ba..035a017 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
     <groupId>gr.cytech</groupId>
     <artifactId>sendium</artifactId>
-    <version>0.5.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.6.0</version>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
     <modules>
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
                 <groupId>gr.cytech</groupId>
                 <artifactId>sendium-core</artifactId>
                 <!-- release-please bumps this via the generic extra-files updater; the maven release-type does NOT rewrite dependencyManagement versions -->
-                <version>0.5.2-SNAPSHOT</version> <!-- x-release-please-version -->
+                <version>0.6.0</version> <!-- x-release-please-version -->
             </dependency>
 
             <dependency>
diff --git a/sendium-app/pom.xml b/sendium-app/pom.xml
index 356470a..8146de5 100644
--- a/sendium-app/pom.xml
+++ b/sendium-app/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>gr.cytech</groupId>
         <artifactId>sendium</artifactId>
-        <version>0.5.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>0.6.0</version>
     </parent>
 
     <artifactId>sendium-app</artifactId>
diff --git a/sendium-core/pom.xml b/sendium-core/pom.xml
index 544ea6c..0a6d4dd 100644
--- a/sendium-core/pom.xml
+++ b/sendium-core/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>gr.cytech</groupId>
         <artifactId>sendium</artifactId>
-        <version>0.5.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>0.6.0</version>
     </parent>
 
     <artifactId>sendium-core</artifactId>