diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml
index 955498c29..e53c95d72 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,57 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+  release-policy:
+    name: Validate release policy
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    permissions:
+      actions: read
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout full history
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Validate release policy
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          if [ "$GITHUB_EVENT_NAME" = "pull_request" ]; then
+            echo "::notice::Pull-request image validation does not publish release tags."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          if [ "$GITHUB_REF_TYPE" != "tag" ] || [[ ! "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" =~ ^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$ ]]; then
+            echo "::error::Release ref '$GITHUB_REF_NAME' is not a strict SemVer tag (expected vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH with no leading zeroes or prerelease suffix)." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          package_version="$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")"
+          tag_version="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"
+          if [ "$package_version" != "$tag_version" ]; then
+            echo "::error::package.json version '$package_version' does not match release tag '$GITHUB_REF_NAME'." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          git fetch --no-tags origin main:refs/remotes/origin/main
+          if ! git merge-base --is-ancestor "$GITHUB_SHA" origin/main; then
+            echo "::error::Release commit $GITHUB_SHA is not an ancestor of origin/main." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          successful_quality_runs="$(
+            gh api "repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/actions/runs?head_sha=$GITHUB_SHA&event=push&status=success&per_page=100" \
+              --jq '[.workflow_runs[] | select(.name == "Security & Quality" and .head_branch == "main")] | length'
+          )"
+          if [ "$successful_quality_runs" -lt 1 ]; then
+            echo "::error::Release commit $GITHUB_SHA has no successful prior Security & Quality push run on main." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "Release policy passed for $GITHUB_REF_NAME at $GITHUB_SHA."
+
   # ── Stage 1 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   # Build each architecture on its own native GitHub-hosted runner so
   # Next.js's static-page workers run on real silicon instead of QEMU
@@ -54,6 +105,7 @@ jobs:
   # manifest in a third step, so consumers see a single tag that
   # auto-selects on `docker pull` per local platform.
   build:
+    needs: [release-policy]
     name: Build ${{ matrix.platform }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
     # 25 min wall clock — native amd64 build finished inside 12 min
@@ -265,6 +317,11 @@ jobs:
     if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
     needs: [build]
     timeout-minutes: 10
+    outputs:
+      image_ref: ${{ steps.published.outputs.image_ref }}
+      image_tag: ${{ steps.published.outputs.image_tag }}
+      image_digest: ${{ steps.published.outputs.image_digest }}
+      build_sha: ${{ steps.published.outputs.build_sha }}
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
@@ -335,9 +392,21 @@ jobs:
           docker buildx imagetools create $(jq -cr '.tags | map("-t " + .) | join(" ")' <<< "$DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_JSON") \
             $(printf '${{ env.IMAGE_REF }}@sha256:%s ' *)
 
-      - name: Inspect published manifest
+      - name: Resolve published image
+        id: published
+        env:
+          IMAGE_TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         run: |
-          docker buildx imagetools inspect '${{ env.IMAGE_REF }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}'
+          image_digest="$(docker buildx imagetools inspect "${IMAGE_REF}:${IMAGE_TAG}" --format '{{json .Manifest.Digest}}' | tr -d '"')"
+          if [[ ! "$image_digest" =~ ^sha256:[0-9a-f]{64}$ ]]; then
+            echo "::error::Could not resolve a valid manifest digest for ${IMAGE_REF}:${IMAGE_TAG}." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "image_ref=$IMAGE_REF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "image_tag=$IMAGE_TAG" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "image_digest=$image_digest" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "build_sha=${GITHUB_SHA::12}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          docker buildx imagetools inspect "${IMAGE_REF}@${image_digest}"
 
       # v1.16.4 — sign the multi-arch manifest index (keyless, Sigstore).
       # Signing the INDEX digest covers both per-platform manifests in
@@ -357,91 +426,59 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Sign multi-arch manifest (keyless)
         env:
-          IMAGE_VERSION: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
+          IMAGE_DIGEST: ${{ steps.published.outputs.image_digest }}
         run: |
-          digest="$(docker buildx imagetools inspect "${IMAGE_REF}:${IMAGE_VERSION}" --format '{{json .Manifest.Digest}}' | tr -d '"')"
-          if [ -z "$digest" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Could not resolve the manifest digest for ${IMAGE_REF}:${IMAGE_VERSION} — signing aborted."
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          echo "Signing ${IMAGE_REF}@${digest}"
-          cosign sign --yes "${IMAGE_REF}@${digest}"
-          echo "::notice::Image index signed (keyless): ${IMAGE_REF}@${digest}. Verify with cosign verify --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/' ${IMAGE_REF}@${digest}"
+          echo "Signing ${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}"
+          cosign sign --yes "${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}"
+          echo "::notice::Image index signed (keyless): ${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}. Verify with cosign verify --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/' ${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}"
 
