diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
index f956269..d598b06 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
@@ -47,7 +47,75 @@ on:
         default: ''
 
 jobs:
+  # Test gate. Forgejo/Actions workflows are independent — there is no cross-workflow
+  # `needs:`, and ci.yml does NOT trigger on tag pushes (its `branches` filter never
+  # matches refs/tags/*). So the CI test jobs are duplicated here (verbatim from
+  # ci.yml) to gate the deploy: nothing ships unless analyze + both test suites pass.
+  # Keep these in sync with ci.yml by hand.
+  analyze:
+    runs-on: docker
+    container:
+      image: ghcr.io/cirruslabs/flutter:3.41.9
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        env:
+          TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        run: |
+          git config --global --add safe.directory '*'
+          git init -q .
+          git remote add origin "http://x-access-token:${TOKEN}@forgejo:3000/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git"
+          git fetch -q --depth 1 origin "${GITHUB_SHA}"
+          git checkout -q FETCH_HEAD
+      - run: flutter pub get
+      - run: flutter analyze
+
+  test-commons-core:
+    runs-on: docker
+    container:
+      image: ghcr.io/cirruslabs/flutter:3.41.9
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        env:
+          TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        run: |
+          git config --global --add safe.directory '*'
+          git init -q .
+          git remote add origin "http://x-access-token:${TOKEN}@forgejo:3000/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git"
+          git fetch -q --depth 1 origin "${GITHUB_SHA}"
+          git checkout -q FETCH_HEAD
+      - run: flutter pub get
+      - name: dart test
+        working-directory: packages/commons_core
+        run: dart test
+
+  test-app-seeds:
+    runs-on: docker
+    container:
+      image: ghcr.io/cirruslabs/flutter:3.41.9
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        env:
+          TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        run: |
+          git config --global --add safe.directory '*'
+          git init -q .
+          git remote add origin "http://x-access-token:${TOKEN}@forgejo:3000/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git"
+          git fetch -q --depth 1 origin "${GITHUB_SHA}"
+          git checkout -q FETCH_HEAD
+      # SQLCipher so the "no plaintext at rest" security test actually runs.
+      - run: apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq libsqlcipher-dev
+      - run: flutter pub get
+      - name: Generate code + test
+        working-directory: apps/app_seeds
+        run: |
+          dart run slang
+          dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs
+          flutter test --coverage
+
   play:
+    # Gate on the tests: with no status-check function in this `if`, the implicit
+    # success() on `needs` still applies — play runs only on a tag AND green tests.
+    needs: [analyze, test-commons-core, test-app-seeds]
     if: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/') }}
     runs-on: docker
     container:
@@ -121,11 +189,16 @@ jobs:
   fdroid_reference_armeabi_v7a:
     # Serialize after play so two heavy Android builds never run concurrently on
     # the shared host (capacity:2) — that contention OOM-killed play's Gradle
-    # daemon. `if: always()` keeps the fdroid chain independent of play's result
-    # (runs after play whether it succeeded, failed, or — on workflow_dispatch —
-    # was skipped).
-    needs: play
-    if: ${{ always() }}
+    # daemon. Gated on the test jobs, but kept INDEPENDENT of play's result:
+    # `!cancelled()` is a status function, which drops the implicit success() on
+    # `needs`, so play failing/skipping (e.g. on workflow_dispatch, where play is
+    # tag-only) does not block the fdroid chain — while the explicit result checks
+    # still hard-gate on green tests. Nothing gets built/uploaded on a red suite.
+    needs: [analyze, test-commons-core, test-app-seeds, play]
+    if: ${{ !cancelled()
+            && needs.analyze.result == 'success'
+            && needs.test-commons-core.result == 'success'
+            && needs.test-app-seeds.result == 'success' }}
     runs-on: docker
     container:
       image: registry.gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidserver:buildserver-trixie