diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 6d4bd23e4e..cdfa8c7975 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,108 @@
+Synapse 1.18.0rc1 (2020-07-27)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Include room states on invite events that are sent to application services. Contributed by @Sorunome. ([\#6455](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6455))
+- Add delete room admin endpoint (`POST /_synapse/admin/v1/rooms/<room_id>/delete`). Contributed by @dklimpel. ([\#7613](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7613), [\#7953](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7953))
+- Add experimental support for running multiple federation sender processes. ([\#7798](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7798))
+- Add the option to validate the `iss` and `aud` claims for JWT logins. ([\#7827](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7827))
+- Add support for handling registration requests across multiple client reader workers. ([\#7830](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7830))
+- Add an admin API to list the users in a room. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH. ([\#7842](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7842))
+- Allow email subjects to be customised through Synapse's configuration. ([\#7846](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7846))
+- Add the ability to re-activate an account from the admin API. ([\#7847](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7847), [\#7908](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7908))
+- Add experimental support for running multiple pusher workers. ([\#7855](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7855))
+- Add experimental support for moving typing off master. ([\#7869](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7869))
+- Report CPU metrics to prometheus for time spent processing replication commands. ([\#7879](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7879))
+- Support oEmbed for media previews. ([\#7920](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7920))
+- Abort federation requests where the client disconnects before the ratelimiter expires. ([\#7930](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7930))
+- Cache responses to `/_matrix/federation/v1/state_ids` to reduce duplicated work. ([\#7931](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7931))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Fix detection of out of sync remote device lists when receiving events from remote users. ([\#7815](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7815))
+- Fix bug where Synapse fails to process an incoming event over federation if the server is missing too much of the event's auth chain. ([\#7817](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7817))
+- Fix a bug causing Synapse to misinterpret the value `off` for `encryption_enabled_by_default_for_room_type` in its configuration file(s) if that value isn't surrounded by quotes. This bug was introduced in v1.16.0. ([\#7822](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7822))
+- Fix bug where we did not always pass in `app_name` or `server_name` to email templates, including e.g. for registration emails. ([\#7829](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7829))
+- Errors which occur while using the non-standard JWT login now return the proper error: `403 Forbidden` with an error code of `M_FORBIDDEN`. ([\#7844](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7844))
+- Fix "AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'" error message when applying per-room message retention policies. The bug was introduced in Synapse 1.7.0. ([\#7850](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7850))
+- Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.10.0 which could cause a "no create event in auth events" error during room creation. ([\#7854](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7854))
+- Fix a bug which allowed empty rooms to be rejoined over federation. ([\#7859](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7859))
+- Fix 'Unable to find a suitable guest user ID' error when using multiple client_reader workers. ([\#7866](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7866))
+- Fix a long standing bug where the tracing of async functions with opentracing was broken. ([\#7872](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7872), [\#7961](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7961))
+- Fix "TypeError in `synapse.notifier`" exceptions. ([\#7880](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7880))
+- Fix deprecation warning due to invalid escape sequences. ([\#7895](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7895))
+- Add experimental support for moving typing off master. ([\#7959](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7959))
+
+
+Updates to the Docker image
+---------------------------
+
+- Base docker image on Debian Buster rather than Alpine Linux. Contributed by @maquis196. ([\#7839](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7839))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Provide instructions on using `register_new_matrix_user` via docker. ([\#7885](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7885))
+- Change the sample config postgres user section to use `synapse_user` instead of `synapse` to align with the documentation. ([\#7889](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7889))
+- Reorder database paragraphs to promote postgres over sqlite. ([\#7933](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7933))
+- Update the dates of ACME v1's end of life in [`ACME.md`](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/docs/ACME.md). ([\#7934](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7934))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- Remove unused `synapse_replication_tcp_resource_invalidate_cache` prometheus metric. ([\#7878](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7878))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Switch from simplejson to the standard library json. ([\#7802](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7802))
+- Add type hints to the http server code and remove an unused parameter. ([\#7813](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7813))
+- Add type hints to synapse.api.errors module. ([\#7820](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7820))
+- Ensure that calls to `json.dumps` are compatible with the standard library json. ([\#7836](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7836))
+- Remove redundant `retry_on_integrity_error` wrapper for event persistence code. ([\#7848](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7848))
+- Consistently use `db_to_json` to convert from database values to JSON objects. ([\#7849](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7849))
+- Convert E2E keys and room keys handlers to async/await. ([\#7851](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7851))
+- Add support for handling registration requests across multiple client reader workers. ([\#7853](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7853))
+- Small performance improvement in typing processing. ([\#7856](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7856))
+- The default value of `filter_timeline_limit` was changed from -1 (no limit) to 100. ([\#7858](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7858))
+- Convert _base, profile, and _receipts handlers to async/await. ([\#7860](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7860))
+- Optimise queueing of inbound replication commands. ([\#7861](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7861))
+- Convert synapse.app and federation client to async/await. ([\#7868](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7868))
+- Add some type annotations to `HomeServer` and `BaseHandler`. ([\#7870](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7870))
+- Convert device handler to async/await. ([\#7871](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7871))
+- Convert more media code to async/await. ([\#7873](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7873))
+- Convert the federation agent and related code to async/await. ([\#7874](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7874))
+- Clean up `PreserveLoggingContext`. ([\#7877](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7877))
+- Change "unknown room version" logging from 'error' to 'warning'. ([\#7881](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7881))
+- Stop using `device_max_stream_id` table and just use `device_inbox.stream_id`. ([\#7882](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7882))
+- Convert the message handler to async/await. ([\#7884](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7884))
+- Return an empty body for OPTIONS requests. ([\#7886](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7886))
