diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index b1e4ad1..b6d0588 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@ updates:
       all-dependencies:
         patterns:
           - '*'
-    ignore:
-      - dependency-name: '*'
-        update-types: ['version-update:semver-major']
 
   - package-ecosystem: 'github-actions'
     directory: '/'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-train.yml b/.github/workflows/release-train.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..515496d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-train.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+name: Release Train
+
+# Fully automated Friday MINOR release of @chemistry/molpad. Level 1 train: it
+# runs an hour after the @chemistry base packages release (20:00 Prague), first
+# bumps the internal @chemistry/* deps to their freshly published versions, then
+# cuts a minor release so molpad always ships against the latest base packages.
+#
+# GITHUB_TOKEN caveats handled here: its branch pushes do not fire pr-validation
+# on the release PR (the in-workflow `npm run verify` is the gate), and its merges
+# never fire release.yml's tag-triggered push - so after merging, the train
+# dispatches release.yml explicitly, which releases the current package.json
+# version and creates the v-tag idempotently.
+on:
+  schedule:
+    # Friday 21:00 Europe/Prague, both DST offsets; the gate job filters.
+    - cron: '0 19 * * 5'
+    - cron: '0 20 * * 5'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+  actions: write
+
+jobs:
+  prague-gate:
+    name: 🕘 Friday 21:00 Prague gate
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    outputs:
+      go: ${{ steps.gate.outputs.go }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Check local Prague hour (DST-proof)
+        id: gate
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "schedule" ]; then
+            echo "workflow_dispatch - bypassing hour gate."
+            echo "go=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          HOUR=$(TZ=Europe/Prague date +%H)
+          if [ "$HOUR" = "21" ]; then
+            echo "go=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "Prague hour is $HOUR, not 21 - wrong DST cron slot, skipping."
+            echo "go=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+  merge-green-dependabot:
+    name: 🤖 Merge green dependabot PRs
+    needs: prague-gate
+    if: needs.prague-gate.outputs.go == 'true'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 15
+    steps:
+      - name: Squash-merge dependabot PRs whose checks are green
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # The chemistry org has no shared dependabot triage automation, so the
+          # train merges its own green dependabot PRs before releasing. Red ones
+          # are left open.
+          PRS=$(gh pr list -R "$REPO" --author "app/dependabot" --state open --json number --jq '.[].number')
+          if [ -z "$PRS" ]; then
+            echo "No open dependabot PRs." | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          echo "### Dependabot merge results" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+          for PR in $PRS; do
+            echo "Processing dependabot PR #$PR..."
+            # Poll until checks settle: ~10 min max (60 x 10s).
+            FINAL=""
+            for i in $(seq 1 60); do
+              BUCKETS=$(gh pr checks "$PR" -R "$REPO" --json bucket --jq '.[].bucket' 2>/dev/null || true)
+              if [ -z "$BUCKETS" ]; then
+                # No checks reported yet; give it a few tries, then treat as no-checks.
+                if [ "$i" -ge 3 ]; then FINAL="none"; break; fi
+                sleep 10; continue
+              fi
+              if printf '%s\n' "$BUCKETS" | grep -q "pending"; then
+                echo "  poll $i: checks pending for #$PR..."
+                sleep 10; continue
+              fi
+              FINAL="$BUCKETS"; break
+            done
+            if [ -z "$FINAL" ]; then
+              echo "- #$PR: checks did not settle in ~10 min - left open" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            elif [ "$FINAL" = "none" ]; then
+              gh pr merge "$PR" -R "$REPO" --squash \
+                && echo "- #$PR: no checks - squash-merged" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY" \
+                || echo "- #$PR: merge failed - left open" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            elif printf '%s\n' "$FINAL" | grep -qE 'fail|cancel'; then
+              echo "- #$PR: red checks - left open" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            else
+              gh pr merge "$PR" -R "$REPO" --squash \
+                && echo "- #$PR: green - squash-merged" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY" \
+                || echo "- #$PR: merge failed - left open" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            fi
+          done
+
+  release:
+    name: 🚝 Cut minor release
+    needs: [prague-gate, merge-green-dependabot]
+    if: needs.prague-gate.outputs.go == 'true'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v7
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v7
+        with:
+          node-version: '22'
+          cache: npm
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Skip if an open release PR exists
+        id: guard
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          EXISTING=$(gh pr list --state open --json headRefName \
+            --jq '[.[] | select(.headRefName | startswith("release/"))] | length')
+          if [ "$EXISTING" != "0" ]; then
+            echo "Open release PR already exists - a previous train is stuck. Skipping." | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            echo "skip=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "skip=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Bump internal @chemistry/* dependencies
+        id: deps
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # The point of a Level 1 train: pull in the @chemistry base packages
+          # released at 20:00, so molpad ships against the latest ones.
