diff --git a/WORKFLOW.md b/WORKFLOW.md
index 94e95c15..b544f43b 100644
--- a/WORKFLOW.md
+++ b/WORKFLOW.md
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ Pick each output's path by **where the artifact goes**:
 
 - **File on the GitHub release** (zip, binary, packaged library): one leaf per output uploading `release-asset-<branch>-<name>`. The repo keeps `expect_release_assets: true` (its default).
 - **Package-registry push** (NuGet, PyPI): the leaf builds and publishes to its registry. NuGet pushes from the leaf *and* uploads a `release-asset-*`; PyPI is **split** - the leaf only builds + uploads its build artifact, a separate publish job does the OIDC upload (so `id-token: write` is granted at one entry point, behind an environment gate) and contributes **no** `release-asset-*`.
-- **Image-registry push** (Docker): the leaf pushes multi-arch tags, contributes no `release-asset-*`.
+- **Image-registry push** (Docker): the leaf pushes the default branch multi-arch (amd64+arm64) and any other branch `amd64`-only (arm64 emulation is reserved for the released image); contributes no `release-asset-*`.
 - **No file target** (Docker-only, PyPI-only, source-only): the release is tag + source zip + README + LICENSE. The repo's **caller MUST pass `expect_release_assets: false`** to the release task (the input is never set by the template's own publisher, which ships file targets and keeps the default `true`). This is the one case where the otherwise-verbatim publisher is edited; with the default `true` and no assets, the release-create step fails on `fail_on_unmatched_files`.
 
 ## 4. Behavioral Contract - Expected Outcomes
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ Each type maps the *applicable* S-scenarios onto its targets; the differences ar
 - **Console / executable application.** Target produces `release-asset-<branch>-executable` (a 7z archive, `Console.7z`) by building a per-runtime `dotnet publish` matrix, then an aggregation job downloads the per-runtime `publish-<branch>-<runtime>` intermediates (`pattern:` + `merge-multiple:`), zips them, and uploads the single asset. Smoke builds a strict subset of runtimes; the per-runtime upload **and** the aggregation job are both gated `!smoke`, so smoke uploads nothing. The per-runtime intermediates rely on `retention-days: 1` (no explicit delete). Test: S1 with a console change smoke-builds the subset and uploads nothing; S7 attaches the 7z, `prerelease=true` on the non-default leg and `prerelease=false` on the default leg (GitHub auto-marks the stable default release "Latest"; the workflow does not set it).
 - **NuGet library.** The leaf both pushes (`dotnet nuget push *.nupkg --skip-duplicate`, gated `if: push` only) and uploads `release-asset-<branch>-nugetlibrary`; configuration is Release on the default branch, Debug otherwise. Where symbols are enabled (`snupkg`), the push auto-carries the paired `.snupkg` to NuGet.org's symbol server and the asset zip also contains it - a triple surface. NuGet.org derives `isPrerelease` from the SemVer2 `-g<sha>` suffix (the workflow sets no such flag). Test: S7 non-default leg publishes a prerelease package + asset, default a stable; S9 re-run is a server-side `--skip-duplicate` no-op. 5C: query NuGet.org for both versions and the symbol package.
 - **PyPI library.** The leaf builds + uploads `pypilibrary-build-<branch>`; a **separate** `publish-pypi` job (with `environment: pypi`, `id-token: write`, `actions: write`) does the OIDC Trusted-Publishing upload with `skip-existing: true`, then **consume-then-deletes** the build artifact - **unconditionally on consume**, so on S9 it is deleted even though the `release-asset-*` delete is skipped. The version is `AssemblyFileVersion` with `.dev0` appended on `develop` only, and must stay `--pre`-selectable and sorted above the default release. PyPI contributes no `release-asset-*`; a PyPI-only repo sets `expect_release_assets: false` at the caller. Test: S7 default leg publishes a release, non-default a `.dev0`; S9 is a `skip-existing` no-op; 5C inspects the `dist/*` filenames and the compute-version log.
-- **Docker image.** The leaf pushes multi-arch tags with a per-branch registry buildcache (`buildcache-<branch>`; a multi-image repo adds a per-image tag) (`cache-to` only the built branch and only on push, `cache-from` both branches); no `release-asset-*`, so a Docker-only repo's caller passes `expect_release_assets: false`; the readme (`peter-evans/dockerhub-description`, `DOCKER_HUB_ACCESS_TOKEN`) and date-badge jobs run **only** when the default branch publishes; the docker-readme task validates `repositories` XOR `manifest`+`manifest-jq` and a multi-image repo derives its publish matrix from the manifest. Docker **always re-pushes** the image, independently of a skipped release-create (S9). A **wrapper** repo tracks an upstream release: the upstream tracker writes a `name -> version` state file and the merge-bot auto-merges the bump PR (S11), and the leaf MUST read that file for the immutable tag instead of `SemVer2` (the template ships the tracker but not this consumer wiring). Test: S7 default leg pushes `latest` + the version tag and updates readme/badge; non-default pushes the develop tag; S9 still re-pushes; S11 ships the bumped upstream version next publish. 5C Docker probe needs `DOCKER_HUB_*` secrets and same-repo (not fork) runs.
+- **Docker image.** The leaf pushes the default branch multi-arch (amd64+arm64) and any other branch `amd64`-only, with a per-branch registry buildcache (`buildcache-<branch>`; a multi-image repo adds a per-image tag) (`cache-to` only the built branch and only on push, `cache-from` both branches); no `release-asset-*`, so a Docker-only repo's caller passes `expect_release_assets: false`; the readme (`peter-evans/dockerhub-description`, `DOCKER_HUB_ACCESS_TOKEN`) and date-badge jobs run **only** when the default branch publishes; the docker-readme task validates `repositories` XOR `manifest`+`manifest-jq` and a multi-image repo derives its publish matrix from the manifest. Docker **always re-pushes** the image, independently of a skipped release-create (S9). A **wrapper** repo tracks an upstream release: the upstream tracker writes a `name -> version` state file and the merge-bot auto-merges the bump PR (S11), and the leaf MUST read that file for the immutable tag instead of `SemVer2` (the template ships the tracker but not this consumer wiring). Test: S7 default leg pushes `latest` + the version tag and updates readme/badge; non-default pushes the develop tag (amd64 only); S9 still re-pushes; S11 ships the bumped upstream version next publish. 5C Docker probe needs `DOCKER_HUB_*` secrets and same-repo (not fork) runs.
 - **Data / asset library.** A single new leaf: validate -> zip -> upload `release-asset-<branch>-library` (`retention-days: 1`, upload gated `!smoke` - mirror the nugetlibrary leaf's shape). Because the template has no such leaf, you **add a target** (D6.4): a new `enable_library` input + `build-library` job + `github-release` `needs:` entry in the release task, and a `library` paths-filter entry + `changes` output + `smoke-build` enable-forward in the PR workflow (without it, D1.1 never smoke-builds the library). Keep `expect_release_assets: true` (it has a file target, unlike Docker). The .NET `unit-test` job is replaced by a type-appropriate validator with the aggregator **and** `smoke-build` both re-pointed to it (D1.2/D1.5); `version.json` + the NBGV `get-version` step are retained (they own the tag). Test: S1 smoke runs validate+zip and uploads nothing; S7 attaches the zip, prerelease on the non-default leg; S9 on a *scheduled* re-run release-create + asset-delete skip (the existing zip is untouched, no registry push), while a `workflow_dispatch` re-run **refreshes** the release and re-runs the asset-delete (the asset is re-uploaded then re-deleted). N/A: the nuget/pypi/docker/executable 5A addenda and their scenario clauses.
 - **Source-only / no build.** No package/image leaf: remove all four `build-*` jobs and their `github-release` `needs:` entries (leaving `get-version -> validate-release -> github-release`, which fires on `github && !smoke`), and the caller passes `expect_release_assets: false` so the release is tag + source zip + README + LICENSE with no asset download. With no target the paths-filter matches nothing, so `smoke-build` is **structurally always skipped** - validation is carried solely by the (replaced, non-.NET) validation job that the aggregator and `smoke-build`'s own `needs:` must both point at (D1.2; or drop the never-running `smoke-build` job). NBGV and `version.json` are still retained (they own the tag). Applicable scenarios: S1 (validation only), S5/S6 (publish gating), S7 (tag-only release), S8 (dispatch guard), S9 (no-op republish), S10 (classification gate). N/A: S2-S4 (assume a smoke-built target), the artifact-lifecycle and registry clauses of S7/S9, the D5/D6 artifact items, and all per-type 5A addenda - recorded N/A, not failed.
 
