diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/publish-forge.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/publish-forge.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fb7428bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/publish-forge.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+name: Publish (forge)
+
+# Datacenter-side forge publish, moved off the laptop: an 87MB tarball PUT
+# over the laptop's WAN times out; the forge's own runner does it in seconds.
+# scripts/release.sh tags + pushes, then polls this workflow's result (npm
+# view against the forge registry) before it ever touches the npmjs leg —
+# see the "delegation contract" in scripts/release.sh's forge-publish step.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - 'v*'
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    name: Publish to the forge registry
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '22'
+          cache: npm
+      - run: npm ci
+      - run: npm run build
+      - name: Publish + readback-verify on the forge registry
+        env:
+          FORGE_NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FORGE_NPM_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -eo pipefail
+
+          FORGE_NPM_REG="https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/"
+          VERSION="$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")"
+          echo "Publishing @soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION} to the forge registry..."
+
+          TMPRC="$(mktemp)"
+          chmod 600 "$TMPRC"
+          {
+            echo "@soulcraft:registry=${FORGE_NPM_REG}"
+            echo "//source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/:_authToken=${FORGE_NPM_TOKEN}"
+          } > "$TMPRC"
+
+          # The release script bumps package.json's version before it tags, so
+          # this tag's checkout already carries the version being published —
+          # nothing here re-derives it from the tag name.
+          PUBLISH_OK=true
+          if ! npm publish --tag latest --userconfig "$TMPRC"; then
+            PUBLISH_OK=false
+          fi
+
+          # Readback verify is the source of truth, run regardless of the publish
+          # exit code: a benign duplicate publish (a prior run, or a mirror, already
+          # landed this exact version) reports failure even though the registry
+          # already holds the right content.
+          LANDED_VERSION="$(npm view "@soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION}" version --userconfig "$TMPRC" 2>/dev/null || echo "")"
+          rm -f "$TMPRC"
+
+          if [ "$LANDED_VERSION" != "$VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Readback verify FAILED — the forge registry reports version '${LANDED_VERSION:-<none>}', expected '${VERSION}'. This is a genuine publish failure, not a benign duplicate."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          if [ "$PUBLISH_OK" = true ]; then
+            echo "Published and verified @soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION} on the forge registry."
+          else
+            echo "::warning::npm publish reported failure, but readback confirms @soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION} is already live on the forge (a prior run or mirror landed it) — treating this run as successful, since the registry content is correct. Any OTHER failure mode would have failed the readback check above instead."
+          fi
diff --git a/RELEASES.md b/RELEASES.md
index dee17a44..da8fa134 100644
--- a/RELEASES.md
+++ b/RELEASES.md
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ to the caller today.
   Migration-audit evidence, not a repair: nonzero drift is reported loudly
   (`console.warn` with the counts) and nothing is auto-healed — run `brain.repairIndex()`
   to reconcile the metadata index once drift is confirmed.
+- **Ops note (consumer-invisible): the release pipeline's forge-registry publish now runs
+  on CI**, triggered by the release tag, instead of PUTting the tarball from the laptop
+  over WAN — no change to what gets published or how a consumer installs it.
 
 ## v8.10.1 — 2026-07-24 (the no-hot-retry contract + warm()'s metadata surface under native providers)
 
diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 43fa50bd..c64d6c5e 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -181,30 +181,33 @@ echo -e "${BLUE}8️⃣  Pushing to origin...${NC}"
 git push --follow-tags origin "$CURRENT_BRANCH"
 echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Pushed to origin${NC}\n"
 
-# Step 10: Publish — forge FIRST (home), npmjs second (the world's storefront).
-# The fleet-wide ~/.npmrc maps the @soulcraft scope to the forge registry, and
-# a scope mapping BEATS `--registry` on the command line — so each publish
-# names its registry via the scope override explicitly. Nothing implicit.
+# Step 10: Forge publish is CI's job now, not the laptop's — a tag push (just
+# above) triggers .forgejo/workflows/publish-forge.yml, which builds and
+# publishes on the forge's own runner (datacenter-side: seconds, not the
+# laptop's WAN timing out on an 87MB tarball PUT). The laptop holds no forge
+# publish credential anymore; it only waits for CI's result before trusting
+# the forge/npmjs pair enough to publish the storefront leg.
 FORGE_NPM_REG="https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/"
-FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE="$HOME/.config/soulcraft/npm-publish-brainy.token"
-echo -e "${BLUE}9️⃣  Publishing to the forge registry (home)...${NC}"
-if [ -f "$FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE" ]; then
-  TMPRC="$(mktemp)"
-  chmod 600 "$TMPRC"
-  {
-    echo "@soulcraft:registry=${FORGE_NPM_REG}"
-    echo "//source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/:_authToken=$(cat "$FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE")"
-  } > "$TMPRC"
-  if npm publish --tag "$NPM_TAG" --userconfig "$TMPRC"; then
-    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Published to the forge${NC}\n"
-  else
-    rm -f "$TMPRC"
-    echo -e "${RED}❌ Forge publish FAILED — aborting before npmjs so the pair never diverges. Fix and re-run.${NC}"
-    exit 1
+FORGE_POLL_INTERVAL_S=15
+FORGE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS=40  # 40 × 15s = 10 minutes
+echo -e "${BLUE}9️⃣  Waiting for CI to publish v${NEW_VERSION} to the forge registry (home)...${NC}"
+FORGE_LANDED=false
+for ((attempt = 1; attempt <= FORGE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS; attempt++)); do
+  LANDED_VERSION=$(npm view "@soulcraft/brainy@${NEW_VERSION}" version "--@soulcraft:registry=${FORGE_NPM_REG}" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+  if [ "$LANDED_VERSION" = "$NEW_VERSION" ]; then
+    FORGE_LANDED=true
+    break
   fi
-  rm -f "$TMPRC"
+  echo -e "${YELLOW}   … not yet on the forge (attempt ${attempt}/${FORGE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS}); retrying in ${FORGE_POLL_INTERVAL_S}s${NC}"
+  sleep "$FORGE_POLL_INTERVAL_S"
+done
+
+if [ "$FORGE_LANDED" = true ]; then
+  echo -e "${GREEN}✅ CI published v${NEW_VERSION} to the forge${NC}\n"
 else
-  echo -e "${RED}❌ Forge publish token missing (${FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE}) — aborting. The forge is home; publish it first or restage the token.${NC}"
+  echo -e "${RED}❌ CI forge publish did not land — check the workflow run on The Source; the pair must not diverge.${NC}"
+  echo -e "${RED}   v${NEW_VERSION} was tagged and pushed, but @soulcraft/brainy@${NEW_VERSION} never became visible on the${NC}"
+  echo -e "${RED}   forge registry after ${FORGE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS} attempts, ${FORGE_POLL_INTERVAL_S}s apart. Aborting before npmjs.${NC}"
   exit 1
 fi