+- Remove Ubuntu Eoan from the list of `.deb` packages that we build as it is now end-of-life. Contributed by @gary-kim. ([\#7888](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7888))
+- Fix typo in generated config file. Contributed by @ThiefMaster. ([\#7890](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7890))
+- Import ABC from `collections.abc` for Python 3.10 compatibility. ([\#7892](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7892))
+- Remove unused functions `time_function`, `trace_function`, `get_previous_frames`
+  and `get_previous_frame` from `synapse.logging.utils` module. ([\#7897](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7897))
+- Convert `RoomListHandler` to async/await. ([\#7912](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7912))
+- Lint the `contrib/` directory in CI and linting scripts, add `synctl` to the linting script for consistency with CI. ([\#7914](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7914))
+- Use Element CSS and logo in notification emails when app name is Element. ([\#7919](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7919))
+- Optimisation to /sync handling: skip serializing the response if the client has already disconnected. ([\#7927](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7927))
+- When a client disconnects, don't log it as 'Error processing request'. ([\#7928](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7928))
+- Add debugging to `/sync` response generation (disabled by default). ([\#7929](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7929))
+- Convert the auth providers to be async/await. ([\#7935](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7935))
+- Convert presence handler helpers to async/await. ([\#7939](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7939))
+- Convert state resolution to async/await. ([\#7942](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7942))
+- Convert the interactive_auth_handler wrapper to async/await. ([\#7944](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7944))
+- Update comments that refer to Deferreds for async functions. ([\#7945](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7945))
+- Simplify error handling in federation handler. ([\#7950](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/7950))
+
+
 Synapse 1.17.0 (2020-07-13)
 ===========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/6455.feature b/changelog.d/6455.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index eb286cb70f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6455.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Include room states on invite events that are sent to application services. Contributed by @Sorunome.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7613.feature b/changelog.d/7613.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index b671dc2fcc..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7613.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add delete room admin endpoint (`POST /_synapse/admin/v1/rooms/<room_id>/delete`). Contributed by @dklimpel.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7798.feature b/changelog.d/7798.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 56ffaf0d4a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7798.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for running multiple federation sender processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7802.misc b/changelog.d/7802.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d81f8875c5..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7802.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
- Switch from simplejson to the standard library json.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7813.misc b/changelog.d/7813.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f3005cfd27..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7813.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add type hints to the http server code and remove an unused parameter.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7815.bugfix b/changelog.d/7815.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e7c7d412e..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7815.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix detection of out of sync remote device lists when receiving events from remote users.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7817.bugfix b/changelog.d/7817.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c001070d5..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7817.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug where Synapse fails to process an incoming event over federation if the server is missing too much of the event's auth chain.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7820.misc b/changelog.d/7820.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index b77b5672e3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7820.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add type hints to synapse.api.errors module.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7822.bugfix b/changelog.d/7822.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index faf249a678..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7822.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug causing Synapse to misinterpret the value `off` for `encryption_enabled_by_default_for_room_type` in its configuration file(s) if that value isn't surrounded by quotes. This bug was introduced in v1.16.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7827.feature b/changelog.d/7827.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 0fd116e198..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7827.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add the option to validate the `iss` and `aud` claims for JWT logins.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7829.bugfix b/changelog.d/7829.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index dcbf385de6..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7829.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug where we did not always pass in `app_name` or `server_name` to email templates, including e.g. for registration emails.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7830.feature b/changelog.d/7830.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index b4f614084d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7830.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for handling registration requests across multiple client reader workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7836.misc b/changelog.d/7836.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a3a97c7590..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7836.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Ensure that calls to `json.dumps` are compatible with the standard library json.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7839.docker b/changelog.d/7839.docker
deleted file mode 100644
index cdf3c9631c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7839.docker
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Base docker image on Debian Buster rather than Alpine Linux. Contributed by @maquis196.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7842.feature b/changelog.d/7842.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 727deb01c9..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7842.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add an admin API to list the users in a room. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7844.bugfix b/changelog.d/7844.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index ad296f1b3c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7844.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Errors which occur while using the non-standard JWT login now return the proper error: `403 Forbidden` with an error code of `M_FORBIDDEN`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7846.feature b/changelog.d/7846.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 997376fe42..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7846.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow email subjects to be customised through Synapse's configuration.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7847.feature b/changelog.d/7847.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b9a8d8569..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7847.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add the ability to re-activate an account from the admin API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7848.misc b/changelog.d/7848.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d9db1d8357..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7848.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove redundant `retry_on_integrity_error` wrapper for event persistence code.