diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c2f8545..3fd6d22 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -433,6 +433,29 @@ jobs:
           path: runs/
           retention-days: 14
 
+  # Every merge to master cuts a patch release: 0.1.4 becomes 0.1.5, published
+  # to npm and to GitHub Releases. It waits on the device legs as well as the
+  # checks, so nothing reaches a registry that the emulators and the simulator
+  # have not agreed on. `release.yml` promotes a run of these to a minor or a
+  # major by hand, and shares the steps below rather than holding a second copy.
+  release:
+    name: Release
+    needs:
+      - checks
+      - folio
+      - replay-ui
+    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' && github.event_name == 'push'
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    with:
+      bump: patch
+      # The commit that triggered the run is the one to release: master may have
+      # moved on in the hour the device legs take.
+      sha: ${{ github.sha }}
+    secrets:
+      NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
+
   # The docs used to build only when docs/ or the Makefile changed. A path
   # filter here would have to sit on the whole workflow, so the site is rebuilt
   # on every merge instead: it is pandoc over a few pages, and a deploy of bytes
@@ -484,6 +507,7 @@ jobs:
       - checks
       - folio
       - replay-ui
+      - release
       - docs
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 745fa1d..d6e019b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 name: release
 
-# Two ways in, one workflow file. npm's trusted publisher is configured against
-# the filename of the workflow that *starts* the run, so a publish reached
-# through `workflow_call` from ci.yml would present ci.yml's name and be
-# refused, and a package carries only one trusted publisher. That is why the
-# merge path arrives as a `workflow_run` off a green ci rather than as a job
-# inside it.
+# Promotes the last release to a milestone. ci cuts a patch on every merge, so
+# the released versions run 0.1.4, 0.1.5, 0.1.6; this marks the one you have
+# been running as 0.2.0 and publishes it under that name.
+#
+# It runs no checks of its own and needs none. The commit it releases is the one
+# the last release was cut from, and that commit only carries a tag because a
+# whole ci run went green on it.
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
@@ -13,201 +14,28 @@ on:
         description: Which part of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH to advance
         type: choice
         options:
-          - patch
           - minor
           - major
-        default: patch
+          - patch
+        default: minor
       version:
         description: Release this version outright, e.g. 1.0.0 or 1.0.0-rc1. Overrides the bump.
         type: string
         required: false
-  workflow_run:
-    workflows: [ci]
-    types: [completed]
-    # ci runs on every pull request too, and each of those completing would
-    # otherwise start a run here only to skip every job in it.
-    branches: [master]
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
-# Two releases must not overlap: both would count a version off the same tag
-# and both would try to cut it.
-concurrency:
-  group: release
-  cancel-in-progress: false
-
 jobs:
-  # Nothing is published until the tag is pushed, so a version that cannot be
-  # tagged never reaches a registry. npm is the irreversible half of a release
-  # and a tag is the cheap half to redo.
-  tag:
-    name: Tag
-    # A dispatch is a deliberate release. A workflow_run is one only when ci
-    # went green on a push to master: ci also runs on pull requests, and a red
-    # run is not something to publish.
-    if: >-
-      github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
-      (github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' &&
-       github.event.workflow_run.event == 'push' &&
-       github.event.workflow_run.head_branch == 'master')
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+  release:
+    name: Release
+    # No sha: this releases the commit the last release was cut from rather than
+    # whatever master has drifted to since.
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
     permissions:
       contents: write
-    outputs:
-      version: ${{ steps.next.outputs.version }}
-      tag: ${{ steps.next.outputs.tag }}
-    steps:
-      # A workflow_run reports the commit ci ran on, which is the one to
-      # release: master may have moved on since it went green.
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_sha || github.sha }}
-          # The version is counted off the tags, so the tags have to be here.
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      # `inputs` is empty on a workflow_run, which leaves the script on its
-      # default of a patch: that is the bump a merge to master cuts.
