diff --git a/npm/packages/ruvector/scripts/verify-dist.js b/npm/packages/ruvector/scripts/verify-dist.js
index ad24b6fe9..cd9aa12e5 100644
--- a/npm/packages/ruvector/scripts/verify-dist.js
+++ b/npm/packages/ruvector/scripts/verify-dist.js
@@ -1,51 +1,124 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 /**
- * verify-dist.js — pre-publish gate that fails the build if any file
- * `bin/cli.js` requires from `../dist/...` is missing.
+ * verify-dist.js — pre-publish gate that fails the build if the published
+ * tarball would be unusable.
  *
- * Why: 0.2.23 was published without a `dist/` directory at all (issue #399),
- * which silently broke `ruvector doctor`, the entire `embed` subsystem, and
- * `rvf` commands. tsc was supposed to run via `prepublishOnly`, but the
- * hook didn't fire (or the build failed silently). This script makes the
- * publish itself fail loudly when the artifact is incomplete.
+ * History:
+ *   - #399: 0.2.23 published without `dist/` at all — `ruvector doctor`,
+ *           `embed`, and `rvf` commands all crashed because tsc didn't
+ *           run via `prepublishOnly` (or failed silently).
+ *   - #376: same release (0.2.23) — `main: dist/index.js` was declared but
+ *           the tarball didn't contain it, so any consumer doing
+ *           `require('ruvector')` or `await import('ruvector')` blew up
+ *           on a fresh install.
+ *
+ * Both regressions are guarded here. The script asserts:
+ *   1. Every `require('../dist/...')` in `bin/cli.js` resolves to a file.
+ *   2. `package.json#main`, `types`, and every `bin` entry resolve to a
+ *      file (this is what would have caught #376).
+ *   3. Optional smoke check: `node -e "require('<main>')"` succeeds when
+ *      run with the repo as cwd. Skipped under VERIFY_DIST_SKIP_SMOKE=1
+ *      so a hot fix can publish even if a peer dep is unsatisfied.
  */
 
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
+const { spawnSync } = require('child_process');
 
 const pkgRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
+const pkgJsonPath = path.join(pkgRoot, 'package.json');
 const cliPath = path.join(pkgRoot, 'bin', 'cli.js');
 
-if (!fs.existsSync(cliPath)) {
-  console.error('verify-dist: bin/cli.js not found — package layout is broken.');
+if (!fs.existsSync(pkgJsonPath)) {
+  console.error('verify-dist: package.json not found — package layout is broken.');
   process.exit(1);
 }
+const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgJsonPath, 'utf8'));
 
-const cliSource = fs.readFileSync(cliPath, 'utf8');
+const errors = [];
 
-// Collect every `require('../dist/...')` referenced by the CLI.
-const distRequires = Array.from(
-  cliSource.matchAll(/require\(['"]\.\.\/(dist\/[^'"]+\.js)['"]\)/g),
-  (m) => m[1],
-);
-const unique = Array.from(new Set(distRequires)).sort();
+// 1. cli.js dist requires (#399).
+if (!fs.existsSync(cliPath)) {
+  errors.push(`bin/cli.js not found at ${path.relative(pkgRoot, cliPath)}`);
+} else {
+  const cliSource = fs.readFileSync(cliPath, 'utf8');
+  const distRequires = Array.from(
+    cliSource.matchAll(/require\(['"]\.\.\/(dist\/[^'"]+\.js)['"]\)/g),
+    (m) => m[1],
+  );
+  const unique = Array.from(new Set(distRequires)).sort();
+  const missing = unique.filter(
+    (rel) => !fs.existsSync(path.join(pkgRoot, rel)),
+  );
+  if (missing.length > 0) {
+    errors.push(
+      `${missing.length} dist file(s) referenced by bin/cli.js are missing:\n` +
+        missing.map((r) => `    - ${r}`).join('\n'),
+    );
+  } else {
+    console.log(`verify-dist: ${unique.length} dist path(s) referenced by bin/cli.js present.`);
+  }
+}
 
-const missing = unique.filter(
-  (rel) => !fs.existsSync(path.join(pkgRoot, rel)),
+// 2. package.json entrypoints (#376).
+const entrypointFields = [];
+if (typeof pkg.main === 'string') entrypointFields.push(['main', pkg.main]);
+if (typeof pkg.types === 'string') entrypointFields.push(['types', pkg.types]);
+if (typeof pkg.module === 'string') entrypointFields.push(['module', pkg.module]);
+if (pkg.bin && typeof pkg.bin === 'object') {
+  for (const [name, rel] of Object.entries(pkg.bin)) {
+    if (typeof rel === 'string') entrypointFields.push([`bin.${name}`, rel]);
+  }
+} else if (typeof pkg.bin === 'string') {
+  entrypointFields.push(['bin', pkg.bin]);
+}
+
+const missingEntries = entrypointFields.filter(
+  ([, rel]) => !fs.existsSync(path.join(pkgRoot, rel)),
 );
+if (missingEntries.length > 0) {
+  errors.push(
+    `${missingEntries.length} package.json entrypoint(s) point at missing files:\n` +
+      missingEntries.map(([f, r]) => `    - ${f} → ${r}`).join('\n'),
+  );
+} else {
+  console.log(`verify-dist: ${entrypointFields.length} package.json entrypoint(s) present.`);
+}
 
-if (missing.length > 0) {
-  console.error(
-    `verify-dist: ${missing.length} dist file(s) referenced by bin/cli.js are missing:`,
+// 3. Smoke: actually require the main entry (catches "file present but
+//    syntactically broken" regressions). Skipped if main is missing —
+//    error already reported above.
+if (
+  !process.env.VERIFY_DIST_SKIP_SMOKE &&
+  typeof pkg.main === 'string' &&
+  fs.existsSync(path.join(pkgRoot, pkg.main))
+) {
+  const mainAbs = path.join(pkgRoot, pkg.main);
+  const result = spawnSync(
+    process.execPath,
+    ['-e', `require(${JSON.stringify(mainAbs)})`],
+    { cwd: pkgRoot, encoding: 'utf8' },
   );
-  for (const rel of missing) {
-    console.error(`  - ${rel}`);
+  if (result.status !== 0) {
+    errors.push(
+      `\`require('${pkg.main}')\` failed (exit ${result.status}):\n` +
+        (result.stderr || result.stdout || '<no output>')
+          .split('\n')
+          .slice(0, 6)
+          .map((l) => `    ${l}`)
+          .join('\n'),
+    );
+  } else {
+    console.log(`verify-dist: require('${pkg.main}') smoke OK.`);
   }
+}
+
+if (errors.length > 0) {
+  console.error('\nverify-dist: package would publish broken:\n');
+  for (const e of errors) console.error(`  - ${e}`);
   console.error(
-    "\nRun `npm run build` and confirm tsc emitted under dist/. If a path was renamed,",
+    '\nRun `npm run build` and confirm tsc emitted under dist/. If a path was renamed,',
   );
-  console.error('update bin/cli.js to match.');
+  console.error('update package.json or bin/cli.js to match.');
   process.exit(1);
 }
-
-console.log(`verify-dist: ${unique.length} dist path(s) present.`);