diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 7ebda383..f15d456b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -5,13 +5,16 @@ on:
     tags: ['v*']
 
 permissions:
-  contents: write
-  id-token: write
+  contents: read
 
 jobs:
-  release:
-    name: Create Release
+  verify:
+    name: Verify Release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      already_published: ${{ steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.already_published }}
+      dist_tag: ${{ steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.dist_tag }}
+      package_file: ${{ steps.pack.outputs.package_file }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -97,6 +100,42 @@ jobs:
           - For migration tips and compatibility notes, see README and CHANGELOG.
           EOF
 
+      - name: Pack npm artifact
+        id: pack
+        run: |
+          npm pack --json > npm-pack.json
+          PACKAGE_FILE=$(node -e "const fs = require('fs'); const data = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('npm-pack.json', 'utf8')); console.log(data[0].filename)")
+          echo "package_file=${PACKAGE_FILE}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Upload release artifacts
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ecc-release-artifacts
+          path: |
+            release_body.md
+            ${{ steps.pack.outputs.package_file }}
+          if-no-files-found: error
+
+  publish:
+    name: Publish Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: verify
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      id-token: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Download release artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ecc-release-artifacts
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@53b83947a5a98c8d113130e565377fae1a50d02f # v6.3.0
+        with:
+          node-version: '20.x'
+          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
+
       - name: Create GitHub Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@b4309332981a82ec1c5618f44dd2e27cc8bfbfda # v3.0.0
         with:
@@ -106,7 +145,7 @@ jobs:
           make_latest: ${{ contains(github.ref_name, '-') && 'false' || 'true' }}
 
       - name: Publish npm package
-        if: steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.already_published != 'true'
+        if: needs.verify.outputs.already_published != 'true'
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
-        run: npm publish --access public --provenance --tag "${{ steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.dist_tag }}"
+        run: npm publish "${{ needs.verify.outputs.package_file }}" --access public --provenance --tag "${{ needs.verify.outputs.dist_tag }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-release.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-release.yml
index 62839e74..365a1260 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-release.yml
@@ -28,13 +28,16 @@ on:
         default: true
 
 permissions:
-  contents: write
-  id-token: write
+  contents: read
 
 jobs:
-  release:
-    name: Create Release
+  verify:
+    name: Verify Release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      already_published: ${{ steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.already_published }}
+      dist_tag: ${{ steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.dist_tag }}
+      package_file: ${{ steps.pack.outputs.package_file }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -114,6 +117,42 @@ jobs:
           - Claude marketplace/plugin identifier: \`everything-claude-code@everything-claude-code\`
           EOF
 
+      - name: Pack npm artifact
+        id: pack
+        run: |
+          npm pack --json > npm-pack.json
+          PACKAGE_FILE=$(node -e "const fs = require('fs'); const data = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('npm-pack.json', 'utf8')); console.log(data[0].filename)")
+          echo "package_file=${PACKAGE_FILE}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Upload release artifacts
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ecc-release-artifacts
+          path: |
+            release_body.md
+            ${{ steps.pack.outputs.package_file }}
+          if-no-files-found: error
+
+  publish:
+    name: Publish Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: verify
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      id-token: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Download release artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ecc-release-artifacts
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@53b83947a5a98c8d113130e565377fae1a50d02f # v6.3.0
+        with:
+          node-version: '20.x'
+          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
+
       - name: Create GitHub Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@b4309332981a82ec1c5618f44dd2e27cc8bfbfda # v3.0.0
         with:
@@ -124,7 +163,7 @@ jobs:
           make_latest: ${{ contains(inputs.tag, '-') && 'false' || 'true' }}
 
       - name: Publish npm package
-        if: steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.already_published != 'true'
+        if: needs.verify.outputs.already_published != 'true'
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
-        run: npm publish --access public --provenance --tag "${{ steps.npm_publish_state.outputs.dist_tag }}"
+        run: npm publish "${{ needs.verify.outputs.package_file }}" --access public --provenance --tag "${{ needs.verify.outputs.dist_tag }}"
diff --git a/scripts/ci/validate-workflow-security.js b/scripts/ci/validate-workflow-security.js
index ec7f82ef..5afec1ba 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/validate-workflow-security.js
+++ b/scripts/ci/validate-workflow-security.js
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const NPM_AUDIT_PATTERN = /\bnpm\s+audit\b(?!\s+signatures\b)/;
 const NPM_AUDIT_SIGNATURES_PATTERN = /\bnpm\s+audit\s+signatures\b/;
 const ACTIONS_CACHE_PATTERN = /uses:\s*['"]?actions\/cache@/m;
 const ID_TOKEN_WRITE_PATTERN = /^\s*id-token:\s*write\b/m;
+const TOP_LEVEL_JOBS_PATTERN = /^jobs:\s*$/m;
 const UNSAFE_INSTALL_PATTERNS = [
   {
     pattern: /\bnpm\s+ci\b(?![^\n]*--ignore-scripts)/g,
@@ -121,6 +122,8 @@ function extractCheckoutSteps(source) {
 function findViolations(filePath, source) {
   const violations = [];
   const checkoutSteps = extractCheckoutSteps(source);
+  const jobsIndex = source.search(TOP_LEVEL_JOBS_PATTERN);
+  const workflowHeader = jobsIndex >= 0 ? source.slice(0, jobsIndex) : source;
 
   for (const rule of RULES) {
     if (!rule.eventPattern.test(source)) {
@@ -175,6 +178,16 @@ function findViolations(filePath, source) {
 
