diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 8e150b7..ab53151 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ jobs:
             "https://github.com/GoCodeAlone/workflow/releases/download/v0.63.2/wfctl-linux-amd64"
           chmod +x "${RUNNER_TEMP}/wfctl-bin/wfctl"
       - name: Validate plugin contract for publish (pre-build)
-        run: "${{ runner.temp }}/wfctl-bin/wfctl plugin validate-contract --for-publish --tag ${{ github.ref_name }} ."
+        run: "${{ runner.temp }}/wfctl-bin/wfctl plugin validate-contract --for-publish --tag "${{ github.ref_name }}" ."
       - uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v7
         with:
           version: '~> v2'
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
           "${{ runner.temp }}/wfctl-bin/wfctl" plugin verify-capabilities --binary "$BIN" .
+      - name: Verify shipped plugin.json carries tag (post-build)
+        run: |
+          "${{ runner.temp }}/wfctl-bin/wfctl" plugin validate-contract --for-publish --tag "${{ github.ref_name }}" --release-dir . .
       - name: Publish GitHub release
         uses: actions/github-script@v7
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-plugin-version.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-plugin-version.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index f74f8a9..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-plugin-version.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-name: Sync plugin.json version
-on:
-  push:
-    tags: ['v*']
-permissions:
-  contents: write
-  pull-requests: write
-jobs:
-  sync:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          ref: main
-          fetch-depth: 0
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - name: Compute target version from tag
-        id: ver
-        run: |
-          TAG="${GITHUB_REF_NAME}"
-          VERSION="${TAG#v}"
-          echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "tag=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-      - name: Update plugin.json
-        run: |
-          if [ ! -f plugin.json ]; then echo "no plugin.json; skipping"; exit 0; fi
-          CURRENT=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('plugin.json')).get('version',''))")
-          TARGET="${{ steps.ver.outputs.version }}"
-          if [ "$CURRENT" = "$TARGET" ]; then
-            echo "plugin.json already at $TARGET; no action"
-            exit 0
-          fi
-          python3 -c "
-          import json
-          p = json.load(open('plugin.json'))
-          p['version'] = '$TARGET'
-          json.dump(p, open('plugin.json', 'w'), indent=2)
-          open('plugin.json', 'a').write('\n')
-          "
-      - name: Open sync PR if plugin.json changed
-        run: |
-          if git diff --quiet plugin.json; then
-            echo "no changes"
-            exit 0
-          fi
-          BRANCH="chore/sync-plugin-version-${{ steps.ver.outputs.tag }}"
-          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-          git checkout -b "$BRANCH"
-          git add plugin.json
-          git commit -m "chore: sync plugin.json version to ${{ steps.ver.outputs.tag }}"
-          git push origin "$BRANCH"
-          gh pr create \
-            --base main \
-            --head "$BRANCH" \
-            --title "chore: sync plugin.json version to ${{ steps.ver.outputs.tag }}" \
-            --body "Triggered by release ${{ steps.ver.outputs.tag }}. Auto-sync to prevent drift. Closes workflow-registry#37."
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/plugin.json b/plugin.json
index 1c97a6d..a6534d9 100644
--- a/plugin.json
+++ b/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name": "workflow-plugin-websocket",
-    "version": "0.5.6",
+    "version": "0.0.0",
     "author": "GoCodeAlone",
     "description": "General-purpose WebSocket support for workflow applications",
     "type": "external",