diff --git a/.changeset/desktop-release-notes-from-changelog.md b/.changeset/desktop-release-notes-from-changelog.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b847803a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/desktop-release-notes-from-changelog.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@pymodel/pythinker-desktop": patch
+---
+
+Show the changelog for the new version in the update dialog instead of a build stamp with raw HTML tags.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
index 46fd4dddd..55b532d84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
@@ -138,12 +138,18 @@ jobs:
             echo "Draft release ${RELEASE_TAG} already exists; resuming it."
             exit 0
           fi
+          # The body is what the in-app updater shows users, so it carries the
+          # changelog entries for this version. A stable release with no entry
+          # fails here rather than shipping a build nobody can describe.
+          notes_file="$(mktemp)"
+          node apps/desktop/scripts/desktop-release.mjs notes \
+            apps/desktop/CHANGELOG.md "${RELEASE_TAG#v}" "$RELEASE_CHANNEL" "$SOURCE_URL" > "$notes_file"
           args=(
             "$RELEASE_TAG"
             --repo "$RELEASE_REPO"
             --draft
             --title "$RELEASE_TAG"
-            --notes "Pythinker Desktop ${RELEASE_TAG#v} (${RELEASE_CHANNEL} channel), built from ${SOURCE_URL}."
+            --notes-file "$notes_file"
           )
           if [ "$PRERELEASE" = 'true' ]; then args+=(--prerelease); fi
           gh release create "${args[@]}"
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 18d53d48a..6d9ecb675 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ Gate behind flags. Env: `PYTHINKER_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_<NAME>` toggles one; `PYTHI
 - PR titles: Conventional Commit style (e.g. `chore: remove legacy format commands`).
 - Fill in `.github/pull_request_template.md` — link the issue, describe changes. No placeholder text or vague AI-generated PR summaries; the human author must understand the change well enough to explain the code, edge cases, and why the approach fits.
 - Run `gen-changesets` skill before submitting PRs. Changesets must strictly follow its rules: one short user-facing sentence stating only what changed; skip any change users cannot perceive. Never decide `major` on your own — stop, explain, and get explicit user confirmation first; default to `minor`, fall back to `patch`.
+- Changeset text is shipped text: the desktop release body is generated from `apps/desktop/CHANGELOG.md`, and the in-app updater shows it to users verbatim. A release body must state what changed for users — never a build stamp, a commit hash, or placeholder text. `desktop-release.yml` fails a stable release whose version has no changelog entry.
 - Prefer `import ... from '#/...'` (equivalent to `@/...`).
 - Do not commit throwaway scratch or exploratory files. Never stage agent working notes or handoff documents (e.g. `HANDOVER-*.md`, `HANDOFF-*.md`, `handoff.md`), or throwaway UI/UX prototypes or design mockups (e.g. `*-designs.html`, `*-mockup.html`, `*-demo(s).html`). The only tracked `.html` files should be Vite `index.html` entrypoints. Put scratch work under `.tmp/` (gitignored).
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/scripts/desktop-release.mjs b/apps/desktop/scripts/desktop-release.mjs
index f8a1659fe..3c8c21a1b 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/scripts/desktop-release.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/scripts/desktop-release.mjs
@@ -165,6 +165,45 @@ export function configureDesktopPackage(value, version, channel) {
   };
 }
 
+const attributionPattern = /^\s*(?:\[[^\]]*\]\([^)]*\)\s*)+(?:Thanks\s+\[[^\]]*\]\([^)]*\)!\s*)?-\s*/u;
+
+function changelogSection(changelog, version) {
+  if (typeof changelog !== 'string') throw new Error('Desktop changelog must be a string.');
+  const lines = changelog.split('\n');
+  const start = lines.findIndex(line => line.trim() === `## ${version}`);
+  if (start === -1) return [];
+  const rest = lines.slice(start + 1);
+  const end = rest.findIndex(line => line.startsWith('## '));
+  return end === -1 ? rest : rest.slice(0, end);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Users read the release body in the updater, so it carries the changelog
+ * entries and nothing else. Changesets prefixes every entry with its PR link,
+ * commit link, and a thanks line; those are noise in an update dialog.
