diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 6f44514eb7..0d3d7d9e14 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -133,6 +133,15 @@ create_key:
     paths:
       - pubkeys
 
+# Unit tests for shared helpers in .gitlab/scripts/includes.sh (e.g. the
+# snapshot-staleness check deploy.sh relies on to poll Sonatype).
+shell-unit-tests:
+  stage: prepare
+  needs: []
+  image: ${PREPARE_IMAGE}
+  script:
+    - bash .gitlab/scripts/tests/includes_test.sh
+
 # Shared version detection used by benchmarks and reliability pipelines
 get-versions:
   extends: .get-versions
diff --git a/.gitlab/benchmarks/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/benchmarks/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b6f7f1cef5..eee8d533a1 100644
--- a/.gitlab/benchmarks/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/benchmarks/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ benchmarks-trigger:
   rules:
     - if: '$CANCELLED == "true"'
       when: never
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - if: '$JDK_VERSION != null || $DEBUG_LEVEL != null || $HASH != null || $DOWNSTREAM != null'
       when: never
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"'
diff --git a/.gitlab/build-deploy/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/build-deploy/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1d96d52390..ed27bff0cd 100644
--- a/.gitlab/build-deploy/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/build-deploy/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -218,8 +218,7 @@ build-artifact:
       artifacts: false
       optional: true
   rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^release\//'
-      when: never
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - when: on_success
   tags: [ "arch:amd64" ]
   image: ${BUILD_IMAGE_X64}
@@ -254,8 +253,7 @@ deploy-artifact:
     - job: build:arm64-musl
       artifacts: true
   rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^release\//'
-      when: never
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - when: on_success
   tags: [ "arch:amd64" ]
   image: ${BUILD_IMAGE_X64}
@@ -345,7 +343,9 @@ notify-slack-on-success:
       artifacts: true
     - job: deploy-artifact
       artifacts: false
-  when: on_success
+  rules:
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
+    - when: on_success
   image: registry.ddbuild.io/slack-notifier:v91289620-4ec922a-latest@sha256:06b24f392ccc383d371c72001520a254edef523bc0bfdc445f487106107b4202
   tags: ["arch:amd64"]
   script:
@@ -359,7 +359,9 @@ notify-slack-on-failure:
       artifacts: true
     - job: deploy-artifact
       artifacts: true
-  when: on_failure
+  rules:
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
+    - when: on_failure
   image: registry.ddbuild.io/slack-notifier:v91289620-4ec922a-latest@sha256:06b24f392ccc383d371c72001520a254edef523bc0bfdc445f487106107b4202
   tags: ["arch:amd64"]
   script:
diff --git a/.gitlab/common.yml b/.gitlab/common.yml
index 292a1462d1..b70151ee64 100644
--- a/.gitlab/common.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/common.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,17 @@
   variables:
     KUBERNETES_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_OVERWRITE: java-profiler
 
+# Skip a job on release/* branches. build-artifact/deploy-artifact don't run
+# there, so anything that needs: them must also skip there or pipeline
+# creation fails. Splice into a job's own rules with:
+#   rules:
+#     - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
+#     - ...
+.skip-on-release:
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^release\//'
