diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index a9afd36d2c92..0ef9794aac26 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,81 @@
+Synapse 1.7.0rc1 (2019-12-09)
+=============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Implement per-room message retention policies. ([\#5815](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5815))
+- Add etag and count fields to key backup endpoints to help clients guess if there are new keys. ([\#5858](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5858))
+- Add admin/v2/users endpoint with pagination. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH. ([\#5925](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5925))
+- Require User-Interactive Authentication for `/account/3pid/add`, meaning the user's password will be required to add a third-party ID to their account. ([\#6119](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6119))
+- Implement the `/_matrix/federation/unstable/net.atleastfornow/state/<context>` API as drafted in MSC2314. ([\#6176](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6176))
+- Configure privacy preserving settings by default for the room directory. ([\#6354](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6354))
+- Add ephemeral messages support by partially implementing [MSC2228](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2228). ([\#6409](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6409))
+- Add support for MSC 2367, which allows specifying a reason on all membership events. ([\#6434](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6434))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Transfer non-standard power levels on room upgrade. ([\#6237](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6237))
+- Fix error from the Pillow library when uploading RGBA images. ([\#6241](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6241))
+- Correctly apply the event filter to the `state`, `events_before` and `events_after` fields in the response to `/context` requests. ([\#6329](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6329))
+- Fix caching devices for remote users when using workers, so that we don't attempt to refetch (and potentially fail) each time a user requests devices. ([\#6332](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6332))
+- Prevent account data syncs getting lost across TCP replication. ([\#6333](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6333))
+- Fix bug: TypeError in `register_user()` while using LDAP auth module. ([\#6406](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6406))
+- Fix an intermittent exception when handling read-receipts. ([\#6408](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6408))
+- Fix broken guest registration when there are existing blocks of numeric user IDs. ([\#6420](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6420))
+- Fix startup error when http proxy is defined. ([\#6421](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6421))
+- Clean up local threepids from user on account deactivation. ([\#6426](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6426))
+- Fix a bug where a room could become unusable with a low retention policy and a low activity. ([\#6436](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6436))
+- Fix error when using synapse_port_db on a vanilla synapse db. ([\#6449](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6449))
+- Fix uploading multiple cross signing signatures for the same user. ([\#6451](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6451))
+- Fix bug which lead to exceptions being thrown in a loop when a cross-signed device is deleted. ([\#6462](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6462))
+- Fix `synapse_port_db` not exiting with a 0 code if something went wrong during the port process. ([\#6470](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6470))
+- Improve sanity-checking when receiving events over federation. ([\#6472](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6472))
+- Fix inaccurate per-block Prometheus metrics. ([\#6491](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6491))
+- Fix small performance regression for sending invites. ([\#6493](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6493))
+- Back out cross-signing code added in Synapse 1.5.0, which caused a performance regression. ([\#6494](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6494))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Update documentation and variables in user contributed systemd reference file. ([\#6369](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6369), [\#6490](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6490))
+- Fix link in the user directory documentation. ([\#6388](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6388))
+- Add build instructions to the docker readme. ([\#6390](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6390))
+- Switch Ubuntu package install recommendation to use python3 packages in INSTALL.md. ([\#6443](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6443))
+- Write some docs for the quarantine_media api. ([\#6458](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6458))
+- Convert CONTRIBUTING.rst to markdown (among other small fixes). ([\#6461](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6461))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- Remove admin/v1/users_paginate endpoint. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH. ([\#5925](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5925))
+- Remove fallback for federation with old servers which lack the /federation/v1/state_ids API. ([\#6488](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6488))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Add benchmarks for structured logging and improve output performance. ([\#6266](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6266))
+- Improve the performance of outputting structured logging. ([\#6322](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6322))
+- Refactor some code in the event authentication path for clarity. ([\#6343](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6343), [\#6468](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6468), [\#6480](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6480))
+- Clean up some unnecessary quotation marks around the codebase. ([\#6362](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6362))
+- Complain on startup instead of 500'ing during runtime when `public_baseurl` isn't set when necessary. ([\#6379](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6379))
+- Add a test scenario to make sure room history purges don't break `/messages` in the future. ([\#6392](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6392))
+- Clarifications for the email configuration settings. ([\#6423](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6423))
+- Add more tests to the blacklist when running in worker mode. ([\#6429](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6429))
+- Move data store specific code out of `SQLBaseStore`. ([\#6454](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6454))
+- Prepare SQLBaseStore functions being moved out of the stores. ([\#6464](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6464))
+- Move per database functionality out of the data stores and into a dedicated `Database` class. ([\#6469](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6469))
+- Port synapse.rest.client.v1 to async/await. ([\#6482](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6482))
+- Port synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha to async/await. ([\#6483](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6483))
+- Port SyncHandler to async/await. ([\#6484](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6484))
+- Pass in `Database` object to data stores. ([\#6487](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6487))
+
+
 Synapse 1.6.1 (2019-11-28)
