diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 41b0db8..862e5f4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -22,3 +22,48 @@ jobs:
         run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip && python -m pip install -e '.[dev]'
       - name: Run tests
         run: pytest -q
+
+  release-candidate:
+    needs: pytest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.11'
+      - name: Build release candidate
+        run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip build && rm -rf dist && python -m build --wheel
+      - name: Verify release candidate bytes and package identity
+        run: |
+          python - <<'PY'
+          import hashlib
+          import json
+          import zipfile
+          from pathlib import Path
+
+          release = json.loads(Path("docs/releases/0.0.1rc1.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+          artifact = release["artifact"]
+          wheel = Path("dist") / artifact["filename"]
+          assert wheel.is_file(), wheel
+          assert wheel.stat().st_size == artifact["size_bytes"]
+          assert hashlib.sha256(wheel.read_bytes()).hexdigest() == artifact["sha256"]
+
+          with zipfile.ZipFile(wheel) as archive:
+              metadata_name = next(name for name in archive.namelist() if name.endswith(".dist-info/METADATA"))
+              metadata = archive.read(metadata_name).decode("utf-8")
+              version = next(line.split(": ", 1)[1] for line in metadata.splitlines() if line.startswith("Version: "))
+              manifest_bytes = archive.read("hermes_workflows/plugin_payload_manifest.v1.json")
+
+          assert version == release["version"]
+          manifest = json.loads(manifest_bytes)
+          expected_manifest = dict(release["package_resource_manifest"])
+          identity = expected_manifest.pop("identity")
+          assert manifest == expected_manifest
+          assert identity == "sha256:" + hashlib.sha256(manifest_bytes).hexdigest()
+          PY
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          name: hermes-workflows-0.0.1rc1-${{ github.sha }}
+          path: dist/hermes_workflows-0.0.1rc1-py3-none-any.whl
+          if-no-files-found: error
+          retention-days: 90
diff --git a/docs/releases/0.0.1rc1.json b/docs/releases/0.0.1rc1.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6b3646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/releases/0.0.1rc1.json
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{
+  "artifact": {
+    "filename": "hermes_workflows-0.0.1rc1-py3-none-any.whl",
+    "immutable_url": "https://github.com/skylarbpayne/hermes-workflows/releases/download/v0.0.1rc1/hermes_workflows-0.0.1rc1-py3-none-any.whl",
+    "sha256": "9995dfcdfbb05057d21401896d94f3fdc9e89891f18fe6f6f6097c616e595ba2",
+    "size_bytes": 183555
+  },
+  "base_sha": "d99da904455a33a0406062289cad5ce5cea17fe2",
+  "consumes": {
+    "fnd_pkg": "e1e7a09e0c52702b4ab93e9a70520fd5ede4f9e3",
+    "fnd_regloc": "ad9e83091d72cab2f79b8324944d1dea4b740951"
+  },
+  "package_resource_manifest": {
+    "files": [],
+    "identity": "sha256:8c7dc41504681d7acdc0b1a9e085e99fb4445c2e5440e6ea29077fb599aec3fc",
+    "owner_id": "hermes-workflows",
+    "package_name": "hermes-workflows",
+    "package_version": "0.0.1rc1",
+    "payload_root": "plugin_payload",
+    "schema_version": 1
+  },
+  "release_tag": "v0.0.1rc1",
+  "rollback": {
+    "artifact_bytes_replaced": false,
+    "strategy": "Revert the release metadata PR; if the artifact is bad, publish a new version. Never replace bytes at v0.0.1rc1."
+  },
+  "runtime_mutation_receipt": {
+    "database": false,
+    "palmer_repository": false,
+    "profile": false,
+    "registry": false,
+    "service": false
+  },
+  "schema_version": 1,
+  "version": "0.0.1rc1"
+}
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3dc923d..759da8b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "hermes-workflows"
-version = "0.0.1"
+version = "0.0.1rc1"
 description = "Code-first durable workflows for agent work, typed Review Queues, Workflow Workers, and receipts."
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.9"
diff --git a/src/hermes_workflows/plugin_payload_manifest.v1.json b/src/hermes_workflows/plugin_payload_manifest.v1.json
index d53fee9..0e67581 100644
--- a/src/hermes_workflows/plugin_payload_manifest.v1.json
+++ b/src/hermes_workflows/plugin_payload_manifest.v1.json
@@ -1 +1 @@
-{"files":[],"owner_id":"hermes-workflows","package_name":"hermes-workflows","package_version":"0.0.1","payload_root":"plugin_payload","schema_version":1}
\ No newline at end of file
+{"files":[],"owner_id":"hermes-workflows","package_name":"hermes-workflows","package_version":"0.0.1rc1","payload_root":"plugin_payload","schema_version":1}
\ No newline at end of file