Update DEVELOPMENT_CYCLE.md to work with [patch.crates-io]

Author: notmandatory

DEVELOPMENT_CYCLE.md

@@ -24,23 +24,47 @@ What follows are notes and procedures that maintainers can refer to when making
 
 Pre-`v1.0.0` our "major" releases only affect the "minor" semver value. Accordingly, our "minor" releases will only affect the "patch" value.
 
-1. Create a new branch called `release/x.y.z` from `master`. Double check that your local `master` is up-to-date with the upstream repo before doing so.
-2. Make a commit on the release branch to bump the version to `x.y.z-rc.1`. The message should be "Bump version to x.y.z-rc.1".
-3. Push the new branch to `bitcoindevkit/bdk` on GitHub.
-4. During the one week of feature freeze run additional tests on the release branch.
-5. If a bug is found:
-    - If it's a minor issue you can just fix it in the release branch, since it will be merged back to `master` eventually
-    - For bigger issues you can fix them on `master` and then *cherry-pick* the commit to the release branch
-6. Update the changelog with the new release version.
-7. Update `src/lib.rs` with the new version (line ~43)
-8. On release day, make a commit on the release branch to bump the version to `x.y.z`. The message should be "Bump version to x.y.z".
-9. Add a tag to this commit. The tag name should be `vx.y.z` (for example `v0.5.0`), and the message "Release x.y.z". Make sure the tag is signed, for extra safety use the explicit `--sign` flag.
-10. Push the new commits to the upstream release branch, wait for the CI to finish one last time.
-11. Publish **all** the updated crates to crates.io.
-12. Make a new commit to bump the version value to `x.y.(z+1)-dev`. The message should be "Bump version to x.y.(z+1)-dev".
-13. Merge the release branch back into `master`.
-14. If the `master` branch contains any unreleased changes to the `bdk-macros` crate, change the `bdk` Cargo.toml `[dependencies]` to point to the local path (ie. `bdk-macros = { path = "./macros"}`)
-15. Create the release on GitHub: go to "tags", click on the dots on the right and select "Create Release". Then set the title to `vx.y.z` and write down some brief release notes.
-16. Make sure the new release shows up on crates.io and that the docs are built correctly on docs.rs.
-17. Announce the release on Twitter, Discord and Telegram.
-18. Celebrate :tada:
+These steps assume the current unreleased `master` branch version is `x.y.0`.
+
+### On feature freeze day
+
+1. Double check that your local `master` is up-to-date with the upstream repo.
+1. Create a new branch called `release/x.y` from `master`. 
+1. In the `release/x.y` branch update the changelog:
+   - Add descriptions for PRs merged since the prior release that are relevant to users. 
+   - The commit message should be "Update changelog for release x.y.0".
+1. Push the new branch to `bitcoindevkit/bdk` on GitHub. 
+1. In a new PR bump the `master` branch to the next unreleased MINOR version:
+   - Change the`Cargo.toml` version value to `x.y+1.0`.
+   - Update `src/lib.rs` with the new version (line ~43).
+   - The commit message should be "Bump version to x.y+1.0".
+
+### During the one week x.y.0 feature freeze or for x.y.z bug fix releases
+
+1. Run additional tests on the `release/x.y` branch.
+1. If a bug is found:
+    - If it's a minor issue fix it in the `release/x.y` branch, since it will be merged back to `master` eventually.
+    - For bigger issues you can fix them on `master` and then *cherry-pick* the commit to the `release/x.y` branch.
+    - Update the changelog with details of any significant fixes. The message should be "Update changelog for release x.y.z".
+
+### On x.y.0 release day or for x.y.z bug fix releases
+
+1. Add a tag to the `HEAD` commit in the `release/x.y` branch: 
+   - The tag name should be `vx.y.z`, and the message "Release x.y.z".  
+   - Make sure the tag is signed, for extra safety use the explicit `--sign` flag.
+1. Push the new tag to the upstream `release/x.y` branch, wait for the CI to finish one last time.
+1. Publish **all** the updated crates to crates.io.
+1. Merge the `release/x.y` branch CHANGELOG and any bug fixes back into `master`. 
+   The version on `master` should stay `x.y+1.0`.
+1. If the `master` branch contains any unreleased changes to the `bdk-macros` crate, change the 
+   `bdk` Cargo.toml `[dependencies]` to point to the local path (ie. `bdk-macros = { path = "./macros"}`)
+1. Create the release on GitHub:
+   - Go to "tags", click on the dots on the right and select "Create Release". 
+   - Set the title to `vx.y.z` and add a brief release description.
+   - Use the "+ Auto-generate release notes" button to add details from included PRs.
+1. Make sure the new release shows up on [crates.io] and that the docs are built correctly on [docs.rs].
+1. Announce the release on Discord, Twitter and Mastodon.
+1. Celebrate :tada:
+
+[crates.io]: https://crates.io/crates/bdk
+[docs.rs]: https://docs.rs/bdk/latest/bdk