 ==========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/5815.feature b/changelog.d/5815.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ca4df4e7f66d..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5815.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Implement per-room message retention policies.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5858.feature b/changelog.d/5858.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 55ee93051e37..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5858.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add etag and count fields to key backup endpoints to help clients guess if there are new keys.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5925.feature b/changelog.d/5925.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 8025cc82315b..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5925.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add admin/v2/users endpoint with pagination. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5925.removal b/changelog.d/5925.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index cbba2855cbc2..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5925.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove admin/v1/users_paginate endpoint. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6119.feature b/changelog.d/6119.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1492e83c5a9b..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6119.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Require User-Interactive Authentication for `/account/3pid/add`, meaning the user's password will be required to add a third-party ID to their account.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6176.feature b/changelog.d/6176.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c66d689d4a4..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6176.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Implement the `/_matrix/federation/unstable/net.atleastfornow/state/<context>` API as drafted in MSC2314.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6237.bugfix b/changelog.d/6237.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 9285600b00a2..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6237.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Transfer non-standard power levels on room upgrade.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6241.bugfix b/changelog.d/6241.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 25109ca4a6a0..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6241.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix error from the Pillow library when uploading RGBA images.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6266.misc b/changelog.d/6266.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 634e421a793c..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6266.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add benchmarks for structured logging and improve output performance.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6322.misc b/changelog.d/6322.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 70ef36ca806b..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6322.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve the performance of outputting structured logging.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6329.bugfix b/changelog.d/6329.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index e558d13b7d59..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6329.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Correctly apply the event filter to the `state`, `events_before` and `events_after` fields in the response to `/context` requests.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6332.bugfix b/changelog.d/6332.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 67d5170ba0de..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6332.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix caching devices for remote users when using workers, so that we don't attempt to refetch (and potentially fail) each time a user requests devices.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6333.bugfix b/changelog.d/6333.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index a25d6ef3cb82..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6333.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Prevent account data syncs getting lost across TCP replication.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6343.misc b/changelog.d/6343.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d9a44389b976..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6343.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Refactor some code in the event authentication path for clarity.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6354.feature b/changelog.d/6354.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index fed9db884bc6..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6354.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Configure privacy preserving settings by default for the room directory.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6362.misc b/changelog.d/6362.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index b79a5bea9920..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6362.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clean up some unnecessary quotation marks around the codebase.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6369.doc b/changelog.d/6369.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 6db351d7db72..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6369.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update documentation and variables in user contributed systemd reference file.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6379.misc b/changelog.d/6379.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 725c2e7d8744..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6379.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Complain on startup instead of 500'ing during runtime when `public_baseurl` isn't set when necessary.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6388.doc b/changelog.d/6388.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index c777cb6b8f12..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6388.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix link in the user directory documentation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6390.doc b/changelog.d/6390.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 093411bec140..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6390.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add build instructions to the docker readme.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6392.misc b/changelog.d/6392.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a00257944f2c..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6392.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a test scenario to make sure room history purges don't break `/messages` in the future.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6406.bugfix b/changelog.d/6406.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index ca9bee084bb5..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6406.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug: TypeError in `register_user()` while using LDAP auth module.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6408.bugfix b/changelog.d/6408.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index c9babe599b7e..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6408.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix an intermittent exception when handling read-receipts.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6409.feature b/changelog.d/6409.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 653ff5a5ad6a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6409.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add ephemeral messages support by partially implementing [MSC2228](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2228).