+          npx --yes npm-check-updates -u --dep prod,dev --filter "@chemistry/*"
+          npm install
+          if git diff --quiet -- package.json; then
+            echo "No internal @chemistry/* dependency changes."
+            echo "changed=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "Internal @chemistry/* dependencies bumped:"
+            git --no-pager diff -- package.json
+            echo "changed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Detect releasable commits since the last tag
+        id: detect
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          LAST_TAG=$(git tag --list 'v[0-9]*' --sort=-v:refname | head -1)
+          RANGE=""; [ -n "$LAST_TAG" ] && RANGE="${LAST_TAG}..HEAD"
+          echo "Last tag: ${LAST_TAG:-none}"
+          SUBJECTS=$(git log $RANGE --no-merges --pretty=%s)
+          # Releasable = anything except docs/ci/plain-chore; chore(deps) counts
+          # (dependabot bundles ship weekly), chore(release) does not.
+          RELEASABLE=$(printf '%s\n' "$SUBJECTS" \
+            | grep -vE '^(docs|ci)(\([^)]*\))?!?:' \
+            | grep -vE '^chore(\([^)]*\))?!?:' || true)
+          DEPS=$(printf '%s\n' "$SUBJECTS" | grep -E '^chore\(deps' || true)
+          COUNT=$(printf '%s\n%s\n' "$RELEASABLE" "$DEPS" | grep -c . || true)
+          if [ "$COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
+            echo "No releasable commits since ${LAST_TAG:-repo start}."
+            echo "commits=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "Found $COUNT releasable commit(s)."
+            echo "commits=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Decide whether to release
+        id: gate
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.skip != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # An internal dep bump alone justifies a release, even with no other
+          # releasable commits.
+          if [ "${{ steps.deps.outputs.changed }}" = "true" ] || [ "${{ steps.detect.outputs.commits }}" = "true" ]; then
+            echo "release=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "No releasable commits and no internal dep changes - no release this week." | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+            echo "release=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Bump minor version (package.json + lockfile)
+        id: bump
+        if: steps.gate.outputs.release == 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # npm version edits only the version field (prettier-safe) and updates the lockfile.
+          NEW=$(npm version minor --no-git-tag-version | sed 's/^v//')
+          echo "New version: $NEW"
+          echo "version=$NEW" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Verify (proves the new @chemistry deps integrate)
+        if: steps.bump.outputs.version
+        run: npm run verify
+
+      - name: Create + auto-merge release PR
+        id: pr
+        if: steps.bump.outputs.version
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          VERSION="${{ steps.bump.outputs.version }}"
+          BRANCH="release/${VERSION}"
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+          git checkout -b "$BRANCH"
+          git add package.json package-lock.json
+          git commit -m "chore(release): ${VERSION}"
+          git push origin "$BRANCH"
+          PR_URL=$(gh pr create --base master --head "$BRANCH" \
+            --title "chore(release): ${VERSION}" \
+            --body "Weekly minor release train (L1). Bumped internal @chemistry/* deps and cut minor ${VERSION}. Publish happens via release.yml dispatch after merge.")
+          echo "pr_url=$PR_URL" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          sleep 5
+          if ! OUT=$(gh pr merge "$PR_URL" --auto --squash 2>&1); then
+            echo "$OUT"
+            # Auto-merge unavailable (no branch protection) - merge directly.
+            gh pr merge "$PR_URL" --squash
+          fi
+
+      - name: Dispatch release workflow
+        if: steps.pr.outputs.pr_url
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          # A GITHUB_TOKEN merge never fires release.yml's tag-triggered push, so
+          # dispatch it explicitly. Its dispatch path releases the current
+          # package.json version and creates the v-tag idempotently.
+          gh workflow run release.yml --ref master --repo "${{ github.repository }}"
+          echo "Released ${{ steps.bump.outputs.version }} - release.yml dispatched." >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 79fa46a..dfa44ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Use Node.js 22.x
         uses: actions/setup-node@v7
@@ -23,6 +25,31 @@ jobs:
           cache: 'npm'
           registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
 
+      - name: Resolve release tag
+        id: tag
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "push" ]; then
+            TAG="${GITHUB_REF_NAME}"
+          else
+            # workflow_dispatch releases the current package.json version.
+            VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+            TAG="v${VERSION}"
+            git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+            git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+            if git rev-parse -q --verify "refs/tags/${TAG}" >/dev/null; then
+              echo "Tag ${TAG} already exists locally."
+            elif git ls-remote --exit-code --tags origin "refs/tags/${TAG}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "Tag ${TAG} already exists on origin."
+            else
+              # Create the v-tag idempotently so tag-triggered runs stay aligned.
+              git tag "${TAG}"
+              git push origin "${TAG}"
+              echo "Created and pushed ${TAG}."
+            fi
+          fi
+          echo "tag=${TAG}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: npm ci
 
@@ -37,6 +64,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create GitHub Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v3
         with:
+          tag_name: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}
           generate_release_notes: true
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}