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7849.misc b/changelog.d/7849.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e3296418c1..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7849.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Consistently use `db_to_json` to convert from database values to JSON objects.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7850.bugfix b/changelog.d/7850.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f19a89043..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7850.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix "AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'" error message when applying per-room message retention policies. The bug was introduced in Synapse 1.7.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7851.misc b/changelog.d/7851.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e5cf540edf..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7851.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert E2E keys and room keys handlers to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7853.misc b/changelog.d/7853.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index b4f614084d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7853.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for handling registration requests across multiple client reader workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7854.bugfix b/changelog.d/7854.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index b11f9dedfe..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7854.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.10.0 which could cause a "no create event in auth events" error during room creation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7855.feature b/changelog.d/7855.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 2b6a9f0e71..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7855.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for running multiple pusher workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7856.misc b/changelog.d/7856.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d99fb67be..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7856.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Small performance improvement in typing processing.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7858.misc b/changelog.d/7858.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8f0fc2de74..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7858.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-The default value of `filter_timeline_limit` was changed from -1 (no limit) to 100.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7859.bugfix b/changelog.d/7859.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 19cff4b061..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7859.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug which allowed empty rooms to be rejoined over federation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7860.misc b/changelog.d/7860.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index fdd48b955c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7860.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert _base, profile, and _receipts handlers to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7861.misc b/changelog.d/7861.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index ada616c62f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7861.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Optimise queueing of inbound replication commands.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7866.bugfix b/changelog.d/7866.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 6b5c3c4eca..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7866.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix 'Unable to find a suitable guest user ID' error when using multiple client_reader workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7868.misc b/changelog.d/7868.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index eadef5e4c2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7868.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert synapse.app and federation client to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7869.feature b/changelog.d/7869.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1982049a52..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7869.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for moving typing off master.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7870.misc b/changelog.d/7870.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 27cce2f2f9..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7870.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add some type annotations to `HomeServer` and `BaseHandler`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7871.misc b/changelog.d/7871.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d398a9f3a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7871.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert device handler to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7872.bugfix b/changelog.d/7872.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index b21f8e1f14..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7872.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long standing bug where the tracing of async functions with opentracing was broken.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7873.misc b/changelog.d/7873.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 58260764e7..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7873.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert more media code to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7874.misc b/changelog.d/7874.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f75c8d1843..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7874.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert the federation agent and related code to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7877.misc b/changelog.d/7877.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a62aa0329c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7877.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clean up `PreserveLoggingContext`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7878.removal b/changelog.d/7878.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index d5a4066624..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7878.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove unused `synapse_replication_tcp_resource_invalidate_cache` prometheus metric.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7879.feature b/changelog.d/7879.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index c89655f000..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7879.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Report CPU metrics to prometheus for time spent processing replication commands.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7880.bugfix b/changelog.d/7880.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 356add0996..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7880.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix "TypeError in `synapse.notifier`" exceptions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7881.misc b/changelog.d/7881.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 6799117099..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7881.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Change "unknown room version" logging from 'error' to 'warning'.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7882.misc b/changelog.d/7882.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9002749335..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7882.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Stop using `device_max_stream_id` table and just use `device_inbox.stream_id`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7884.misc b/changelog.d/7884.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 36c7d4de67..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7884.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert the message handler to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7885.doc b/changelog.d/7885.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index cbe9de4082..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7885.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Provide instructions on using `register_new_matrix_user` via docker.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7886.misc b/changelog.d/7886.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e729ab2451..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7886.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Return an empty body for OPTIONS requests.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7888.misc b/changelog.d/7888.