diff --git a/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml b/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
index f1995fd957b..075930e0e90 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
@@ -578,13 +578,65 @@ jobs:
         id: 'ensure_qwen'
         run: |-
           set -euo pipefail
+          # Resolve latest and upgrade when stale — the previous shape
+          # short-circuited on any pre-installed qwen, so a stale image kept
+          # its version forever and pinned the action's reinstall to it (the
+          # same bug the review runner fixed in c9f0d0657). The install runs
+          # from RUNNER_TEMP because the persistent workspace still holds the
+          # previous run's checked-out tree, and npm reads a cwd .npmrc into a
+          # global install — same hazard the verify lane documents. Retries
+          # cover the transient npm crashes the shared runners produce (a
+          # triage run died on exit 217 mid-install); the fallback covers the
+          # registry being the thing that is broken.
+          want=''
+          for attempt in 1 2 3; do
+            want="$(npm view --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org '@qwen-code/qwen-code@latest' version | tail -n 1 || true)"
+            if [ -n "$want" ]; then break; fi
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ]; then sleep $((attempt * 5)); fi
+          done
+          have=''
           if command -v qwen >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            echo "qwen already installed:"
-          else
-            npm install -g --loglevel=error --no-audit @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest
+            have="$(qwen --version 2>/dev/null || true)"
           fi
-          qwen --version
-          echo "version=$(qwen --version)" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+          if [ -n "$have" ] && [ "$have" = "$want" ]; then
+            echo "qwen $have (latest)"
+            echo "version=$have" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ -z "$want" ]; then
+            if [ -n "$have" ]; then
+              echo "::warning::npm registry query failed; triaging with installed qwen $have"
+              echo "version=$have" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo '::error::qwen is not installed and the npm registry query failed'
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          installed=''
+          for attempt in 1 2 3; do
+            if (cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:?}" && npm install -g --loglevel=error --no-audit --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org "@qwen-code/qwen-code@$want"); then
+              installed=1
+              break
+            fi
+            echo "::warning::qwen install attempt $attempt failed (wanted $want)"
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ]; then sleep $((attempt * 10)); fi
+          done
+          if [ -z "$installed" ]; then
+            if [ -n "$have" ]; then
+              echo "::warning::upgrade to qwen $want failed after 3 attempts; triaging with installed qwen $have"
+              echo "version=$have" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "::error::qwen is not installed and installing $want failed after 3 attempts"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          hash -r
+          actual="$(qwen --version)"
+          echo "qwen $actual"
+          if [ "$actual" != "$want" ]; then
+            echo "::warning::wanted qwen $want but PATH resolves $actual — a system-wide install shadows the per-run upgrade"
+          fi
+          echo "version=$actual" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
 
       - name: 'Run Qwen Triage'
         id: 'triage'
@@ -1114,7 +1166,19 @@ jobs:
           # reads a cwd .npmrc — whose settings (script-shell, hooks) a
           # --registry flag does not override — into a root-privileged
           # install. Same fix as the verify lane.
-          (cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:?}" && npm install -g --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org '@qwen-code/qwen-code@latest')
+          # Retried: the shared runners produce transient npm crashes (a
+          # triage install died on exit 217), and one flake must not kill the
+          # whole job when the next attempt succeeds.
+          installed=''
+          for attempt in 1 2 3; do
+            if (cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:?}" && npm install -g --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org '@qwen-code/qwen-code@latest'); then
+              installed=1
+              break
+            fi
+            echo "::warning::qwen install attempt $attempt failed"
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ]; then sleep $((attempt * 10)); fi
+          done
+          [ -n "$installed" ] || { echo '::error::installing @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest failed after 3 attempts'; exit 1; }
           qwen --version
           tmux -V
 
@@ -2386,7 +2450,19 @@ jobs:
           # npm reads a cwd .npmrc — whose settings (script-shell, hooks) a
           # --registry flag does not override — into a root-privileged
           # install.
-          (cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:?}" && npm install -g --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org '@qwen-code/qwen-code@latest')
+          # Retried: the shared runners produce transient npm crashes (a
+          # triage install died on exit 217), and one flake must not kill the
+          # whole job when the next attempt succeeds.
+          installed=''
+          for attempt in 1 2 3; do
+            if (cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:?}" && npm install -g --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org '@qwen-code/qwen-code@latest'); then
+              installed=1
+              break
+            fi
+            echo "::warning::qwen install attempt $attempt failed"
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ]; then sleep $((attempt * 10)); fi
+          done
+          [ -n "$installed" ] || { echo '::error::installing @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest failed after 3 attempts'; exit 1; }
           qwen --version
 