+      when: never
+
 # Install gh and crane when not already present in the image.
 # Extend this in before_script for jobs that need GitHub CLI or crane.
 .bootstrap-gh-tools:
diff --git a/.gitlab/dd-trace-integration/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/dd-trace-integration/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 22aa991b88..3d7b0ec52c 100644
--- a/.gitlab/dd-trace-integration/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/dd-trace-integration/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ prepare-patched-agent:
     - job: build-artifact
       artifacts: true
   rules:
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - if: '$JDK_VERSION != null || $DEBUG_LEVEL != null || $HASH != null || $DOWNSTREAM != null'
       when: never
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ prepare-patched-agent:
     - job: prepare-patched-agent
       artifacts: true
   rules:
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - if: '$JDK_VERSION != null || $DEBUG_LEVEL != null || $HASH != null || $DOWNSTREAM != null'
       when: never
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
@@ -268,6 +270,7 @@ report-dd-trace-results:
     - job: integration-test-arm64-musl
       artifacts: true
   rules:
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - if: '$JDK_VERSION != null || $DEBUG_LEVEL != null || $HASH != null || $DOWNSTREAM != null'
       when: never
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
@@ -296,6 +299,7 @@ post-pr-comment:
     - job: integration-test-arm64-musl
       artifacts: true
   rules:
+    - !reference [.skip-on-release, rules]
     - if: '$JDK_VERSION != null || $DEBUG_LEVEL != null || $HASH != null || $DOWNSTREAM != null'
       when: never
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/deploy.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/deploy.sh
index c0e74f676d..689f51bb05 100755
--- a/.gitlab/scripts/deploy.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/deploy.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,22 @@ if [ "$MODE" = "assemble" ] || [ "$MODE" = "all" ]; then
   ./gradlew -Pskip-native -Pskip-tests -Pddprof_version="${LIB_VERSION}" -PbuildInfo.build.number=$CI_JOB_ID -Pwith-libs="$(pwd)/libs" :ddprof-lib:jar assembleAll --exclude-task compileFuzzer --exclude-task sign --max-workers=1 --no-build-cache --stacktrace --info --no-watch-fs --no-daemon
 fi
 
+# Resolve the debug/jar classifier's timestamped version from a snapshot's
+# maven-metadata.xml. Only the last matching <snapshotVersion> block is
+# honored so a metadata file listing the same classifier/extension pair more
+# than once can't produce multiple version lines from a single lookup.
+CURL_TIMEOUT_OPTS=(--connect-timeout 10 --max-time 30)
+get_debug_jar_snapshot_version() {
+  curl -fsSL "${CURL_TIMEOUT_OPTS[@]}" "$1" 2>/dev/null | awk '
+    /<snapshotVersion>/ { classifier=""; extension=""; value="" }
+    /<classifier>/ { gsub(/<\/?classifier>/,""); gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/,""); classifier=$0 }
+    /<extension>/ { gsub(/<\/?extension>/,""); gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/,""); extension=$0 }
+    /<value>/ { gsub(/<\/?value>/,""); gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/,""); value=$0 }
+    /<\/snapshotVersion>/ { if (classifier=="debug" && extension=="jar") last=value }
+    END { print last }
+  ' || true
+}
+
 # Publish task (only when publishing to Maven Central)
 if [ "$MODE" = "publish" ] || [ "$MODE" = "all" ]; then
   echo "=== Publishing to Sonatype ==="
@@ -47,5 +63,43 @@ if [ "$MODE" = "publish" ] || [ "$MODE" = "all" ]; then
     echo "ERROR: GPG_PRIVATE_KEY is not set — run the create_key CI job first to provision the signing key in SSM (ci.java-profiler.signing.gpg_private_key)"
     exit 1
   fi
+  META_URL="https://central.sonatype.com/repository/maven-snapshots/com/datadoghq/ddprof/${LIB_VERSION}/maven-metadata.xml"
+  # Record whatever debug/jar version is resolvable *before* publishing so the
+  # post-publish wait below can tell the freshly uploaded build apart from a
+  # preceding one that Sonatype hasn't finished replacing in the metadata yet.
+  PRE_PUBLISH_SNAPSHOT_VER=""
+  if [[ "${LIB_VERSION}" == *-SNAPSHOT ]]; then
+    PRE_PUBLISH_SNAPSHOT_VER=$(get_debug_jar_snapshot_version "${META_URL}")
+  fi
+
   ./gradlew -Pskip-native -Pskip-tests -Pddprof_version="${LIB_VERSION}" -PbuildInfo.build.number=$CI_JOB_ID -Pwith-libs="$(pwd)/libs" publishToSonatype closeAndReleaseSonatypeStagingRepository --exclude-task compileFuzzer --max-workers=1 --no-build-cache --stacktrace --info --no-watch-fs --no-daemon
+
+  # Downstream consumers (e.g. benchmarking-platform's run-benchmarks.sh)
+  # resolve the real timestamped filename via maven-metadata.xml right after
+  # this job finishes. Sonatype needs a little time to index a freshly
+  # published snapshot, so wait until the metadata (and the jar it points to)
+  # are actually resolvable before this job reports success. A version that
+  # matches PRE_PUBLISH_SNAPSHOT_VER is rejected: that's the preceding build's
+  # entry still lingering in the metadata, not the one just uploaded.
