diff --git a/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml b/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
index 1c12c76e..e048677e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   release:
-    # Skip if commit message contains [skip ci]
-    if: "!contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]')"
+    if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev' && (github.event_name != 'push' || !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]')) }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     permissions:
@@ -26,6 +25,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+          ref: dev
           # Always use the built-in workflow token; PAT rotation/breakage must not block dev releases.
           token: ${{ github.token }}
 
@@ -65,12 +65,7 @@ jobs:
           # Use custom dev release script instead of semantic-release
           # This ensures dev versions follow {stable}-dev.{N} pattern
           chmod +x scripts/dev-release.sh
-          if ./scripts/dev-release.sh; then
-            echo "released=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          else
-            echo "Dev release failed or skipped"
-            echo "released=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          fi
+          ./scripts/dev-release.sh
 
       - name: Notify Discord
         if: success() && steps.release.outputs.released == 'true'
@@ -87,28 +82,46 @@ jobs:
         if: success() && steps.release.outputs.released == 'true'
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG: ${{ steps.release.outputs.previous_dev_tag }}
+          STABLE_TAG: ${{ steps.release.outputs.stable_tag }}
         run: |
           # Get version from package.json
           VERSION=$(jq -r '.version' package.json)
 
           # Get commits ONLY since last dev tag (not all release commits)
           # This prevents re-tagging issues from older releases
-          LAST_DEV_TAG=$(git tag -l "v*-dev.*" --sort=-v:refname | head -1 || echo "")
-
-          if [ -n "$LAST_DEV_TAG" ]; then
+          if [[ -n "$PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG" ]]; then
             # Commits between last dev tag and current (excluding release commit)
-            RANGE="${LAST_DEV_TAG}..HEAD~1"
+            RANGE="${PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG}..HEAD~1"
           else
             # First dev release - check commits since last stable tag
-            STABLE_TAG=$(git tag -l "v[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]" --merged origin/main --sort=-v:refname | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | head -1 || echo "")
             RANGE="${STABLE_TAG:-HEAD~10}..HEAD~1"
           fi
 
           echo "Checking commits in range: $RANGE"
 
-          # Extract issue numbers from commit messages
-          ISSUES=$(git log $RANGE --pretty=format:"%s %b" 2>/dev/null | \
-            grep -oE "(Fixes|Closes|Resolves|Refs?) #[0-9]+" | \
+          COMMIT_TEXT=$(git log $RANGE --pretty=format:"%s%n%b" 2>/dev/null || true)
+          ISSUES_FROM_COMMITS=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_TEXT" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves|refs?)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' || true)
+
+          PR_CANDIDATES=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_TEXT" | \
+            grep -oE "Merge pull request #[0-9]+|\\(#[0-9]+\\)" | \
+            grep -oE "[0-9]+" | sort -u || true)
+
+          PR_TEXT=""
+          for PR_NUM in $PR_CANDIDATES; do
+            DETAILS=$(gh pr view "$PR_NUM" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --json title,body --jq '.title + "\n" + (.body // "")' 2>/dev/null || true)
+            if [[ -n "$DETAILS" ]]; then
+              PR_TEXT="${PR_TEXT}"$'\n'"${DETAILS}"
+            fi
+          done
+
+          ISSUES_FROM_PRS=$(printf '%s\n' "$PR_TEXT" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves|refs?)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' || true)
+
+          ISSUES=$(printf '%s\n%s\n' "$ISSUES_FROM_COMMITS" "$ISSUES_FROM_PRS" | \
             grep -oE "#[0-9]+" | sort -u || true)
 
           if [[ -z "$ISSUES" ]]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
index 6d84b530..ad46ad84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
@@ -1,17 +1,23 @@
 name: Publish Docker Image
 
 on:
-  push:
-    tags:
-      - 'v*.*.*'
+  release:
+    types:
+      - published
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tag:
+        description: Stable tag to publish manually, for example v7.55.0
+        required: true
+        type: string
 
 concurrency:
-  group: docker-release-${{ github.ref }}
+  group: docker-release-${{ github.event_name == 'release' && github.event.release.tag_name || inputs.tag || github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
   publish:
-    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') && !contains(github.ref_name, '-')
+    if: ${{ github.event_name != 'release' || !github.event.release.prerelease }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     permissions:
@@ -19,19 +25,36 @@ jobs:
       packages: write
 
