diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-pr.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..65c488648
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-pr.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+name: Validate PR
+
+on:
+    pull_request:
+        types: [opened, edited, synchronize, labeled, unlabeled]
+
+jobs:
+    validate:
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        permissions:
+            pull-requests: read
+        steps:
+            - name: Ensure PR has a valid type
+              uses: actions/github-script@v7
+              with:
+                  script: |
+                      const title = context.payload.pull_request.title;
+                      const prefixMatch = title.match(/^(\w+)(?:\([^)]*\))?(!)?:/);
+                      const prefix = prefixMatch?.[1]?.toLowerCase();
+
+                      const validPrefixes = [
+                          'feat', 'fix', 'perf', 'test', 'docs',
+                          'build', 'ci', 'refactor', 'task', 'chore', 'style',
+                      ];
+
+                      const hasValidPrefix = validPrefixes.includes(prefix);
+                      const isBreaking = prefixMatch?.[2] === '!';
+
+                      const { data: labels } = await github.rest.issues.listLabelsOnIssue({
+                          owner: context.repo.owner,
+                          repo: context.repo.repo,
+                          issue_number: context.payload.pull_request.number,
+                      });
+
+                      const typeLabels = [
+                          '[Type] Enhancement',
+                          '[Type] Bug',
+                          '[Type] Performance',
+                          '[Type] Automated Testing',
+                          '[Type] Developer Documentation',
+                          '[Type] Build Tooling',
+                          '[Type] Task',
+                          '[Type] Breaking Change',
+                          '[Type] Regression',
+                      ];
+
+                      const hasTypeLabel = labels.some((l) => typeLabels.includes(l.name));
+
+                      if (hasValidPrefix || hasTypeLabel) {
+                          const method = hasValidPrefix ? 'Conventional Commits prefix' : 'type label';
+                          core.info(`✅ PR has a valid type via ${method}`);
+                          return;
+                      }
+
+                      core.setFailed(
+                          'PR must have either a Conventional Commits title prefix (e.g. feat:, fix:, docs:) ' +
+                          'or a [Type] label applied manually.\n\n' +
+                          'See docs/code/developer-workflows.md for details.'
+                      );
diff --git a/docs/releases.md b/docs/releases.md
index 4b0118b27..dd82f1068 100644
--- a/docs/releases.md
+++ b/docs/releases.md
@@ -39,18 +39,5 @@ The script:
 
 After the release is created, it is ready for integration into the WordPress app.
 
-## Release Notes
-
-GitHub automatically generates release notes when a release is created. Notes are organized into the following categories based on PR labels:
-
--   **Breaking Changes** — `[Type] Breaking Change`
--   **Features & Enhancements** — `[Type] Enhancement`
--   **Bug Fixes** — `[Type] Bug`, `[Type] Regression`
--   **Other Changes** — everything else (excludes `[Type] Automated Testing`, `[Type] Build Tooling`, `[Type] Task`, `[Type] Developer Documentation`, and `dependencies`)
-
-Dependabot dependency bump PRs are excluded automatically.
-
-PRs are labeled automatically based on their Conventional Commits title prefix. See the [Developer Workflows](./code/developer-workflows.md) guide for details on the labeling rules.
-
 [^1]: We increment the version before building and without tagging so that (1) the correct version number is included in the build's [error reporting metadata](https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/GutenbergKit/blob/8195901ec8883125dcfa102abf2b6a2a3962af3e/src/utils/exception-parser.js#L99) and (2) the Git tag includes the latest build output.
 [^2]: CI tasks create new Android builds for each commit. However, such infrastructure is not yet in place for iOS. Therefore, we must manually create and commit the iOS build.
diff --git a/test-pr-423-invalid-prefix.txt b/test-pr-423-invalid-prefix.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb