diff --git a/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md b/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md
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+++ b/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md
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+# Release Checklist
+
+Copy this into the release PR/issue and tick every box before promoting a draft
+release to `latest`. The goal: no broken build ever reaches users on either
+platform. See `RELEASE_RUNBOOK.md` for the how; this is the gate.
+
+## Pre-build
+- [ ] `dev` is green and dogfooded; the release commit is chosen.
+- [ ] `electron/package.json` `version` bumped per semver (CONTRIBUTING.md).
+- [ ] `backend/requirements.lock` regenerated if `requirements.txt` changed, and
+      committed alongside it.
+- [ ] Both `package-lock.json` files committed (frontend + electron).
+
+## Build (both platforms, same commit)
+- [ ] macOS DMG built from the release commit (`bash publish.sh`), signed +
+      notarized, both arches (arm64 + x64).
+- [ ] Windows EXE built from the same commit (push `v*` tag → CI, or
+      `pwsh publish-win.ps1`), signed.
+- [ ] Provenance matches: launch each artifact, Settings → About → **Build** sha
+      equals `git rev-parse HEAD` of the release commit (and they equal each other).
+
+## Artifacts + feeds (promotion gate)
+- [ ] GitHub draft release for `v<version>` has: `OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe`,
+      `OpenSwarm-arm64.dmg`, `OpenSwarm-x64.dmg`, `latest.yml`, `latest-mac.yml`.
+- [ ] Promotion gate passes:
+      `node scripts/release/verify-release.js --dir <downloaded-feeds> --expect-version <version> --base-url https://github.com/openswarm-ai/openswarm/releases/download/v<version>`
+      (both feeds present, versions agree with each other and with package.json,
+      every asset HEAD-resolves to 200).
+
+## Dogfood on real target OSes (in production, signed)
+- [ ] Windows 11 x64: fresh install of the signed EXE, no SmartScreen block after
+      signing, app boots, backend reaches ready, send one agent message (gets a
+      response). Check `backend.log` `[provenance]` + `[perf]` lines.
+- [ ] Windows 10 x64: same.
+- [ ] macOS Apple Silicon (arm64), macOS 12+: fresh DMG install, no Gatekeeper
+      block, boots, backend ready, one agent turn.
+- [ ] macOS Intel (x64), macOS 12+: same.
+- [ ] Auto-update: previous stable installed → this release detected, downloads,
+      installs on quit, relaunches on the new version. Verify on both platforms.
+
+## Promote
+- [ ] All boxes above ticked.
+- [ ] Remove the draft flag (publish the release) — this is the only manual
+      promote step; nothing auto-promotes.
+- [ ] Confirm `latest.yml` / `latest-mac.yml` are live (HEAD 200) post-publish.
+
+## Rollback (if a regression surfaces post-promote)
+- [ ] Re-publish the previous release's feeds as latest, or cut a patch.
+- [ ] Tags are immutable (ruleset) — never move `v<version>`; ship a new version.
diff --git a/scripts/release/test-verify-release.js b/scripts/release/test-verify-release.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ba918a0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release/test-verify-release.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Phase 5a test: hermetic checks of the promotion gate. Builds throwaway
+// latest*.yml fixtures and asserts the gate promotes a good release and blocks
+// the two failures the gate exists for: a missing feed and a version mismatch.
+// No network (URL checking is exercised separately in CI with --base-url).