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout release tag
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Resolve target tag
+        id: target
+        env:
+          MANUAL_TAG: ${{ inputs.tag }}
+          RELEASE_EVENT_TAG: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" == "release" ]]; then
+            TARGET_TAG="${RELEASE_EVENT_TAG}"
+          else
+            TARGET_TAG="${MANUAL_TAG}"
+          fi
+
+          echo "tag=${TARGET_TAG}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Validate stable semver tag
         id: tag
         run: |
-          if [[ "${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" =~ ^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+          if [[ "${{ steps.target.outputs.tag }}" =~ ^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
             echo "publish=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             exit 0
           fi
 
           echo "publish=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "Skipping non-stable semver tag ${GITHUB_REF_NAME}"
+          echo "Skipping non-stable semver tag ${{ steps.target.outputs.tag }}"
+
+      - name: Checkout release tag
+        if: steps.tag.outputs.publish == 'true'
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ steps.target.outputs.tag }}
 
       - name: Set up QEMU
         if: steps.tag.outputs.publish == 'true'
@@ -44,18 +67,34 @@ jobs:
       - name: Derive image metadata
         if: steps.tag.outputs.publish == 'true'
         id: meta
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          VERSION="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"
+          VERSION="${{ steps.target.outputs.tag }}"
+          VERSION="${VERSION#v}"
           MINOR="${VERSION%.*}"
           MAJOR="${VERSION%%.*}"
           OWNER_LOWER=$(echo "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY_OWNER}" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
           IMAGE="ghcr.io/${OWNER_LOWER}/ccs-dashboard"
+          REVISION=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+          TAGS="${IMAGE}:${VERSION}"
+
+          if [[ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" == "release" ]]; then
+            TAGS="${TAGS}
+          ${IMAGE}:${MINOR}
+          ${IMAGE}:${MAJOR}
+          ${IMAGE}:latest"
+          fi
 
           {
             echo "version=${VERSION}"
             echo "minor=${MINOR}"
             echo "major=${MAJOR}"
             echo "image=${IMAGE}"
+            echo "revision=${REVISION}"
+            echo "tags<<EOF"
+            echo "${TAGS}"
+            echo "EOF"
           } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Log in to GitHub Container Registry
@@ -74,17 +113,13 @@ jobs:
           file: docker/Dockerfile
           platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
           push: true
-          tags: |
-            ${{ steps.meta.outputs.image }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
-            ${{ steps.meta.outputs.image }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.minor }}
-            ${{ steps.meta.outputs.image }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.major }}
-            ${{ steps.meta.outputs.image }}:latest
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
           labels: |
             org.opencontainers.image.title=ccs-dashboard
             org.opencontainers.image.description=CCS Dashboard container image
             org.opencontainers.image.url=https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}
             org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}
             org.opencontainers.image.version=${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
-            org.opencontainers.image.revision=${{ github.sha }}
+            org.opencontainers.image.revision=${{ steps.meta.outputs.revision }}
           cache-from: type=gha
           cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
diff --git a/.github/workflows/label-pending-release.yml b/.github/workflows/label-pending-release.yml
index a966d113..dffe8a2d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/label-pending-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/label-pending-release.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Label Pending Release
 
 on:
   pull_request:
-    types: [opened, reopened]
+    types: [opened, reopened, edited, synchronize]
     branches: [dev]
 
 jobs:
@@ -10,34 +10,62 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       issues: write
+      pull-requests: read
 
