diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 1778b48e..0b417567 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ jobs:
       contents: write
       packages: write
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      # Gates the docs deploy on the release actually existing rather than on this
+      # job's overall conclusion, so a failure in a downstream distribution channel
+      # (Homebrew, ghcr) cannot skip the schema publish.
+      published: ${{ steps.released.outputs.published }}
+      version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
@@ -34,13 +40,26 @@ jobs:
           registry: ghcr.io
           username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      # Idempotent so a release that failed partway (e.g. a bad tap credential)
+      # can be re-dispatched with the same tag instead of dying here.
       - name: Create Tag
         if: ${{ github.event.inputs.tag != '' }}
-        run: |
-          git tag ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
-          git push origin ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          TAG: ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if git rev-parse -q --verify "refs/tags/${TAG}" >/dev/null; then
+            echo "Tag ${TAG} already exists locally - reusing"
+          elif git ls-remote --exit-code --tags origin "refs/tags/${TAG}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Tag ${TAG} already exists on origin - fetching"
+            git fetch origin "refs/tags/${TAG}:refs/tags/${TAG}"
+          else
+            git tag "${TAG}"
+            git push origin "${TAG}"
+          fi
+
       - name: Extract version from tag
         id: version
         run: |
@@ -51,8 +70,10 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "version=${VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "Releasing version: ${VERSION}"
+
       - name: Install release tools
         run: go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/v2@v2.12.5
+
       - uses: flowexec/action@v1
         with:
           executable: 'publish release --param VERSION=${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}'
@@ -62,15 +83,34 @@ jobs:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           HOMEBREW_FLOW_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HOMEBREW_FLOW_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
+      # Records whether the GitHub release exists, regardless of what happened
+      # after it was cut. Runs even on failure so the docs gate is accurate.
+      - name: Check release published
+        id: released
+        if: always()
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          if gh release view "${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}" \
+               --repo "${{ github.repository }}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "published=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "Release ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }} is published."
+          else
+            echo "published=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "Release ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }} was NOT published."
+          fi
+
   # Publishing the docs is part of releasing: the site serves the JSON schemas
   # that editors validate flowfiles against, so skipping it ships a release whose
   # schema the world cannot see. This runs here rather than off the tag push
   # because a tag pushed with GITHUB_TOKEN does not trigger workflows.
   release-docs:
     needs: release-binary
-    # Only for a dispatched release. A tag pushed by a human triggers
+    # Gate on the release having been published, not on release-binary's overall
+    # conclusion - a Homebrew or ghcr failure must not stop the schemas shipping.
+    # Only for a dispatched release: a tag pushed by a human triggers
     # release-docs.yaml on its own, and calling it here too would deploy twice.
-    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
+    if: ${{ always() && github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && needs.release-binary.outputs.published == 'true' }}
     permissions:
       contents: read
     uses: ./.github/workflows/release-docs.yaml