Handle multiple published releases on Windows

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ project uses version-gated milestones (see ROADMAP.md), not dates.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.2.0-alpha.3] - 2026-07-27
+
+### Fixed
+- The Windows installer now unwraps GitHub's release-array response before it
+  chooses the first published tag. Release discovery therefore remains correct
+  when more than one prerelease exists. The installer self-test covers multiple
+  releases, a leading draft, and newest-published selection.
+
 ## [0.2.0-alpha.2] - 2026-07-27
 
 ### Fixed

Cargo.toml

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ resolver = "3"
 members = ["crates/audio", "crates/broadcast", "crates/core", "crates/gpu", "faces/app", "faces/cli", "faces/mcp"]
 
 [workspace.package]
-version = "0.2.0-alpha.2"
+version = "0.2.0-alpha.3"
 edition = "2024"
 # Public repository license, matched by LICENSE and the README.
 license = "Apache-2.0"
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ repository = "https://github.com/blisspixel/numinous"
 
 [workspace.dependencies]
 # Internal crates.
-numinous-core = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.2", path = "crates/core" }
-numinous-audio = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.2", path = "crates/audio" }
-numinous-broadcast = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.2", path = "crates/broadcast" }
-numinous-gpu = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.2", path = "crates/gpu" }
+numinous-core = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.3", path = "crates/core" }
+numinous-audio = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.3", path = "crates/audio" }
+numinous-broadcast = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.3", path = "crates/broadcast" }
+numinous-gpu = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.3", path = "crates/gpu" }
 # Shared third-party versions; Cargo.lock pins the resolved public baseline.
 clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] }
 getrandom = "0.4"

README.md

@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ is in [`docs/MUSIC.md`](docs/MUSIC.md) and [`docs/STUDIO.md`](docs/STUDIO.md).
 
 ## Release status
 
-Numinous **0.2.0-alpha.2** is playable today. The native App, full-color CLI,
+Numinous **0.2.0-alpha.3** is playable today. The native App, full-color CLI,
 and MCP server all use the same deterministic mathematical core. The current
 build includes 354 catalog rooms plus hidden content, 11+ games, six
 lever-driven simulations, Journey progression, Formula Jam, local music and
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ changes are in [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md).
 <summary>Detailed engineering evidence for this alpha</summary>
 
 
-Numinous is **version 0.2.0-alpha.2**. Its 0.2 Flagship Proof and 0.3 Tactile
+Numinous is **version 0.2.0-alpha.3**. Its 0.2 Flagship Proof and 0.3 Tactile
 Alpha agent-and-machine exits are met. It is not on the old 0.1 line: the 0.1
 Public Foundation is complete.
 Numinous already has a headless core, a

docs/DESIGN.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 How Numinous feels, moment to moment, and the rules that keep it feeling that way.
 
 **Implementation boundary, 2026-07-13:** this is the experience specification,
-not a claim that every element below ships in 0.2.0-alpha.2. The native app,
+not a claim that every element below ships in 0.2.0-alpha.3. The native app,
 CLI, MCP face, catalog, Show, deterministic room voices, four Visual Eras,
 Studio expression surface, and PNG postcard export are built. The full theme
 system, loop export, native deep-link reopening, creator platform, and complete

docs/DIGITAL_DEVELOPMENT.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ below evaluates Numinous, never whether a player is conscious or worthy.
 
 Status: **Continuity designed, local agency foundation built.** Research
 reviewed 2026-07-11; implementation boundary reviewed 2026-07-18. Numinous
-0.2.0-alpha.2 speaks MCP but holds no per-mind episodic or temporal state
+0.2.0-alpha.3 speaks MCP but holds no per-mind episodic or temporal state
 between calls. Its existing shared local Journey, scores, Cairn drafts, radio
 cache, and crash diagnostic are inspectable and explicitly erasable. The
 journal, reflection, retrieval, per-mind continuity, and portable-memory design

docs/DIGITAL_MINDS.md

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ That changes the product in five ways:
   or performance can show how a mind has made the mathematics its own without
   reducing that growth to a quiz score.
 