-      # v1.4.15: trigger the Coolify deploy automatically once GHCR has
-      # the new image. Replaces the former manual SSH + force-pull recipe
-      # on the deployment host.
-      #
-      # Runs only on the publish path (push to `main` or to a `v*` tag), never
-      # on PRs. `continue-on-error: true` because the image is *already*
-      # published to GHCR by the time we reach this step — a Coolify-side
-      # outage must not retroactively fail the build. The maintainer still
-      # has the manual recipe as fallback.
-      #
-      # Required GitHub repository secrets (set by the maintainer once):
-      #   COOLIFY_WEBHOOK = full deploy URL incl. ?uuid=...&force=false
-      #   COOLIFY_TOKEN   = Bearer token from Coolify UI -> Keys & Tokens
-      # Both secrets are referenced exclusively here. If either is unset, the
-      # step short-circuits to a skip rather than calling Coolify with empty
-      # auth.
-      #
-      # v1.4.26 P6-3 — maintainer toggle.
-      # Three releases in a row shipped via the host-side SSH-retag fallback
-      # because the secrets above silently absent + the warn-only skip
-      # below let the workflow stay green. The `vars.COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY`
-      # repository variable now distinguishes the two intended modes:
-      #
-      #   COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=on  →  if secrets present, deploy; if absent,
-      #                              FAIL the step so the maintainer sees the
-      #                              missing-secret gap on the next release.
-      #   COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=off →  unconditional skip with a notice. Use
-      #                              this when the host-side SSH recipe is
-      #                              the intended deploy path.
-      #   (unset / any other)     →  warn-and-skip (legacy behaviour).
-      #
-      # Set the variable under repo Settings → Secrets and variables →
-      # Actions → Variables (NOT Secrets — it is intentionally readable).
+  verify-published-image:
+    name: Verify exact published image
+    needs: merge
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: read
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/post-publish-verify.yml
+    with:
+      image_ref: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_ref }}
+      image_tag: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_tag }}
+      image_digest: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_digest }}
+      build_sha: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.build_sha }}
+    secrets: inherit
+
+  promote:
+    name: Promote verified image to Coolify
+    needs: [merge, verify-published-image]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
       - name: Trigger Coolify deploy
-        continue-on-error: true
         env:
           COOLIFY_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.COOLIFY_WEBHOOK }}
           COOLIFY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COOLIFY_TOKEN }}
           COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY: ${{ vars.COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY }}
-          IMAGE_VERSION: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
+          IMAGE_TAG: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_tag }}
+          IMAGE_DIGEST: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_digest }}
+          BUILD_SHA: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.build_sha }}
         run: |
           mode="${COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY:-}"
           if [ "$mode" = "off" ]; then
-            echo "::notice::COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=off — skipping registry deploy hook. Maintainer uses the host-side SSH recipe instead."
+            echo "::notice::COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=off — skipping registry deploy hook."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "$mode" != "on" ]; then
+            echo "::warning::COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY is not 'on' or 'off' — skipping auto-deploy. Set an explicit mode in repository variables."
             exit 0
           fi
           if [ -z "$COOLIFY_WEBHOOK" ] || [ -z "$COOLIFY_TOKEN" ]; then
-            if [ "$mode" = "on" ]; then
-              echo "::error::COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=on but COOLIFY_WEBHOOK or COOLIFY_TOKEN secret is missing. Set both under repo Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions, or set COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=off to silence."
-              exit 1
-            fi
-            echo "::warning::COOLIFY_WEBHOOK or COOLIFY_TOKEN secret missing — skipping auto-deploy. Configure in repo Settings → Secrets to enable, or set the COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY variable to 'off' to silence this warning."
-            exit 0
+            echo "::error::COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=on but COOLIFY_WEBHOOK or COOLIFY_TOKEN secret is missing. Set both credentials or disable promotion explicitly." >&2
+            exit 1
           fi
-          # v1.4.31 — wait for GHCR cache propagation before firing
-          # the Coolify webhook. Five releases in a row (v1.4.27
-          # through v1.4.30.1) the webhook reported "finished" but
-          # Coolify still pulled the prior `:latest` digest. The
-          # `docker buildx imagetools create` + `inspect` steps
-          # above confirm the manifest exists at registry-write time,
-          # but GHCR's CDN edges can take 30-90 s to propagate the
-          # new digest. The webhook fires inside that window, so
-          # Coolify pulls "latest" while the edge still serves the
-          # prior digest, gets "no change", and returns success.
-          # Waiting out the propagation window before firing the
-          # webhook closes that gap.
-          echo "Waiting 90 s for GHCR cache propagation before triggering Coolify (image: $IMAGE_VERSION)…"
+
+          echo "Waiting 90 s for registry propagation before promoting ${IMAGE_TAG}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}."
           sleep 90
-          # v1.4.22 C3 — force=true tells Coolify to skip its image-cache
-          # and re-pull the registry digest. If the maintainer's secret
-          # URL already carries a `?force=` query, leave it alone;
-          # otherwise append `?force=true` (or `&force=true` if other
-          # query params are present) so doc-only deploys still trigger
-          # a registry-digest check.
           deploy_url="$COOLIFY_WEBHOOK"
           if ! echo "$deploy_url" | grep -q "force="; then
             if echo "$deploy_url" | grep -q "?"; then
@@ -450,18 +487,18 @@ jobs:
               deploy_url="${deploy_url}?force=true"
             fi
           fi
-          echo "Triggering Coolify deploy for ref ${{ github.ref_name }} (sha ${GITHUB_SHA::7})"
-          response=$(curl --silent --show-error --max-time 30 \
+
+          echo "Triggering Coolify deploy for ${IMAGE_TAG}@${IMAGE_DIGEST} (source ${BUILD_SHA})."
+          response="$(curl --silent --show-error --max-time 30 \
             --write-out "\n__HTTP_STATUS__:%{http_code}" \
             --request GET "$deploy_url" \
-            --header "Authorization: Bearer $COOLIFY_TOKEN")
+            --header "Authorization: Bearer $COOLIFY_TOKEN")"
           status="${response##*__HTTP_STATUS__:}"
           body="${response%__HTTP_STATUS__:*}"
           echo "Coolify response (HTTP $status):"
           echo "$body"
           if [ "$status" -lt 200 ] || [ "$status" -ge 300 ]; then
-            echo "::error::Coolify deploy webhook returned HTTP $status — image is published, but auto-deploy did not fire. Maintainer: deploy manually on the deployment host (SSH force-pull recipe, see docs/ops/deploy.md)."
+            echo "::error::Coolify deploy webhook returned HTTP $status for verified image ${IMAGE_TAG}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}." >&2
             exit 1
           fi
-          echo "::notice::Coolify auto-deploy webhook fired at $(date -u +%FT%TZ) for ref ${{ github.ref_name }} (sha ${GITHUB_SHA::7}). If /api/version doesn't reach the new tag within ~60s, re-trigger the deploy from the Coolify UI or deploy manually on the deployment host (docs/ops/deploy.md)."
-          echo "Coolify deploy queued — awaiting outgoing notification webhook to /api/internal/deploy-webhook for final status."
+          echo "Coolify deploy queued for verified image ${IMAGE_TAG}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}."
diff --git a/.github/workflows/post-publish-verify.yml b/.github/workflows/post-publish-verify.yml
index c2dc87df2..15900b5d9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/post-publish-verify.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/post-publish-verify.yml
@@ -1,33 +1,42 @@
 name: Post-publish verify
 
