diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 71b3e45e..303ce464 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ This file is the canonical contributor guide for both human and AI agents workin
 - Keep public runtime exports, `index.d.ts` (ESM types), and `index.d.cts` (CJS `export = axios` types) in sync for API changes.
 - `lib/env/data.js` is version-generated by `gulp version`; do not edit it for normal feature work.
 
+## Pre-Release Notes
+
+- Add user-visible unreleased changes to `PRE_RELEASE_CHANGELOG.md`, not `CHANGELOG.md`. `CHANGELOG.md` is release-owned and should only be updated as part of preparing an actual release.
+- Do not update `README.md` or the docs site for unreleased runtime/API changes unless the task is explicitly release preparation. Instead, record the exact README/docs updates needed under `PRE_RELEASE_CHANGELOG.md` so they can be applied during release work.
+
 ## Architecture Boundaries
 
 - `lib/core/` is axios domain logic: request dispatch, config merge, interceptors, headers, errors. Key classes: `Axios` (request dispatch + interceptor chains), `AxiosError` (standardized error codes), `AxiosHeaders` (case-insensitive header normalization), `InterceptorManager` (sync/async interceptor registration).
diff --git a/PRE_RELEASE_CHANGELOG.md b/PRE_RELEASE_CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eae2bf3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PRE_RELEASE_CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Pre-Release Changelog
+
+## Unreleased
+
+## New Features
+
+- **HTTP Adapter - Zstandard:** Added automatic zstd decompression on Node.js versions that support it. `zstd` is only advertised in the default `Accept-Encoding` header when `advertiseZstd: true` is set. (**#6792**)
+
+## Release Documentation TODO
+
+- Update `README.md` request config docs for `advertiseZstd` and zstd decompression support.
+- Update `docs/pages/advanced/request-config.md` for `advertiseZstd` and zstd decompression support.
+- Update decompression-bomb security guidance in `README.md` and `docs/pages/misc/security.md` to mention zstd.
diff --git a/index.d.cts b/index.d.cts
index 916b9958..b434400d 100644
--- a/index.d.cts
+++ b/index.d.cts
@@ -512,6 +512,7 @@ declare namespace axios {
     proxy?: AxiosProxyConfig | false;
     cancelToken?: CancelToken | undefined;
     decompress?: boolean;
+    advertiseZstd?: boolean;
     transitional?: TransitionalOptions;
     signal?: GenericAbortSignal;
     insecureHTTPParser?: boolean;
diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index e25555fa..b6e4da26 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ export interface AxiosRequestConfig<D = any> {
   proxy?: AxiosProxyConfig | false;
   cancelToken?: CancelToken | undefined;
   decompress?: boolean;
+  advertiseZstd?: boolean;
   transitional?: TransitionalOptions;
   signal?: GenericAbortSignal;
   insecureHTTPParser?: boolean;
diff --git a/lib/adapters/http.js b/lib/adapters/http.js
index 3e0f4f3a..37a87fdc 100755
--- a/lib/adapters/http.js
+++ b/lib/adapters/http.js
@@ -44,7 +44,15 @@ const brotliOptions = {
   finishFlush: zlib.constants.BROTLI_OPERATION_FLUSH,
 };
 
+const zstdOptions = {
+  flush: zlib.constants.ZSTD_e_flush,
+  finishFlush: zlib.constants.ZSTD_e_flush,
+};
+
 const isBrotliSupported = utils.isFunction(zlib.createBrotliDecompress);
+const isZstdSupported = utils.isFunction(zlib.createZstdDecompress);
+const ACCEPT_ENCODING = 'gzip, compress, deflate' + (isBrotliSupported ? ', br' : '');
+const ACCEPT_ENCODING_WITH_ZSTD = ACCEPT_ENCODING + (isZstdSupported ? ', zstd' : '');
 
 const { http: httpFollow, https: httpsFollow } = followRedirects;
 
