diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 8e0457c..7da4dd9 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -91,3 +91,10 @@ so provenance identifies the actual build commit. It never moves the tag,
 and it skips npm publication if that version already exists. An existing
 GitHub release draft remains a draft until a maintainer publishes it after
 verifying the npm package.
+
+After dispatching a retry, run `pnpm release:await` from a checkout with the
+version being released. The waiter selects the latest matching tag run or
+manual retry on `main`, checking the retry commit's package version. It resolves
+the tag through GitHub, so workflow-fix commits and checkouts without local tags
+can wait for the same release. A failed retry still exits with failure; a
+successful run must also be visible on npm before the command reports success.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 40076a8..e8a46df 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "build:wasm": "node scripts/build-wasm.mjs",
-    "test": "node --test packages/core/src/*.test.js benchmarks/*.test.mjs examples/*.test.mjs",
+    "test": "node --test packages/core/src/*.test.js benchmarks/*.test.mjs examples/*.test.mjs scripts/*.test.mjs",
     "examples": "node examples/run.mjs",
     "test:browser": "node --test tests/browser-smoke.test.mjs",
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit && tsc --project examples/tsconfig.json",
diff --git a/scripts/await-release.mjs b/scripts/await-release.mjs
index 5ba886a..36ab8e0 100644
--- a/scripts/await-release.mjs
+++ b/scripts/await-release.mjs
@@ -9,13 +9,25 @@ const packageJson = JSON.parse(
 );
 const version = packageJson.version;
 const tag = `v${version}`;
-const commit = execFileSync("git", ["rev-parse", "HEAD"], {
+const commit = execFileSync("gh", ["api", `repos/{owner}/{repo}/commits/${tag}`, "--jq", ".sha"], {
   encoding: "utf8",
 }).trim();
 
 const wait = (milliseconds) =>
   new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, milliseconds));
 
+const versionsByCommit = new Map();
+const releaseVersion = (sha) => {
+  if (!versionsByCommit.has(sha)) {
+    const content = execFileSync("gh", [
+      "api", `repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/packages/core/package.json?ref=${sha}`,
+      "--jq", ".content",
+    ], { encoding: "utf8" });
+    versionsByCommit.set(sha, JSON.parse(Buffer.from(content.trim(), "base64").toString("utf8")).version);
+  }
+  return versionsByCommit.get(sha);
+};
+
 const findReleaseRun = () => {
   const output = execFileSync(
     "gh",
@@ -24,18 +36,18 @@ const findReleaseRun = () => {
       "list",
       "--workflow",
       "Release",
-      "--event",
-      "push",
-      "--branch",
-      tag,
       "--limit",
       "20",
       "--json",
-      "databaseId,headSha,status,conclusion,url",
+      "databaseId,event,headBranch,headSha,status,conclusion,url",
     ],
     { encoding: "utf8" },
   );
-  return JSON.parse(output).find((run) => run.headSha === commit);
+  return JSON.parse(output).find((run) => {
+    if (run.event === "push") return run.headBranch === tag && run.headSha === commit;
+    return run.event === "workflow_dispatch" && run.headBranch === "main" &&
+      releaseVersion(run.headSha) === version;
+  });
 };
 