-      - name: Resolve the version
-        id: next
-        run: .github/scripts/next-version.sh
-        env:
-          BUMP: ${{ inputs.bump }}
-          VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
-
-      - name: Tag the commit
-        run: |
-          git -c user.name='github-actions[bot]' \
-              -c user.email='41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com' \
-              tag -a "$TAG" -m "$TAG"
-          git push origin "refs/tags/$TAG"
-        env:
-          TAG: ${{ steps.next.outputs.tag }}
-
-  npm:
-    name: Release (npm)
-    needs: tag
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      # npm authenticates this publish over OIDC against the trusted publisher
-      # configured for @sanderling/spec, so the job holds no token at all and
-      # there is none to expire. It is also what makes npm attach provenance.
-      id-token: write
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ needs.tag.outputs.tag }}
-          # `npm ci` below runs dependency lifecycle scripts, and no step in
-          # this job needs the git credential afterwards.
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Set up Node 22
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v7
-        with:
-          node-version: "22"
-          registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"
-          cache: npm
-          cache-dependency-path: pkg/spec/package-lock.json
-
-      # registry-url above writes an `_authToken=${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}` line into
-      # .npmrc whether or not a token exists, and an npm older than 11.5.1 reads
-      # that empty line as "auth is configured" and never asks for an OIDC
-      # token, so the publish fails needing auth. Node 22 ships npm 10.
-      - name: Install an npm that can publish over OIDC
-        run: npm install -g npm@latest
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        working-directory: pkg/spec
-        run: npm ci
-
-      # The repo keeps package.json at 0.0.0-dev. The tags are the record of
-      # what has been released, and a version committed to master would be a
-      # second record to hold in step with them.
-      - name: Stamp the version
-        working-directory: pkg/spec
-        run: npm version "$VERSION" --no-git-tag-version --allow-same-version
-        env:
-          VERSION: ${{ needs.tag.outputs.version }}
-
-      # A publish that already landed and then failed on its way out leaves npm
-      # holding the version, and re-running the job must not be red for it. The
-      # registry is asked rather than the tags: only npm knows what npm has.
-      # Only stdout decides, because `npm view` on a version that does not exist
-      # is empty on some npm releases and an error on others, and an unreachable
-      # registry must end in a publish that fails loudly rather than a skip that
-      # reads as success.
-      - name: Ask npm whether this version is already published
-        id: published
-        run: |
-          if [ -n "$(npm view "@sanderling/spec@$VERSION" version 2>/dev/null || true)" ]; then
-            echo "npm already has @sanderling/spec@$VERSION, nothing to publish"
-            echo "publish=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          else
-            echo "publish=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          fi
-        env:
-          VERSION: ${{ needs.tag.outputs.version }}
-
-      - name: Publish @sanderling/spec to npm
-        if: steps.published.outputs.publish == 'true'
-        working-directory: pkg/spec
-        # A pre-release is tagged `next` so `npm install @sanderling/spec` keeps
-        # resolving the latest stable.
-        run: |
-          if [[ "$VERSION" == *-* ]]; then
-            npm publish --access public --tag next
-          else
-            npm publish --access public
-          fi
-        env:
-          VERSION: ${{ needs.tag.outputs.version }}
-
-  cli:
-    name: Release (cli)
-    needs: tag
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ needs.tag.outputs.tag }}
-          # GoReleaser reads the tag history for its changelog.
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Set up Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v7
-        with:
-          go-version-file: go.mod
-          cache: true
-
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v5
-        with:
-          distribution: temurin
-          java-version: "17"
-
-      - name: Set up Android SDK
-        uses: android-actions/setup-android@40fd30fb8d7440372e1316f5d1809ec01dcd3699 # v4.0.1
-
-      - name: Cache Gradle
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ~/.gradle/caches
-            ~/.gradle/wrapper
-          key: gradle-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle*', '**/gradle-wrapper.properties') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            gradle-${{ runner.os }}-
-
-      - name: Build sidecar JAR
-        run: make sidecar
-
-      - name: Publish the sanderling CLI to GitHub Releases
-        uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@f06c13b6b1a9625abc9e6e439d9c05a8f2190e94 # v7.2.3
-        with:
-          version: "~> v2"
-          args: release --clean
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    with:
+      bump: ${{ inputs.bump }}
+      version: ${{ inputs.version }}
+    secrets:
+      NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}