   }
 
+  if (ID_TOKEN_WRITE_PATTERN.test(workflowHeader)) {
+    violations.push({
+      filePath,
+      event: 'workflow-scoped id-token',
+      description: 'id-token: write must be scoped to a publish-only job, not the entire workflow',
+      expression: 'top-level id-token: write',
+      line: getLineNumber(source, source.search(ID_TOKEN_WRITE_PATTERN)),
+    });
+  }
+
   for (const installRule of UNSAFE_INSTALL_PATTERNS) {
     for (const match of source.matchAll(installRule.pattern)) {
       violations.push({
diff --git a/tests/ci/validate-workflow-security.test.js b/tests/ci/validate-workflow-security.test.js
index 89cf88a9..d7991ed4 100644
--- a/tests/ci/validate-workflow-security.test.js
+++ b/tests/ci/validate-workflow-security.test.js
@@ -244,12 +244,27 @@ function run() {
 
   if (test('rejects actions/cache in workflows with id-token write', () => {
     const result = runValidator({
-      'unsafe-oidc-cache.yml': `name: Unsafe\non:\n  push:\npermissions:\n  contents: read\n  id-token: write\njobs:\n  release:\n    runs-on: ubuntu-latest\n    steps:\n      - uses: actions/cache@v5\n        with:\n          path: ~/.npm\n          key: cache\n`,
+      'unsafe-oidc-cache.yml': `name: Unsafe\non:\n  push:\npermissions:\n  contents: read\njobs:\n  release:\n    runs-on: ubuntu-latest\n    permissions:\n      contents: read\n      id-token: write\n    steps:\n      - uses: actions/cache@v5\n        with:\n          path: ~/.npm\n          key: cache\n`,
     });
     assert.notStrictEqual(result.status, 0, 'Expected validator to fail on id-token workflow cache use');
     assert.match(result.stderr, /id-token: write must not restore or save shared dependency caches/);
   })) passed++; else failed++;
 
+  if (test('rejects workflow-scoped id-token write', () => {
+    const result = runValidator({
+      'unsafe-workflow-oidc.yml': `name: Unsafe\non:\n  push:\npermissions:\n  contents: read\n  id-token: write\njobs:\n  verify:\n    runs-on: ubuntu-latest\n    steps:\n      - run: npm ci --ignore-scripts\n`,
+    });
+    assert.notStrictEqual(result.status, 0, 'Expected validator to fail on workflow-level id-token write');
+    assert.match(result.stderr, /id-token: write must be scoped to a publish-only job/);
+  })) passed++; else failed++;
+
+  if (test('allows job-scoped id-token for publish-only jobs', () => {
+    const result = runValidator({
+      'safe-publish-oidc.yml': `name: Safe\non:\n  push:\npermissions:\n  contents: read\njobs:\n  publish:\n    runs-on: ubuntu-latest\n    permissions:\n      contents: write\n      id-token: write\n    steps:\n      - run: npm publish package.tgz --access public --provenance\n`,
+    });
+    assert.strictEqual(result.status, 0, result.stderr || result.stdout);
+  })) passed++; else failed++;
+
   if (test('rejects npm audit without registry signature verification', () => {
     const result = runValidator({
       'unsafe-audit.yml': `name: Unsafe\non:\n  push:\njobs:\n  audit:\n    runs-on: ubuntu-latest\n    steps:\n      - run: npm audit --audit-level=high\n`,
diff --git a/tests/scripts/release-publish.test.js b/tests/scripts/release-publish.test.js
index 6365161d..f3318fb7 100644
--- a/tests/scripts/release-publish.test.js
+++ b/tests/scripts/release-publish.test.js
@@ -32,9 +32,11 @@ for (const workflow of [
   '.github/workflows/reusable-release.yml',
 ]) {
   const content = load(workflow);
+  const workflowHeader = content.slice(0, content.indexOf('\njobs:\n'));
 
-  test(`${workflow} grants id-token for npm provenance`, () => {
-    assert.match(content, /permissions:\s*[\s\S]*id-token:\s*write/m);
+  test(`${workflow} scopes id-token to the publish job for npm provenance`, () => {
+    assert.doesNotMatch(workflowHeader, /id-token:\s*write/);
+    assert.match(content, /\n\s+permissions:\n\s+contents:\s*write\n\s+id-token:\s*write/m);
   });
 
   test(`${workflow} configures the npm registry`, () => {
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ for (const workflow of [
   });
 
   test(`${workflow} publishes new tag versions to npm`, () => {
-    assert.match(content, /npm publish --access public --provenance/);
+    assert.match(content, /npm publish "\$\{\{ needs\.verify\.outputs\.package_file \}\}" --access public --provenance/);
     assert.match(content, /NODE_AUTH_TOKEN:\s*\$\{\{\s*secrets\.NPM_TOKEN\s*\}\}/);
   });