diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 1413b37..a2241dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -225,7 +225,10 @@ jobs:
   publish:
     needs: [seal, browser_e2e]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    # Read-back after publish is minutes per package on npm, so five packages
+    # do not fit in fifteen. The publisher is resumable, but a job killed
+    # mid-set is still a partial publication to reconcile by hand.
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     environment: npm-production
     permissions:
       id-token: write
@@ -289,7 +292,7 @@ jobs:
 
           const pinned = {
             "config.mjs": "17f2f25fd40aea7d99024c0da5c7fc8b137dc272646fa1b8d47947bfb3735866",
-            "release-publisher.mjs": "3ddab82fbf3ef5479f823618b8d1a79a73a1862b297459120d3596a2534a3f3b",
+            "release-publisher.mjs": "e78adc75f57feec3b003b0f4929b55a69b6e873908f7850a4e875fd77315dcc7",
             "release-line.json": "d650e2ac9707867db77b5f7b8fd2dd97f8fd0399f578a991091c73ee791dca73",
           };
           const expected = ["release-seal.json"];
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 08e8a99..014ca1d 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -88,13 +88,20 @@ npm pkg set exports='./index.js'
 npm publish --access public --tag bootstrap --otp='<current-2fa-code>'
 ```
 
-Use a fresh temporary directory for each package. Confirm that only `bootstrap`
-points to the inert version and that `latest` is absent:
+Use a fresh temporary directory for each package. Confirm that `bootstrap`
+points to the inert version:
 
 ```sh
 npm view @full-self-browsing/concierge dist-tags --json
 ```
 
+npm also points `latest` at that first version even though `--tag bootstrap`
+was the only tag requested, so expect `latest` to be present rather than
+absent. It is corrected when the real release publishes with `--tag latest`,
+and the publisher's `[REGISTRY_TAG]` check refuses to finish until every
+package's `latest` is the shared release version. A record whose only version
+is the inert bootstrap is the state this step is meant to produce.
+
 Do not publish any repository-built `0.1.0`, assign `latest`, or use an
 automation token for bootstrap. Do not unpublish the inert version after
 launch; registry history is immutable evidence.
@@ -125,12 +132,15 @@ done
 
 The workflow field is the filename `release.yml`, not its full path. All names
 are case-sensitive. `--allow-publish` is required by current npm trust
-configuration and grants only the command used by this release workflow; do
-not also grant `--allow-stage-publish`. npm currently permits one trusted
+configuration; pass it and nothing else. npm currently permits one trusted
 publisher per package.
 
-Verify each relationship and its publish-only permission with
-`npm trust list <package>`. In each package's npm settings, set publishing
+Verify each relationship with `npm trust list <package>`. It reports
+`permissions: publish, stage publish` even when only `--allow-publish` was
+passed — npm grants both, and the extra grant cannot be declined from the CLI.
+Treat that output as expected rather than as a misconfigured relationship. The
+workflow only ever runs `npm publish`, and the sealed publisher is the only
+tool the protected environment can reach. In each package's npm settings, set publishing
 access to require 2FA and disallow traditional tokens. No `NPM_TOKEN` or write
 token belongs in the repository or GitHub secrets. See npm's
 [trusted-publisher requirements](https://docs.npmjs.com/trusted-publishers/)
diff --git a/scripts/release/publisher.mjs b/scripts/release/publisher.mjs
index 6c19392..5488218 100644
--- a/scripts/release/publisher.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release/publisher.mjs
@@ -516,9 +516,28 @@ function wait(milliseconds) {
   return new Promise((resolvePromise) => setTimeout(resolvePromise, milliseconds));
 }
 
+/**
+ * Read a just-published version back until the registry serves it.
+ *
+ * **The window is minutes, because npm's is.** This waited 6 attempts at 1.5s
+ * — about nine seconds — and the 0.4.0 release measured roughly two and a half
+ * minutes between a successful `npm publish` and the version becoming readable.
+ * Every package published correctly and then failed its own verification, so a
+ * five-package set took six runs of this job instead of one, advancing one
+ * package per run. The check was not wrong to insist on reading the bytes back;
+ * it was wrong about how long that takes.
+ *
+ * Nothing here relaxes what is verified. A version that never appears, or that
+ * appears with foreign bytes, provenance, or tag, still raises
+ * `[PUBLISH_AMBIGUOUS]` and stops the set. Waiting longer only stops the
+ * publisher from reporting a lagging read replica as an ambiguous publish.
+ */
+const VERIFY_ATTEMPTS = 60;
+const VERIFY_INTERVAL_MS = 5_000;
+
 async function validateAfterPublish(archive, registry, inputs) {
   let lastError = null;
-  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 6; attempt += 1) {
+  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < VERIFY_ATTEMPTS; attempt += 1) {
     try {
       const state = registry.query(archive);
       if (state.kind === "present") {
@@ -528,10 +547,11 @@ async function validateAfterPublish(archive, registry, inputs) {
     } catch (error) {
       lastError = error;
     }
-    if (attempt < 5) await wait(1_500);
+    if (attempt < VERIFY_ATTEMPTS - 1) await wait(VERIFY_INTERVAL_MS);
   }
+  const waited = Math.round((VERIFY_ATTEMPTS * VERIFY_INTERVAL_MS) / 1000);
   throw new Error(
-    `[PUBLISH_AMBIGUOUS] ${archive.name}@${archive.version} could not be verified after publish: ${String(lastError ?? "not visible")}`,
+    `[PUBLISH_AMBIGUOUS] ${archive.name}@${archive.version} could not be verified ${waited}s after publish: ${String(lastError ?? "not visible")}`,
   );
 }