diff --git a/core/Cargo.lock b/core/Cargo.lock
index 694de8f8..e57b7b67 100644
--- a/core/Cargo.lock
+++ b/core/Cargo.lock
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ checksum = "a23eb6b1614318a8071c9b2521f36b424b2c83db5eb3a0fead4a6c0809af6e61"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "archipelago"
-version = "1.5.0"
+version = "1.5.0-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "archipelago-container",
diff --git a/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml b/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
index ef7faef5..b599844c 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "archipelago"
-version = "1.5.0"
+version = "1.5.0-alpha"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Archipelago Bitcoin Node OS - Native backend"
 authors = ["Archipelago Team"]
diff --git a/neode-ui/package.json b/neode-ui/package.json
index 997cdf25..258ac501 100644
--- a/neode-ui/package.json
+++ b/neode-ui/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "neode-ui",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "1.3.5",
+  "version": "1.5.0-alpha",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "./start-dev.sh",
diff --git a/releases/manifest.json b/releases/manifest.json
index ffef45fe..35344238 100644
--- a/releases/manifest.json
+++ b/releases/manifest.json
@@ -1,29 +1,31 @@
 {
-  "version": "1.4.0",
+  "version": "1.5.0-alpha",
   "release_date": "2026-04-19",
   "changelog": [
-    "FIPS mesh transport integrated (github.com/jmcorgan/fips): preferred over Tor for peer traffic",
-    "Seed-derived FIPS identity via HKDF label archipelago/fips/secp256k1/v1",
-    "Federation invites carry an optional fips_npub so peers can reach each other via FIPS",
-    "Network tab surfaces FIPS daemon version + copyable npub; Home shows FIPS status line",
-    "WiFi SSID now shown on Network tab when connected (was N/A)"
+    "FIPS-first transport for federation, messaging, peer linking, and file sharing — Tor stays as automatic fallback",
+    "Per-service transport preference Settings card (Auto / FIPS / Tor) per node-to-node surface",
+    "Transport badge (FIPS / TOR / LAN / MESH) on every federated node card, reflecting the transport actually used on the last reach",
+    "Transitive federation — accepting one peer automatically learns their trusted peers (one hop) so subsequent syncs go over FIPS directly",
+    "Cancel button for outbound pending peer requests: withdraws locally and notifies the recipient to drop their inbound row",
+    "Dedicated FIPS peer listener bound to fips0 ULA on port 5679 with a path whitelist (only signed endpoints are reachable from the mesh)",
+    "Deploy script now writes /opt/archipelago/build-info.txt on every deploy so the UI sidebar version never drifts from the binary again"
   ],
   "components": [
     {
       "name": "archipelago",
-      "current_version": "1.3.5",
-      "new_version": "1.4.0",
-      "download_url": "https://git.tx1138.com/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/releases/v1.4.0/archipelago",
-      "sha256": "f42b03622ea47b953f5961a364cdfd1c354f21456dff7ec26594af4150c4976d",
-      "size_bytes": 37714624
+      "current_version": "1.4.0",
+      "new_version": "1.5.0-alpha",
+      "download_url": "https://git.tx1138.com/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago",
+      "sha256": "b7527e53b373aba05013b35750f890e5f98c91be542cbe406fa55216cb6a6acc",
+      "size_bytes": 40020488
     },
     {
-      "name": "archipelago-frontend-1.4.0.tar.gz",
-      "current_version": "1.3.5",
-      "new_version": "1.4.0",
-      "download_url": "https://git.tx1138.com/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/releases/v1.4.0/archipelago-frontend-1.4.0.tar.gz",
-      "sha256": "100388985b98ab1adab191a23dd7a197f9a6c45c743da39f9df99d0213880086",
-      "size_bytes": 76984287
+      "name": "archipelago-frontend-1.5.0-alpha.tar.gz",
+      "current_version": "1.4.0",
+      "new_version": "1.5.0-alpha",
+      "download_url": "https://git.tx1138.com/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago-frontend-1.5.0-alpha.tar.gz",
+      "sha256": "83fbacf3b0ba237cd78cc0be798f7d74d8aea5d62110a1eb6ecdc56f77cf505e",
+      "size_bytes": 53359792
     }
   ]
 }
diff --git a/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago b/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..b325a39d
Binary files /dev/null and b/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago differ
diff --git a/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago-frontend-1.5.0-alpha.tar.gz b/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago-frontend-1.5.0-alpha.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4953bab9
Binary files /dev/null and b/releases/v1.5.0-alpha/archipelago-frontend-1.5.0-alpha.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/scripts/check-release-manifest.sh b/scripts/check-release-manifest.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d7463def
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-release-manifest.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Validate releases/manifest.json:
+#   - version matches core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
+#   - changelog is non-empty (release notes are mandatory per product policy)
+#   - every component's download_url exists on disk and matches sha256/size
+#
+# Run on every push from CI, and also locally before publishing a release:
+#   scripts/check-release-manifest.sh
+#
+# Exits non-zero on any mismatch so the release process fails loud.