     steps:
-      - name: Label linked issues as pending-release
+      - name: Reconcile pending-release labels for open dev PRs
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          PR_TITLE: ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}
-          PR_BODY: ${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}
         run: |
-          # Extract issue numbers from PR title and body (passed via env vars for safety)
-          # Using env vars prevents shell injection from backticks in markdown
-          PR_TEXT="$PR_TITLE $PR_BODY"
-          ISSUES=$(echo "$PR_TEXT" | grep -oE "(Fixes|Closes|Resolves|Refs?) #[0-9]+" | grep -oE "#[0-9]+" | sort -u || true)
+          # Recompute the complete open-PR issue set so edited/synchronized PRs
+          # can remove stale pending-release labels as well as add new ones.
+          OPEN_PRS=$(gh pr list \
+            --repo "${{ github.repository }}" \
+            --base dev \
+            --state open \
+            --json number,title,body \
+            --jq '.[] | @base64' 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+          ALL_REFERENCED_ISSUES=""
+          while IFS= read -r PR_ROW; do
+            [[ -z "$PR_ROW" ]] && continue
+            PR_JSON=$(printf '%s' "$PR_ROW" | base64 --decode)
+            PR_NUM=$(printf '%s' "$PR_JSON" | jq -r '.number')
+            PR_TITLE=$(printf '%s' "$PR_JSON" | jq -r '.title')
+            PR_BODY=$(printf '%s' "$PR_JSON" | jq -r '.body // ""')
+            COMMIT_TEXT=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${PR_NUM}/commits" --paginate --jq '.[].commit.message' 2>/dev/null || true)
+            PR_TEXT="$PR_TITLE
+            $PR_BODY
+            $COMMIT_TEXT"
+            PR_ISSUES=$(printf '%s\n' "$PR_TEXT" | \
+              perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves|refs?)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+              grep -oE '#[0-9]+' || true)
+            if [[ -n "$PR_ISSUES" ]]; then
+              ALL_REFERENCED_ISSUES=$(printf '%s\n%s\n' "$ALL_REFERENCED_ISSUES" "$PR_ISSUES")
+            fi
+          done <<< "$OPEN_PRS"
+
+          ISSUES=$(printf '%s\n' "$ALL_REFERENCED_ISSUES" | grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | sort -u || true)
+          CURRENT_PENDING=$(gh issue list --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --label "pending-release" --state all --json number --jq '.[].number' 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+          gh label create "pending-release" \
+            --color "fbca04" \
+            --description "Fix in review, awaiting merge" \
+            --repo ${{ github.repository }} 2>/dev/null || true
 
           if [[ -z "$ISSUES" ]]; then
-            echo "No linked issues found in PR"
-            exit 0
+            echo "No linked issues found across open dev PRs"
+          else
+            for ISSUE in $ISSUES; do
+              NUM=${ISSUE#\#}
+              echo "Ensuring issue #$NUM has pending-release"
+              gh issue edit "$NUM" --add-label "pending-release" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" || true
+            done
           fi
 
-          for ISSUE in $ISSUES; do
-            NUM=${ISSUE#\#}
-            echo "Labeling issue #$NUM as pending-release"
-
-            # Create label if doesn't exist
-            gh label create "pending-release" \
-              --color "fbca04" \
-              --description "Fix in review, awaiting merge" \
-              --repo ${{ github.repository }} 2>/dev/null || true
-
-            # Add label to issue
-            gh issue edit $NUM --add-label "pending-release" --repo ${{ github.repository }} || true
+          for NUM in $CURRENT_PENDING; do
+            if ! printf '%s\n' "$ISSUES" | grep -qx "#${NUM}"; then
+              echo "Removing stale pending-release from issue #$NUM"
+              gh issue edit "$NUM" --remove-label "pending-release" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" 2>/dev/null || true
+            fi
           done
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3bec763a..5b0e2220 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   release:
+    if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     permissions:
@@ -57,10 +58,17 @@ jobs:
           NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          OUTPUT=$(bunx semantic-release 2>&1) || true
+          set +e
+          OUTPUT=$(bunx semantic-release 2>&1)
+          STATUS=$?
+          set -e
           echo "$OUTPUT"
           # Strip ANSI color codes before matching (semantic-release outputs colored text)
           CLEAN=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | sed 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g')
+          if [[ "$STATUS" -ne 0 ]]; then
+            echo "released=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            exit "$STATUS"
+          fi
           if echo "$CLEAN" | grep -q "Published GitHub release"; then
             echo "released=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           else
@@ -83,31 +91,73 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          # semantic-release already adds "released" label via .releaserc.cjs
-          # This step removes transitional labels and closes issues now in stable.
+          VERSION=$(jq -r '.version' package.json)
+          RELEASE_BODY=$(gh release view "v${VERSION}" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --json body --jq '.body' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+          PREVIOUS_STABLE_TAG=$(git tag -l "v[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]" --sort=-v:refname | \
+            grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | \
+            grep -vx "v${VERSION}" | head -1 || echo "")
+          RANGE="${PREVIOUS_STABLE_TAG:+${PREVIOUS_STABLE_TAG}..HEAD~1}"
+          if [[ -z "$RANGE" ]]; then
+            RANGE="HEAD~50..HEAD~1"
+          fi
 
