diff --git a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
index 083d81fd5..292f40cd2 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   "plugins": [
     {
       "name": "genie",
-      "version": "5.260725.5",
+      "version": "5.260725.8",
       "source": "./plugins/genie",
       "description": "Human-AI partnership for Claude Code. Share a terminal, orchestrate workers, evolve together. Brainstorm ideas, wish them into plans, make with parallel agents, ship as one team. A coding genie that grows with your project."
     }
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
index 4eb139a2a..6687eb53f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
@@ -187,7 +187,6 @@ jobs:
           VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
           CHANNEL: ${{ inputs.channel }}
           SOURCE_SHA: ${{ inputs.source_sha }}
-          TRIGGER_SHA: ${{ inputs.trigger_sha }}
           SOURCE_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.source_branch }}
           SOURCE_CI_RUN_ID: ${{ inputs.source_ci_run_id }}
           CONTROL_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sign-attest.yml b/.github/workflows/sign-attest.yml
index b7463efca..761d8288a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sign-attest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sign-attest.yml
@@ -337,7 +337,6 @@ jobs:
           SOURCE_SHA: ${{ inputs.source_sha }}
           SOURCE_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.source_branch }}
           SOURCE_CI_RUN_ID: ${{ inputs.source_ci_run_id }}
-          TRIGGER_SHA: ${{ inputs.trigger_sha }}
           CONTROL_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
           RUN_ID: ${{ github.run_id }}
           RUN_ATTEMPT: ${{ github.run_attempt }}
@@ -380,6 +379,10 @@ jobs:
           SOURCE_SHA:       ${{ inputs.source_sha }}
           SOURCE_BRANCH:    ${{ inputs.source_branch }}
           SOURCE_CI_RUN_ID: ${{ inputs.source_ci_run_id }}
+          # Required by release-generic-provenance.sh verify-exact on the
+          # automated channels: it binds the provenance's triggering
+          # workflow_run head to this value and exits 2 when it is absent.
+          TRIGGER_SHA:      ${{ inputs.trigger_sha }}
           CONTROL_SHA:      ${{ github.sha }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
diff --git a/.github/workflows/version.yml b/.github/workflows/version.yml
index 628620d09..784e83b9d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/version.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/version.yml
@@ -180,8 +180,14 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           PREFIX="${{ steps.context.outputs.prefix }}"
           TODAY=$(date -u +%y%m%d)
-          EXISTING=$(git tag --list "v${PREFIX}.${TODAY}.*" | wc -l)
-          BUILD_NUMBER=$((EXISTING + 1))
+          # Highest existing build number + 1, never the count: a gap (a tag
+          # deleted, or a build number burned by a failed release) would make
+          # count+1 collide with an existing tag, and the push failure below is
+          # reported as a benign race, silently dropping the release.
+          HIGHEST=$(git tag --list "v${PREFIX}.${TODAY}.*" \
+            | sed -n "s|^v${PREFIX}\.${TODAY}\.\([0-9][0-9]*\)$|\1|p" \
+            | sort -n | tail -1)
+          BUILD_NUMBER=$(( ${HIGHEST:-0} + 1 ))
           VERSION="${PREFIX}.${TODAY}.${BUILD_NUMBER}"
           echo "version=${VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "build_number=${BUILD_NUMBER}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
@@ -313,7 +319,14 @@ jobs:
           # in CI logs and detector-greppable. The next merge's run catches
           # up.
           SHORT_SHA="${TRIGGER_SHA:0:7}"
-          if ! git push --atomic origin "HEAD:refs/heads/dev" "refs/tags/v${VERSION}"; then
+          if ! push_output=$(git push --atomic origin "HEAD:refs/heads/dev" "refs/tags/v${VERSION}" 2>&1); then
+            printf '%s\n' "$push_output" >&2
+            # A tag collision is a version-derivation defect, not a race: exiting
+            # 0 here would drop the release with a green run and no diagnosis.
+            if printf '%s' "$push_output" | grep -qiE 'already exists|cannot lock ref|tag .* exists'; then
+              echo "::error ::release-version.tag-collision v${VERSION} already exists; version derivation picked a used build number"
+              exit 1
+            fi
             echo "::notice ::release-race.next-tag-pin-skipped.detected dev advanced past triggering SHA ${SHORT_SHA}; tag push skipped — next merge will republish"
             exit 0
           fi
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b28ad27f0..9aa6ff05f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@automagik/genie",
 
-  "version": "5.260725.5",
+  "version": "5.260725.8",
   "description": "Collaborative terminal toolkit for human + AI workflows. NOTE: npm distribution discontinued 2026-05-09 — install via `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/automagik-dev/genie/main/install.sh | bash` (cosign + SLSA verified). See https://automagik.dev/genie/release-process",
 