-# Informational reachability gate that runs AFTER `Build & Publish Docker
-# Image` finishes a `main` (or tag) build. Pulls the just-published image
-# from GHCR and probes:
-#   - the image manifest is fetchable (i.e. the push actually completed)
-#   - the container starts and `/api/version` returns the expected version
-#   - the container's `/api/health` endpoint reports OK
-#
-# Does NOT block deploys — `continue-on-error` is set on every probe step
-# so a transient registry blip doesn't go red. This is a smoke gate the
-# v1.4.14 release would have caught: the main push appeared to "succeed"
-# from the deploy host's POV, but the host had to pull the tag image
-# because main's manifest never finished pushing.
-#
-# Triggered by `workflow_run` so it only runs after the build workflow
-# actually completes — chaining via `needs:` would force the build into
-# the same workflow file.
-
 on:
-  workflow_run:
-    workflows: ["Build & Publish Docker Image"]
-    types: [completed]
-    branches: [main]
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      image_ref:
+        description: Exact registry repository to verify
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      image_tag:
+        description: Exact published release tag
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      image_digest:
+        description: Exact published multi-arch manifest digest
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      build_sha:
+        description: Expected short source commit SHA
+        required: true
+        type: string
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
+      image_ref:
+        description: Exact registry repository to verify
+        required: true
+        type: string
       image_tag:
-        description: "GHCR image tag to verify (defaults to `main`)"
-        required: false
-        default: "main"
+        description: Exact published release tag
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      image_digest:
+        description: Exact published multi-arch manifest digest
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      build_sha:
+        description: Expected short source commit SHA
+        required: true
+        type: string
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -35,14 +44,15 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   verify:
-    name: Pull + smoke-test published image
+    name: Pull and smoke-test exact published image
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 10
-    # Skip if the upstream build itself failed — there's nothing to verify.
-    # Manual dispatch always runs.
-    if: >-
-      github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
-      github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success'
+    env:
+      IMAGE_REF: ${{ inputs.image_ref }}
+      IMAGE_TAG: ${{ inputs.image_tag }}
+      IMAGE_DIGEST: ${{ inputs.image_digest }}
+      BUILD_SHA: ${{ inputs.build_sha }}
+      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://healthlog:healthlog@localhost:5432/healthlog?schema=public
 
