diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 00f50ff4d1..79ff954b0b 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ automation because it copies a JAR into a developer-specific server directory.
 
 Assign one owner to Maven validation in each worktree. Never run concurrent Maven commands in the same worktree, including focused tests alongside a clean/package build: compilation and cleanup share `target/` and can invalidate each other. Reviewers must inspect source only while that owner builds, or run validation in a separate worktree.
 
-Keep the downloadable VotingPlugin JAR as small as practical. Inspect the shaded
+Keep the downloadable VotingPlugin JAR as small as practical. The 10 MiB size target is advisory:
+report a prominent package/build warning when exceeded, never fail a build solely for artifact size.
+Keep required-resource, linkage, and packaging-safety checks enforced. Inspect the shaded
 artifact when dependencies change, avoid duplicate embedded packages, and update
 the package-phase size and runtime checks when a necessary dependency increases
 the artifact budget.
diff --git a/VotingPlugin/src/test/java/com/bencodez/votingplugin/packaging/PackagedArtifactTest.java b/VotingPlugin/src/test/java/com/bencodez/votingplugin/packaging/PackagedArtifactTest.java
index d317fa1066..c7f510a8fc 100644
--- a/VotingPlugin/src/test/java/com/bencodez/votingplugin/packaging/PackagedArtifactTest.java
+++ b/VotingPlugin/src/test/java/com/bencodez/votingplugin/packaging/PackagedArtifactTest.java
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assumptions.assumeTrue;
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
@@ -18,7 +20,7 @@
 
 /** Package-phase checks for the actual downloadable plugin artifact. */
 public class PackagedArtifactTest {
-    private static final long MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES = 10L * 1024L * 1024L;
+    private static final long ARTIFACT_SIZE_TARGET_BYTES = 10L * 1024L * 1024L;
 
     @Test
     void containsOneRelocatedRuntimeWithoutUnusedHttpCrypto() throws Exception {
@@ -65,13 +67,32 @@ void containsOneRelocatedRuntimeWithoutUnusedHttpCrypto() throws Exception {
                     "Only the common offline SQLite native may be embedded");
         }
         long artifactBytes = Files.size(artifactPath);
-        assertTrue(artifactBytes <= MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES,
-                () -> "VotingPlugin downloadable artifact exceeded "
-                        + (MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES / (1024L * 1024L)) + " MiB: " + artifactBytes);
+        warnIfArtifactExceedsSizeTarget(artifactBytes, System.out);
         System.out.printf("VotingPlugin downloadable artifact: %,d bytes; duplicate Rhino, external crypto and uncommon SQLite natives absent%n",
                 Files.size(artifactPath));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void artifactSizeTargetWarnsWithoutRejectingOversizedArtifacts() {
+        ByteArrayOutputStream output = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        try (PrintStream report = new PrintStream(output, true, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
+            warnIfArtifactExceedsSizeTarget(ARTIFACT_SIZE_TARGET_BYTES, report);
+            assertTrue(output.toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8).isEmpty());
+            warnIfArtifactExceedsSizeTarget(ARTIFACT_SIZE_TARGET_BYTES + 1, report);
+            String warning = output.toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+            assertTrue(warning.contains("[WARNING]"));
+            assertTrue(warning.contains("10 MiB size target"));
+            assertTrue(warning.contains("does not fail the build"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void warnIfArtifactExceedsSizeTarget(long artifactBytes, PrintStream output) {
+        if (artifactBytes > ARTIFACT_SIZE_TARGET_BYTES) {
+            output.printf("[WARNING] VotingPlugin downloadable artifact exceeds the 10 MiB size target: %,d bytes. "
+                    + "Review dependency growth; this warning does not fail the build.%n", artifactBytes);
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     void packagedNeoForgeRuntimeStartsAndClosesWithoutTestDependencies(@TempDir Path directory) throws Exception {
         URL jar = packagedJar().toUri().toURL();
diff --git a/docs/jar-packaging.md b/docs/jar-packaging.md
index 3a9536b9f6..0dbc4cacb2 100644
--- a/docs/jar-packaging.md
+++ b/docs/jar-packaging.md
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ JVM properties. Extracted natives use a unique load directory so a replacement
 plugin classloader never reuses the prior classloader's JNI path; stale copies
 are removed on a best-effort basis.
 
-The test caps the downloadable artifact at 10 MiB so dependency growth must be
-reviewed explicitly. Release/deployment profiles
+The package-phase test reports a prominent warning when the downloadable artifact
+exceeds the 10 MiB size target. Size alone does not fail the build; dependency
+growth should still be reviewed. Required runtime resources, duplicate libraries,
+linkage, and other packaging-safety checks remain build failures. Release/deployment profiles
 reuse this Shade setup; the artifact check follows their configured JAR name.
 
 Keep the downloadable VotingPlugin JAR as small as practical. Before adding a