diff --git a/.ai/skills/release/SKILL.md b/.ai/skills/release/SKILL.md
index 7dafda45..4cf5c28d 100644
--- a/.ai/skills/release/SKILL.md
+++ b/.ai/skills/release/SKILL.md
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@ description: Checklist for releasing packages from this monorepo (code PR -> Ver
       2. Run `corepack yarn verify:full` locally once before pushing.
          - This is the fastest way to catch the common CI-only failure: transloadit parity drift in `Verify (full)`.
       3. If `verify:full` (or CI `Verify (full)`) fails with transloadit parity drift, apply the “Parity drift playbook” below, then re-run `corepack yarn verify:full`.
-   4. Commit + push branch
-   5. Open PR, wait for CI green
-   6. Squash-merge the PR
+   4. If you add a changeset for `@transloadit/node`, also add a similar changeset for `@transloadit/mcp-server` if it could affect its workings. The chances are, they are, since the latter is mostly a thin wrapper around the former.
+      - This repo enforces a one-way coupling: node releases should also publish a new mcp-server version (but mcp-server releases do not require node releases).
+      - `yarn check`/`yarn verify` will fail fast if you forget.
+   5. Commit + push branch
+   6. Open PR, wait for CI green
+   7. Squash-merge the PR
 
    Notes:
    1. When creating PRs with `gh pr create` from a shell, avoid unescaped backticks in the `--body` string.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8d4c11ff..facd1407 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@
     "packages/*"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "check": "yarn fix:deps && yarn fix:js && yarn lint:ts && yarn test:unit",
-    "verify": "yarn lint:publish && yarn lint:deps && yarn lint:js && yarn lint:ts && yarn test:unit",
+    "check": "yarn lint:changesets && yarn fix:deps && yarn fix:js && yarn lint:ts && yarn test:unit",
+    "verify": "yarn lint:changesets && yarn lint:publish && yarn lint:deps && yarn lint:js && yarn lint:ts && yarn test:unit",
     "verify:full": "yarn verify && yarn knip && yarn parity:transloadit && yarn test:types",
     "lint:js": "biome check .",
     "lint:ts": "yarn tsc:types && yarn tsc:node && yarn tsc:zod",
+    "lint:changesets": "node scripts/guard-changesets.ts",
     "lint": "yarn lint:js",
     "fix": "yarn fix:js",
     "fix:js": "biome check --write .",
diff --git a/scripts/guard-changesets.ts b/scripts/guard-changesets.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4c26277d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/guard-changesets.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises'
+import path from 'node:path'
+
+type BumpType = 'major' | 'minor' | 'patch'
+
+type ParsedChangeset = {
+  file: string
+  packages: Set<string>
+}
+
+const CHANGESET_DIR = path.join(process.cwd(), '.changeset')
+const NODE_PKG = '@transloadit/node'
+const MCP_SERVER_PKG = '@transloadit/mcp-server'
+
+async function listChangesetFiles(): Promise<string[]> {
+  let entries: string[]
+  try {
+    entries = await fs.readdir(CHANGESET_DIR)
+  } catch {
+    return []
+  }
+
+  return entries
+    .filter((name) => name.endsWith('.md'))
+    .filter((name) => name.toLowerCase() !== 'readme.md')
+    .map((name) => path.join(CHANGESET_DIR, name))
+}
+
+function parseFrontmatterPackages(markdown: string): Set<string> {
+  // Changesets frontmatter is YAML-ish and looks like:
+  // ---
+  // "@transloadit/node": patch
+  // "@transloadit/mcp-server": patch
+  // ---
+  const first = markdown.indexOf('---')
+  if (first === -1) return new Set()
+  const second = markdown.indexOf('---', first + 3)
+  if (second === -1) return new Set()
+
+  const frontmatter = markdown.slice(first + 3, second)
+  const pkgs = new Set<string>()
+  const re = /["']([^"']+)["']\s*:\s*(major|minor|patch)\b/g
+
+  for (const match of frontmatter.matchAll(re)) {
+    const pkg = match[1]
+    const bump = match[2] as BumpType
+    if (pkg && bump) pkgs.add(pkg)
+  }
+  return pkgs
+}
+
+async function parseChangesets(files: string[]): Promise<ParsedChangeset[]> {
+  const out: ParsedChangeset[] = []
+  for (const file of files) {
+    const markdown = await fs.readFile(file, 'utf8')
+    out.push({ file, packages: parseFrontmatterPackages(markdown) })
+  }
+  return out
+}
+
+function fail(message: string): never {
+  // stderr only, so it plays well with JSON-only tools.
+  process.stderr.write(`${message}\n`)
+  process.exit(1)
+}
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+  const files = await listChangesetFiles()
+  if (files.length === 0) return
+
+  const changesets = await parseChangesets(files)
+  const touched = new Set<string>()
+  for (const cs of changesets) {
+    for (const pkg of cs.packages) touched.add(pkg)
+  }
+
+  // One-way coupling policy:
+  // If @transloadit/node is being released, also release @transloadit/mcp-server
+  // so the published mcp-server versions stay "in sync" with node evolution.
+  const touchesNode = touched.has(NODE_PKG)
+  const touchesMcpServer = touched.has(MCP_SERVER_PKG)
+
+  if (touchesNode && !touchesMcpServer) {
+    fail(
+      [
+        `Changeset policy violation: ${NODE_PKG} is being released, but ${MCP_SERVER_PKG} is not.`,
+        '',
+        `Add a patch changeset for ${MCP_SERVER_PKG} (even if no code changed) so the published MCP server`,
+        'can be tracked as validated against the latest @transloadit/node.',
+        '',
+        'Example:',
+        '  corepack yarn changeset',
+        `  (select ${MCP_SERVER_PKG} -> patch)`,
+        `  Summary: "chore: release mcp-server alongside @transloadit/node"`,
+      ].join('\n'),
+    )
+  }
+}
+
+await main()