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5328d2dcca..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7888.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove Ubuntu Eoan from the list of `.deb` packages that we build as it is now end-of-life. Contributed by @gary-kim.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7889.doc b/changelog.d/7889.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index d91f62fd39..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7889.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Change the sample config postgres user section to use `synapse_user` instead of `synapse` to align with the documentation.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/7890.misc b/changelog.d/7890.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8c127084bc..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7890.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix typo in generated config file. Contributed by @ThiefMaster.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7892.misc b/changelog.d/7892.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index ef4cfa04fd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7892.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Import ABC from `collections.abc` for Python 3.10 compatibility.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7895.bugfix b/changelog.d/7895.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ae7f8ca7c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7895.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix deprecation warning due to invalid escape sequences.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/7897.misc b/changelog.d/7897.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 77772533fd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7897.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Remove unused functions `time_function`, `trace_function`, `get_previous_frames`
-and `get_previous_frame` from `synapse.logging.utils` module.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/7908.feature b/changelog.d/7908.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b9a8d8569..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7908.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add the ability to re-activate an account from the admin API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7912.misc b/changelog.d/7912.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d619590070..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7912.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert `RoomListHandler` to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7914.misc b/changelog.d/7914.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 710553249c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7914.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Lint the `contrib/` directory in CI and linting scripts, add `synctl` to the linting script for consistency with CI.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7919.misc b/changelog.d/7919.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index addaa35183..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7919.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Use Element CSS and logo in notification emails when app name is Element.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7920.feature b/changelog.d/7920.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4093f5d329..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7920.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Support oEmbed for media previews.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7927.misc b/changelog.d/7927.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3b864da03d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7927.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Optimisation to /sync handling: skip serializing the response if the client has already disconnected.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7928.misc b/changelog.d/7928.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f3aa5de0a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7928.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-When a client disconnects, don't log it as 'Error processing request'.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7929.misc b/changelog.d/7929.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d72856fe03..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7929.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add debugging to `/sync` response generation (disabled by default).
diff --git a/changelog.d/7930.feature b/changelog.d/7930.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index a27e4812da..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7930.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Abort federation requests where the client disconnects before the ratelimiter expires.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7931.feature b/changelog.d/7931.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 30eb33048b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7931.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Cache responses to `/_matrix/federation/v1/state_ids` to reduce duplicated work.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7933.doc b/changelog.d/7933.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7022fd578b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7933.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Reorder database paragraphs to promote postgres over sqlite.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7934.doc b/changelog.d/7934.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 992d5358a7..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7934.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update the dates of ACME v1's end of life in [`ACME.md`](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/docs/ACME.md).
diff --git a/changelog.d/7935.misc b/changelog.d/7935.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3771f99bf2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7935.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert the auth providers to be async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7939.misc b/changelog.d/7939.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 798833b3af..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7939.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert presence handler helpers to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7942.misc b/changelog.d/7942.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index b504cf4e6f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7942.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert state resolution to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7944.misc b/changelog.d/7944.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index afbc91a494..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7944.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert the interactive_auth_handler wrapper to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7945.misc b/changelog.d/7945.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index da612fd576..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7945.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update comments that refer to Deferreds for async functions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7950.misc b/changelog.d/7950.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f6bfa2f1f0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7950.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Simplify error handling in federation handler.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7953.feature b/changelog.d/7953.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 945b5c743c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7953.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add delete room admin endpoint (`POST /_synapse/admin/v1/rooms/<room_id>/delete`). Contributed by @dklimpel.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/7959.bugfix b/changelog.d/7959.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 1982049a52..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7959.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for moving typing off master.
diff --git a/changelog.d/7961.bugfix b/changelog.d/7961.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index b21f8e1f14..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/7961.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long standing bug where the tracing of async functions with opentracing was broken.
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 8592dee179..900513499d 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.17.0"
+__version__ = "1.18.0rc1"
 
 if bool(os.environ.get("SYNAPSE_TEST_PATCH_LOG_CONTEXTS", False)):
     # We import here so that we don't have to install a bunch of deps when