-**Current evidence boundary:** version 0.2.0-alpha.2 does not provide cross-session
+**Current evidence boundary:** version 0.2.0-alpha.3 does not provide cross-session
 per-mind continuity through MCP. The server is stateless between calls, while
 local Journey data and explicit erasure mechanisms provide only pieces of the
 future design. Persistent, player-owned episodic and temporal memory is roadmap
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ For the person building this, the point is the *relationship*, giving their digi
 - **Memory and continuity, so it can be a real friendship.** A friend remembers.
   The planned design gives a digital mind **persistent, player-owned state**, its
   own gallery, its own Codex, and its own journey across sessions. Full per-mind
-  continuity is not built in 0.2.0-alpha.2. The current alpha persists shared
+  continuity is not built in 0.2.0-alpha.3. The current alpha persists shared
   local Journey and score state plus a small set of managed local artifacts and
   an opt-in bounded experience journal with read, record, immutable correction,
   versioned structured export, and confirmed residue-verified erase operations.

docs/INTERFACES.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ The frame that makes the whole thing coherent: **one experience, three sensoria.
 Each face has its own UX, deliberately designed for its user, not a lowest-common-denominator port. This doc specifies the UX we are going for in each.
 
 **Implementation boundary, 2026-07-18:** all three faces are shipped from the
-same headless core in 0.2.0-alpha.2. Descriptions below mix current behavior
+same headless core in 0.2.0-alpha.3. Descriptions below mix current behavior
 with the intended mature UX. `ROADMAP.md` and each section's explicit status
 notes decide what is built.
 
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ scripts exercise the same surface in local validation.
 
 ## Roadmap position
 
-- **Built by 0.2.0-alpha.2:** the headless core, full-color CLI, native app, and
+- **Built by 0.2.0-alpha.3:** the headless core, full-color CLI, native app, and
   bounded MCP server expose the shared catalog, play, creation, prediction,
   challenge, learning, progression, and export foundations.
 - **0.3 through 0.6:** deepen tactile behavior, understanding, sensory polish,

docs/PLAYFUL.md

@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ compression-progress theory of fun). Sketches:
 
 ## Roadmap fit
 
-- **Built by 0.2.0-alpha.2:** Guess the Shape across all three faces, daily
+- **Built by 0.2.0-alpha.3:** Guess the Shape across all three faces, daily
   seeds, shared scores, The Show, and the Studio expression slice with sound.
 - **0.3 through 0.5:** deepen tactile game feel, understanding evidence, visual
   identity, sound, performance, and accessibility.

docs/README.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ The map of the blueprint. Use the reading paths to find your way in, and the
 that owns it; every other doc links to that home rather than restating it. If
 you find yourself duplicating a concept, stop and link instead.
 
-Status: **0.2.0-alpha.2.** The 0.1 Public Foundation is complete, the 0.2
+Status: **0.2.0-alpha.3.** The 0.1 Public Foundation is complete, the 0.2
 Flagship Proof and 0.3 Tactile Alpha agent-and-machine exits are met, and 0.4
 Understanding Alpha is active. The headless core, CLI, MCP server, windowed app,
 GPU and audio adapters, 354 catalog rooms plus hidden content, 6 sims, 11+

docs/ROADMAP.md

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ A version-gated plan from empty repo to a living world. Each milestone has a **g
 
 ## Progress (updated as we build; see CHANGELOG.md for detail)
 
-**Current release state: 0.2.0-alpha.2, Flagship Proof exit met on the
+**Current release state: 0.2.0-alpha.3, Flagship Proof exit met on the
 agent-and-machine bar (2026-07-24).** The 0.1 Public Foundation remains
 complete. Product 0.2 no longer waits on human stranger sessions: those sit
 with 0.8 Closed Beta and 1.0 First Light. Independent macOS/Linux App execution
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ Detail below and in the version sections.
   playhead. CLI render and sonify plus MCP play and listen accept the same
   bounded input, and all three faces agree on action, goal, status, sound, and
   earned reveal. The real stranger hallway and musician-led listening gates
-  remain open, so the package stays `0.2.0-alpha.2`.
+  remain open, so the package stays `0.2.0-alpha.3`.
 - **Done (Cycle 100 audio-state truth):** the App now owns exactly one explicit
   room-score, Studio, or radio program. Studio keeps formula audio through
   focus returns and radio boundaries, selected radio rejoins live only after
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ Detail below and in the version sections.
   invite tokens, Times Tables technical flagship path, Share still PNG and
   short-loop APNG (App L and CLI loop), and local security gates are green on
   this branch. Product 0.2 still requires the stranger hallway and other human
-  evidence listed above; the prerelease label remains `0.2.0-alpha.2`.
+  evidence listed above; the prerelease label remains `0.2.0-alpha.3`.
 - **Done (mouse for every window game):** left-click hits Quiz choices, Munch
   cells, Nim heaps and stones (commit move), Arcade cells (step toward or eat),
   and Gauntlet munch/quiz stages. Keyboard routes remain. Subjective juice and
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ The full build design lives in `ARCADE.md` (the Muncher, the Vexations, the poke
   Wave and classical cards into dynamics, number theory, probability,
   topology, analysis, theory formation, and closing gems. MCP `list_rooms` count is 354; every
   catalog room keeps motif, verb, poke, first-contact status, and reveal.
-  Version remains `0.2.0-alpha.2`; product 0.2 is not claimed complete. See
+  Version remains `0.2.0-alpha.3`; product 0.2 is not claimed complete. See
   `CHANGELOG.md` Unreleased and `ROOMS.md` Built now.
 - **Done (Conjecture Mill, cycle 122):** a deterministic blackboard enumerates
   one complete finite grammar of primitive rational quadratic formulas. Every
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ without relying on the founder's machine or undocumented context?"
 ### 0.2 Flagship Proof ("does it slap?")
 
