diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 196ba7e..7e5fc39 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ name: Release
 
 on:
   push:
-    tags:
-      - "v*"
+    branches:
+      - main
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
 concurrency:
-  group: release-${{ github.ref_name }}
+  group: release
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
@@ -18,30 +18,11 @@ jobs:
     timeout-minutes: 20
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v5
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Verify tag is on main
-        run: |
-          git fetch origin main:refs/remotes/origin/main
-          git merge-base --is-ancestor "$GITHUB_SHA" origin/main
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v5
         with:
           node-version: 24
           registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org
       - run: npm ci
-      - name: Verify package version matches tag
-        run: |
-          node --input-type=module <<'EOF'
-          import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
-
-          const tag = process.env.GITHUB_REF_NAME;
-          const version = tag?.startsWith("v") ? tag.slice(1) : undefined;
-          const packageJson = JSON.parse(readFileSync("package.json", "utf8"));
-
-          if (!version || packageJson.version !== version) {
-            throw new Error(`Tag ${tag} does not match ${packageJson.name}@${packageJson.version}`);
-          }
-          EOF
       - run: npm run check
       - run: npm run typecheck
       - run: npm run build
@@ -49,12 +30,33 @@ jobs:
         run: npm pack --pack-destination "$RUNNER_TEMP"
       - name: Test packaged import
         run: |
+          eve_version=$(node -p 'require("./package.json").devDependencies.eve')
           smoke_directory=$(mktemp -d)
           cd "$smoke_directory"
           npm init -y >/dev/null
-          npm install "$RUNNER_TEMP"/supermemory-eve-*.tgz eve@0.31.3
+          npm install "$RUNNER_TEMP"/supermemory-eve-*.tgz "eve@$eve_version"
           node --input-type=module --eval 'import("@supermemory/eve").then((module) => { if (typeof module.default !== "function") process.exit(1); })'
+      - name: Check whether version is published
+        id: publication
+        run: |
+          node --input-type=module <<'EOF'
+          import { appendFileSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+          const { name, version } = JSON.parse(readFileSync("package.json", "utf8"));
+          const response = await fetch(
+            `https://registry.npmjs.org/${encodeURIComponent(name)}/${encodeURIComponent(version)}`,
+            { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(30_000) },
+          );
+
+          if (!response.ok && response.status !== 404) {
+            throw new Error(`npm registry returned ${response.status} for ${name}@${version}`);
+          }
+
+          appendFileSync(process.env.GITHUB_OUTPUT, `publish=${response.status === 404}\n`);
+          console.log(response.status === 404 ? `Publishing ${name}@${version}` : `${name}@${version} is already published; skipping`);
+          EOF
       - name: Publish to npm
+        if: steps.publication.outputs.publish == 'true'
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
         run: |
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5b5ecd5..ef0fd0c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -188,3 +188,10 @@ npm run typecheck
 npm run build
 npm pack --dry-run
 ```
+
+### Publishing
+
+Pushes to `main` run the release workflow. After checks and a packaged-import smoke test pass,
+the workflow publishes the version in `package.json` if it is not already on npm. Bump the
+package version and update `package-lock.json` to ship a new release; no Git tag is required.
+Publishing requires the repository's `NPM_TOKEN` Actions secret.