diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 98036a1..788841f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -513,7 +513,19 @@ jobs:
       # not install cleanly, which is the useful half.
       - name: Verify published packages install as a single copy each
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
-        run: node ./build/verify-npm-single-copy.mjs '${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # This step runs yarn (inside verify-npm-single-copy.mjs), and it sits downstream of the
+          # second actions/setup-node above - the one that sets registry-url for the OIDC publish
+          # steps and therefore writes an .npmrc carrying a literal ${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN} placeholder,
+          # exported to every later step as $NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG. Yarn Classic substitutes every
+          # env-var placeholder in its resolved config on every invocation and throws when one is
+          # unset, and nothing sets NODE_AUTH_TOKEN (npm Trusted Publishing does not use it). Moving
+          # registry-url past the last yarn command fixed the yarn commands that run *before*
+          # publishing; this one runs after it, so it needs its own empty userconfig. Nothing here
+          # authenticates - it installs published, public packages from npmjs.
+          verify_npmrc="$(mktemp)"
+          NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG="$verify_npmrc" node ./build/verify-npm-single-copy.mjs '${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}'
 
       # Extract this version's section from the root CHANGELOG.md
       # as the draft release body.
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2a95b9f..1783a8f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,22 @@ so it stays clear which part of the repository actually moved.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- **The post-publish "Verify published packages install as a single copy each" step crashed on the
+  same `${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}` placeholder that had broken every yarn command earlier in the job**, so
+  the `v10.0.0-rc.14` run failed *after* it had already published all 33 NuGet packages and all five
+  Angular packages: the draft GitHub Release was never created, and the single-copy check the step
+  exists for never actually ran. `v10.0.0-rc.13`'s fix moved `actions/setup-node`'s `registry-url`
+  onto a second `setup-node` call placed past the last yarn command in the job - but this step runs
+  *after* publishing, and therefore after that second call, whose generated `.npmrc` stays exported
+  as `$NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG` for every remaining step. Yarn Classic expands every env-var
+  placeholder in its resolved config on every invocation and throws when one is unset, and nothing
+  sets `NODE_AUTH_TOKEN` (npm Trusted Publishing does not use it). The step now runs with an empty
+  `NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG` of its own, which is all it needs: it installs published, public packages
+  from npmjs and authenticates nothing. Verified by hand against the published `10.0.0-rc.14` set -
+  Yarn Classic resolves exactly one copy of each of the five packages.
+
 ## [10.0.0-rc.14] - 2026-09-04
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/build/resolve-npm-dist-tag.mjs b/build/resolve-npm-dist-tag.mjs
index 8653b8c..a51c403 100644
--- a/build/resolve-npm-dist-tag.mjs
+++ b/build/resolve-npm-dist-tag.mjs
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@
  * solves. Reading the registry rather than hardcoding a date or a flag means the rule retires itself
  * the moment the first stable ships, with nobody having to remember to come back and change it.
  *
+ * One tag, not two: while a pre-release holds `latest`, `next` is left wherever the previous release
+ * put it. `npm publish` takes a single --tag, and moving a second one afterwards needs
+ * `npm dist-tag add`, which requires a standing credential this workflow deliberately does not have -
+ * npmjs publishing here is OIDC-based, and the short-lived token npm exchanges internally during a
+ * publish is never exposed to another command. So while this rule is in force, `next` has to be
+ * moved by hand if it should track the newest pre-release. The question retires itself along with
+ * the rule: from the first stable release on, pre-releases publish under `next` again.
+ *
  * Usage: node build/resolve-npm-dist-tag.mjs <version>
  */