     services:
       postgres:
@@ -60,15 +70,6 @@ jobs:
           --health-retries 10
 
     steps:
-      - name: Resolve image tag
-        id: tag
-        run: |
-          if [[ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "workflow_dispatch" ]]; then
-            echo "tag=${{ github.event.inputs.image_tag }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          else
-            echo "tag=main" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          fi
-
       - name: Log in to GHCR
         uses: docker/login-action@af1e73f918a031802d376d3c8bbc3fe56130a9b0 # v4.4.0
         with:
@@ -76,24 +77,38 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Pull image
-        id: pull
-        continue-on-error: true
+      - name: Pull exact image
         run: |
-          IMAGE="ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}"
-          echo "Pulling $IMAGE"
-          docker pull "$IMAGE"
-          echo "image=$IMAGE" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          TAG_REF="${IMAGE_REF}:${IMAGE_TAG}"
+          DIGEST_REF="${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}"
 
-      - name: Start container
-        if: steps.pull.outcome == 'success'
-        id: run
-        continue-on-error: true
+          echo "Pulling published tag $TAG_REF"
+          docker pull "$TAG_REF"
+          resolved_digest="$(docker buildx imagetools inspect "$TAG_REF" --format '{{json .Manifest.Digest}}' | tr -d '"')"
+          if [ "$resolved_digest" != "$IMAGE_DIGEST" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Published tag digest mismatch: $TAG_REF resolved to '$resolved_digest', expected '$IMAGE_DIGEST'." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "Pulling immutable image $DIGEST_REF"
+          docker pull "$DIGEST_REF"
+
+      - name: Run migrations
         run: |
-          # Minimal env to satisfy the strict-env validators on boot.
+          DIGEST_REF="${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}"
+          docker run --rm \
+            --network host \
+            --entrypoint node \
+            -e DATABASE_URL="$DATABASE_URL" \
+            "$DIGEST_REF" \
+            /opt/prisma-cli/node_modules/prisma/build/index.js migrate deploy
+
+      - name: Start exact image
+        run: |
+          DIGEST_REF="${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}"
           docker run -d --name healthlog-verify \
             --network host \
-            -e DATABASE_URL='postgresql://healthlog:healthlog@localhost:5432/healthlog?schema=public' \
+            -e DATABASE_URL="$DATABASE_URL" \
             -e ENCRYPTION_KEYS='{"v1":"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"}' \
             -e ENCRYPTION_ACTIVE_KEY_ID=v1 \
             -e API_TOKEN_HMAC_KEY=verify-hmac-key-32-bytes-padding-x \
@@ -101,44 +116,57 @@ jobs:
             -e AUTH_RP_ID=localhost \
             -e AUTH_RP_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000 \
             -e NODE_ENV=production \
-            -e HEALTHLOG_PROCESS_TYPE=web \
             -e PORT=3000 \
-            "${{ steps.pull.outputs.image }}"
+            "$DIGEST_REF"
 
-          # Wait up to 60 s for the server to start answering.
+      - name: Verify exact version
+        run: |
+          body=""
           for i in $(seq 1 30); do
-            if curl -sf -o /dev/null http://localhost:3000/api/version; then
-              echo "ready after ${i}*2s"
+            if body="$(curl -sf http://localhost:3000/api/version)"; then
+              echo "Version endpoint ready after $((i * 2))s"
+              break
+            fi
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          if [ -z "$body" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Exact image did not expose /api/version within 60 seconds." >&2
+            docker logs healthlog-verify || true
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "$body" | jq .
+          if ! jq -e --arg expected "$IMAGE_TAG" '.data.version == $expected' <<< "$body" >/dev/null; then
+            actual="$(jq -r '.data.version // "<missing>"' <<< "$body")"
+            echo "::error::Version mismatch: exact image reports '$actual', expected '$IMAGE_TAG'." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if ! jq -e --arg expected "$BUILD_SHA" '.data.buildSha == $expected' <<< "$body" >/dev/null; then
+            actual="$(jq -r '.data.buildSha // "<missing>"' <<< "$body")"
+            echo "::error::Build SHA mismatch: exact image reports '$actual', expected '$BUILD_SHA'." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Verify health
+        run: |
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            if body="$(curl -sf http://localhost:3000/api/health)" && jq -e '.status == "ok"' <<< "$body" >/dev/null; then
+              echo "$body" | jq .
+              echo "Health endpoint ready after $((i * 2))s"
               exit 0
             fi
             sleep 2
           done
-          echo "::warning::Container did not become ready within 60 s"
+          echo "::error::Exact image did not report healthy within 60 seconds." >&2
           docker logs healthlog-verify || true
           exit 1
 