-          # Find issues with both "released" and "released-dev" labels
-          ISSUES=$(gh issue list --label "released" --label "released-dev" --state all --json number --jq '.[].number' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+          COMMIT_TEXT=$(git log $RANGE --pretty=format:"%s%n%b" 2>/dev/null || true)
+          PR_CANDIDATES=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_TEXT" | \
+            grep -oE "Merge pull request #[0-9]+|\\(#[0-9]+\\)" | \
+            grep -oE "[0-9]+" | sort -u || true)
 
-          for NUM in $ISSUES; do
-            echo "Cleaning up labels on issue #$NUM"
-            gh issue edit "$NUM" --remove-label "released-dev" --remove-label "pending-release" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" 2>/dev/null || true
+          PR_TEXT=""
+          for PR_NUM in $PR_CANDIDATES; do
+            DETAILS=$(gh pr view "$PR_NUM" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --json title,body --jq '.title + "\n" + (.body // "")' 2>/dev/null || true)
+            if [[ -n "$DETAILS" ]]; then
+              PR_TEXT="${PR_TEXT}"$'\n'"${DETAILS}"
+            fi
           done
 
-          # Also clean pending-release from any issues with released label
-          PENDING=$(gh issue list --label "released" --label "pending-release" --state all --json number --jq '.[].number' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+          RELEASE_ISSUES_FROM_BODY=$(printf '%s\n' "$RELEASE_BODY" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves|refs?)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' || true)
+          RELEASE_ISSUES_FROM_COMMITS=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_TEXT" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves|refs?)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' || true)
+          RELEASE_ISSUES_FROM_PRS=$(printf '%s\n' "$PR_TEXT" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves|refs?)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' || true)
+          RELEASE_ISSUES=$(printf '%s\n%s\n%s\n' \
+            "$RELEASE_ISSUES_FROM_BODY" \
+            "$RELEASE_ISSUES_FROM_COMMITS" \
+            "$RELEASE_ISSUES_FROM_PRS" | sort -u || true)
 
-          for NUM in $PENDING; do
-            echo "Removing pending-release from issue #$NUM"
-            gh issue edit "$NUM" --remove-label "pending-release" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" 2>/dev/null || true
-          done
+          RESOLVED_ISSUES_FROM_BODY=$(printf '%s\n' "$RELEASE_BODY" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' || true)
+          RESOLVED_ISSUES_FROM_COMMITS=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_TEXT" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' || true)
+          RESOLVED_ISSUES_FROM_PRS=$(printf '%s\n' "$PR_TEXT" | \
+            perl -ne 'if (/(fixes|closes|resolves)(.*)/i) { print "$2\n"; }' | \
+            grep -oE '#[0-9]+' | tr -d '#' || true)
+          RESOLVED_ISSUES=$(printf '%s\n%s\n%s\n' \
+            "$RESOLVED_ISSUES_FROM_BODY" \
+            "$RESOLVED_ISSUES_FROM_COMMITS" \
+            "$RESOLVED_ISSUES_FROM_PRS" | sort -u || true)
 
-          # Close open issues that are marked as released
-          OPEN_RELEASED=$(gh issue list --label "released" --state open --json number --jq '.[].number' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+          if [[ -z "$RELEASE_ISSUES" ]]; then
+            echo "No release-scoped issues found for v${VERSION}"
+            exit 0
+          fi
 
-          for NUM in $OPEN_RELEASED; do
-            echo "Closing released issue #$NUM"
-            gh issue close "$NUM" \
-              --comment "[bot] Closing issue because this fix/feature is now in stable release (@latest)." \
-              --repo "${{ github.repository }}" || true
+          for NUM in $RELEASE_ISSUES; do
+            echo "Cleaning release state on issue #$NUM"
+            gh issue edit "$NUM" \
+              --remove-label "released-dev" \
+              --remove-label "pending-release" \
+              --repo "${{ github.repository }}" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+            HAS_RELEASED=$(gh issue view "$NUM" --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --json labels --jq '[.labels[].name | select(. == "released")] | length' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+            if [[ "$HAS_RELEASED" -gt 0 ]] && printf '%s\n' "$RESOLVED_ISSUES" | grep -qx "$NUM"; then
+              gh issue close "$NUM" \
+                --comment "[bot] Closing issue because this fix/feature is now in stable release (@latest)." \
+                --repo "${{ github.repository }}" || true
+            fi
           done
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-dev-after-release.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-dev-after-release.yml
index b89d1cdf..55ec94b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-dev-after-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync-dev-after-release.yml
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
 name: Sync Dev After Main Release
 
