diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-npm.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-npm.yml
index 842a032..9092ee2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-npm.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-npm.yml
@@ -67,37 +67,29 @@ jobs:
           echo "OUT=$OUT" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
         env:
           OUT: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-package
-      - name: Refuse a version that already exists on the registry
+      - name: Decide whether to publish or resume a matching registry copy
+        id: decide
+        run: node scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs decide
+        env:
+          OUT: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-package
+          CLI_SHA: ${{ inputs.cli_sha }}
+      - name: Publish the exact directory once
+        if: steps.decide.outputs.action == 'publish'
         run: |
+          set -eu
           VERSION=$(node -p 'JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync(process.env.OUT + "/candidate.json","utf8")).version')
           if npm view "@przeprogramowani/10x-cli@$VERSION" version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "::error::@przeprogramowani/10x-cli@$VERSION already published; never republish"; exit 1
           fi
-      - name: Publish the exact directory once
-        run: |
-          set -eu
           node -e 'require("fs").writeFileSync(process.env.NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG, "registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/\n//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=" + process.env.NPM_TOKEN + "\n", { mode: 0o600 })'
           npm publish . --ignore-scripts --access public
         env:
           NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-npmrc
           NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
       - name: Verify actual registry bytes against the pack
-        run: |
-          set -eu
-          node -e '
-            const fs = require("fs"), crypto = require("crypto");
-            const c = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(process.env.OUT + "/candidate.json", "utf8"));
-            (async () => {
-              const meta = await (await fetch(`https://registry.npmjs.org/@przeprogramowani%2f10x-cli/${c.version}`)).json();
-              const bytes = Buffer.from(await (await fetch(meta.dist.tarball)).arrayBuffer());
-              const integrity = "sha512-" + crypto.createHash("sha512").update(bytes).digest("base64");
-              const result = { version: meta.version, gitHead: meta.gitHead, expectedIntegrity: c.integrity, registryIntegrity: meta.dist.integrity, actualIntegrity: integrity, sourceSha: process.env.CLI_SHA };
-              console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
-              fs.writeFileSync(process.env.OUT + "/published-result.json", JSON.stringify(result));
-              if (meta.gitHead !== process.env.CLI_SHA || meta.dist.integrity !== c.integrity || integrity !== c.integrity) throw new Error("Published package differs from the pack; release incomplete, never republish");
-            })().catch((e) => { console.error(e.message); process.exit(1); });
-          '
+        run: node scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs verify
         env:
+          OUT: ${{ runner.temp }}/release-package
           CLI_SHA: ${{ inputs.cli_sha }}
       - name: Tag the published source
         # The tag may already exist (pushed by hand, or a previous attempt).
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 92d9de6..9bd0a70 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@przeprogramowani/10x-cli",
-  "version": "1.22.1",
+  "version": "1.22.2",
   "description": "Open-source CLI for 10xDevs course content",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/scripts/publish-npm-verify.d.mts b/scripts/publish-npm-verify.d.mts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e00bc08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/publish-npm-verify.d.mts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+export const DEFAULT_WAIT: { timeoutMs: number; initialDelayMs: number; maxDelayMs: number };
+export function metadataIsComplete(meta: any): boolean;
+export function fetchVersionMetadata(version: string, fetchFn?: typeof fetch): Promise<{ status: number; body: any }>;
+export function waitForPublishedMetadata(version: string, options?: any): Promise<any>;
+export function assertPackMatchesRegistry(input: any): any;
+export function downloadTarball(metadata: any, fetchFn?: typeof fetch): Promise<Buffer>;
+export function classifyPublishDecision(input: any): Promise<any>;
diff --git a/scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs b/scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..620194a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
+import { readFileSync, writeFileSync, appendFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { realpathSync } from "node:fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+const REGISTRY_VERSION = (version) => `https://registry.npmjs.org/@przeprogramowani%2f10x-cli/${version}`;
+export const DEFAULT_WAIT = { timeoutMs: 180_000, initialDelayMs: 1_000, maxDelayMs: 8_000 };
+
+const sha = (s) => typeof s === "string" && /^[a-f0-9]{40}$/.test(s);
+const integrityOf = (bytes) => "sha512-" + createHash("sha512").update(bytes).digest("base64");
+