 let releaseRun;
diff --git a/scripts/await-release.test.mjs b/scripts/await-release.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e06633
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/await-release.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtempSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+const tagRun = (overrides = {}) => ({
+  databaseId: 1, event: "push", headBranch: "v0.1.14", headSha: "tag-commit",
+  status: "completed", conclusion: "success", url: "https://example.test/runs/1",
+  ...overrides,
+});
+const retryRun = (overrides = {}) => ({
+  databaseId: 2, event: "workflow_dispatch", headBranch: "main", headSha: "retry-commit",
+  status: "completed", conclusion: "success", url: "https://example.test/runs/2",
+  ...overrides,
+});
+
+function runWaiter(t, { runs, versions = {}, head = "tag-commit" }) {
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "streamfold-await-release-"));
+  t.after(() => rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+  for (const dir of ["scripts", "packages/core", "bin"]) mkdirSync(join(root, dir), { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(join(root, "scripts/await-release.mjs"), readFileSync(new URL("./await-release.mjs", import.meta.url)));
+  writeFileSync(join(root, "packages/core/package.json"), JSON.stringify({ version: "0.1.14" }));
+  const fixture = join(root, "fixture.json");
+  const commands = join(root, "commands.jsonl");
+  writeFileSync(fixture, JSON.stringify({ runs, versions: { "retry-commit": "0.1.14", ...versions }, head }));
+  const shim = `#!${process.execPath}
+    const { appendFileSync, readFileSync } = require("node:fs");
+    const name = require("node:path").basename(process.argv[1]);
+    const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+    const fixture = JSON.parse(readFileSync(process.env.RELEASE_TEST_FIXTURE, "utf8"));
+    appendFileSync(process.env.RELEASE_TEST_COMMANDS, JSON.stringify({ name, args }) + "\\n");
+    if (name === "git" && args[0] === "rev-parse") console.log(fixture.head);
+    else if (name === "npm" && args[0] === "view") console.log(JSON.stringify("0.1.14"));
+    else if (name === "gh" && args[0] === "run" && args[1] === "list") {
+      const flag = key => args.includes(key) ? args[args.indexOf(key) + 1] : undefined;
+      console.log(JSON.stringify(fixture.runs.filter(run =>
+        (!flag("--event") || run.event === flag("--event")) &&
+        (!flag("--branch") || run.headBranch === flag("--branch")))));
+    } else if (name === "gh" && args[0] === "run" && args[1] === "watch") {
+      const run = fixture.runs.find(run => String(run.databaseId) === args[2]);
+      process.exit(run.watchExit ?? (run.conclusion === "success" ? 0 : 1));
+    } else if (name === "gh" && args[0] === "api" && args[1].endsWith("/commits/v0.1.14")) {
+      console.log("tag-commit");
+    } else if (name === "gh" && args[0] === "api" && args[1].includes("/contents/packages/core/package.json?ref=")) {
+      const sha = args[1].split("?ref=")[1];
+      if (!(sha in fixture.versions)) throw new Error("Unexpected commit: " + sha);
+      console.log(Buffer.from(JSON.stringify({ version: fixture.versions[sha] })).toString("base64"));
+    } else throw new Error("Unexpected command: " + name + " " + args.join(" "));
+  `;
+  for (const name of ["git", "gh", "npm"]) writeFileSync(join(root, "bin", name), shim, { mode: 0o755 });
+  const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [join(root, "scripts/await-release.mjs")], {
+    encoding: "utf8", timeout: 5000,
+    env: { ...process.env, PATH: `${join(root, "bin")}:${process.env.PATH}`,
+      RELEASE_TEST_FIXTURE: fixture, RELEASE_TEST_COMMANDS: commands },
+  });
+  assert.equal(result.error, undefined);
+  const calls = readFileSync(commands, "utf8").trim().split("\n").map(line => JSON.parse(line));
+  return { ...result, calls, watched: calls.find(({ name, args }) => name === "gh" && args[1] === "watch")?.args[2] };
+}
+
+test("recognizes a successful manual retry after a failed tag release", (t) => {
+  const result = runWaiter(t, { runs: [retryRun(), tagRun({ conclusion: "failure" })] });
+  assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+  assert.equal(result.watched, "2");
+  assert.match(result.stdout, /Published streamfold@0\.1\.14/);
+});
+
+test("finds the tagged release from a newer checkout without a local tag", (t) => {
+  const result = runWaiter(t, { head: "workflow-fix", runs: [tagRun()] });
+  assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+  assert.equal(result.watched, "1");
+});
+
+test("ignores manual releases for other versions or branches and stale tag commits", (t) => {
+  const result = runWaiter(t, { runs: [
+    retryRun({ databaseId: 5, headSha: "next-version" }),
+    retryRun({ databaseId: 4, headBranch: "feature" }),
+    tagRun({ databaseId: 3, headSha: "old-tag-commit" }),
+    tagRun(),
+  ], versions: { "next-version": "0.1.15" } });
+  assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+  assert.equal(result.watched, "1");
+});
+
+test("a failing matching retry is not hidden by an older successful release", (t) => {
+  const result = runWaiter(t, { runs: [retryRun({ conclusion: "failure" }), tagRun()] });
+  assert.equal(result.status, 1);
+  assert.equal(result.watched, "2");
+  assert.equal(result.calls.some(({ name }) => name === "npm"), false);
+});
+
+test("waits for an in-progress retry before verifying npm publication", (t) => {
+  const result = runWaiter(t, { runs: [retryRun({ status: "in_progress", conclusion: "", watchExit: 0 }), tagRun()] });
+  assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+  assert.equal(result.watched, "2");
+  assert.deepEqual(result.calls.at(-1), { name: "npm", args: ["view", "streamfold@0.1.14", "version", "--json"] });
+});