           # Chromium system dependencies (apt packages) for evidence
diff --git a/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js b/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
index ea691f330c5..33535e2c5de 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
+++ b/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
@@ -220,15 +220,48 @@ describe('qwen-triage tmux workflow', () => {
   });
 
   it('pins the action reinstall to the version the job already runs', () => {
+    const ensure = step('Ensure qwen CLI');
     expect(workflow).toContain("id: 'ensure_qwen'");
-    expect(workflow).toContain(
-      'echo "version=$(qwen --version)" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"',
-    );
+    // Every exit-0 path of the step must emit the version output — the action
+    // pin reads it, and a path that forgets it re-pins the reinstall to an
+    // empty string (which the action treats as `latest`, resurrecting the
+    // stale-dist-tag bug the pin exists to prevent). Three success paths,
+    // four emission sites (fallback-to-installed is reached twice: registry
+    // down, install failed), plus fresh-install.
+    const emissions = (
+      ensure.match(/echo "version=\$\{?\w+\}?" >> "\$\{GITHUB_OUTPUT\}"/g) ?? []
+    ).length;
+    expect(emissions).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(4);
     expect(workflow).toContain(
       "qwen_cli_version: '${{ steps.ensure_qwen.outputs.version }}'",
     );
   });
 
+  it('resolves latest, retries the install, and never trusts a cwd .npmrc', () => {
+    // The step used to short-circuit on any pre-installed qwen — the same bug
+    // the review runner fixed in c9f0d0657 — and its stale version output then
+    // pinned the action reinstall to a stale release. Pin the repaired shape:
+    // resolve-then-compare, a bounded retry loop, the RUNNER_TEMP cwd (npm
+    // reads a cwd .npmrc from the persistent workspace into a global install),
+    // and the registry-down fallback that still triages on the installed CLI.
+    const ensure = step('Ensure qwen CLI');
+    expect(ensure).toContain("@qwen-code/qwen-code@latest' version");
+    expect(ensure).toContain('for attempt in 1 2 3; do');
+    expect(ensure).toContain('cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:?}"');
+    expect(ensure).toContain('triaging with installed qwen');
+    // The two hard-fail paths must keep failing the job — pin the exit code,
+    // not just the message: a softened `exit 0` would otherwise ship undetected.
+    // Anchor each message to its own `exit 1`; the step has two hard-fail
+    // sites, so an unanchored `toContain('exit 1')` stays green when either
+    // one is softened while the other still fails the job.
+    expect(ensure).toMatch(
+      /::error::qwen is not installed and the npm registry query failed'\n\s*exit 1/,
+    );
+    expect(ensure).toMatch(
+      /::error::qwen is not installed and installing \$want failed after 3 attempts"\n\s*exit 1/,
+    );
+  });
+
   it('passes triage output through env before bash reads it', () => {
     const checkStep = step('Check triage response');
 
@@ -565,6 +598,8 @@ describe('qwen-triage tmux workflow', () => {
     );
     expect(installStep).toContain('qwen --version');
     expect(installStep).toContain('tmux -V');
+    expect(installStep).toContain('for attempt in 1 2 3; do');
+    expect(installStep).toContain('failed after 3 attempts');
     expect(resolverStep).not.toContain('tmux');
     expect(resolverStep).not.toContain('npm install');
     expect(resolverStep).not.toContain('qwen --version');
@@ -3979,6 +4014,8 @@ describe('qwen-triage verify round-3 hardening', () => {
     // No hardcoded Playwright pin here either: the apt list must track
     // current Playwright so it covers the lockfile-matched binary below.
     expect(tools).not.toMatch(/playwright@[\d.]/);
+    expect(tools).toContain('for attempt in 1 2 3; do');
+    expect(tools).toContain('failed after 3 attempts');
 
     // Browser binary: downloaded after npm ci, and by the CLI of the
     // package the capture harness actually imports — never a hardcoded pin