diff --git a/tests/setup/ensure-release-artifacts.js b/tests/setup/ensure-release-artifacts.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42be22d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/setup/ensure-release-artifacts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { existsSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { verifyArxivCompile } from '../../scripts/verify-arxiv-compile.mjs';
+
+// Vitest globalSetup. The release/publication integration tests in
+// tests/guardbench.test.js read the canonical artifact outputs that
+// `npm run test:artifacts` produces (GuardBench results, external-adapter
+// evidence, arXiv source, paper submission bundle). This hook bootstraps those
+// outputs on demand so a bare `vitest run` is green without the full pretest
+// chain.
+//
+// It deliberately does NOT run two steps from `test:artifacts`:
+//   - `paper:sync`, which rewrites tracked docs/paper/*.md with machine-local
+//     benchmark numbers, and
+//   - the real LaTeX compile, which embeds a machine-local absolute path in the
+//     PDF and would fail the bundle's redaction check on the machine that
+//     compiled it.
+// Both are still exercised by `npm run release:gate:paper`. Here we force a
+// deterministic, PDF-free, pending compile report instead.
+
+const root = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..', '..');
+
+function generate(relScript, args = []) {
+  try {
+    execFileSync(process.execPath, [resolve(root, relScript), ...args], {
+      cwd: root,
+      stdio: 'pipe',
+    });
+  } catch (err) {
+    const detail = err.stderr?.toString().trim() || err.stdout?.toString().trim() || err.message;
+    throw new Error(`release-artifact setup failed running ${relScript}: ${detail}`, {
+      cause: err,
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+function ensure(relPath, build) {
+  if (!existsSync(resolve(root, relPath))) build();
+}
+
+export default async function ensureReleaseArtifacts() {
+  // Force a deterministic, PDF-free arXiv compile state. A prior real LaTeX
+  // compile may have left a poisoned PDF behind; remove it so the paper bundle
+  // built by the tests never embeds a machine-local absolute path.
+  rmSync(resolve(root, 'docs/paper/output/arxiv-compile/main.pdf'), { force: true });
+  rmSync(resolve(root, 'docs/paper/output/arxiv-compile/arxiv-compile.log'), { force: true });
+
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/summary.json', () => generate('benchmarks/run.js'));
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/guardbench-summary.json', () =>
+    generate('benchmarks/guardbench.js', ['--check']),
+  );
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/guardbench-conformance-card.json', () =>
+    generate('benchmarks/create-conformance-card.mjs'),
+  );
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/submission-bundle/submission-manifest.json', () =>
+    generate('benchmarks/create-submission-bundle.mjs'),
+  );
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/leaderboard', () => generate('benchmarks/build-leaderboard.mjs'));
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/adapter-self-test', () => generate('benchmarks/adapter-self-test.mjs'));
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/external/guardbench-external-dry-run.json', () =>
+    generate('benchmarks/dry-run-external-adapters.mjs'),
+  );
+  ensure('benchmarks/output/external/guardbench-external-evidence.json', () =>
+    generate('benchmarks/verify-external-evidence.mjs', ['--allow-pending']),
+  );
+  ensure('docs/paper/output/arxiv/arxiv-manifest.json', () =>
+    generate('scripts/create-arxiv-source.mjs'),
+  );
+
+  // Always (re)write a deterministic pending compile report and a fresh paper
+  // bundle so a prior real compile cannot leave a stale "compiled" report or a
+  // poisoned bundle behind.
+  await verifyArxivCompile({ commandExists: () => false, allowMissing: true });
+  generate('scripts/create-paper-submission-bundle.mjs');
+}
diff --git a/vitest.config.js b/vitest.config.js
index 10451e5..ae7d4f6 100644
--- a/vitest.config.js
+++ b/vitest.config.js
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ export default defineConfig({
   test: {
     globals: true,
     testTimeout: 10000,
+    // Bootstrap the canonical release artifacts the publication/readiness
+    // integration tests read, so `vitest run` is self-contained without the
+    // heavy `pretest` -> `test:artifacts` chain. See the file header for the
+    // two steps it intentionally skips.
+    globalSetup: ['./tests/setup/ensure-release-artifacts.js'],
     include: ['tests/**/*.test.js'],
     exclude: [
       '**/node_modules/**',