diff --git a/changelog.d/6420.bugfix b/changelog.d/6420.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index aef47cccaaa8..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6420.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix broken guest registration when there are existing blocks of numeric user IDs.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6421.bugfix b/changelog.d/6421.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 7969f7f71dc3..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6421.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix startup error when http proxy is defined.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6423.misc b/changelog.d/6423.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9bcd5d36c132..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6423.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clarifications for the email configuration settings.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6426.bugfix b/changelog.d/6426.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 3acfde421116..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6426.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clean up local threepids from user on account deactivation.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6429.misc b/changelog.d/6429.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b32cdeac6aa..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6429.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add more tests to the blacklist when running in worker mode.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6434.feature b/changelog.d/6434.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index affa5d50c1cd..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6434.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for MSC 2367, which allows specifying a reason on all membership events.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6436.bugfix b/changelog.d/6436.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 954a4e1d84f9..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6436.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug where a room could become unusable with a low retention policy and a low activity.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6443.doc b/changelog.d/6443.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 67c59f92ee4d..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6443.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Switch Ubuntu package install recommendation to use python3 packages in INSTALL.md.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6449.bugfix b/changelog.d/6449.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 002f33c4507d..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6449.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix error when using synapse_port_db on a vanilla synapse db.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6451.bugfix b/changelog.d/6451.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 23b67583ec08..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6451.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix uploading multiple cross signing signatures for the same user.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6454.misc b/changelog.d/6454.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9e5259157c0a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6454.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Move data store specific code out of `SQLBaseStore`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6458.doc b/changelog.d/6458.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3a9f831d897a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6458.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Write some docs for the quarantine_media api.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6461.doc b/changelog.d/6461.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 1502fa28553d..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6461.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert CONTRIBUTING.rst to markdown (among other small fixes).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6462.bugfix b/changelog.d/6462.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index c4359395266f..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6462.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug which lead to exceptions being thrown in a loop when a cross-signed device is deleted.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6464.misc b/changelog.d/6464.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bd65276ef678..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6464.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Prepare SQLBaseStore functions being moved out of the stores.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6468.misc b/changelog.d/6468.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d9a44389b976..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6468.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Refactor some code in the event authentication path for clarity.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6469.misc b/changelog.d/6469.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 32216b90463a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6469.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Move per database functionality out of the data stores and into a dedicated `Database` class.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6470.bugfix b/changelog.d/6470.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index c08b34c14c10..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6470.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `synapse_port_db` not exiting with a 0 code if something went wrong during the port process.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6472.bugfix b/changelog.d/6472.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 598efb79fc9f..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6472.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve sanity-checking when receiving events over federation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6480.misc b/changelog.d/6480.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d9a44389b976..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6480.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Refactor some code in the event authentication path for clarity.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6482.misc b/changelog.d/6482.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bdef9cf40a4b..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6482.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Port synapse.rest.client.v1 to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6483.misc b/changelog.d/6483.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index cb2cd2bc3933..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6483.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Port synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6484.misc b/changelog.d/6484.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index b7cd6000123a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6484.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Port SyncHandler to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6487.misc b/changelog.d/6487.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 18b49b9cbd72..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6487.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Pass in `Database` object to data stores.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6488.removal b/changelog.d/6488.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index 06e034a213b7..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6488.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove fallback for federation with old servers which lack the /federation/v1/state_ids API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6491.bugfix b/changelog.d/6491.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 78204693b074..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6491.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix inaccurate per-block Prometheus metrics.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6493.bugfix b/changelog.d/6493.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 440c02efbef1..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6493.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix small performance regression for sending invites.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6494.bugfix b/changelog.d/6494.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 78726d5d7f3e..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6494.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Back out cross-signing code added in Synapse 1.5.0, which caused a performance regression.
diff --git a/contrib/systemd/matrix-synapse.service b/contrib/systemd/matrix-synapse.service
index bd492544b660..813717b032d7 100644
--- a/contrib/systemd/matrix-synapse.service
+++ b/contrib/systemd/matrix-synapse.service
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Restart=on-abort
 User=synapse
 Group=nogroup
 
-WorkingDirectory=/opt/synapse
+WorkingDirectory=/home/synapse/synapse
 ExecStart=/home/synapse/synapse/env/bin/python -m synapse.app.homeserver --config-path=/home/synapse/synapse/homeserver.yaml
 SyslogIdentifier=matrix-synapse
 
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index f99de2f3f3ea..c67a51a8d5c0 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.6.1"
+__version__ = "1.7.0rc1"
 
 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