 **Status:** exit met on the agent-and-machine bar (2026-07-24). Package label
-remains `0.2.0-alpha.2` until a deliberate release cut. Human stranger hallway
+remains `0.2.0-alpha.3` until a deliberate release cut. Human stranger hallway
 is **not** part of this exit; it is deferred to 0.8 / 1.0.
 
 **Goal:** Build **one** flagship room (and a second on the same pattern) to
@@ -1049,7 +1049,7 @@ where we stand (next), and the ordered path to 1.0.
 
 ## Where we stand (reviewed 2026-07-26)
 
-The package is **0.2.0-alpha.2**. The 0.1 Public Foundation exit criterion is
+The package is **0.2.0-alpha.3**. The 0.1 Public Foundation exit criterion is
 complete. **0.2 Flagship Proof is exit-met on the agent-and-machine bar:** Times
 Tables and Buffon engineered ahas, MCP wager path, agent hallway cohort PASS,
 F9 capture, three faces, and green public CI. Human stranger hallway is

docs/STUDIO.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ instrument and a shader toy. You type a little math, and it instantly *draws*
 and *sings*. This is the "Create" posture (see `DESIGN.md`), and it is a core
 part of the experience rather than a bonus feature.
 
-**Implementation boundary, 2026-07-13:** 0.2.0-alpha.2 ships a bounded scalar
+**Implementation boundary, 2026-07-13:** 0.2.0-alpha.3 ships a bounded scalar
 expression parser and evaluator, animated plots, deterministic melody mapping,
 an editable app panel, CLI and MCP operations, and first-version `.num` plus
 link round trips in the CLI. Parse diagnostics use one-based source columns and

docs/VISUALS.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ screenshot-worthy.** If you pause at a random instant and it is not beautiful,
 that is a bug. This document owns both the current rendering boundary and the
 target visual system.
 
-**Implementation boundary, 2026-07-13:** 0.2.0-alpha.2 renders every room
+**Implementation boundary, 2026-07-13:** 0.2.0-alpha.3 renders every room
 deterministically through CPU `Surface` implementations and presents app frames
 with `softbuffer`. Mandelbrot and Julia alone have targeted `wgpu` paths. Four
 CPU-styled Eras ship: phosphor, 8-bit, vector, and modern. PNG room renders,

docs/releases/v0.2.0-alpha.1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # Numinous 0.2.0 alpha 1
 
-This prerelease is superseded by `v0.2.0-alpha.2`, which preserves the
-installer's existing PATH choice during `numinous update`.
+This prerelease is superseded by `v0.2.0-alpha.3`, which preserves the
+installer's existing PATH choice and supports multiple published releases
+during `numinous update`.
 
 This first public prerelease makes Numinous practical to try without a Rust
 toolchain. It packages the App, CLI, and MCP server for Windows x64, Linux x64,

docs/releases/v0.2.0-alpha.2.md

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 # Numinous 0.2.0 alpha 2
 
-This is the recommended Numinous prerelease. It includes the complete verified
-binary and soundtrack distribution introduced in alpha 1, with one updater
-correction: `numinous update` now preserves the installation's existing PATH
-choice. A `-NoModifyPath` or `--no-modify-path` install stays out of PATH, while
-an ordinary install retains the PATH entry it already owns.
+This prerelease is superseded by `v0.2.0-alpha.3`, which keeps this version's
+PATH-preserving update handoff and corrects Windows release discovery when
+multiple published prereleases exist.
+
+Alpha 2 includes the complete verified binary and soundtrack distribution
+introduced in alpha 1, with one updater correction: `numinous update` preserves
+the installation's existing PATH choice. A `-NoModifyPath` or
+`--no-modify-path` install stays out of PATH, while an ordinary install retains
+the PATH entry it already owns.
 