+ */
+export function desktopReleaseNotes(options) {
+  const version = desktopVersion(options?.version);
+  const channel = desktopChannel(options?.channel);
+  const sourceUrl = options?.sourceUrl;
+  if (typeof sourceUrl !== 'string' || sourceUrl.length === 0) {
+    throw new Error('Desktop release notes require the source commit URL.');
+  }
+  const entries = [];
+  for (const line of changelogSection(options?.changelog ?? '', version)) {
+    if (!line.startsWith('- ')) continue;
+    const text = line.slice(2).replace(attributionPattern, '').trim();
+    if (text.length > 0) entries.push(`- ${text}`);
+  }
+  if (entries.length === 0) {
+    if (channel === 'stable') {
+      throw new Error(`apps/desktop/CHANGELOG.md has no entries for ${version}; a stable release must tell users what changed.`);
+    }
+    entries.push(`- Preview build of the ${channel} channel.`);
+  }
+  return `${entries.join('\n')}\n\n---\n\nBuilt from ${sourceUrl}.\n`;
+}
+
 function writeOutputs(result) {
   const lines = [
     `version=${result.version}`,
@@ -201,6 +240,16 @@ function main() {
     }));
     return;
   }
+  if (command === 'notes' && args.length === 4) {
+    const [changelogPath, version, channel, sourceUrl] = args;
+    process.stdout.write(desktopReleaseNotes({
+      changelog: readFileSync(resolve(changelogPath), 'utf8'),
+      version,
+      channel,
+      sourceUrl,
+    }));
+    return;
+  }
   if (command === 'configure' && args.length === 3) {
     const [path, version, channel] = args;
     const packagePath = resolve(path);
@@ -208,7 +257,7 @@ function main() {
     writeFileSync(packagePath, `${JSON.stringify(configured, null, 2)}\n`, 'utf8');
     return;
   }
-  throw new Error('Usage: desktop-release.mjs resolve <event> <package-version> <channel> <tag> <commit-count> <publish-nightly> | configure <package-json> <version> <channel>');
+  throw new Error('Usage: desktop-release.mjs resolve <event> <package-version> <channel> <tag> <commit-count> <publish-nightly> | notes <changelog> <version> <channel> <source-url> | configure <package-json> <version> <channel>');
 }
 
 if (process.argv[1] !== undefined && resolve(process.argv[1]) === fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)) {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/updater.ts b/apps/desktop/src/updater.ts
index 477a5b98f..73956ea92 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/updater.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/updater.ts
@@ -109,10 +109,144 @@ export function writeUpdateSettings(dir: string, value: UpdateSettings): void {
   writeFileSync(join(dir, UPDATE_SETTINGS_FILE), `${JSON.stringify(value, null, 2)}\n`, 'utf8')
 }
 
+const HTML_MARKUP_PATTERN = /<\/?[a-z][^>]*>/iu
+const NAMED_ENTITIES: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = {
+  amp: '&',
+  apos: "'",
+  gt: '>',
+  lt: '<',
+  nbsp: ' ',
+  quot: '"',
+}
+
+function decodeEntities(value: string): string {
+  return value.replaceAll(/&(#x[0-9a-f]+|#\d+|[a-z]+);/giu, (match, entity: string) => {
+    if (!entity.startsWith('#')) return NAMED_ENTITIES[entity.toLowerCase()] ?? match
+    const code = entity.startsWith('#x') || entity.startsWith('#X')
+      ? Number.parseInt(entity.slice(2), 16)
+      : Number.parseInt(entity.slice(1), 10)
+    return Number.isSafeInteger(code) && code > 0 && code <= 0x10ffff ? String.fromCodePoint(code) : match
+  })
+}
+
+const BLOCK_BREAK_TAGS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
+  'blockquote',
+  'div',
+  'h1',
+  'h2',
+  'h3',
+  'h4',
+  'h5',
+  'h6',
+  'li',
+  'ol',
+  'p',
+  'pre',
+  'table',
+  'tr',
+  'ul',
+])
+
+const RAW_TEXT_TAGS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set(['script', 'style'])
+
+const TAG_NAME_CHARACTER = /[a-z0-9]/iu
+
+interface HtmlTag {
+  name: string
+  closing: boolean
+  end: number
+}
+
+function readTag(value: string, start: number): HtmlTag | undefined {
+  const end = value.indexOf('>', start)
+  if (end < 0) return undefined
+  const closing = value[start + 1] === '/'
+  const nameStart = start + (closing ? 2 : 1)
+  let cursor = nameStart
+  while (cursor < end && TAG_NAME_CHARACTER.test(value[cursor] ?? '')) cursor += 1
+  return { name: value.slice(nameStart, cursor).toLowerCase(), closing, end }
+}
+
+function skipRawTextElement(value: string, name: string, from: number): number {
+  let index = from
+  while (index < value.length) {
+    const next = value.indexOf('<', index)
+    if (next < 0) return value.length
+    const tag = readTag(value, next)
+    if (tag === undefined) return value.length
+    if (tag.closing && tag.name === name) return tag.end + 1
+    index = tag.end + 1
+  }
+  return value.length
+}
+
+/**
+ * Decoding runs after the scan, so `&lt;script&gt;` — which is how GitHub
+ * renders a literal tag an author typed — turns back into `<script>` once the
+ * scan can no longer see it. The update dialog renders this value with a
+ * Markdown component that does render raw HTML, so the decoded text has to
+ * leave here inert. Escaping the angle brackets keeps it readable: a Markdown
+ * renderer prints `&lt;` as `<` text rather than opening an element.