+
+set -eo pipefail
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
+MANIFEST="$REPO_ROOT/releases/manifest.json"
+
+if [ ! -f "$MANIFEST" ]; then
+    echo "❌ releases/manifest.json missing"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+fail() { echo "❌ $*"; exit 1; }
+ok() { echo "✅ $*"; }
+
+MANIFEST_VERSION=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$MANIFEST'))['version'])")
+CARGO_VERSION=$(grep '^version' "$REPO_ROOT/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml" | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+
+if [ "$MANIFEST_VERSION" != "$CARGO_VERSION" ]; then
+    fail "manifest version ($MANIFEST_VERSION) ≠ Cargo.toml ($CARGO_VERSION)"
+fi
+ok "version matches: $MANIFEST_VERSION"
+
+# Release notes mandatory — ships stuff nobody can read otherwise.
+CHANGELOG_COUNT=$(python3 -c "import json; print(len(json.load(open('$MANIFEST'))['changelog']))")
+if [ "$CHANGELOG_COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
+    fail "changelog is empty — every release MUST have release notes"
+fi
+ok "changelog has $CHANGELOG_COUNT lines"
+
+# Each component: the artifact on disk under releases/v<version>/ must match
+# the declared sha256 and size_bytes.
+VERSION_DIR="$REPO_ROOT/releases/v${MANIFEST_VERSION}"
+if [ ! -d "$VERSION_DIR" ]; then
+    fail "releases/v${MANIFEST_VERSION}/ missing — artifacts not staged"
+fi
+
+COMPONENT_COUNT=$(python3 -c "import json; print(len(json.load(open('$MANIFEST'))['components']))")
+for i in $(seq 0 $((COMPONENT_COUNT - 1))); do
+    NAME=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$MANIFEST'))['components'][$i]['name'])")
+    DECLARED_SHA=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$MANIFEST'))['components'][$i]['sha256'])")
+    DECLARED_SIZE=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('$MANIFEST'))['components'][$i]['size_bytes'])")
+
+    # Component names other than exactly "archipelago" are the tarball's
+    # filename; use as-is. The bare "archipelago" component maps to the
+    # binary file literally named `archipelago`.
+    FILE="$VERSION_DIR/$NAME"
+    if [ "$NAME" = "archipelago" ]; then
+        FILE="$VERSION_DIR/archipelago"
+    fi
+
+    if [ ! -f "$FILE" ]; then
+        fail "component '$NAME' file missing at $FILE"
+    fi
+
+    ACTUAL_SHA=$(sha256sum "$FILE" | awk '{print $1}')
+    ACTUAL_SIZE=$(stat -c%s "$FILE")
+
+    if [ "$ACTUAL_SHA" != "$DECLARED_SHA" ]; then
+        fail "component '$NAME' sha256 mismatch (declared=$DECLARED_SHA actual=$ACTUAL_SHA)"
+    fi
+    if [ "$ACTUAL_SIZE" != "$DECLARED_SIZE" ]; then
+        fail "component '$NAME' size mismatch (declared=$DECLARED_SIZE actual=$ACTUAL_SIZE)"
+    fi
+    ok "component '$NAME': sha256 + size match on-disk artifact"
+done
+
+echo
+ok "releases/manifest.json passes all checks — safe to publish v${MANIFEST_VERSION}"
diff --git a/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh b/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh
index 2880e280..3ce24086 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh
@@ -923,6 +923,19 @@ PYEOF
 }
 MANIFEST_EOF
 
+    # Write build-info.txt — this is what the UI sidebar reads for the
+    # displayed version (overrides the binary's CARGO_PKG_VERSION). Keeping
+    # it synced with Cargo.toml on every deploy prevents the 1.3.x drift
+    # we saw on .198/.253 where stale build-info survived across upgrades.
+    DEPLOY_PKG_VERSION=$(grep '^version' "$PROJECT_DIR/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml" | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+    ssh $SSH_OPTS "$TARGET_HOST" "sudo tee /opt/archipelago/build-info.txt > /dev/null" << BUILDINFO_EOF
+version=$DEPLOY_PKG_VERSION
+build=$DEPLOY_TS
+commit=$DEPLOY_COMMIT
+date=$DEPLOY_TS
+type=deployed
+BUILDINFO_EOF
+
     # Ensure NTP and swap are configured (prevents OOM kills and clock drift)
     progress "Ensuring NTP + swap"
     ssh $SSH_OPTS "$TARGET_HOST" '