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index d777687b8..789ffd7f7 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie",
-  "version": "5.260725.5",
+  "version": "5.260725.8",
   "description": "Human-AI partnership for Claude Code. Share a terminal, orchestrate workers, evolve together. Brainstorm ideas, turn them into wishes, execute with /work, validate with /review, and ship as one team.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Namastex Labs"
diff --git a/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
index e11fd0610..507107a1e 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie",
-  "version": "5.260725.5",
+  "version": "5.260725.8",
   "description": "Plan, execute, review, and ship software with Genie workflows in Codex.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Namastex Labs",
diff --git a/plugins/genie/package.json b/plugins/genie/package.json
index ccfd9c2ab..3f132366d 100644
--- a/plugins/genie/package.json
+++ b/plugins/genie/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "genie-plugin",
-  "version": "5.260725.5",
+  "version": "5.260725.8",
   "private": true,
   "description": "Runtime dependencies for genie bundled CLIs",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml b/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml
index 1f6bc9d12..b38f694f4 100644
--- a/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml
+++ b/plugins/hermes-genie/plugin.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: genie
-version: 5.260725.5
+version: 5.260725.8
 description: "Native Hermes surface for Genie orchestration: read-only status plus work-plan and review-plan gap tools that the MCP board surface does not cover, hooks, commands, and a thin cockpit skill. Board/task truth comes from the genie MCP tools."
 provides_tools:
   # Default surface: exactly the three gap tools the MCP board surface does not cover.
diff --git a/scripts/release-docs.test.ts b/scripts/release-docs.test.ts
index ad8c21d99..53bf83aed 100644
--- a/scripts/release-docs.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/release-docs.test.ts
@@ -463,6 +463,63 @@ describe('Group E release and documentation contracts', () => {
     expect(read('src/genie.ts')).toContain(".command('__install-promote', { hidden: true })");
   });
 
+  test('the admitting CI head is plumbed to provenance verification end to end', () => {
+    // The generic SLSA provenance embeds the workflow_run that TRIGGERED the
+    // release, whose head is the commit CI ran on — one BEFORE the
+    // [auto-version] bump the tarballs are built from. Verification must bind
+    // that field to the trigger commit, never to source_sha (they can never be
+    // equal, which silently broke every dev release on 2026-07-25). If any link
+    // in this chain drops trigger_sha, exact verification either mis-binds or
+    // hard-fails on an empty value, so the whole wiring is pinned here.
+    const version = read('.github/workflows/version.yml');
+    const release = read('.github/workflows/release.yml');
+    const signAttest = read('.github/workflows/sign-attest.yml');
+    const publish = read('.github/workflows/release-publish.yml');
+    const verifier = read('scripts/release-generic-provenance.sh');
+
+    expect(version).toContain('trigger_sha: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_sha }}');
+    expect(release).toContain('trigger_sha:');
+    expect(release).toContain('trigger_sha: ${{ inputs.trigger_sha }}');
+    expect(signAttest).toContain('trigger_sha:');
+
+    // Substring checks are NOT enough: the first attempt at this fix put
+    // TRIGGER_SHA in the native-predicate step, whose script never reads it,
+    // while the step that actually runs verify-exact had none — a whole-file
+    // toContain() passed anyway and the next release died with the same silent
+    // exit 2. Assert the value reaches the env of the step that CONSUMES it.
+    const stepEnvFor = (workflow: string, needle: string): string => {
+      const lines = workflow.split('\n');
+      let start = -1;
+      for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i += 1) {
+        if (/^\s+- name:/.test(lines[i])) start = i;
+        if (lines[i].includes(needle) && start >= 0) {
+          let end = start + 1;
+          while (end < lines.length && !/^\s+- name:/.test(lines[end])) end += 1;
+          return lines.slice(start, end).join('\n');
+        }
+      }
+      throw new Error(`no step found containing ${needle}`);
+    };
+
+    const verifyStep = stepEnvFor(signAttest, 'release-generic-provenance.sh verify-exact');
+    expect(verifyStep).toContain('TRIGGER_SHA:');
+    expect(verifyStep).toContain('${{ inputs.trigger_sha }}');
+
+    const gateStep = stepEnvFor(publish, 'generic_expected_sha');
+    expect(gateStep).toContain('TRIGGER_SHA:');
+
+    // The verifier compares the trigger commit, and refuses to run exact
+    // verification without a well-formed one.
+    expect(verifier).toContain('$run.head_sha == $trigger_sha');
+    expect(verifier).not.toContain('$run.head_sha == $source_sha');
+
+    // Stable records source_sha directly; automated channels cannot, so the
+    // generic descriptor is compared per channel.
+    expect(publish).toContain('generic_expected_sha="$SOURCE_SHA"');
+    expect(publish).toContain('generic_expected_sha="$TRIGGER_SHA"');
+    expect(publish).toContain('.sourceSha == $genericSourceSha');
+  });
+
   test('release create and promotion paths retain the one-time convergence caveat', () => {
     const workflow = read('.github/workflows/release-publish.yml');
     const helper = read('scripts/reconcile-release-note.sh');