+ */
+function escapeMarkupStarts(value: string): string {
+  return value.replaceAll('<', '&lt;').replaceAll('>', '&gt;')
+}
+
+/**
+ * The GitHub provider reads the releases Atom feed, whose `<content>` is the
+ * body GitHub has already rendered to HTML. The renderer shows these notes as
+ * Markdown, so the tags would print literally — `PyModel/pythinker-code@<tt>`
+ * and the rest. Reduce the markup to text here, at the boundary that already
+ * owns this field.
+ *
+ * This walks the input once and copies out only the text it passes, rather
+ * than deleting tags from the string. Deletion is what lets `<scr<x>ipt>`
+ * close back up into markup; a scan that never re-reads what it emitted cannot
+ * produce a tag that was not already there. Markup the scan cannot terminate
+ * ends the walk, so an unclosed `<` is dropped with the rest of the tail.
+ */
+function plainReleaseNotes(value: string): string {
+  let text = ''
+  let index = 0
+  while (index < value.length) {
+    const next = value.indexOf('<', index)
+    if (next < 0) {
+      text += value.slice(index)
+      break
+    }
+    text += value.slice(index, next)
+    const tag = readTag(value, next)
+    if (tag === undefined) break
+    if (!tag.closing && RAW_TEXT_TAGS.has(tag.name)) {
+      index = skipRawTextElement(value, tag.name, tag.end + 1)
+      continue
+    }
+    if (tag.name === 'li' && !tag.closing) text += '\n- '
+    else if (tag.name === 'br') text += '\n'
+    else if (tag.closing && BLOCK_BREAK_TAGS.has(tag.name)) text += '\n'
+    index = tag.end + 1
+  }
+  return escapeMarkupStarts(decodeEntities(text))
+    .replaceAll(/[^\S\n]+\n/gu, '\n')
+    .replaceAll(/\n{3,}/gu, '\n\n')
+    .trim()
+}
+
+function normalizedNote(value: string): string {
+  return HTML_MARKUP_PATTERN.test(value) ? plainReleaseNotes(value) : value.trim()
+}
+
 function releaseNotesText(value: UpdateInfo['releaseNotes']): string | undefined {
-  if (typeof value === 'string') return value
+  if (typeof value === 'string') {
+    const note = normalizedNote(value)
+    return note.length > 0 ? note : undefined
+  }
   if (!Array.isArray(value)) return undefined
-  const notes = value.flatMap(item => typeof item.note === 'string' ? [item.note] : [])
+  const notes = value.flatMap(item => {
+    if (typeof item.note !== 'string') return []
+    const note = normalizedNote(item.note)
+    return note.length > 0 ? [note] : []
+  })
   return notes.length > 0 ? notes.join('\n\n') : undefined
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts
index 022d1515d..bbda49c95 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ describe('desktop release workflow', () => {
     expect(workflow).toContain('verify-update-manifest.ts win')
   })
 
+  it('gives users the changelog as the release body instead of a build stamp', () => {
+    expect(workflow).toContain('scripts/desktop-release.mjs notes')
+    expect(workflow).toContain('--notes-file "$notes_file"')
+    expect(workflow).not.toContain('--notes "Pythinker Desktop')
+  })
+
   it('never publishes a manual unsigned build to the release feed', () => {
     expect(workflow).toContain("publish: ${{ steps.resolve.outputs.publish }}")
     expect(workflow).toContain("if: needs.prepare.outputs.publish == 'true'")
diff --git a/apps/desktop/tests/updater.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/tests/updater.spec.ts
index ebf594a2e..f0d8030bf 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/tests/updater.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/tests/updater.spec.ts
@@ -888,6 +888,114 @@ describe('update prompt receipts', () => {
     expect(readLocalUpdateSettings(directory).pendingInstallVersion).toBeUndefined()
   })
 
+  it('renders GitHub HTML release notes as text', async () => {
+    vi.resetModules()
+    const directory = temporaryDirectory()
+    writeFileSync(join(directory, 'app-update.yml'), '', 'utf8')
