Adding release-notes.md as separate file.

If a contributor reads the pull request template upon creating a PR then
they will get hints, but ahead of a PR there has not been sufficient
documentation of when release notes are required for a change, how a
contributor should indicate that a change needs notes, or what the note
text should be.  To help address this, this commit adds a first set of
release notes documentation for reference by the contributor guide.

1 files changed, 35 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/contributors/guide/release-notes.md b/contributors/guide/release-notes.md
new file mode 100644
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+On the kubernetes/kubernetes repository, release notes are required for any pull request with user-visible changes, such as bug-fixes, feature additions, and output format changes.
+
+To meet this requirement, do one of the following:
+- Add notes in the release notes block, or
+- Update the release note label
+
+If you don't add release notes in the pull request template, the `do-not-merge/release-note-label-needed` label is added to your pull request automatically after you create it. There are a few ways to update it.
+
+To add a release-note section to the pull request description:
+
+For pull requests with a release note:
+
+    ```release-note
+    Your release note here
+    ```
+
+For pull requests that require additional action from users switching to the new release, include the string "action required" (case insensitive) in the release note:
+
+    ```release-note
+    action required: your release note here
+    ```
+
+For pull requests that don't need to be mentioned at release time, just write "NONE" (case insensitive):
+
+    ```release-note
+    NONE
+    ```
+
+The `/release-note-none` comment command can still be used as an alternative to writing "NONE" in the release-note block if it is left empty.
+
+To see how to format your release notes, view the kubernetes/kubernetes[pull request template](https://git.k8s.io/kubernetes/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md) for a brief example. pull request titles and body comments can be modified at any time prior to the release to make them friendly for release notes.
+
+Release notes apply to pull requests on the master branch. For cherry-pick pull requests, see the [cherry-pick instructions](contributors/devel/cherry-picks.md). The only exception to these rules is when a pull request is not a cherry-pick and is targeted directly to the non-master branch.  In this case, a `release-note-*` label is required for that non-master pull request.
+
+Now that your release notes are in shape, let's look at how the pull request gets tested and merged.
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