diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
index bb1ff2a6a1..2de4832e15 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
@@ -274,10 +274,36 @@ jobs:
           TAG: ${{ env.TAG_PREFIX }}${{ steps.cmp.outputs.version }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
+          # The tag→commit half is strict: a tag that points at the wrong commit
+          # is never a propagation delay, so one read, no retry.
           tag_sha=$(git ls-remote origin "refs/tags/$TAG" | cut -f1)
           [ "$tag_sha" = "$GITHUB_SHA" ] || { echo "::error::$TAG points at '$tag_sha', not the built commit $GITHUB_SHA"; exit 1; }
-          got=$(npm view "$NAME@$NEXT" version)
-          [ "$got" = "$NEXT" ] || { echo "::error::npm serves '$got' for $NAME@$NEXT"; exit 1; }
+          # The registry half polls registry.npmjs.org directly with curl, not
+          # `npm view`: npm caches a packument for up to 300s, so retrying
+          # `npm view` in one runner re-reads the same stale cache and never
+          # sees the fresh publish — which false-red three sound main publishes
+          # (cli 0.1.159 / run 40097709043 among them: "E404 No match found for
+          # version 0.1.159" while 0.1.159 is served now). A GET of the
+          # version-specific manifest is uncached. We do NOT trust `curl -f`
+          # alone: it passes a 3xx and an empty 2xx, so a redirect or a blank
+          # body would read as "found". Instead require an exact HTTP 200 (no
+          # -L, so a redirect stays a redirect and is rejected) AND parse the
+          # body, requiring .version == $NEXT — only the real manifest for this
+          # exact version passes. -m 20 bounds each request. Worst case ~335s:
+          # 10 attempts × 20s curl + 9 × 15s sleep (no sleep after the last).
+          found=""; code=000
+          for i in $(seq 1 10); do
+            code=$(curl -sS -m 20 -o /tmp/reg-manifest.json -w '%{http_code}' "https://registry.npmjs.org/$NAME/$NEXT" || echo 000)
+            if [ "$code" = 200 ]; then
+              ver=$(node -e 'try{process.stdout.write(String(require(process.argv[1]).version||""))}catch(e){}' /tmp/reg-manifest.json)
+              if [ "$ver" = "$NEXT" ]; then found=yes; break; fi
+              echo "· registry.npmjs.org returned 200 but version='$ver' (want $NEXT, try $i/10)"
+            else
+              echo "· registry.npmjs.org has no $NAME@$NEXT yet (HTTP $code, try $i/10)"
+            fi
+            [ "$i" -lt 10 ] && sleep 15
+          done
+          [ -n "$found" ] || { echo "::error::registry.npmjs.org still has no $NAME@$NEXT (last HTTP $code) after 10 tries over ~335s"; exit 1; }
           echo "✓ $NAME $NEXT = $TAG = $GITHUB_SHA"
 
       # The MCP Registry lists commonly-mcp from its server.json, after npm