+export function metadataIsComplete(meta) {
+  return Boolean(meta && meta.version && meta.dist && typeof meta.dist.tarball === "string" && meta.dist.tarball.startsWith("https://") && typeof meta.dist.integrity === "string" && meta.dist.integrity.startsWith("sha512-"));
+}
+
+export async function fetchVersionMetadata(version, fetchFn = fetch) {
+  const response = await fetchFn(REGISTRY_VERSION(version), { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(30000) });
+  const text = await response.text();
+  let body = null;
+  try { body = JSON.parse(text); } catch { body = null; }
+  return { status: response.status, body };
+}
+
+export async function waitForPublishedMetadata(version, { fetchFn = fetch, sleep = (ms) => new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms)), now = () => Date.now(), log = console.error, timeoutMs = DEFAULT_WAIT.timeoutMs, initialDelayMs = DEFAULT_WAIT.initialDelayMs, maxDelayMs = DEFAULT_WAIT.maxDelayMs } = {}) {
+  const deadline = now() + timeoutMs;
+  let delay = initialDelayMs, attempt = 0;
+  while (true) {
+    attempt += 1;
+    const { status, body } = await fetchVersionMetadata(version, fetchFn);
+    if (status === 200 && metadataIsComplete(body)) {
+      log(`registry metadata ready for ${version} after ${attempt} attempt(s)`);
+      return body;
+    }
+    const remaining = deadline - now();
+    if (remaining <= 0) throw new Error(`Registry metadata for ${version} did not become complete within ${timeoutMs}ms after ${attempt} attempt(s); never republish`);
+    log(`registry wait attempt ${attempt}: status=${status} complete=${metadataIsComplete(body)} next=${Math.min(delay, remaining)}ms`);
+    await sleep(Math.min(delay, remaining));
+    delay = Math.min(delay * 2, maxDelayMs);
+  }
+}
+
+export function assertPackMatchesRegistry({ metadata, tarballBytes, expectedIntegrity, sourceSha }) {
+  if (!sha(sourceSha)) throw new Error("Exact candidate SHA required");
+  if (!expectedIntegrity || !expectedIntegrity.startsWith("sha512-")) throw new Error("Pack integrity required");
+  if (!metadataIsComplete(metadata)) throw new Error("Complete registry metadata required");
+  const actualIntegrity = integrityOf(tarballBytes);
+  if (metadata.gitHead !== sourceSha || metadata.dist.integrity !== expectedIntegrity || actualIntegrity !== expectedIntegrity || metadata.dist.integrity !== actualIntegrity) {
+    throw new Error("Published package differs from the pack; release incomplete, never republish");
+  }
+  return { version: metadata.version, gitHead: metadata.gitHead, expectedIntegrity, registryIntegrity: metadata.dist.integrity, actualIntegrity, sourceSha };
+}
+
+export async function downloadTarball(metadata, fetchFn = fetch) {
+  const response = await fetchFn(metadata.dist.tarball, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(60000) });
+  if (!response.ok) throw new Error("Registry tarball unavailable");
+  return Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());
+}
+
+export async function classifyPublishDecision({ version, expectedIntegrity, sourceSha, fetchFn = fetch, wait }) {
+  const { status, body } = await fetchVersionMetadata(version, fetchFn);
+  if (status === 404 || (body && body.error === "Not found")) return { action: "publish" };
+  const metadata = metadataIsComplete(body) ? body : await waitForPublishedMetadata(version, { fetchFn, ...wait });
+  const bytes = await downloadTarball(metadata, fetchFn);
+  const result = assertPackMatchesRegistry({ metadata, tarballBytes: bytes, expectedIntegrity, sourceSha });
+  return { action: "resume", result };
+}
+
+function candidate(out) {
+  return JSON.parse(readFileSync(`${out}/candidate.json`, "utf8"));
+}
+
+function writeGithubOutput(name, value) {
+  if (process.env.GITHUB_OUTPUT) appendFileSync(process.env.GITHUB_OUTPUT, `${name}=${value}\n`);
+}
+
+async function decide() {
+  const out = process.env.OUT, sourceSha = process.env.CLI_SHA, c = candidate(out);
+  const decision = await classifyPublishDecision({ version: c.version, expectedIntegrity: c.integrity, sourceSha });
+  writeGithubOutput("action", decision.action);
+  if (decision.result) writeFileSync(`${out}/published-result.json`, JSON.stringify(decision.result));
+  console.log(JSON.stringify({ action: decision.action, version: c.version }));
+}
+
+async function verify() {
+  const out = process.env.OUT, sourceSha = process.env.CLI_SHA, c = candidate(out);
+  const metadata = await waitForPublishedMetadata(c.version);
+  const bytes = await downloadTarball(metadata);
+  const result = assertPackMatchesRegistry({ metadata, tarballBytes: bytes, expectedIntegrity: c.integrity, sourceSha });
+  writeFileSync(`${out}/published-result.json`, JSON.stringify(result));
+  console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
+}
+
+function isEntrypoint() {
+  try { return Boolean(process.argv[1]) && realpathSync(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)) === realpathSync(process.argv[1]); }
+  catch { return false; }
+}
+
+if (isEntrypoint()) {
+  const command = process.argv[2];
+  const run = command === "decide" ? decide : command === "verify" ? verify : null;
+  if (!run) { console.error("publish-npm-verify requires decide or verify"); process.exitCode = 2; }
+  else run().catch((error) => { console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : error); process.exitCode = 1; });
+}
