diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 693c06c..7a4dd4f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,16 @@ on:
   # suppression). Doubles as the manual lever: Actions → release → Run
   # workflow.
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      # Recovery lever for the one state neither the driver nor the sweeper
+      # can reach: a release that was tagged but whose npm publish failed.
+      # release-please will not re-emit an already-tagged release, so a run
+      # with this input skips the driver, checks out the named tag, and
+      # publishes that package alone. One tag per run.
+      republish:
+        description: 'Existing tag to re-publish after a publish-side failure (e.g. byteguard-v0.2.0). Leave empty normally.'
+        required: false
+        default: ''
   # Sweeper: converges anything the dispatch handoff dropped — a release PR
   # merged without its follow-up run, or an open release PR whose drive
   # failed. A run that finds nothing to do exits in seconds.
@@ -77,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
       # dropped handoff leaves behind. A ci failure fails this run before any
       # merge — fix main, and the next push (or the sweeper) retries.
       - name: Drive the release PR to a tested merge
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created != 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created != 'true' && inputs.republish == '' }}
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
@@ -139,12 +149,15 @@ jobs:
 
       # Everything below runs only in the run that finds the merged release
       # PR — the follow-up run the driver dispatched, the push of a hand
-      # merge, or a sweeper run catching up. github.sha in those runs is the
-      # release commit every tag release-please just created points at, so
-      # the default checkout is the tagged tree, whichever subset of packages
-      # released.
+      # merge, or a sweeper run catching up — or in a republish run. In the
+      # normal case github.sha is the release commit every tag release-please
+      # just created points at, so the default checkout is the tagged tree,
+      # whichever subset of packages released; a republish run checks out the
+      # named tag instead (an empty ref means the default).
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' || inputs.republish != '' }}
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.republish }}
 
       # No registry-url here, deliberately: setup-node's registry-url writes
       # an .npmrc whose _authToken (a placeholder when NODE_AUTH_TOKEN is
@@ -153,19 +166,19 @@ jobs:
       # E404. With no auth configured at all, npm falls through to trusted
       # publishing.
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' || inputs.republish != '' }}
         with:
           node-version: 22
 
       # Node 22 ships npm 10; OIDC exchange landed in npm 11.5.1.
       - name: Use an npm that speaks OIDC
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' || inputs.republish != '' }}
         run: |
           npm install -g npm@latest
           npm --version
 
       - name: Install dependencies
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' || inputs.republish != '' }}
         run: npm ci
 
       # Build every workspace up front, in workspace order (core first):
@@ -174,16 +187,16 @@ jobs:
       # plugin is released. Each publish below re-runs its own build via
       # prepublishOnly; this step just guarantees the cross-package input.
       - name: Build workspaces
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.releases_created == 'true' || inputs.republish != '' }}
         run: npm run build
 
       # Core before plugin, so a release that includes both never publishes a
       # plugin whose dependency range names a version the registry has not
       # seen yet.
       - name: Publish byteguard to npm
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs['packages/byteguard--release_created'] == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs['packages/byteguard--release_created'] == 'true' || startsWith(inputs.republish, 'byteguard-v') }}
         run: npm publish --provenance --access public --workspace packages/byteguard
 
       - name: Publish vite-plugin-byteguard to npm
-        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs['packages/vite-plugin-byteguard--release_created'] == 'true' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs['packages/vite-plugin-byteguard--release_created'] == 'true' || startsWith(inputs.republish, 'vite-plugin-byteguard-v') }}
         run: npm publish --provenance --access public --workspace packages/vite-plugin-byteguard
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 2597d3c..70865f6 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -193,14 +193,25 @@ left behind — a merged release pull request whose dispatch never fired, an
 open one whose drive failed — is picked up and completed. A sweeper run with
 nothing to do exits in seconds.
 
+**The one state the sweeper cannot reach** is a release that was tagged but
+whose npm publish then failed: release-please will not re-emit an
+already-tagged release, so no later run retries the publish on its own. For
+that there is the `republish` input on `release.yml`'s manual trigger —
+**Actions → release → Run workflow →** enter the existing tag (say
+`byteguard-v0.5.0`; one tag per run). That run skips the driver, checks out
+the tag, and publishes just that package, authenticating over OIDC as always.
+Fix whatever failed the publish first; the tag and the GitHub release need no
+touch.
+
 **What a human can still do.** Everything, just none of it is required:
 dispatch `ci.yml` onto the release branch from the Actions tab; squash-merge
 the release pull request by hand (the resulting push tags and publishes as
-always); dispatch `release.yml` on `main` to force a sweep right now. The one
-rule: do not push your own commits to the release branch — release-please
-owns it and will overwrite. The branch is named by release-please from its
-config, so anything scripted reads it from the pull request rather than
-hard-coding it: `gh pr view <n> --json headRefName`.
+always); dispatch `release.yml` on `main` to force a sweep right now, or with
+`republish` set to retry a failed publish. The one rule: do not push your own
+commits to the release branch — release-please owns it and will overwrite.
+The branch is named by release-please from its config, so anything scripted
+reads it from the pull request rather than hard-coding it:
+`gh pr view <n> --json headRefName`.
 
 **The PAT escape hatch** remains wired but unused: store a fine-grained
 personal access token scoped to this repository (**Contents: read and