-      - name: Probe /api/version
-        if: steps.run.outcome == 'success'
+      - name: Container logs
+        if: always()
         continue-on-error: true
-        run: |
-          set -e
-          BODY=$(curl -sf http://localhost:3000/api/version)
-          echo "$BODY" | jq .
-          VER=$(echo "$BODY" | jq -r '.data.version // .version')
-          echo "::notice::published image ${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }} reports version=$VER"
-
-      - name: Probe /api/health
-        if: steps.run.outcome == 'success'
-        continue-on-error: true
-        run: |
-          curl -sf http://localhost:3000/api/health | jq .
-
-      - name: Container logs (always)
-        if: always() && steps.run.outcome == 'success'
-        continue-on-error: true
-        run: docker logs healthlog-verify | tail -100
+        run: docker logs healthlog-verify
 
       - name: Tear down
         if: always()
         continue-on-error: true
-        run: docker rm -f healthlog-verify || true
+        run: docker rm -f healthlog-verify
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index aad0d0b4c..8f0861e5c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 # ── Stage 1: Dependencies ──────────────────────────────────
-FROM node:22-alpine AS deps
-RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate
+FROM node:22-alpine@sha256:16e22a550f3863206a3f701448c45f7912c6896a62de43add43bb9c86130c3e2 AS deps
+RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@10.31.0 --activate
 WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml pnpm-workspace.yaml ./
 RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --prod=false
 
 # ── Stage 2: Build ─────────────────────────────────────────
-FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
-RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate
+FROM node:22-alpine@sha256:16e22a550f3863206a3f701448c45f7912c6896a62de43add43bb9c86130c3e2 AS builder
+RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@10.31.0 --activate
 WORKDIR /app
 
 # v1.4.43 B11 — version build-arg threaded into the layer cache key.
@@ -45,17 +45,16 @@ ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
 RUN pnpm build
 
 # ── Stage 3: Production runner ─────────────────────────────
-FROM node:22-alpine AS runner
+FROM node:22-alpine@sha256:16e22a550f3863206a3f701448c45f7912c6896a62de43add43bb9c86130c3e2 AS runner
 # `tzdata` is required so Europe/Berlin schedules (pg-boss cron, locale-aware
 # timestamp formatting) resolve to the actual offset instead of silently
 # falling back to UTC on Alpine images that ship without it.
 RUN apk add --no-cache tzdata && \
-    corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate
+    corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@10.31.0 --activate
 WORKDIR /app
 
 ENV NODE_ENV=production
 ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
-ENV NODE_PATH="/opt/pg-boss/node_modules"
 ENV TZ=Europe/Berlin
 
 # v1.4.43 B11 — forward NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION from the builder stage
@@ -80,6 +79,10 @@ RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs && \
 COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
 COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
 COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
+# Next's standalone output must carry every externalized worker dependency.
+# Fail the image build here if output tracing ever stops shipping one rather
+# than compensating with a second, independently versioned npm installation.
+RUN node -e "require.resolve('pg-boss'); require.resolve('@prisma/adapter-pg'); require.resolve('pg'); require.resolve('@prisma/client')"
 
 # @napi-rs/canvas (document PDF rasterization): Next's file tracer copies the
 # native binary's package into the standalone tree but NOT the pnpm symlinks that
@@ -123,15 +126,6 @@ COPY --from=builder /app/prisma ./prisma
 COPY --from=builder /app/prisma.config.ts ./prisma.config.ts
 COPY --from=builder /app/src/generated ./src/generated
 