 on:
-  workflow_run:
-    workflows: ["Release"]
-    types: [completed]
-    branches: [main]
+  release:
+    types: [published]
 
 jobs:
   sync-dev:
-    # Only run if Release workflow succeeded on main branch
-    if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' && github.event.workflow_run.head_branch == 'main' }}
+    if: ${{ !github.event.release.prerelease && github.event.release.target_commitish == 'main' && startsWith(github.event.release.tag_name, 'v') && !contains(github.event.release.tag_name, '-') }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     permissions:
diff --git a/scripts/dev-release.sh b/scripts/dev-release.sh
index 1fb74bc3..5b372216 100755
--- a/scripts/dev-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev-release.sh
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ log_info() { echo -e "${GREEN}[i]${NC} $1"; }
 log_warn() { echo -e "${YELLOW}[!]${NC} $1"; }
 log_error() { echo -e "${RED}[X]${NC} $1"; }
 
-# Ensure we have the latest tags
-git fetch --tags origin main
+# Ensure we have the latest tags and branch refs
+git fetch --tags origin main dev
 
 # Get latest stable tag from main (exclude prereleases like -dev, -beta, -rc)
 # Match only clean semver tags: vX.Y.Z
@@ -39,58 +39,100 @@ if [ -z "$STABLE_TAG" ]; then
 fi
 
 STABLE=${STABLE_TAG#v}
+CURRENT_VERSION=$(jq -r '.version' package.json)
+HEAD_SUBJECT=$(git log -1 --pretty=%s 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+DEV_VERSION_REGEX="^${STABLE//./\\.}-dev\\.[0-9]+$"
+PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG=""
+RECOVERY_MODE=false
+
 log_info "Current stable version: ${STABLE}"
 
-# Find latest dev tag for this stable version
-LATEST_DEV=$(git tag -l "v${STABLE}-dev.*" --sort=-v:refname | head -1 || echo "")
+if [[ "$CURRENT_VERSION" =~ $DEV_VERSION_REGEX ]] && [[ "$HEAD_SUBJECT" == "chore(release): ${CURRENT_VERSION} [skip ci]" ]]; then
+  VERSION="$CURRENT_VERSION"
+  CURRENT_TAG="v${VERSION}"
+  PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG=$(git tag -l "v${STABLE}-dev.*" --sort=-v:refname | grep -vx "$CURRENT_TAG" | head -1 || echo "")
+  RECOVERY_MODE=true
+  log_warn "Recovery mode for ${VERSION}"
 
-# Calculate next dev number
-if [ -z "$LATEST_DEV" ]; then
-  DEV_NUM=1
-  log_info "No existing dev tags for ${STABLE}, starting at dev.1"
+  if git rev-parse "${CURRENT_TAG}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    TAG_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse "${CURRENT_TAG}^{commit}")
+    HEAD_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+    if [[ "$TAG_COMMIT" != "$HEAD_COMMIT" ]]; then
+      log_error "Tag ${CURRENT_TAG} exists but does not point to HEAD"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+    log_info "Reusing existing tag ${CURRENT_TAG}"
+  else
+    git tag "${CURRENT_TAG}"
+    log_warn "Recreated missing tag ${CURRENT_TAG} on release commit"
+  fi
 else
-  DEV_NUM=$(echo "$LATEST_DEV" | sed 's/.*dev\.\([0-9]*\)/\1/')
-  DEV_NUM=$((DEV_NUM + 1))
-  log_info "Latest dev tag: ${LATEST_DEV}, incrementing to dev.${DEV_NUM}"
+  # Find latest dev tag for this stable version
+  LATEST_DEV=$(git tag -l "v${STABLE}-dev.*" --sort=-v:refname | head -1 || echo "")
+  PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG="$LATEST_DEV"
+
+  # Calculate next dev number
+  if [ -z "$LATEST_DEV" ]; then
+    DEV_NUM=1
+    log_info "No existing dev tags for ${STABLE}, starting at dev.1"
+  else
+    DEV_NUM=$(echo "$LATEST_DEV" | sed 's/.*dev\.\([0-9]*\)/\1/')
+    DEV_NUM=$((DEV_NUM + 1))
+    log_info "Latest dev tag: ${LATEST_DEV}, incrementing to dev.${DEV_NUM}"
+  fi
+
+  VERSION="${STABLE}-dev.${DEV_NUM}"
+  CURRENT_TAG="v${VERSION}"
+  log_info "New version: ${VERSION}"
+
+  # Check if tag already exists (safety check)
+  if git rev-parse "${CURRENT_TAG}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    log_error "Tag ${CURRENT_TAG} already exists!"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Update package.json
+  npm version "$VERSION" --no-git-tag-version
+  log_info "Updated package.json to ${VERSION}"
+
+  # Configure git for GitHub Actions
+  git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+  git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+  # Commit version change
+  git add package.json
+  git commit -m "chore(release): ${VERSION} [skip ci]"
+  log_info "Created release commit"
+
+  # Create tag
+  git tag "${CURRENT_TAG}"
+  log_info "Created tag ${CURRENT_TAG}"
 fi
 
