diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3d2349f8a2..5724f0f192 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,18 @@
 
 ---
 
+## [3.8.51] — TBD
+
+_Living section — cycle opened at the v3.8.50 freeze (parallel-cycle model). Bullets are aggregated from `changelog.d/` fragments at each `/generate-release` phase._
+
+### ✨ New Features
+
+### 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+### 📝 Maintenance
+
+---
+
 ## [3.8.50] — TBD
 
 _Living section — regenerated 2026-08-12 from all cycle commits (cycle open `ed2db6cb19` → tip). Bullets carry the merged PR and its author; direct pushes listed separately._