+  if [[ "${LIB_VERSION}" == *-SNAPSHOT ]]; then
+    echo "=== Waiting for snapshot artifact to become resolvable on Sonatype ==="
+    RESOLVED=0
+    for attempt in $(seq 1 20); do
+      SNAPSHOT_VER=$(get_debug_jar_snapshot_version "${META_URL}")
+      if is_new_snapshot_version "${SNAPSHOT_VER}" "${PRE_PUBLISH_SNAPSHOT_VER}"; then
+        JAR_URL="https://central.sonatype.com/repository/maven-snapshots/com/datadoghq/ddprof/${LIB_VERSION}/ddprof-${SNAPSHOT_VER}-debug.jar"
+        if curl -fsSL "${CURL_TIMEOUT_OPTS[@]}" -o /dev/null "${JAR_URL}"; then
+          echo "Snapshot artifact resolvable: ${JAR_URL}"
+          RESOLVED=1
+          break
+        fi
+      fi
+      echo "Attempt ${attempt}/20: newly published snapshot not yet resolvable, retrying in 15s..."
+      sleep 15
+    done
+    if [ "${RESOLVED}" -ne 1 ]; then
+      echo "ERROR: newly published snapshot artifact still not resolvable after 20 attempts" >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  fi
 fi
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/includes.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/includes.sh
index 676b4f29e4..dc40094d72 100755
--- a/.gitlab/scripts/includes.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/includes.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,12 @@ function setup_java_home() {
   echo "Using Java @ ${JAVA_HOME}"
 }
 
+function is_new_snapshot_version() {
+  local candidate="$1"
+  local baseline="$2"
+  [ -n "${candidate}" ] && [ "${candidate}" != "${baseline}" ]
+}
+
 function collect_artifacts() {
   local target=$1
   local artifact_type=$2  # "test" or "stresstest"
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/tests/includes_test.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/tests/includes_test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..93a08a3d87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/tests/includes_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+# Minimal, dependency-free unit tests for .gitlab/scripts/includes.sh helpers.
+# Run with: bash .gitlab/scripts/tests/includes_test.sh
+
+set -eo pipefail
+
+HERE=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
+source "${HERE}/../includes.sh"
+
+FAILED=0
+
+assert_true() {
+  local desc="$1"
+  shift
+  if "$@"; then
+    echo "PASS: ${desc}"
+  else
+    echo "FAIL: ${desc} — expected success"
+    FAILED=1
+  fi
+}
+
+assert_false() {
+  local desc="$1"
+  shift
+  if "$@"; then
+    echo "FAIL: ${desc} — expected failure"
+    FAILED=1
+  else
+    echo "PASS: ${desc}"
+  fi
+}
+
+# A freshly published snapshot version differs from the pre-publish baseline
+# and must be accepted.
+assert_true "differing candidate is accepted as new" \
+  is_new_snapshot_version "20260101.120000-5" "20260101.100000-3"
+
+# The metadata still pointing at the pre-publish baseline is stale and must
+# be rejected — this is the guard the retry loop in deploy.sh relies on.
+assert_false "candidate matching baseline is rejected as stale" \
+  is_new_snapshot_version "20260101.100000-3" "20260101.100000-3"
+
+# An empty candidate (metadata not resolvable yet) must be rejected
+# regardless of the baseline.
+assert_false "empty candidate is rejected" \
+  is_new_snapshot_version "" "20260101.100000-3"
+
+# An empty baseline (no prior publish) plus any non-empty candidate must be
+# accepted.
+assert_true "non-empty candidate with empty baseline is accepted" \
+  is_new_snapshot_version "20260101.120000-5" ""
+
+exit "${FAILED}"