diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index b431c32..d2b4233 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@ name: release
 # Publishes to PyPI when a `v*` tag is pushed. There is no API token anywhere in
 # this repository or in its secrets: publishing uses PyPI Trusted Publishing
 # (OIDC), which requires a one-time configuration on PyPI naming this
-# repository, this workflow filename, and the `pypi` environment. Until that
-# configuration exists the publish step fails closed with an OIDC error rather
-# than uploading anything.
+# repository, this workflow filename, and the `pypi` environment. Until the
+# repository variable PYPI_TRUSTED_PUBLISHING is "true" the publish job is
+# skipped rather than attempted — a tag still gets the full build-and-verify
+# gate, green, and the release ships however the operator ships it. Flip the
+# variable once the PyPI side exists and tags publish themselves; if it is
+# flipped without that configuration, the job still fails closed on the OIDC
+# exchange rather than uploading anything.
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -139,8 +143,18 @@ jobs:
     name: publish to PyPI
     needs: build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # Tags only. A manual dry run builds and verifies but never uploads.
-    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+    # Tags only — and only once Trusted Publishing is actually configured.
+    # Until the one-time PyPI setup exists, this job cannot succeed: it fails
+    # closed on the OIDC exchange, which painted every tagged release red
+    # (v0.1.3, v0.1.4) while the release itself went out by hand. A job that
+    # is known in advance to fail is not a gate, it is noise that teaches
+    # people to ignore red. So the job now runs only when the repository
+    # variable PYPI_TRUSTED_PUBLISHING is set to "true" — flip it in
+    # Settings -> Secrets and variables -> Actions -> Variables after
+    # configuring this repo, this workflow filename and the `pypi`
+    # environment on PyPI. A manual dry run builds and verifies but never
+    # uploads, exactly as before.
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/') && vars.PYPI_TRUSTED_PUBLISHING == 'true'
     environment:
       name: pypi
       url: https://pypi.org/p/grapharc