diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/publish.yml b/.gitea/workflows/publish.yml
index 8908e2f..f4d623f 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -15,32 +15,39 @@ jobs:
     env:
       NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SHRINKSDK_PACKAGE_TOKEN }}
     steps:
-      - name: Install Git
+      - name: Fetch exact tagged release archive
+        env:
+          GITEA_REF: ${{ gitea.ref }}
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -eu
-          if ! command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            apt-get update
-            DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends git ca-certificates
-            rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-          fi
+          tag="${GITEA_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          case "$tag" in
+            v[0-9]*) ;;
+            *) echo "Expected a version tag ref, got: $GITEA_REF" >&2; exit 1 ;;
+          esac
+          export SHRINKSDK_ARCHIVE_URL="https://git.crash.work/ShrinkSDK/ShrinkApp.Starter.Basic/archive/${tag}.tar.gz"
+          node --input-type=module <<'NODE'
+          import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 
-      - name: Fetch tagged revision
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          set -eu
-          ref="${{ gitea.sha }}"
-          test -n "$ref"
-          git init .
-          git remote add origin "https://git.crash.work/ShrinkSDK/ShrinkApp.Starter.Basic.git"
-          git fetch --depth=1 --tags origin "$ref"
-          git checkout --detach FETCH_HEAD
+          const response = await fetch(process.env.SHRINKSDK_ARCHIVE_URL);
+          if (!response.ok) {
+            throw new Error(`Release archive download failed: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+          }
+
+          await writeFile('release.tar.gz', new Uint8Array(await response.arrayBuffer()));
+          NODE
+          mkdir release
+          tar -xzf release.tar.gz --strip-components=1 -C release
+          rm -f release.tar.gz
+          printf '%s' "$tag" > release/.shrink-sdk-release-tag
 
       - name: Validate immutable release version
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -eu
-          tag="$(git describe --exact-match --tags HEAD)"
+          cd release
+          tag="$(cat .shrink-sdk-release-tag)"
           version="$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")"
           test "$tag" = "v$version"
           npm pack --dry-run
@@ -50,10 +57,11 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -eu
           : "${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN:?SHRINKSDK_PACKAGE_TOKEN is required}"
+          cd release
           npmrc="$HOME/.npmrc"
           cleanup() { rm -f "$npmrc"; }
           trap cleanup EXIT
           printf '%s\n' \
             'registry=https://git.crash.work/api/packages/ShrinkSDK/npm/' \
             '//git.crash.work/api/packages/ShrinkSDK/npm/:_authToken=${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}' > "$npmrc"
-          npm publish --registry=https://git.crash.work/api/packages/ShrinkSDK/npm/
\ No newline at end of file
+          npm publish --registry=https://git.crash.work/api/packages/ShrinkSDK/npm/