@@ -168,11 +168,9 @@ jobs:
             # Manual-only test train: exercises the whole release flow for a
             # commit end users must never receive. Never scheduled.
             # Same versioning as nightly under its own prerelease identifier.
-            # A preview release is reachable only by asking for it: npm gets it
-            # under the `preview` dist-tag, which nothing resolves by default,
-            # its desktop builds carry no update feed, and no updater manifest
-            # is attached to the release, so neither stable nor nightly
-            # installs can ever be offered one.
+            # A preview release stays a draft (see "Publish prerelease"), its
+            # desktop builds carry no update feed, and no updater manifest is
+            # attached, so neither stable nor nightly installs can be offered one.
             nightly_date="$(date -u -d "$NIGHTLY_DATE" +%Y%m%d)"
 
             node scripts/resolve-nightly-release.ts \
@@ -1038,8 +1036,10 @@ jobs:
       # The action keeps a stable release a draft until its assets finish uploading, but publishes a
       # prerelease first. Desktop clients update connected servers from the CLI archives as soon as
       # they see the release, so a prerelease also goes public only once every asset is attached.
+      # Previews stay drafts: GitHub orders same-day releases by semver, so public `preview` tags
+      # outrank `nightly` ones and push nightlies out of the 10-entry releases.atom older updaters read.
       - name: Publish prerelease
-        if: needs.preflight.outputs.is_prerelease == 'true'
+        if: needs.preflight.outputs.is_prerelease == 'true' && needs.preflight.outputs.release_channel != 'preview'
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
 
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ the version.
   - push tag matching `v*.*.*` for a stable release of an explicit commit
   - scheduled nightly check every 30 minutes
   - manual `workflow_dispatch` with `channel=nightly`
-  - manual `workflow_dispatch` with `channel=preview`, the maintainers' test train. It exercises the whole release flow (build, sign, notarize, smoke, publish) for a commit that end users must never receive, which is how an unmerged branch or a risky change gets a real release run before it lands. It builds the triggering commit with nightly's versioning under the `preview` prerelease identifier (`0.0.41-preview.<date>.<run>`) and publishes a GitHub prerelease plus the npm packages under the `preview` dist-tag. Preview is not on the schedule, no default npm dist-tag points at it, its desktop builds carry no update feed, and no updater manifest (`latest*.yml`, `nightly*.yml`, blockmaps) is attached, so a stable or nightly install cannot be offered one. The only ways onto it are downloading the release by hand, `npx t3@preview`, `T3CODE_CHANNEL=preview` for the install scripts, or `t3 update --channel preview` from a terminal; each prints a warning, and the CLI asks for confirmation when the running build is not itself a preview. The release itself is named as a maintainer test build and its body is a warning rather than generated notes: a changelog of unmerged branch history is not a changelog, and nightly and stable notes are unaffected because each series resolves its previous tag within its own channel. The hosted web app, AUR, and Discord announcements are skipped. Keep it; it costs nothing when idle.
+  - manual `workflow_dispatch` with `channel=preview`, the maintainers' test train. It exercises the whole release flow (build, sign, notarize, smoke, publish) for a commit that end users must never receive, which is how an unmerged branch or a risky change gets a real release run before it lands. It builds the triggering commit with nightly's versioning under the `preview` prerelease identifier (`0.0.41-preview.<date>.<run>`) and leaves its GitHub prerelease as a draft, plus the npm packages under the `preview` dist-tag. It stays a draft because GitHub orders same-day releases by semver, so a public `preview` tag outranks `nightly` and a few previews push every nightly out of the 10-entry `releases.atom` that older nightly updaters read. Preview is not on the schedule, no default npm dist-tag points at it, its desktop builds carry no update feed, and no updater manifest (`latest*.yml`, `nightly*.yml`, blockmaps) is attached, so a stable or nightly install cannot be offered one. The only way onto it is downloading the draft by hand as a maintainer; `npx t3@preview`, `T3CODE_CHANNEL=preview`, and `t3 update --channel preview` cannot reach a draft's assets. Each of those paths prints a warning, and the CLI asks for confirmation when the running build is not itself a preview. The release itself is named as a maintainer test build and its body is a warning rather than generated notes: a changelog of unmerged branch history is not a changelog, and nightly and stable notes are unaffected because each series resolves its previous tag within its own channel. The hosted web app, AUR, and Discord announcements are skipped. Keep it; it costs nothing when idle.
 - A manual stable release builds the commit of the latest published nightly, not `main` HEAD.
   Nightly is the release candidate: verify the nightly, then promote it. Merges to `main` keep
   landing while you verify and never leak into the stable build.