diff --git a/framework-dev.md b/framework-dev.md
index ec16ba31a..550576070 100644
--- a/framework-dev.md
+++ b/framework-dev.md
@@ -324,6 +324,8 @@ changelog/core/0.7.52.md changelog/core/0.7.53.md changelog/server/0.8.66.md
 
 Space or comma separated. Every path is validated to exist before anything publishes, because a typo that silently published nothing would look exactly like success. The set is then sorted by its `date:` frontmatter ASC, the same ordering the push path uses, so core still publishes before server and npm's `latest` tag lands on the newest version rather than on whichever path was typed last. Every publish script is idempotent, so naming an already-published version is a no-op. Listing a `cli` changelog also republishes the two unscoped wrappers at that cli version.
 
+**You can only republish a version the workspace still holds.** `npm publish --workspace=<pkg>` ships whatever is in that package's `package.json`, not the version the changelog file is named for, so once a package bumps past a version, that older version can never be republished from `main`. `scripts/publish-npm.js` compares the two and skips with a message naming both, rather than publishing the tree's version under the older version's name. That is exactly what it used to do: republishing `changelog/core/0.7.52.md` shipped 0.7.53 under the log line `published @webjsdev/core@0.7.52`, and the next file in the batch then failed with `E403 cannot publish over the previously published versions`, taking every remaining package with it. Getting a skipped version onto the registry after the fact is genuinely awkward, so weigh it against just releasing the next patch. Trusted publishing is bound to `release.yml` runs on this repo, so a local checkout of the old commit has no credential path: OIDC does not exist outside the workflow, and that commit's workflow file expects a `NPM_TOKEN` that no longer exists. It would take a granular token minted for the occasion, or a staged publish. A superseded version is usually not worth either.
+
 This replaced a `NPM_TOKEN` repo secret that expired at npm's 90-day cap on granular write tokens and silently failed two consecutive releases (#1456). Tokens were a dead end regardless: npm removes direct publishing for bypass-2FA tokens around January 2027, leaving only OIDC or a staged publish that a human approves with 2FA.
 
 **When `server` or the scaffold consumes a NEW `@webjsdev/core` export, core MUST publish first.** `packages/server/src/dev/handler.js` and `context.js` import core symbols statically (`setAssetUrlProvider`, `setCspNonceProvider`), and `webjs create` emits an app that imports them too. A server published against an older core dies at module load with `does not provide an export named ...`, and a cli published first makes every freshly scaffolded app 500 on every route. Two things force the right order:
diff --git a/scripts/publish-npm.js b/scripts/publish-npm.js
index 625b7e03b..4fe5ef0cf 100644
--- a/scripts/publish-npm.js
+++ b/scripts/publish-npm.js
@@ -9,6 +9,14 @@
  * check whether that version is already on the npm registry, skip
  * if yes, publish if no.
  *
+ * It ALSO skips when the workspace's package.json has moved past the
+ * version this file names, because `npm publish` ships the tree's
+ * version rather than the changelog's. That only matters on the
+ * `republish_paths` recovery path in .github/workflows/release.yml,
+ * where an older changelog file can be named deliberately; on the
+ * normal release path the bump and its changelog land in one commit,
+ * so the two are always equal.
+ *
  * Auth: relies on the standard `npm publish` token resolution
  * (NODE_AUTH_TOKEN env var via setup-node's .npmrc on CI, or
  * `npm login` locally). The script does not write any .npmrc.
@@ -66,6 +74,56 @@ if (!pkgName || !version) {
   process.exit(2);
 }
 
