Document the 1.4.0 release candidate

README.md

@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ DocForge never treats indexed text as instructions. It does not run project buil
 compilers, Git operations, deployments, or arbitrary renderers, and it does not select projects
 globally.
 
-DocForge 1.0.0 remains the first stable release in this product line. This checkout is the
-post-1.0 development line (`1.3.0.dev0`) and contains the Milestone 4 adapter-platform work.
-Milestone 4 is not a new product release, and Milestone 5 release and publication work remains
-separate.
+DocForge 1.0.0 remains the latest published stable release in this product line. This checkout is
+the `1.4.0` release candidate and contains the complete Milestone 4 adapter platform plus
+Milestone 5 stabilization evidence. The `v1.4.0` tag and Forgejo release are still pending; this
+candidate is not published yet.
 
 ## Start here
 
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ separate.
 - Agent and client setup: [Agent integration](docs/AGENT_INTEGRATION.md)
 - Exact live command and tool inventory: [Generated command reference](docs/COMMAND_REFERENCE.md)
 - Task-oriented operating guide: [User manual](docs/USER_MANUAL.md)
+- Release-candidate changes and evidence: [Changelog](CHANGELOG.md) and [Milestone 5
+  baseline](docs/MILESTONE_5_BASELINE.md)
 
 ## Current capabilities
 
@@ -210,6 +212,8 @@ paths.
 
 ### Milestone evidence
 
+- [Milestone 5 baseline](docs/MILESTONE_5_BASELINE.md)
+- [Milestone 5 release-candidate closeout](docs/MILESTONE_5_CLOSEOUT.md)
 - [Milestone 4 baseline](docs/MILESTONE_4_BASELINE.md)
 - [Milestone 4 closeout](docs/MILESTONE_4_CLOSEOUT.md)
 - [Milestone 3 baseline](docs/MILESTONE_3_BASELINE.md) and [closeout](docs/MILESTONE_3_CLOSEOUT.md)
@@ -244,6 +248,22 @@ Python reference plus a real isolated read-only MCP retrieval. The optional-lang
 have their own focused tests and extras. `benchmark-m4` runs the maintained full adapter workload;
 the smoke target is for routine gate coverage, not final performance evidence.
 
+Milestone 5 adds focused and aggregate release-candidate gates:
+
+```bash
+make compatibility-m5
+make migration-m5
+make concurrency-m5
+make recovery-m5
+make task-evidence-m5
+make release-gate
+make fresh-clone-m5
+```
+
+`release-gate` includes the complete repository, accessibility, adoption, artifact-reproducibility,
+secret-scan, and full maintained benchmark sequence. `fresh-clone-m5` is the final remote-commit
+rehearsal and must pass before the annotated tag and Forgejo release are created.
+
 Pass `--diagnostics` to `docforge` or `docforge-mcp` for bounded request-local timings and compiler
 work counters. Diagnostics are disabled by default and do not displace a primary result when the
 configured output budget is tight.