-# Install all worker runtime dependencies in a shared prefix.
-# NODE_PATH makes them available to Node.js module resolution.
-# These packages are listed in next.config.ts serverExternalPackages
-# and are NOT bundled by Next.js — they must exist at runtime.
-RUN mkdir -p /opt/pg-boss && \
-    cd /opt/pg-boss && \
-    npm init -y && \
-    npm install --omit=dev pg-boss@12.18 @prisma/adapter-pg@7.8 pg@8.20
-
 # Install Prisma CLI + engines for runtime migrations (isolated from Next standalone tree)
 RUN mkdir -p /opt/prisma-cli && \
     cd /opt/prisma-cli && \
diff --git a/scripts/__tests__/release-workflows.test.ts b/scripts/__tests__/release-workflows.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7a9b2ec7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/__tests__/release-workflows.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,424 @@
+import { spawnSync, type SpawnSyncReturns } from "node:child_process";
+import {
+  chmodSync,
+  mkdirSync,
+  mkdtempSync,
+  readFileSync,
+  rmSync,
+  writeFileSync,
+} from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { parse } from "yaml";
+
+function readRepoFile(path: string): string {
+  const testPath = expect.getState().testPath;
+  if (!testPath) throw new Error("Vitest did not expose the current test path");
+  return readFileSync(join(dirname(testPath), "../..", path), "utf8");
+}
+type WorkflowStep = {
+  name?: string;
+  run?: string;
+  "continue-on-error"?: boolean;
+};
+type WorkflowJob = {
+  needs?: string | string[];
+  outputs?: Record<string, string>;
+  steps?: WorkflowStep[];
+  uses?: string;
+  with?: Record<string, string>;
+};
+type Workflow = {
+  on?: {
+    workflow_call?: { inputs?: Record<string, { required?: boolean }> };
+  };
+  jobs: Record<string, WorkflowJob>;
+};
+
+const temporaryDirectories: string[] = [];
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const path of temporaryDirectories.splice(0)) {
+    rmSync(path, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+function loadWorkflow(name: string): Workflow {
+  return parse(readRepoFile(join(".github/workflows", name))) as Workflow;
+}
+
+function stepScript(workflow: Workflow, jobName: string, stepName: string): string {
+  const step = workflow.jobs[jobName]?.steps?.find(
+    (candidate) => candidate.name === stepName,
+  );
+  if (!step?.run) {
+    throw new Error(`Missing ${jobName}/${stepName} run step`);
+  }
+  return step.run;
+}
+
+function runReleasePolicy(
+  overrides: Record<string, string> = {},
+): SpawnSyncReturns<string> {
+  const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "healthlog-release-policy-"));
+  temporaryDirectories.push(directory);
+  const binDirectory = join(directory, "bin");
+  mkdirSync(binDirectory);
+  writeFileSync(
+    join(directory, "package.json"),
+    JSON.stringify({ version: overrides.FIXTURE_PACKAGE_VERSION ?? "1.31.4" }),
+  );
+
+  const gitPath = join(binDirectory, "git");
+  writeFileSync(
+    gitPath,
+    `#!/bin/sh
+if [ "$1" = "fetch" ]; then exit 0; fi
+if [ "$1" = "merge-base" ] && [ "$FIXTURE_MAIN_ANCESTRY" = "yes" ]; then exit 0; fi
+exit 1
+`,
+  );
+  chmodSync(gitPath, 0o755);
+
+  const ghPath = join(binDirectory, "gh");
+  writeFileSync(
+    ghPath,
+    `#!/bin/sh
+if [ "$FIXTURE_PRIOR_CI" = "yes" ]; then printf '1\\n'; else printf '0\\n'; fi
+`,
+  );
+  chmodSync(ghPath, 0o755);
+
+  const workflow = loadWorkflow("docker-publish.yml");
+  return spawnSync(
+    "bash",
+    ["-euo", "pipefail", "-c", stepScript(workflow, "release-policy", "Validate release policy")],
+    {
+      cwd: directory,
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${binDirectory}:${process.env.PATH ?? ""}`,
+        GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "push",
+        GITHUB_REF_TYPE: "tag",
+        GITHUB_REF_NAME: "v1.31.4",
+        GITHUB_SHA: "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567",
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "MBombeck/HealthLog",
+        GH_TOKEN: "fixture-token",
+        FIXTURE_MAIN_ANCESTRY: "yes",
+        FIXTURE_PRIOR_CI: "yes",
+        ...overrides,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+}
+
+function runExactPull(
+  resolvedDigest: string,
+): { result: SpawnSyncReturns<string>; commands: string } {
+  const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "healthlog-image-pull-"));
+  temporaryDirectories.push(directory);
+  const dockerPath = join(directory, "docker");
+  const commandLog = join(directory, "commands.log");
+  writeFileSync(
+    dockerPath,
+    `#!/bin/sh
+printf '%s\\n' "$*" >> "$FIXTURE_COMMAND_LOG"
+if [ "$1" = "pull" ]; then exit 0; fi
+if [ "$1" = "buildx" ] && [ "$2" = "imagetools" ] && [ "$3" = "inspect" ]; then
+  printf '\"%s\"\\n' "$FIXTURE_RESOLVED_DIGEST"
+  exit 0
+fi
+exit 1
+`,
+  );
+  chmodSync(dockerPath, 0o755);
+
+  const workflow = loadWorkflow("post-publish-verify.yml");
+  const result = spawnSync(
+    "bash",
+    ["-euo", "pipefail", "-c", stepScript(workflow, "verify", "Pull exact image")],
+    {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${directory}:${process.env.PATH ?? ""}`,