+// The version `npm publish` actually ships is the one in the WORKSPACE's
+// package.json, never the one this changelog file is named for. Those agree
+// on the normal release path, where the bump and its generated changelog land
+// in the same commit, so nothing here ever noticed they were two different
+// numbers. They diverge the moment an OLDER changelog file is republished,
+// and the old code published the tree's version while logging the changelog's:
+// republishing changelog/core/0.7.52.md shipped 0.7.53 under the line
+// `published @webjsdev/core@0.7.52`, and the next file in the batch then died
+// with `E403 cannot publish over the previously published versions: 0.7.53`,
+// taking every remaining package with it under `set -e`.
+//
+// So refuse to publish when the tree has moved on. Resolve the version through
+// the SAME `--workspace=` lookup `npm publish` uses, rather than guessing the
+// directory from the package name, so this compares exactly what would be sent
+// (`packages/<pkg>` for most, `packages/editors/intellisense` and
+// `packages/wrappers/*` for the rest).
+//
+// This runs BEFORE the registry check, so it needs no network: a version whose
+// source is gone cannot be published whatever the registry says.
+const treeView = spawnSync(
+  'npm', ['pkg', 'get', 'version', `--workspace=${pkgName}`],
+  { encoding: 'utf8', stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'] },
+);
+let treeVersion = null;
+if (treeView.status === 0) {
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(treeView.stdout);
+    // `npm pkg get --workspace=` answers `{"<name>": "<version>"}`; a bare
+    // string is accepted too in case that shape ever changes.
+    const v = typeof parsed === 'string' ? parsed : parsed[pkgName];
+    // Anything else parseable means the output shape drifted. Treat it like
+    // unparseable output (fail open, let the publish decide) rather than
+    // letting a non-string value trip the mismatch branch below, which would
+    // silently skip every publish while the workflow stays green.
+    treeVersion = typeof v === 'string' ? v : null;
+  } catch {
+    // Unparseable output is not proof of a mismatch, so fall through and let
+    // the publish itself decide. Failing open here keeps a workspace-resolution
+    // quirk from blocking a release that would otherwise be fine.
+  }
+}
+if (treeVersion && treeVersion !== version) {
+  console.log(
+    `[publish-npm] skip ${pkgName}@${version}: the workspace holds ${treeVersion}, ` +
+    `so ${version} can no longer be published from this tree ` +
+    `(publishing would ship ${treeVersion} under the wrong name)`,
+  );
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
 // Idempotency: is this version already on the registry?
 // `npm view <pkg>@<version> version` prints the version on success,
 // non-zero exit on 404. We swallow stderr to avoid noisy "E404" log.
@@ -89,4 +147,8 @@ if (pub.status !== 0) {
   console.error(`[publish-npm] npm publish failed for ${pkgName}@${version}`);
   process.exit(pub.status || 1);
 }
-console.log(`[publish-npm] published ${pkgName}@${version} (${basename(file)})`);
+// Report the version that was actually SHIPPED, not the one this file is named
+// for. The guard above makes them equal, so this is belt and braces: the old
+// line took its number from the changelog filename unconditionally, which is
+// what let a publish of the wrong version read as a success in the log.
+console.log(`[publish-npm] published ${pkgName}@${treeVersion ?? version} (${basename(file)})`);
diff --git a/test/packaging/publish-npm-version-match.test.mjs b/test/packaging/publish-npm-version-match.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa1e8600d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/packaging/publish-npm-version-match.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/**
+ * `npm publish --workspace=<pkg>` ships the version in the WORKSPACE's
+ * package.json, not the version the changelog file being processed is named
+ * for. scripts/publish-npm.js took its idempotency check from the changelog
+ * and its publish from the tree, so the two disagreed the moment an older
+ * changelog file was republished through the `republish_paths` dispatch input
+ * in .github/workflows/release.yml.
+ *
+ * That is not hypothetical. Republishing changelog/core/0.7.52.md shipped
+ * 0.7.53 (the tree's version) while logging `published @webjsdev/core@0.7.52`,
+ * and the next file in the batch then failed with
+ * `E403 cannot publish over the previously published versions: 0.7.53`,
+ * killing every remaining package under `set -e`.
+ *
+ * This locks the guard:
+ *   1. A changelog version the workspace has moved past is SKIPPED (exit 0)
+ *      with a message naming both versions.
+ *   2. Counterfactual: a changelog version that MATCHES the workspace does
+ *      NOT take that skip path, proving the guard is keyed on the mismatch
+ *      rather than skipping everything.
+ *
+ * Both cases are offline. The guard deliberately runs before the `npm view`
+ * registry call, since a version whose source is gone cannot be published
+ * whatever the registry says, and that ordering is what keeps this test from
+ * needing the network.
+ */
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { readFileSync, mkdtempSync, writeFileSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+
+const ROOT = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../..');
+const SCRIPT = join(ROOT, 'scripts/publish-npm.js');
+
+/** The version @webjsdev/core actually carries in this tree. */
+function treeVersion() {
+  return JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(ROOT, 'packages/core/package.json'), 'utf8')).version;
+}
+
+/** Write a changelog file naming @webjsdev/core at `version`, run the script. */
+function runFor(version) {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'publish-npm-'));
+  const file = join(dir, `${version}.md`);
+  writeFileSync(
+    file,
+    `---\npackage: "@webjsdev/core"\nversion: ${version}\ndate: 2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z\ncommit_count: 1\n---\n## Fixes\n\n- something\n`,
+  );
+  try {
+    return spawnSync('node', [SCRIPT, file], {
+      cwd: ROOT,
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+      // The deny-live-hosts preload does not reach a spawned child, and on a
+      // release branch (where the tree version is not on the registry yet)
+      // the script would fall through the view check into a real
+      // `npm publish` with whatever auth is ambient on the machine. An
+      // unroutable registry fails both npm calls fast, keeping this
+      // genuinely offline. `npm pkg get` is a purely local read, so the
+      // guard under test is unaffected.
+      //
+      // fetch-retries MUST be 0: npm's default of 2 retries with exponential
+      // backoff turns an instant connection-refused into a ~72 second test.
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        npm_config_registry: 'http://127.0.0.1:1',
+        npm_config_fetch_retries: '0',
+        npm_config_fetch_timeout: '2000',
+      },
+    });
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+}
+
+test('a changelog version the workspace has moved past is skipped, not published', () => {
+  // 0.0.1 can never be the tree's version, so this is a guaranteed mismatch
+  // without depending on which release the repo currently sits on.
+  const r = runFor('0.0.1');
+  assert.equal(r.status, 0, `expected a clean skip, got status ${r.status}\n${r.stderr}`);
+  assert.match(r.stdout, /skip @webjsdev\/core@0\.0\.1/);
+  // The message must name the version that WOULD have shipped, since that is
+  // the fact the old log line hid.
+  assert.ok(
+    r.stdout.includes(treeVersion()),
+    `the skip message should name the tree version ${treeVersion()}, got: ${r.stdout}`,
+  );
+});
+
+test('counterfactual: a changelog version matching the workspace is not skipped by the guard', () => {
+  const r = runFor(treeVersion());
+  // It proceeds past the guard to the registry check, which may then skip as
+  // already-published or fail offline. Either is fine. What must NOT appear is
+  // the mismatch skip, which would mean the guard fires unconditionally and
+  // the first assertion proves nothing.
+  assert.doesNotMatch(
+    r.stdout,
+    /can no longer be published from this tree/,
+    `the guard must not fire when the versions agree, got: ${r.stdout}`,
+  );
+});