diff --git a/.github/workflows/rainix-tag-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/rainix-tag-release.yaml
index d078cfb..7142f96 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rainix-tag-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rainix-tag-release.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 name: rainix-tag-release
-# Tag-triggered release for DEPLOY repos (deploy + publish + snapshot together),
-# the counterpart to rainix-autopublish's merge-driven publish for LIBRARY repos.
+# Tag-triggered release for DEPLOY repos (verify + publish + snapshot; the deploy
+# itself stays manual — see below). The counterpart to rainix-autopublish's
+# merge-driven publish for LIBRARY repos.
 #
 # The two lifecycles are mutually exclusive and a repo is strictly one or the
 # other:
@@ -31,16 +32,15 @@ name: rainix-tag-release
 # Soldeer, and commits the new (append-only) snapshot back to main so the daily
 # drift sweep always has the current release's pins to check.
 #
-# A release is deploy + publish + snapshot as one act. The `deploy` job broadcasts
-# every suite in dependency order (one forge run per suite, the Zoltu
-# nonce-isolation the manual dispatch already enforces) by fanning
-# rainix-manual-sol-artifacts over `deploy-suites` at max-parallel 1 — composing
-# the existing deploy reusable rather than re-implementing its broadcast. The
-# `release` job then `needs:` it, so publish/snapshot only run once the chain
-# actually carries the code the pins name. Deploy is independent of the snapshot
-# regeneration (both derive from the same deterministic bytecode), so it needs no
-# shared filesystem with the release job — the regen recomputes the pins and the
-# verify gate confirms they now resolve on-chain.
+# The on-chain DEPLOY is deliberately NOT part of this workflow. A deploy is
+# flaky by nature — per-network, funds-dependent, and at the mercy of RPC
+# archive/fork behaviour — and a flaky, retry-prone operation must not gate a
+# one-shot tag publish, where a single transient failure would block the release
+# entirely. So the deploy stays the repo's own human-driven
+# rainix-manual-sol-artifacts dispatch, run BEFORE tagging. This workflow does not
+# broadcast; it ATTESTS that the broadcast already landed: the `verify` step (the
+# repo's fork suite) checks prod exists at the freshly regenerated pins, and a
+# release whose pins don't resolve on-chain fails there and publishes nothing.
 on:
   workflow_call:
     inputs:
@@ -70,46 +70,11 @@ on:
         required: false
         type: string
         default: main
-      deploy-suites:
-        description: >-
-          JSON array of deploy suites IN DEPENDENCY ORDER, e.g. `["stox-receipt", "stox-wrapped-token-vault"]`. Each is broadcast in a separate forge run (Zoltu nonce isolation) sequentially. A later suite that references an earlier one fails loud on the on-chain dep-codehash check if run out of order, so ordering is enforced by the deploy, not just by this list.
-        required: true
-        type: string
-      deploy-script:
-        description: >-
-          Fully qualified forge deploy script (`path:Contract`), passed to rainix-manual-sol-artifacts. Defaults to the conventional `script/Deploy.sol:Deploy`.
-        required: false
-        type: string
-        default: script/Deploy.sol:Deploy
-      deploy-verify:
-        description: >-
-          Whether the deploy passes `--verify` to forge. Set false when broadcasting pinned historical creation code that no longer matches current source (Etherscan would reject it). Default true.
-        required: false
-        type: boolean
-        default: true
     secrets:
       PUBLISH_PRIVATE_KEY:
         # A deploy key whose push events (unlike GITHUB_TOKEN pushes) trigger the
         # downstream git-clean / rainix-sol workflows on the commit-back to main.
         required: false
-      PRIVATE_KEY:
-        # The on-chain DEPLOYMENT key (distinct from PUBLISH_PRIVATE_KEY, the git
-        # deploy key). Broadcasts the suites.