+//
+//   node scripts/release/test-verify-release.js
+
+'use strict';
+const fs = require('fs');
+const os = require('os');
+const path = require('path');
+const { execFileSync } = require('child_process');
+
+const HERE = __dirname;
+const NODE = process.execPath;
+let passed = 0;
+
+function assert(cond, msg) {
+  if (!cond) { process.stderr.write(`\nASSERT FAILED: ${msg}\n`); process.exit(1); }
+  passed++;
+}
+
+function run(args) {
+  try {
+    const stdout = execFileSync(NODE, [path.join(HERE, 'verify-release.js'), ...args], { encoding: 'utf8' });
+    return { code: 0, stdout };
+  } catch (e) {
+    return { code: e.status == null ? -1 : e.status, stdout: e.stdout || '', stderr: e.stderr || '' };
+  }
+}
+
+function feed(version, asset) {
+  return `version: ${version}\nfiles:\n  - url: ${asset}\n    sha512: deadbeef\n    size: 123\npath: ${asset}\nsha512: deadbeef\nreleaseDate: '2026-05-27T00:00:00.000Z'\n`;
+}
+
+function mkdir() { return fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'osw-rel-')); }
+
+// (1) good release: both feeds, same version, matches expected -> promotable
+(() => {
+  const d = mkdir();
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest.yml'), feed('1.2.3', 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe'));
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest-mac.yml'), feed('1.2.3', 'OpenSwarm-arm64.dmg'));
+  const r = run(['--dir', d, '--expect-version', '1.2.3', '--json']);
+  assert(r.code === 0, `good release should pass, got ${r.code}`);
+  assert(JSON.parse(r.stdout).version === '1.2.3', 'should report version 1.2.3');
+  // tolerate a leading v on expected
+  assert(run(['--dir', d, '--expect-version', 'v1.2.3', '--json']).code === 0, 'leading-v expected should pass');
+  fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true });
+})();
+
+// (2) missing latest-mac.yml -> blocked
+(() => {
+  const d = mkdir();
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest.yml'), feed('1.2.3', 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe'));
+  const r = run(['--dir', d, '--expect-version', '1.2.3']);
+  assert(r.code === 1, 'missing mac feed should block');
+  fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true });
+})();
+
+// (3) version mismatch across feeds -> blocked
+(() => {
+  const d = mkdir();
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest.yml'), feed('1.2.3', 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe'));
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest-mac.yml'), feed('1.2.2', 'OpenSwarm-arm64.dmg'));
+  const r = run(['--dir', d, '--expect-version', '1.2.3']);
+  assert(r.code === 1, 'version mismatch should block');
+  fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true });
+})();
+
+// (4) feeds agree with each other but not with expected version -> blocked
+(() => {
+  const d = mkdir();
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest.yml'), feed('1.2.0', 'OpenSwarm-Setup-x64.exe'));
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(d, 'latest-mac.yml'), feed('1.2.0', 'OpenSwarm-arm64.dmg'));
+  const r = run(['--dir', d, '--expect-version', '1.2.3']);
+  assert(r.code === 1, 'expected-version mismatch should block');
+  fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true });
+})();
+
+process.stdout.write(`\nPhase 5a promotion gate: ${passed} assertions passed.\n`);
diff --git a/scripts/release/verify-release.js b/scripts/release/verify-release.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8291610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release/verify-release.js
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Phase 5a promotion gate: before a draft release is allowed to become "latest",
+// prove both auto-updater feeds exist, agree on version, and that their assets
+// actually resolve. A release that ships latest.yml but not latest-mac.yml (or
+// with mismatched versions) silently strands one platform's users on the old
+// build, which is the exact "broken latest" failure this gate exists to stop.
+//
+// Usage:
+//   node scripts/release/verify-release.js --dir <artifacts-dir> --expect-version 1.2.3
+//   node scripts/release/verify-release.js --dir <dir> --expect-version 1.2.3 \
+//        --base-url https://github.com/openswarm-ai/openswarm/releases/download/v1.2.3
+//
+// --dir            directory containing latest.yml + latest-mac.yml
+// --expect-version version both feeds (and their filenames) must match
+// --base-url       if given, HEAD-check every referenced asset resolves (200)
+//
+// Exit 0 = promotable. Exit 1 = blocked (prints the first blocking reason).