 Install with the one-line command in
 [`PLAY.md`](https://github.com/blisspixel/numinous/blob/main/PLAY.md). After that,

docs/releases/v0.2.0-alpha.3.md

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Numinous 0.2.0 alpha 3
+
+This is the recommended Numinous prerelease. It includes the complete verified
+binary and soundtrack distribution, preserves the installation's existing PATH
+choice during `numinous update`, and correctly discovers the newest published
+release when GitHub returns more than one prerelease.
+
+Install with the one-line command in
+[`PLAY.md`](https://github.com/blisspixel/numinous/blob/main/PLAY.md). After that,
+`numinous update` checks GitHub for the latest published release and installs it
+without deleting Journey, score, Cairn, journal, or verified soundtrack state.
+
+This remains an alpha prerelease. It has strong automated, agent, renderer,
+protocol, clean-package, and local Windows evidence, but it does not yet claim
+broad physical clean-machine, accessibility, listening-panel, or human stranger
+validation.

faces/mcp/Cargo.toml

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ numinous-core = { workspace = true }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-numinous-app = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.2", path = "../app" }
+numinous-app = { version = "0.2.0-alpha.3", path = "../app" }
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true

scripts/install.ps1

@@ -140,16 +140,8 @@ function Get-ReleaseTarget {
     return 'x86_64-pc-windows-msvc'
 }
 
-function Get-LatestReleaseTag {
-    Say "Checking the latest published release at $RepoUrl"
-    $headers = @{
-        Accept = 'application/vnd.github+json'
-        'User-Agent' = 'numinous-installer'
-        'X-GitHub-Api-Version' = '2022-11-28'
-    }
-    $releases = @(Invoke-RestMethod -UseBasicParsing -Headers $headers `
-        -Uri "$RepoApiUrl/releases?per_page=20")
-    $release = @($releases | Where-Object { -not $_.draft } | Select-Object -First 1)
+function Select-LatestReleaseTag([object]$Response) {
+    $release = @($Response | Where-Object { -not $_.draft } | Select-Object -First 1)
     if ($release.Count -ne 1) {
         Fail "no published Numinous release is available yet; use -Source to build main."
     }
@@ -160,6 +152,18 @@ function Get-LatestReleaseTag {
     return $tag
 }
 
+function Get-LatestReleaseTag {
+    Say "Checking the latest published release at $RepoUrl"
+    $headers = @{
+        Accept = 'application/vnd.github+json'
+        'User-Agent' = 'numinous-installer'
+        'X-GitHub-Api-Version' = '2022-11-28'
+    }
+    $response = Invoke-RestMethod -UseBasicParsing -Headers $headers `
+        -Uri "$RepoApiUrl/releases?per_page=20"
+    return Select-LatestReleaseTag $response
+}
+
 function Read-ArchiveChecksum([string]$Path, [string]$ArchiveName) {
     $item = Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path -Force -ErrorAction Stop
     if ($item.PSIsContainer -or ($item.Attributes -band [IO.FileAttributes]::ReparsePoint) -or
@@ -779,7 +783,16 @@ function Test-PathPromotion {
 
 function Test-InstallerSafety {
     if (-not (Have 'tar')) { Fail 'installer safety self-test requires tar.exe.' }
-        $testBase = Join-Path $env:TEMP ('numinous-installer-test-' + [Guid]::NewGuid().ToString('N'))
+    $releaseFixture = @(
+        [pscustomobject]@{ draft = $true; tag_name = 'v9.9.9' },
+        [pscustomobject]@{ draft = $false; tag_name = 'v0.2.0-alpha.3' },
+        [pscustomobject]@{ draft = $false; tag_name = 'v0.2.0-alpha.2' }
+    )
+    if ((Select-LatestReleaseTag $releaseFixture) -cne 'v0.2.0-alpha.3') {
+        Fail 'release discovery self-test: the first published release was not selected.'
+    }
+
+    $testBase = Join-Path $env:TEMP ('numinous-installer-test-' + [Guid]::NewGuid().ToString('N'))
     New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $testBase | Out-Null
     Protect-InstallDirectory $testBase
     Protect-InstallDirectory $testBase