diff --git a/catalog/snippets/workflows/build-docker-task.yml b/catalog/snippets/workflows/build-docker-task.yml
index d2e22676..c9344410 100644
--- a/catalog/snippets/workflows/build-docker-task.yml
+++ b/catalog/snippets/workflows/build-docker-task.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ jobs:
     name: Build Docker image job
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [get-version]
+    env:
+      # Multi-arch (amd64+arm64) only when publishing the main image; every other build is amd64 only.
+      PLATFORMS: ${{ (inputs.push && inputs.branch == 'main') && 'linux/amd64,linux/arm64' || 'linux/amd64' }}
 
     steps:
 
@@ -46,17 +49,17 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
 
-      # QEMU only emulates arm64; smoke builds are amd64-only, so skip it to save setup cost.
+      # arm64 is non-native on the amd64 runner, so install its QEMU emulator only when the build includes it.
       - name: Setup QEMU step
-        if: ${{ !inputs.smoke }}
+        if: ${{ contains(env.PLATFORMS, 'arm64') }}
         uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@c7c53464625b32c7a7e944ae62b3e17d2b600130 # v3.7.0
         with:
-          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
+          platforms: linux/arm64
 
       - name: Setup Buildx step
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@8d2750c68a42422c14e847fe6c8ac0403b4cbd6f # v3.12.0
         with:
-          platforms: ${{ inputs.smoke && 'linux/amd64' || 'linux/amd64,linux/arm64' }}
+          platforms: ${{ env.PLATFORMS }}
 
       # Always login (even for smoke) for the higher Docker rate limits on pulls/cache reads; fork PRs without the
       # secrets can't run the Docker smoke build, acceptable for same-repo PRs.
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@ jobs:
           tags: |
             docker.io/ptr727/projecttemplate:${{ inputs.branch == 'main' && 'latest' || 'develop' }}
             docker.io/ptr727/projecttemplate:${{ needs.get-version.outputs.SemVer2 }}
-          platforms: ${{ inputs.smoke && 'linux/amd64' || 'linux/amd64,linux/arm64' }}
+          platforms: ${{ env.PLATFORMS }}
           # Read both branches' caches (near-identical layers) but write only this branch's tag, and only when
           # pushing, so the weekly main+develop matrix legs don't overwrite one shared cache.
           cache-from: |