+    const { app: localApp } = await import('electron')
+    const localElectronUpdater = (await import('electron-updater')).default
+    const {
+      getUpdateState: getLocalUpdateState,
+      initUpdater: initLocalUpdater,
+    } = await import('../src/updater')
+    const localAutoUpdater = localElectronUpdater.autoUpdater
+    vi.mocked(localApp.getPath).mockReturnValue(directory)
+    Object.defineProperty(localApp, 'isPackaged', { configurable: true, value: true })
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'resourcesPath', { configurable: true, value: directory })
+
+    initLocalUpdater(() => undefined)
+    const available = vi.mocked(localAutoUpdater.on).mock.calls
+      .find(([event]) => event === 'update-available')?.[1] as ((info: { version: string, releaseNotes?: string }) => void) | undefined
+    available?.({
+      version: '1.2.3',
+      releaseNotes: '<ul>\n<li>Install Windows updates in the background.</li>\n</ul>\n<hr>\n'
+        + '<p>Built from <a class="commit-link" href="https://example.com/commit/f27686a">PyModel/pythinker-code@<tt>f27686a</tt></a>.</p>',
+    })
+
+    expect(getLocalUpdateState().releaseNotes).toBe(
+      '- Install Windows updates in the background.\n\nBuilt from PyModel/pythinker-code@f27686a.',
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('keeps plain release notes untouched', async () => {
+    vi.resetModules()
+    const directory = temporaryDirectory()
+    writeFileSync(join(directory, 'app-update.yml'), '', 'utf8')
+    const { app: localApp } = await import('electron')
+    const localElectronUpdater = (await import('electron-updater')).default
+    const {
+      getUpdateState: getLocalUpdateState,
+      initUpdater: initLocalUpdater,
+    } = await import('../src/updater')
+    const localAutoUpdater = localElectronUpdater.autoUpdater
+    vi.mocked(localApp.getPath).mockReturnValue(directory)
+    Object.defineProperty(localApp, 'isPackaged', { configurable: true, value: true })
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'resourcesPath', { configurable: true, value: directory })
+
+    initLocalUpdater(() => undefined)
+    const available = vi.mocked(localAutoUpdater.on).mock.calls
+      .find(([event]) => event === 'update-available')?.[1] as ((info: { version: string, releaseNotes?: string }) => void) | undefined
+    available?.({ version: '1.2.3', releaseNotes: '- One fix\n- Another fix' })
+
+    expect(getLocalUpdateState().releaseNotes).toBe('- One fix\n- Another fix')
+  })
+
+  it('cannot be made to emit markup by nesting or truncating tags', async () => {
+    vi.resetModules()
+    const directory = temporaryDirectory()
+    writeFileSync(join(directory, 'app-update.yml'), '', 'utf8')
+    const { app: localApp } = await import('electron')
+    const localElectronUpdater = (await import('electron-updater')).default
+    const {
+      getUpdateState: getLocalUpdateState,
+      initUpdater: initLocalUpdater,
+    } = await import('../src/updater')
+    const localAutoUpdater = localElectronUpdater.autoUpdater
+    vi.mocked(localApp.getPath).mockReturnValue(directory)
+    Object.defineProperty(localApp, 'isPackaged', { configurable: true, value: true })
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'resourcesPath', { configurable: true, value: directory })
+
+    initLocalUpdater(() => undefined)
+    const available = vi.mocked(localAutoUpdater.on).mock.calls
+      .find(([event]) => event === 'update-available')?.[1] as ((info: { version: string, releaseNotes?: string }) => void) | undefined
+    available?.({
+      version: '1.2.3',
+      releaseNotes: '<p>Real note.</p><scr<span>ipt>x</script><script>hidden()</script><b>Kept</b><spa',
+    })
+
+    const notes = getLocalUpdateState().releaseNotes ?? ''
+    expect(notes).not.toContain('<')
+    expect(notes).toContain('Real note.')