+        IMAGE_REF: "ghcr.io/mbombeck/healthlog",
+        IMAGE_TAG: "v1.31.4",
+        IMAGE_DIGEST:
+          "sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+        FIXTURE_COMMAND_LOG: commandLog,
+        FIXTURE_RESOLVED_DIGEST: resolvedDigest,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+  return {
+    result,
+    commands: readFileSync(commandLog, "utf8"),
+  };
+}
+
+function runPromotion(
+  overrides: Record<string, string> = {},
+): SpawnSyncReturns<string> {
+  const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "healthlog-promotion-"));
+  temporaryDirectories.push(directory);
+  const sleepPath = join(directory, "sleep");
+  writeFileSync(sleepPath, "#!/bin/sh\nexit 0\n");
+  chmodSync(sleepPath, 0o755);
+  const curlPath = join(directory, "curl");
+  writeFileSync(
+    curlPath,
+    `#!/bin/sh
+printf '{\"deployment_uuid\":\"fixture\"}\\n__HTTP_STATUS__:%s' "$FIXTURE_HTTP_STATUS"
+`,
+  );
+  chmodSync(curlPath, 0o755);
+
+  const workflow = loadWorkflow("docker-publish.yml");
+  return spawnSync(
+    "bash",
+    ["-euo", "pipefail", "-c", stepScript(workflow, "promote", "Trigger Coolify deploy")],
+    {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PATH: `${directory}:${process.env.PATH ?? ""}`,
+        COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY: "on",
+        COOLIFY_WEBHOOK: "https://coolify.example/deploy?uuid=fixture",
+        COOLIFY_TOKEN: "fixture-token",
+        IMAGE_TAG: "v1.31.4",
+        IMAGE_DIGEST:
+          "sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+        BUILD_SHA: "0123456789ab",
+        FIXTURE_HTTP_STATUS: "200",
+        ...overrides,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+}
+
+describe("release container inputs", () => {
+  it("pins every Node stage to one reviewed multi-arch digest", () => {
+    const dockerfile = readRepoFile("Dockerfile");
+    const fromLines = dockerfile.match(/^FROM node:[^\n]+$/gm) ?? [];
+
+    expect(fromLines).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(new Set(fromLines.map((line) => line.split(" AS ")[0]))).toEqual(
+      new Set([
+        "FROM node:22-alpine@sha256:16e22a550f3863206a3f701448c45f7912c6896a62de43add43bb9c86130c3e2",
+      ]),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("uses the packageManager pnpm version instead of a moving tag", () => {
+    const dockerfile = readRepoFile("Dockerfile");
+    const packageJson = JSON.parse(readRepoFile("package.json")) as {
+      packageManager: string;
+    };
+    expect(packageJson.packageManager).toBe("pnpm@10.31.0");
+    expect(dockerfile).not.toContain("pnpm@latest");
+    expect(dockerfile.match(/corepack prepare pnpm@10\.31\.0 --activate/g)).toHaveLength(
+      3,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("relies on and verifies standalone dependency resolution", () => {
+    const dockerfile = readRepoFile("Dockerfile");
+    expect(dockerfile).not.toContain("/opt/pg-boss");
+    expect(dockerfile).not.toContain('NODE_PATH="/opt/pg-boss/node_modules"');
+    expect(dockerfile).toMatch(
+      /require\.resolve\(['"]pg-boss['"]\)[\s\S]*require\.resolve\(['"]@prisma\/adapter-pg['"]\)[\s\S]*require\.resolve\(['"]pg['"]\)/,
+    );
+  });
+});
+
+describe("release pre-build policy", () => {
+  it("accepts a strict SemVer tag that matches package.json on main with prior CI", () => {
+    const result = runReleasePolicy();
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain("Release policy passed");
+  });
+
+  it.each(["v1.2", "v01.2.3", "v1.2.3-rc.1", "1.2.3"])(
+    "rejects non-strict release tag %s",
+    (tag) => {
+      const result = runReleasePolicy({ GITHUB_REF_NAME: tag });
+
+      expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(result.stderr).toContain("strict SemVer");
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("rejects a tag that does not match package.json", () => {
+    const result = runReleasePolicy({ FIXTURE_PACKAGE_VERSION: "1.31.3" });
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("package.json version");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a release commit outside main ancestry", () => {
+    const result = runReleasePolicy({ FIXTURE_MAIN_ANCESTRY: "no" });
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("ancestor of origin/main");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a release commit without successful prior quality CI", () => {
+    const result = runReleasePolicy({ FIXTURE_PRIOR_CI: "no" });
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("successful prior Security & Quality");
+  });
+
+  it("gates every image build on the release policy", () => {
+    const workflow = loadWorkflow("docker-publish.yml");
+    const needs = workflow.jobs.build?.needs;
+
+    expect(Array.isArray(needs) ? needs : [needs]).toContain("release-policy");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("exact post-publish verification", () => {
+  it("passes the published ref, tag, and digest into the blocking verifier", () => {
+    const workflow = loadWorkflow("docker-publish.yml");
+    const merge = workflow.jobs.merge;