+
+'use strict';
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const https = require('https');
+
+const FEEDS = ['latest.yml', 'latest-mac.yml'];
+
+function parseArgs(argv) {
+  const out = { dir: null, expectVersion: null, baseUrl: null, json: false };
+  for (let i = 0; i < argv.length; i++) {
+    if (argv[i] === '--dir') out.dir = argv[++i];
+    else if (argv[i] === '--expect-version') out.expectVersion = argv[++i];
+    else if (argv[i] === '--base-url') out.baseUrl = argv[++i];
+    else if (argv[i] === '--json') out.json = true;
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+// Minimal electron-builder-feed parser. We only need `version:` and the asset
+// filenames (top-level `path:` plus each `- url:` under `files:`). Avoiding a
+// YAML dependency keeps this runnable on a bare CI node with no install step.
+function parseFeed(text) {
+  const version = (text.match(/^version:\s*(.+)$/m) || [])[1];
+  const assets = new Set();
+  const topPath = (text.match(/^path:\s*(.+)$/m) || [])[1];
+  if (topPath) assets.add(topPath.trim());
+  const urlRe = /^\s*-?\s*url:\s*(.+)$/gm;
+  let m;
+  while ((m = urlRe.exec(text)) !== null) assets.add(m[1].trim());
+  return { version: version ? version.trim() : null, assets: [...assets] };
+}
+
+function headOk(url) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const req = https.request(url, { method: 'HEAD' }, (res) => {
+      // GitHub release assets 302 to a signed CDN URL; follow one hop.
+      if (res.statusCode >= 300 && res.statusCode < 400 && res.headers.location) {
+        headOk(res.headers.location).then(resolve);
+      } else {
+        resolve(res.statusCode === 200);
+      }
+    });
+    req.on('error', () => resolve(false));
+    req.setTimeout(15000, () => { req.destroy(); resolve(false); });
+    req.end();
+  });
+}
+
+function fail(msg, json) {
+  if (json) process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({ ok: false, error: msg }) + '\n');
+  else process.stderr.write(`BLOCKED: ${msg}\n`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  const args = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
+  if (!args.dir) fail('--dir <artifacts-dir> is required', args.json);
+
+  const feeds = {};
+  for (const name of FEEDS) {
+    const p = path.join(args.dir, name);
+    if (!fs.existsSync(p)) fail(`missing feed: ${name} (one platform would be stranded on the old build)`, args.json);
+    feeds[name] = parseFeed(fs.readFileSync(p, 'utf8'));
+    if (!feeds[name].version) fail(`${name} has no version: field`, args.json);
+  }
+
+  const versions = FEEDS.map((n) => feeds[n].version);
+  if (new Set(versions).size !== 1) {
+    fail(`version mismatch across feeds: ${FEEDS.map((n) => `${n}=${feeds[n].version}`).join(', ')}`, args.json);
+  }
+  const releaseVersion = versions[0];
+
+  if (args.expectVersion) {
+    const want = args.expectVersion.replace(/^v/, '');
+    if (releaseVersion !== want) fail(`feeds say ${releaseVersion} but expected ${want}`, args.json);
+  }
+
+  if (args.baseUrl) {
+    const base = args.baseUrl.replace(/\/+$/, '');
+    for (const name of FEEDS) {
+      // The .yml itself must resolve, plus every asset it points at.
+      const toCheck = [name, ...feeds[name].assets];
+      for (const asset of toCheck) {
+        const url = `${base}/${asset}`;
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-await-in-loop
+        const ok = await headOk(url);
+        if (!ok) fail(`asset does not resolve (HEAD != 200): ${url}`, args.json);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  const result = { ok: true, version: releaseVersion, feeds: FEEDS, checkedUrls: !!args.baseUrl };
+  if (args.json) process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(result) + '\n');
+  else {
+    process.stdout.write(`\nPROMOTABLE: both feeds present, version ${releaseVersion} agrees`);
+    process.stdout.write(args.baseUrl ? ', all assets resolve.\n\n' : ' (URL check skipped; pass --base-url to enable).\n\n');
+  }
+}
+
+main();