diff --git a/.github/workflows/napi-build.yml b/.github/workflows/napi-build.yml
index c6971d9..4502662 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/napi-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/napi-build.yml
@@ -129,7 +129,18 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v5
         with:
           name: bindings-${{ matrix.settings.target }}
-          path: crates/spaghetti-napi/*.node
+          # index.js rides along with the binary. It is generated by `napi
+          # build` and gitignored (see RELEASING.md), so it does not exist in a
+          # fresh checkout — and neither the test job nor the publish job runs
+          # a build. Shipping it as a build output also means the published
+          # loader carries the *released* version in its per-platform guards,
+          # which a committed copy never did.
+          #
+          # Both paths share the crates/spaghetti-napi/ prefix, so the archive
+          # root is unchanged and consumers still find *.node at the top level.
+          path: |
+            crates/spaghetti-napi/*.node
+            crates/spaghetti-napi/index.js
           if-no-files-found: error
 
   test:
@@ -232,6 +243,36 @@ jobs:
           cd crates/spaghetti-napi
           npx napi artifacts
 
+      # `napi artifacts` only relocates *.node, and this job never builds, so
+      # the generated loader has to be lifted out of an artifact by hand.
+      # Every target emits the same file — it branches on all platforms napi
+      # knows about, not the triple it was built for — so any one will do.
+      #
+      # Failing loudly here matters: `files` in package.json silently skips
+      # entries that are missing on disk, so without this the job would happily
+      # publish a package whose `main` points at a file that isn't in it.
+      - name: Restore the generated loader
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          cd crates/spaghetti-napi
+          LOADER=$(find artifacts -name index.js -type f -print -quit)
+          if [ -z "$LOADER" ]; then
+            echo "::error::No index.js among the downloaded artifacts — refusing to publish a package with no loader."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          cp "$LOADER" ./index.js
+          echo "Restored loader from $LOADER"
+
+      # Load the exact bytes about to be published. ubuntu-latest matches the
+      # linux-x64-gnu binary that `napi artifacts` just placed alongside it, so
+      # this exercises the real loader/binary pair rather than trusting that
+      # the files merely exist.
+      - name: Smoke test the package about to be published
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          cd crates/spaghetti-napi
+          node -e "const m = require('./index.js'); if (!m.nativeVersion) { throw new Error('nativeVersion export missing'); } console.log('Publishing loader OK, nativeVersion =', m.nativeVersion());"
+
       # We publish ONLY the main package, which fat-bundles all 6 .node binaries
       # (see its `files: ["*.node"]`). The per-platform packages under
       # crates/spaghetti-napi/npm/* are deliberately NOT published: nothing
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 36646a0..633a740 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -62,8 +62,18 @@ Two files in the Rust addon are generated and embed the version. Both used to br
   silently retarget a different crate when dependencies change.
 - **`crates/spaghetti-napi/index.js`** is deliberately **not** committed (see `.gitignore`). `napi build`
   regenerates it and stamps the version into a per-platform guard in ~50 places, which no updater can
-  track. It is still published: `files` in `package.json` is an allowlist that overrides `.gitignore`,
-  and every publish path builds first. `index.d.ts` stays committed — it is the reviewable API surface
-  and carries no version.
+  track. `index.d.ts` stays committed — it is the reviewable API surface and carries no version.
+
+  It travels as a **build artifact**: `napi-build.yml`'s build job uploads it next to the `.node`
+  binary, the test job gets it from the artifact download, and the publish job lifts it out of an
+  artifact before packing. Note that **neither the test job nor the publish job runs a build** — they
+  consume prebuilt binaries — so nothing may assume a fresh checkout contains a loader. `napi` has no
+  loader-only generator (`napi build` is the sole producer and needs the Rust toolchain), which is why
+  it moves through artifacts rather than being regenerated on demand.
+
+  Getting this wrong fails quietly in one direction: `files` in `package.json` silently skips entries
+  that are absent on disk, so a missing loader would publish a package whose `main` points at nothing.
+  The publish job therefore hard-fails if no loader is found and `require()`s the assembled package
+  before publishing.
 
 Future releases should continue from whatever the manifest currently records — through `release-please`, not through manual version/tag commits.