diff --git a/tests/publish-npm-verify.test.ts b/tests/publish-npm-verify.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ea5c09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/publish-npm-verify.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "bun:test";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { parse } from "yaml";
+import { assertPackMatchesRegistry, classifyPublishDecision, metadataIsComplete, waitForPublishedMetadata } from "../scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs";
+
+const sha = (c: string) => c.repeat(40);
+const integrity = "sha512-UpH51iLC2WQmjhzVj2HbfOu+79ob0EtcQ3XI2epIHrEq3Vl8NxnBoqjCSHCRVdvUNXCgmmCC8kU/06IW/lsGew==";
+const tarball = "https://registry.npmjs.org/@przeprogramowani/10x-cli/-/10x-cli-1.22.1.tgz";
+const complete = { version: "1.22.1", gitHead: sha("d"), dist: { tarball, integrity } };
+
+describe("publish-npm registry wait and resume", () => {
+  it("polls until dist.tarball and integrity exist, then matches pack bytes", async () => {
+    const log: string[] = [];
+    let n = 0;
+    const fetchFn = async () => {
+      n += 1;
+      if (n === 1) return { status: 404, text: async () => '{"error":"Not found"}', ok: false };
+      if (n === 2) return { status: 200, text: async () => JSON.stringify({ version: "1.22.1" }), ok: true };
+      return { status: 200, text: async () => JSON.stringify(complete), ok: true };
+    };
+    const meta = await waitForPublishedMetadata("1.22.1", { fetchFn: fetchFn as any, sleep: async () => {}, now: (() => { let t = 0; return () => (t += 1); })(), log: (m: string) => log.push(m), timeoutMs: 100, initialDelayMs: 1, maxDelayMs: 1 });
+    expect(metadataIsComplete(meta)).toBe(true);
+    expect(n).toBe(3);
+    expect(log.some((line) => line.includes("attempt 1"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(log.at(-1)).toContain("ready");
+  });
+
+  it("fails closed when the wait window expires without complete metadata", async () => {
+    const fetchFn = async () => ({ status: 200, text: async () => JSON.stringify({ version: "1.22.1" }), ok: true });
+    await expect(waitForPublishedMetadata("1.22.1", { fetchFn: fetchFn as any, sleep: async () => {}, now: (() => { let t = 0; return () => (t += 50); })(), log: () => {}, timeoutMs: 100, initialDelayMs: 1, maxDelayMs: 1 })).rejects.toThrow(/never republish/);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a registry copy whose gitHead or integrity differs from the pack", () => {
+    expect(() => assertPackMatchesRegistry({ metadata: complete, tarballBytes: Buffer.from("nope"), expectedIntegrity: integrity, sourceSha: sha("d") })).toThrow(/never republish/);
+    expect(() => assertPackMatchesRegistry({ metadata: { ...complete, gitHead: sha("e") }, tarballBytes: Buffer.from("x"), expectedIntegrity: integrity, sourceSha: sha("d") })).toThrow(/never republish/);
+  });
+
+  it("publishes when the version is absent and resumes when registry bytes already match", async () => {
+    const missing = async (url: string) => {
+      if (String(url).includes("/1.22.1") && !String(url).includes("/-/")) return { status: 404, text: async () => '{"error":"Not found"}', ok: false };
+      throw new Error(url);
+    };
+    expect(await classifyPublishDecision({ version: "1.22.1", expectedIntegrity: integrity, sourceSha: sha("d"), fetchFn: missing as any })).toEqual({ action: "publish" });
+
+    const bytes = Buffer.from("pack-bytes");
+    const { createHash } = await import("node:crypto");
+    const matching = "sha512-" + createHash("sha512").update(bytes).digest("base64");
+    const meta = { version: "1.22.1", gitHead: sha("d"), dist: { tarball, integrity: matching } };
+    const fetchFn = async (url: string) => {
+      if (String(url) === tarball) return { ok: true, arrayBuffer: async () => bytes };
+      return { status: 200, text: async () => JSON.stringify(meta), ok: true };
+    };
+    const decision = await classifyPublishDecision({ version: "1.22.1", expectedIntegrity: matching, sourceSha: sha("d"), fetchFn: fetchFn as any });
+    expect(decision.action).toBe("resume");
+    expect(decision.result?.gitHead).toBe(sha("d"));
+    expect(decision.result?.actualIntegrity).toBe(matching);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("publish-npm workflow uses bounded verify and resume", () => {
+  it("calls the verifier for decide/verify and publishes only when decide says publish", () => {
+    const workflow = parse(readFileSync(new URL("../.github/workflows/publish-npm.yml", import.meta.url), "utf8"));
+    const steps = workflow.jobs.publish.steps;
+    const decide = steps.find((step: any) => step.id === "decide");
+    expect(decide.run).toBe("node scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs decide");
+    expect(decide.env.CLI_SHA).toBe("${{ inputs.cli_sha }}");
+    const publish = steps.find((step: any) => step.name === "Publish the exact directory once");
+    expect(publish.if).toBe("steps.decide.outputs.action == 'publish'");
+    expect(publish.run).toContain("npm publish . --ignore-scripts --access public");
+    const verify = steps.find((step: any) => step.name === "Verify actual registry bytes against the pack");
+    expect(verify.run).toBe("node scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs verify");
+    expect(verify.if).toBeUndefined();
+    const source = readFileSync(new URL("../scripts/publish-npm-verify.mjs", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+    expect(source).toContain("never republish");
+    expect(source).not.toMatch(/timeoutMs:\s*[5-9]\d{5,}/);
+  });
+});