@@ -861,7 +869,7 @@ export default isHttpAdapterSupported &&
 
       headers.set(
         'Accept-Encoding',
-        'gzip, compress, deflate' + (isBrotliSupported ? ', br' : ''),
+        own('advertiseZstd') === true ? ACCEPT_ENCODING_WITH_ZSTD : ACCEPT_ENCODING,
         false
       );
 
@@ -1037,6 +1045,13 @@ export default isHttpAdapterSupported &&
                 streams.push(zlib.createBrotliDecompress(brotliOptions));
                 delete res.headers['content-encoding'];
               }
+              break;
+            case 'zstd':
+              if (isZstdSupported) {
+                streams.push(zlib.createZstdDecompress(zstdOptions));
+                delete res.headers['content-encoding'];
+              }
+              break;
           }
         }
 
diff --git a/lib/core/mergeConfig.js b/lib/core/mergeConfig.js
index 760f5ad7..eaa00493 100644
--- a/lib/core/mergeConfig.js
+++ b/lib/core/mergeConfig.js
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ export default function mergeConfig(config1, config2) {
     onUploadProgress: defaultToConfig2,
     onDownloadProgress: defaultToConfig2,
     decompress: defaultToConfig2,
+    advertiseZstd: defaultToConfig2,
     maxContentLength: defaultToConfig2,
     maxBodyLength: defaultToConfig2,
     beforeRedirect: defaultToConfig2,
diff --git a/tests/unit/adapters/http.test.js b/tests/unit/adapters/http.test.js
index 56e2e934..b8867cd7 100644
--- a/tests/unit/adapters/http.test.js
+++ b/tests/unit/adapters/http.test.js
@@ -727,6 +727,9 @@ describe('supports http with nodejs', () => {
   });
 
   describe('compression', async () => {
+    const isZstdSupported = typeof zlib.createZstdDecompress === 'function' &&
+      typeof zlib.zstdCompress === 'function';
+
     it('should support transparent gunzip', async () => {
       const data = {
         firstName: 'Fred',
@@ -828,6 +831,50 @@ describe('supports http with nodejs', () => {
       }
     });
 
+    it('should not advertise zstd by default', async () => {
+      let acceptEncoding;
+
+      const server = await startHTTPServer(
+        (req, res) => {
+          acceptEncoding = req.headers['accept-encoding'];
+          res.end('ok');
+        },
+        { port: SERVER_PORT }
+      );
+
+      try {
+        await axios.get(`http://localhost:${server.address().port}/`);
+        assert.strictEqual(acceptEncoding.includes('zstd'), false);
+      } finally {
+        await stopHTTPServer(server);
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('should advertise zstd when enabled and supported', async () => {
+      if (!isZstdSupported) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      let acceptEncoding;
+
+      const server = await startHTTPServer(
+        (req, res) => {
+          acceptEncoding = req.headers['accept-encoding'];
+          res.end('ok');
+        },
+        { port: SERVER_PORT }
+      );
+
+      try {
+        await axios.get(`http://localhost:${server.address().port}/`, {
+          advertiseZstd: true,
+        });
+        assert.strictEqual(acceptEncoding.includes('zstd'), true);
+      } finally {
+        await stopHTTPServer(server);
+      }
+    });
+
     describe('algorithms', () => {
       const responseBody = 'str';
 
@@ -879,6 +926,18 @@ describe('supports http with nodejs', () => {
           });
         });
 
+      const zstdCompress = (value) =>
+        new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+          zlib.zstdCompress(value, (error, compressed) => {
+            if (error) {
+              reject(error);
+              return;
+            }
+
+            resolve(compressed);
+          });
+        });
+
       for (const [typeName, zipped] of Object.entries({
         gzip: gzip(responseBody),
         GZIP: gzip(responseBody),
@@ -886,6 +945,7 @@ describe('supports http with nodejs', () => {
         deflate: deflate(responseBody),
         'deflate-raw': deflateRaw(responseBody),
         br: brotliCompress(responseBody),
+        ...(isZstdSupported ? { zstd: zstdCompress(responseBody) } : {}),
       })) {
         const type = typeName.split('-')[0];