+    const verify = workflow.jobs["verify-published-image"];
+
+    expect(merge?.outputs).toEqual({
+      image_ref: "${{ steps.published.outputs.image_ref }}",
+      image_tag: "${{ steps.published.outputs.image_tag }}",
+      image_digest: "${{ steps.published.outputs.image_digest }}",
+      build_sha: "${{ steps.published.outputs.build_sha }}",
+    });
+    expect(verify?.uses).toBe("./.github/workflows/post-publish-verify.yml");
+    expect(verify?.needs).toBe("merge");
+    expect(verify?.with).toEqual({
+      image_ref: "${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_ref }}",
+      image_tag: "${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_tag }}",
+      image_digest: "${{ needs.merge.outputs.image_digest }}",
+      build_sha: "${{ needs.merge.outputs.build_sha }}",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("requires exact image identity inputs for every invocation", () => {
+    const workflow = loadWorkflow("post-publish-verify.yml");
+    const inputs = workflow.on?.workflow_call?.inputs;
+
+    expect(inputs?.image_ref?.required).toBe(true);
+    expect(inputs?.image_tag?.required).toBe(true);
+    expect(inputs?.image_digest?.required).toBe(true);
+    expect(inputs?.build_sha?.required).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("pulls the exact tag and digest when the registry resolves correctly", () => {
+    const digest =
+      "sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa";
+    const { result, commands } = runExactPull(digest);
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    expect(commands).toContain("pull ghcr.io/mbombeck/healthlog:v1.31.4");
+    expect(commands).toContain(
+      "pull ghcr.io/mbombeck/healthlog@sha256:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("fails closed when the published tag resolves to another digest", () => {
+    const { result } = runExactPull(
+      "sha256:bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb",
+    );
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("digest mismatch");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps pull, migration, start, version, and health checks blocking", () => {
+    const workflow = loadWorkflow("post-publish-verify.yml");
+    const steps = workflow.jobs.verify?.steps ?? [];
+    const requiredSteps = [
+      "Pull exact image",
+      "Run migrations",
+      "Start exact image",
+      "Verify exact version",
+      "Verify health",
+    ];
+
+    for (const name of requiredSteps) {
+      const step = steps.find((candidate) => candidate.name === name);
+      expect(step, `missing ${name}`).toBeDefined();
+      expect(step?.["continue-on-error"], name).not.toBe(true);
+    }
+
+    expect(stepScript(workflow, "verify", "Run migrations")).toContain(
+      '${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}',
+    );
+    expect(stepScript(workflow, "verify", "Start exact image")).toContain(
+      '${IMAGE_REF}@${IMAGE_DIGEST}',
+    );
+    expect(stepScript(workflow, "verify", "Verify exact version")).toContain(
+      'jq -e --arg expected "$IMAGE_TAG"',
+    );
+    expect(stepScript(workflow, "verify", "Verify health")).toContain(
+      "jq -e '.status == \"ok\"'",
+    );
+  });
+});
+
+describe("Coolify promotion policy", () => {
+  it("waits for exact-image verification and keeps enabled promotion blocking", () => {
+    const workflow = loadWorkflow("docker-publish.yml");
+    const promotion = workflow.jobs.promote;
+    const needs = promotion?.needs;
+    const trigger = promotion?.steps?.find(
+      (step) => step.name === "Trigger Coolify deploy",
+    );
+
+    expect(Array.isArray(needs) ? needs : [needs]).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(["merge", "verify-published-image"]),
+    );
+    expect(trigger).toBeDefined();
+    expect(trigger?.["continue-on-error"]).not.toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      workflow.jobs.merge?.steps?.some(
+        (step) => step.name === "Trigger Coolify deploy",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("accepts an enabled promotion only after a successful webhook response", () => {
+    const result = runPromotion();
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain("Coolify deploy queued");
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["webhook", { COOLIFY_WEBHOOK: "" }],
+    ["token", { COOLIFY_TOKEN: "" }],
+  ])("rejects enabled promotion with missing %s credentials", (_name, env) => {
+    const result = runPromotion(env);
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=on");
+  });
+
+  it("fails enabled promotion when Coolify rejects the webhook", () => {
+    const result = runPromotion({ FIXTURE_HTTP_STATUS: "503" });
+
+    expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("returned HTTP 503");
+  });
+
+  it("allows explicit disabled promotion without credentials", () => {
+    const result = runPromotion({
+      COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY: "off",
+      COOLIFY_WEBHOOK: "",
+      COOLIFY_TOKEN: "",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain("COOLIFY_AUTO_DEPLOY=off");
+  });
+});