+    expect(notes).toContain('Kept')
+    expect(notes).not.toContain('hidden()')
+  })
+
+  it('does not let encoded markup decode back into tags', async () => {
+    vi.resetModules()
+    const directory = temporaryDirectory()
+    writeFileSync(join(directory, 'app-update.yml'), '', 'utf8')
+    const { app: localApp } = await import('electron')
+    const localElectronUpdater = (await import('electron-updater')).default
+    const {
+      getUpdateState: getLocalUpdateState,
+      initUpdater: initLocalUpdater,
+    } = await import('../src/updater')
+    const localAutoUpdater = localElectronUpdater.autoUpdater
+    vi.mocked(localApp.getPath).mockReturnValue(directory)
+    Object.defineProperty(localApp, 'isPackaged', { configurable: true, value: true })
+    Object.defineProperty(process, 'resourcesPath', { configurable: true, value: directory })
+
+    initLocalUpdater(() => undefined)
+    const available = vi.mocked(localAutoUpdater.on).mock.calls
+      .find(([event]) => event === 'update-available')?.[1] as ((info: { version: string, releaseNotes?: string }) => void) | undefined
+    available?.({
+      version: '1.2.3',
+      releaseNotes: '<p>Note</p>&lt;script&gt;payload&lt;/script&gt;',
+    })
+
+    expect(getLocalUpdateState().releaseNotes).toBe('Note\n&lt;script&gt;payload&lt;/script&gt;')
+  })
+
   it('reports a pending install that did not take effect as an error', async () => {
     vi.resetModules()
     const directory = temporaryDirectory()
diff --git a/scripts/release/desktop-release.test.mjs b/scripts/release/desktop-release.test.mjs
index 9be05c994..90d061c0e 100644
--- a/scripts/release/desktop-release.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release/desktop-release.test.mjs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import test from 'node:test';
 import {
   configureDesktopPackage,
   desktopManifestName,
+  desktopReleaseNotes,
   nightlyDesktopVersion,
   resolveDesktopRelease,
 } from '../../apps/desktop/scripts/desktop-release.mjs';
@@ -118,3 +119,80 @@ void test('rejects mismatched tags and unsupported prerelease channels', () => {
     publishNightly: false,
   }), /explicit Nightly publishing permission/u);
 });
+
+const changelog = [
+  '# @pymodel/pythinker-desktop',
+  '',
+  '## 0.3.8',
+  '',
+  '### Patch Changes',
+  '',
+  '- [#225](https://example.com/pull/225) [`f27686a`](https://example.com/commit/f27686a) Thanks [@someone](https://example.com/someone)! - Install Windows updates in the background.',
+  '- [#226](https://example.com/pull/226) Thanks [@someone](https://example.com/someone)! - Report an update that did not take effect.',
+  '',
+  '## 0.3.1',
+  '',
+  '- [#190](https://example.com/pull/190) Thanks [@someone](https://example.com/someone)! - Restore downloadable desktop releases.',
+  '',
+].join('\n');
+
+void test('release notes carry the changelog entries without changesets attribution', () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    desktopReleaseNotes({
+      changelog,
+      version: '0.3.8',
+      channel: 'stable',
+      sourceUrl: 'https://example.com/commit/f27686a',
+    }),
+    [
+      '- Install Windows updates in the background.',
+      '- Report an update that did not take effect.',
+      '',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      'Built from https://example.com/commit/f27686a.',
+      '',
+    ].join('\n'),
+  );
+});
+
+void test('release notes stop at the next version heading', () => {
+  const notes = desktopReleaseNotes({
+    changelog,
+    version: '0.3.1',
+    channel: 'stable',
+    sourceUrl: 'https://example.com/commit/f27686a',
+  });
+  assert.match(notes, /Restore downloadable desktop releases\./u);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(notes, /Install Windows updates/u);
+});
+
+void test('a stable release without a changelog entry fails instead of shipping', () => {
+  assert.throws(() => desktopReleaseNotes({
+    changelog,
+    version: '0.4.0',
+    channel: 'stable',
+    sourceUrl: 'https://example.com/commit/f27686a',
+  }), /no entries for 0\.4\.0/u);
+});
+
+void test('a preview channel without a changelog entry still describes itself', () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    desktopReleaseNotes({
+      changelog,
+      version: '0.4.0-nightly.4200',
+      channel: 'nightly',
+      sourceUrl: 'https://example.com/commit/f27686a',
+    }),
+    '- Preview build of the nightly channel.\n\n---\n\nBuilt from https://example.com/commit/f27686a.\n',
+  );
+});
+
+void test('release notes require the source commit URL the resume check reads', () => {
+  assert.throws(() => desktopReleaseNotes({
+    changelog,
+    version: '0.3.8',
+    channel: 'stable',
+    sourceUrl: '',
+  }), /source commit URL/u);
+});