-        required: false
-      EXPLORER_VERIFICATION_KEY:
-        required: false
-      CI_DEPLOY_ARBITRUM_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY:
-        required: false
-      CI_DEPLOY_BASE_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY:
-        required: false
-      CI_DEPLOY_BASE_SEPOLIA_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY:
-        required: false
-      CI_DEPLOY_ETHEREUM_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY:
-        required: false
-      CI_DEPLOY_POLYGON_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY:
-        required: false
-      CI_DEPLOY_FLARE_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY:
-        required: false
       CI_GIT_EMAIL:
         required: false
       CI_GIT_USER:
@@ -138,9 +103,8 @@ jobs:
   # The release tag must point at a commit already merged to the release branch.
   # `on: push: tags` fires for ANY tag, including one cut from an unmerged branch;
   # without this the later rebase would replay that branch's unreviewed commits
-  # onto main and push them, and the deploy would broadcast unreviewed bytecode.
-  # Gate both `deploy` and `release` on it. All refs come from built-in env vars,
-  # never interpolated into the shell, to avoid template injection.
+  # onto main and push them. Gate `release` on it. All refs come from built-in env
+  # vars, never interpolated into the shell, to avoid template injection.
   guard:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
@@ -164,40 +128,8 @@ jobs:
             echo "::error::tag $GITHUB_REF_NAME ($GITHUB_SHA) is not on origin/$MAIN — refusing to release an unmerged commit" >&2
             exit 1
           fi
-  # Broadcast every suite in dependency order, one forge run each (Zoltu nonce
-  # isolation), by fanning the existing deploy reusable over `deploy-suites` at
-  # max-parallel 1. Runs before `release`, so publish/snapshot only happen once
-  # the chain carries the code the pins name. `verify:false`-capable via the
-  # `deploy-verify` input for pinned historical bytecode.
-  deploy:
-    needs: guard
-    strategy:
-      max-parallel: 1
-      matrix:
-        suite: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.deploy-suites) }}
-    uses: rainlanguage/rainix/.github/workflows/rainix-manual-sol-artifacts.yaml@main
-    with:
-      suite: ${{ matrix.suite }}
-      script: ${{ inputs.deploy-script }}
-      verify: ${{ inputs.deploy-verify }}
-    secrets:
-      PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.PRIVATE_KEY }}
-      CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN }}
-      EXPLORER_VERIFICATION_KEY: ${{ secrets.EXPLORER_VERIFICATION_KEY }}
-      RPC_URL_ARBITRUM_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_ARBITRUM_FORK }}
-      RPC_URL_BASE_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_BASE_FORK }}
-      RPC_URL_BASE_SEPOLIA_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_BASE_SEPOLIA_FORK }}
-      RPC_URL_ETHEREUM_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_ETHEREUM_FORK }}
-      RPC_URL_FLARE_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_FLARE_FORK }}
-      RPC_URL_POLYGON_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_POLYGON_FORK }}
-      CI_DEPLOY_ARBITRUM_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CI_DEPLOY_ARBITRUM_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
-      CI_DEPLOY_BASE_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CI_DEPLOY_BASE_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
-      CI_DEPLOY_BASE_SEPOLIA_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CI_DEPLOY_BASE_SEPOLIA_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
-      CI_DEPLOY_ETHEREUM_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CI_DEPLOY_ETHEREUM_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
-      CI_DEPLOY_POLYGON_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CI_DEPLOY_POLYGON_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
-      CI_DEPLOY_FLARE_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CI_DEPLOY_FLARE_ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
   release:
-    needs: deploy
+    needs: guard
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     # contents: write for the commit-back to main + the gh-release composite. No
     # id-token: nothing here uses OIDC (Soldeer uses SOLDEER_API_TOKEN, the release
@@ -290,9 +222,11 @@ jobs:
         # an already-released tag must never change (consumers pin its constants).
         uses: rainlanguage/rainix/.github/actions/frozen-snapshots-append-only@main
       - name: Verify live chain matches the fresh pins
-        # The `deploy` job (needs:) has broadcast every suite; this gate confirms
-        # it actually landed, so a snapshot of addresses the
-        # chain does not carry never gets published.
+        # The manual deploy was run before tagging; this is the attestation that it
+        # landed — the fork suite checks prod exists at the freshly regenerated
+        # pins, so a snapshot of addresses the chain does not carry never gets
+        # published. A transient fork/RPC failure here just fails the release
+        # (retry the tag); it publishes nothing and is not a broadcast.
         env:
           RPC_URL_ARBITRUM_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_ARBITRUM_FORK }}
           RPC_URL_BASE_FORK: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL_BASE_FORK }}