diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index c1e4fc8..9c4bb2c 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.6.27
+0.6.28
diff --git a/actions/release-plan/action.yml b/actions/release-plan/action.yml
index 9ae6811..6770589 100644
--- a/actions/release-plan/action.yml
+++ b/actions/release-plan/action.yml
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ runs:
           ' "${plan_file}" "${RELEASE_TOOL_VERSION}"
         } >> "${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY}"
 
-        cat "${plan_file}"
+        if [[ "${exit_code}" -eq 3 ]]; then
+          echo "::warning::Release plan is not ready; see the step summary and persisted state for details."
+        else
+          echo "Release plan ready: branch=${RELEASE_BRANCH}, ready=${ready}"
+        fi
 
         exit "${exit_code}"
diff --git a/tests/test_release_plan_action.py b/tests/test_release_plan_action.py
index 7e22243..5aa3c5c 100644
--- a/tests/test_release_plan_action.py
+++ b/tests/test_release_plan_action.py
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ def test_step_summary_does_not_print_public_release_text(self) -> None:
         summary = content.split('echo "## Release plan"', 1)[1]
         self.assertNotIn('public_release_text', summary)
 
+    def test_successful_plan_does_not_dump_full_contract_to_stdout(self) -> None:
+        content = ACTION.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+        self.assertNotIn('        cat "${plan_file}"\n\n        exit "${exit_code}"', content)
+        self.assertIn("Release plan ready: branch=", content)
+        self.assertIn("Release plan is not ready; see the step summary", content)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()