diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 860860a..0c4d89b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
 #        - Creates a GitHub Release with an auto-generated changelog
 #        - Pushes to the homebrew-tap repo (if HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN is set)
 #        - Pushes to the scoop-bucket repo (if SCOOP_BUCKET_TOKEN is set)
+#   4. Publish the nodeup-cli npm wrapper via OIDC Trusted Publishing.
+#      GitHub Actions exchanges its built-in OIDC token for a one-hour
+#      publish token scoped to the `nodeup-cli` package. No NPM_TOKEN
+#      secret, no rotation, no leak surface.
 #
 # Required secrets (configured per-repo):
 #   - HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN: fine-grained PAT with `contents:write` on
@@ -18,11 +22,13 @@
 #   - GITHUB_TOKEN: provided automatically by GitHub Actions, used by
 #     GoReleaser to create the Release.
 #
-# Optional secrets:
-#   - NPM_TOKEN: if set, release.yml will additionally publish the
-#     `nodeup` npm wrapper. Configure the publish step after the GoReleaser
-#     step (currently a placeholder; full npm wrapper lives in
-#     nodeup-npm/ in Phase 7).
+# npm publish uses OIDC Trusted Publishing — no secret required. The
+# trust is registered on the npmjs.com side at
+#   https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodeup-cli/access
+# under "Trusted Publisher", pointing at this workflow by filename
+# (release.yml). If the publish job ever fails with ENEEDAUTH, the
+# first thing to check is that the trust entry on npmjs.com still
+# matches this workflow's filename, repo name, and GitHub user/org.
 
 name: Release
 
@@ -64,4 +70,55 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN }}
-          SCOOP_BUCKET_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SCOOP_BUCKET_TOKEN }}
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+          SCOOP_BUCKET_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SCOOP_BUCKET_TOKEN }}
+
+  publish-npm:
+    name: Publish nodeup-cli to npm (OIDC)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: goreleaser
+    # OIDC Trusted Publishing — the trust is registered on the npmjs.com
+    # side at https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodeup-cli/access under
+    # "Trusted Publisher", pointing at this workflow by filename. No
+    # NPM_TOKEN secret is needed; the runner mints an OIDC token,
+    # npmjs.com exchanges it for a one-hour publish token scoped to
+    # the nodeup-cli package.
+    #
+    # IMPORTANT: OIDC only kicks in when npm sees NO `_authToken` line
+    # in .npmrc for the target registry. The actions/setup-node action
+    # writes `//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}` to
+    # .npmrc when given `registry-url`, and an empty-expanded value
+    # still counts as "auth configured" — npm then tries classic auth
+    # with empty creds and never initiates the OIDC exchange (issue
+    # npm/documentation#1960). So we deliberately:
+    #   1. Don't set `registry-url` on setup-node.
+    #   2. Don't set NODE_AUTH_TOKEN in the env.
+    #   3. Write a clean .npmrc with only the registry URL.
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+    permissions:
+      id-token: write # required for OIDC trusted publishing
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Setup Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          # Node 24 ships npm 11.x, which is the minimum for OIDC
+          # trusted publishing (npm >= 11.5.1, Node >= 22.14.0).
+          # Deliberately no `registry-url` here — see the comment on
+          # the publish-npm job above.
+          node-version: '24'
+
+      # Write a clean .npmrc that contains only the registry URL, no
+      # _authToken line. Without this, npm won't see the
+      # ACTIONS_ID_TOKEN_REQUEST_* env vars and won't initiate the
+      # OIDC token exchange.
+      - name: Configure registry (clean .npmrc for OIDC)
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p ~/.npm
+          printf 'registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/\n' > ~/.npmrc
+
+      - name: Publish nodeup-cli
+        working-directory: ./nodeup-npm
+        run: npm publish --access public
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