diff --git a/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/CHANGELOG.md
index 2e2fbb9e38..43600989d1 100644
--- a/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog for the PR pipeline convention
 
+## 2.11.0 - 2026-10-18
+
+[Changing this config](README.md#changing-this-config): a pull request that changes a lane and
+lists a not-verified item that could stop the lane checks that item live before it merges. An item
+only a merged run can exercise merges only once a tracked issue names the check and its owner; a
+line in the pull request body does not count. `version` stays 2.
+
 ## 2.10.0 - 2026-10-18
 
 `resolve-issue` lists `scripts/new-changelog-fragment.sh` as a `verify-script`, so the issue lane
diff --git a/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/README.md b/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/README.md
index ef8b60e478..ff753a2efc 100644
--- a/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/README.md
+++ b/docs/conventions/pr-pipeline/README.md
@@ -913,6 +913,13 @@ The config file is a lane-power file: a human merges every change to it, and no
 same holds for the trusted-actor list and any change to a lane's permissions, tokens or triggers.
 Everything downstream of that human merge may propagate on its own.
 
+A pull request that changes a lane and lists a not-verified item that could stop the lane from
+running checks that item live before it merges. An item only a merged run can exercise, such as
+a changed workflow that runs from the base branch, merges only once a tracked issue names the
+check and its owner; a line in the pull request body does not count. Evidence: melodic-software/ci-workflows#755 listed its
+intake author gate as "unverified, fails closed", merged, and skipped every intake run here
+(melodic-software/ci-workflows#772).
+
 ## Outside this repository
 
 The lanes depend on pieces other repositories own. Each row names where that piece is documented;