diff --git a/doc/release/notes.rst b/doc/release/notes.rst
index 3dca7339..b4f7fb73 100644
--- a/doc/release/notes.rst
+++ b/doc/release/notes.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,75 @@
+1.8.0rc0
+========
+
+We're happy to announce the release of numpydoc 1.8.0rc0!
+
+Enhancements
+------------
+
+- Unify CLIs (`#537 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/537>`_).
+- Move "Attributes" and "Methods" below "Parameters" (`#571 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/571>`_).
+
+Bug Fixes
+---------
+
+- FIX: coroutines can have a return statement (`#542 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/542>`_).
+- Unwrap decorated objects for YD01 validation check (`#541 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/541>`_).
+- Fix bug with validation encoding (`#550 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/550>`_).
+
+Documentation
+-------------
+
+- Classify development status as Production/Stable (`#548 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/548>`_).
+- Add note about TOML regex; fix typo (`#552 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/552>`_).
+- DOC: Clarify recommendations regarding use of backticks (`#525 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/525>`_).
+
+Maintenance
+-----------
+
+- Fix typo in label-check.yml (`#538 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/538>`_).
+- [pre-commit.ci] pre-commit autoupdate (`#539 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/539>`_).
+- DEV: Rm xfails from pytest summary (`#540 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/540>`_).
+- Drop Python 3.8 support (`#545 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/545>`_).
+- Clean up old sphinx cruft (`#549 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/549>`_).
+- Test on sphinx 7.3 (`#547 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/547>`_).
+- Require GHA update grouping (`#553 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/553>`_).
+- Update pre-commit config (`#554 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/554>`_).
+- Use ruff for linting and formatting (`#555 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/555>`_).
+- Use intersphinx registry to avoid out of date links (`#563 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/563>`_).
+- Do not rely on requirements.txt in ci, use .[test,doc] (`#566 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/566>`_).
+- CI: update action that got moved org (`#567 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/567>`_).
+- Fix navbar for documentation pages (`#569 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/569>`_).
+- [pre-commit.ci] pre-commit autoupdate (`#570 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/570>`_).
+- docscrape: fixes from SciPy (`#576 <https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc/pull/576>`_).
+
+Contributors
+------------
+
+10 authors added to this release (alphabetically):
+
+- Brigitta Sipőcz (`@bsipocz <https://github.com/bsipocz>`_)
+- Eric Larson (`@larsoner <https://github.com/larsoner>`_)
+- Jarrod Millman (`@jarrodmillman <https://github.com/jarrodmillman>`_)
+- Lucas Colley (`@lucascolley <https://github.com/lucascolley>`_)
+- M Bussonnier (`@Carreau <https://github.com/Carreau>`_)
+- Matt Haberland (`@mdhaber <https://github.com/mdhaber>`_)
+- Melissa Weber Mendonça (`@melissawm <https://github.com/melissawm>`_)
+- Ross Barnowski (`@rossbar <https://github.com/rossbar>`_)
+- Stefanie Molin (`@stefmolin <https://github.com/stefmolin>`_)
+- Thomas A Caswell (`@tacaswell <https://github.com/tacaswell>`_)
+
+7 reviewers added to this release (alphabetically):
+
+- Eric Larson (`@larsoner <https://github.com/larsoner>`_)
+- Jarrod Millman (`@jarrodmillman <https://github.com/jarrodmillman>`_)
+- M Bussonnier (`@Carreau <https://github.com/Carreau>`_)
+- Matt Haberland (`@mdhaber <https://github.com/mdhaber>`_)
+- Ross Barnowski (`@rossbar <https://github.com/rossbar>`_)
+- Stefan van der Walt (`@stefanv <https://github.com/stefanv>`_)
+- Stefanie Molin (`@stefmolin <https://github.com/stefmolin>`_)
+
+_These lists are automatically generated, and may not be complete or may contain duplicates._
+
 1.7.0
 =====
 
diff --git a/numpydoc/_version.py b/numpydoc/_version.py
index df1d1074..5f18c551 100644
--- a/numpydoc/_version.py
+++ b/numpydoc/_version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "1.8.0rc0.dev0"
+__version__ = "1.8.0rc0"