-VERSION="${STABLE}-dev.${DEV_NUM}"
-log_info "New version: ${VERSION}"
-
-# Check if tag already exists (safety check)
-if git rev-parse "v${VERSION}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  log_error "Tag v${VERSION} already exists!"
-  exit 1
+PACKAGE_NAME=$(jq -r '.name' package.json)
+if npm view "${PACKAGE_NAME}@${VERSION}" version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log_info "npm already has ${PACKAGE_NAME}@${VERSION}, skipping publish"
+else
+  npm publish --tag dev
+  log_info "Published to npm with @dev tag"
 fi
 
-# Update package.json
-npm version "$VERSION" --no-git-tag-version
-log_info "Updated package.json to ${VERSION}"
+if git merge-base --is-ancestor HEAD origin/dev >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log_info "origin/dev already contains release commit"
+else
+  git push origin HEAD:dev
+  log_info "Pushed release commit to origin/dev"
+fi
 
-# Configure git for GitHub Actions
-git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-
-# Commit version change
-git add package.json
-git commit -m "chore(release): ${VERSION} [skip ci]"
-log_info "Created release commit"
-
-# Create tag
-git tag "v${VERSION}"
-log_info "Created tag v${VERSION}"
-
-# Push commit and tag
-git push origin dev
-git push origin "v${VERSION}"
-log_info "Pushed to origin"
-
-# Publish to npm with dev tag
-npm publish --tag dev
-log_info "Published to npm with @dev tag"
+if git ls-remote --exit-code --tags origin "refs/tags/${CURRENT_TAG}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log_info "Remote tag ${CURRENT_TAG} already exists"
+else
+  git push origin "${CURRENT_TAG}"
+  log_info "Pushed tag ${CURRENT_TAG}"
+fi
 
 # Generate release notes from commits since last tag
-PREV_TAG=$(git tag -l "v*" --sort=-v:refname | sed -n '2p' || echo "")
+PREV_TAG="${PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG:-$STABLE_TAG}"
 if [ -n "$PREV_TAG" ]; then
   # Get commits between previous tag and the one before our release commit
   NOTES=$(git log --pretty=format:"- %s" "${PREV_TAG}..HEAD~1" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "chore(release):" | head -15 || echo "- Dev release")
@@ -99,12 +141,16 @@ else
 fi
 
 # Create GitHub prerelease
-gh release create "v${VERSION}" \
-  --title "v${VERSION}" \
-  --notes "${NOTES}" \
-  --prerelease
+if gh release view "${CURRENT_TAG}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log_info "GitHub prerelease ${CURRENT_TAG} already exists"
+else
+  gh release create "${CURRENT_TAG}" \
+    --title "${CURRENT_TAG}" \
+    --notes "${NOTES}" \
+    --prerelease
 
-log_info "Created GitHub prerelease"
+  log_info "Created GitHub prerelease"
+fi
 
 # Save release info for Discord notification
 # This file is read by send-discord-release.cjs for dev releases
@@ -117,7 +163,13 @@ EOF
 log_info "Saved release info for Discord notification"
 
 # Output for GitHub Actions
-echo "version=${VERSION}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-/dev/null}"
-echo "released=true" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-/dev/null}"
+{
+  echo "current_tag=${CURRENT_TAG}"
+  echo "previous_dev_tag=${PREVIOUS_DEV_TAG}"
+  echo "recovery_mode=${RECOVERY_MODE}"
+  echo "released=true"
+  echo "stable_tag=${STABLE_TAG}"
+  echo "version=${VERSION}"
+} >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-/dev/null}"
 
 log_info "Dev release ${VERSION} complete!"