fix: reconcile published releases without repeating npm publication

AGENTS.md

@@ -320,6 +320,12 @@ Reconcile exact assets and obtain owner disposition before changing an existing
 release. Preserve failed runs, tags and artifact bytes. A later npm dist-tag or
 GitHub Latest change needs authoritative readback, not a rebuild.
 
+The protected finalization-only recovery workflow runs from reviewed `main` and
+separately verifies the original tag, qualified candidate and successful npm
+publish step. It cannot publish npm or overwrite an existing GitHub Release.
+Retain the original failed workflow as evidence and bind the recovery source
+separately. Follow the narrower recovery procedure in `docs/release.md`.
+
 ## Engineering rules
 
 - Node.js 24.20.0, TypeScript, ESM, strict types, and exact dependency pins.

docs/release.md

@@ -217,11 +217,15 @@ It does not rebuild or repack the local candidate. Bounded read-only retries
 wait for npm's exact version, integrity, provenance metadata and `latest` tag,
 then package installation and signature verification. A conflicting immutable
 version or integrity fails immediately; publication itself is never retried. The
-job downloads and requalifies the registry artifact, creates a plainly labelled
-draft public-alpha release with the same tarball/checksum/SBOM/evidence, and
-verifies the downloaded GitHub asset. It uploads draft evidence before
-publishing the normal GitHub Release with `--latest`. Fresh npm and GitHub
-Latest readbacks then supply the final evidence, which is uploaded last.
+metadata reader allows twenty attempts thirty seconds apart, with a separate
+sixty-second limit per request. The v0.7.1 publication exposed a propagation
+delay beyond the previous twelve-attempt, ten-second interval. The wider budget
+changes only reads; it grants no retry of publication. The job downloads and
+requalifies the registry artifact, creates a plainly labelled draft public-alpha
+release with the same tarball/checksum/SBOM/evidence, and verifies the
+downloaded GitHub asset. It uploads draft evidence before publishing the normal
+GitHub Release with `--latest`. Fresh npm and GitHub Latest readbacks then
+supply the final evidence, which is uploaded last.
 
 ### 5. Close the release
 
@@ -299,6 +303,29 @@ architecture follow-through canary evidence.
 
 ## Withdrawal
 
+### Recover publication before GitHub Release creation
+
+If npm publication succeeded but metadata readback exhausted its budget, do not
+rerun the publish job. The protected `release-recovery.yml` workflow can finish
+the narrower case where the original publish step succeeded, the candidate and
+trusted-verifier artifacts remain available, and no GitHub Release exists for
+the tag. Dispatch the reviewed recovery workflow from `main` with the exact tag,
+candidate run ID and original publish run ID.
+
+Recovery verifies those identities and the existing npm version, signatures and
+provenance, then runs the registry artifact's full canary before creating a
+draft. Final evidence retains the original publish run. A separate recovery
+record identifies the recovery workflow and its source commit; a green recovery
+does not rewrite the original failed run. Any existing release, ambiguous
+creation result, missing artifact or identity conflict blocks this route.
+
+The v0.7.1 incident used candidate `35466952501` and original publish
+`35467443471`. Its successful immutable publish step preceded metadata
+propagation; no release had been created. Its tag and npm bytes remain
+unchanged.
+
+### Other interrupted or unsafe releases
+
 First classify an interrupted publication from provider readback; do not rerun
 the publish workflow. If npm and registry qualification succeeded but GitHub
 finalization is incomplete, inventory all release records for the tag by numeric
@@ -316,7 +343,12 @@ If prepublication qualification fails, do not publish. Delete an unpushed local
 tag, fix through a new reviewed PR, and restart with a new exact candidate. If a
 remote tag exists, retain it as evidence and use a new version.
 
-If publication succeeded but readback or postpublication qualification fails:
+If provider readback is unavailable, stop further effects and reconcile it. A
+verified existing publication with no GitHub Release may use the recovery route
+above. A timeout alone is not proof that the package is unsafe.
+
+If readback proves an artifact or identity mismatch, or the published artifact
+fails qualification:
 
 1. stop the workflow before making a public support claim;
 2. deprecate the exact npm version with a concise safety message;

product/admission-evidence-hardening.md

@@ -52,3 +52,22 @@ No new support tuple, customer operation, downstream product implementation,
 daemon, parallel runtime writer, deployment, credential sharing or review bypass
 is authorized. Product readiness remains conditional on external evidence and
 owner decisions; software tests cannot close those gates.
+
+## Observed publication recovery
+
+On 2026-09-19, candidate run `35466952501` passed all four release gates for tag
+`v0.7.1`, commit `50873b47574e9a46ca009c514186532332f385eb`. Publish run
+`35467443471` completed the immutable npm publication, then exhausted its twelve
+metadata reads before npm exposed the version. Subsequent registry readback
+confirmed the exact artifact integrity, provenance and `latest` pointer. No
+GitHub Release was created by that run.
+
+The owner's end-to-end repair and release instruction includes completing this
+known publication and fixing the observed recovery gap. Extend the bounded read
+window and add a protected, finalization-only workflow. It must prove the
+original successful publish step and qualified artifact, verify the existing
+registry version, and preserve the original publish run in release evidence.
+Record the recovery workflow's separate source identity. The first recovery
+route requires the GitHub tag's release to be absent; an existing or ambiguous
+release blocks it. Never repeat publication, replace artifacts, move the tag,
+invent a successful original run, or bypass the protected environment reviewer.