diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml
index 6729a4b..f22c4f9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml
@@ -59,15 +59,20 @@ jobs:
         env:
           IDJSON: ${{ steps.identity.outputs.identity-json }}
           WD: ${{ inputs.working-directory }}
+          SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           prefix="$(printf '%s' "$IDJSON" | jq -r '.tag.prefix // "v"')"
           vfile="$(printf '%s' "$IDJSON" | jq -r '.version_file // "version.txt"')"
           version="$(tr -d ' \t\n\r' < "$WD/$vfile")"
+          # workflow_dispatch has no head_commit payload. Read the subject from
+          # the exact commit we will tag, for both push and manual runs.
+          subject="$(git log -1 --format=%s "$SHA" --)"
           {
             echo "prefix=$prefix"
             echo "version-file=$vfile"
             echo "version=$version"
+            printf 'commit-subject=%s\n' "$subject"
           } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - id: gate
@@ -81,7 +86,7 @@ jobs:
           run-number: ${{ github.run_number }}
           before-sha: ${{ github.event.before }}
           after-sha: ${{ github.sha }}
-          commit-message: ${{ github.event.head_commit.message }}
+          commit-message: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.commit-subject }}
 
       - name: Tag
         if: steps.gate.outputs.should-release == 'true'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-actions.yml b/.github/workflows/test-actions.yml
index fda8261..256eb65 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-actions.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-actions.yml
@@ -114,6 +114,13 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - run: bash actions/auto-release/test_gate.sh
         shell: bash
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.12"
+      - run: pip install "PyYAML==6.0.2"
+        shell: bash
+      - run: python actions/auto-release/test_workflow.py
+        shell: bash
 
   # darwin-gate portable halves (artifact sanity + the functional probe) via a
   # stub binary. check-macho needs the macOS toolchain → exercised in a real #8
diff --git a/actions/auto-release/test_workflow.py b/actions/auto-release/test_workflow.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89b20a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/auto-release/test_workflow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+"""Exercise the actual workflow shell blocks without minting release tags."""
+
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+
+import yaml
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+WORKFLOW = yaml.safe_load((ROOT / ".github/workflows/auto-release.yml").read_text())
+STEPS = WORKFLOW["jobs"]["auto-release"]["steps"]
+META = next(step for step in STEPS if step.get("id") == "meta")
+GATE = next(step for step in STEPS if step.get("id") == "gate")
+TAG = next(step for step in STEPS if step.get("name") == "Tag")
+ACTION = yaml.safe_load((ROOT / "actions/auto-release/action.yml").read_text())
+
+
+class ManualReleaseTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.temp = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
+        self.addCleanup(self.temp.cleanup)
+        self.repo = Path(self.temp.name)
+        self.git("init", "-q")
+        self.git("config", "user.name", "Release Test")
+        self.git("config", "user.email", "release-test@example.com")
+        (self.repo / "version.txt").write_text("1.2\n")
+        self.git("add", "version.txt")
+
+    def git(self, *args):
+        return subprocess.check_output(
+            ["git", *args], cwd=self.repo, text=True, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT
+        ).strip()
+
+    def commit(self, message):
+        self.git("-c", "commit.gpgsign=false", "commit", "-qm", message)
+        return self.git("rev-parse", "HEAD")
+
+    def run_script(self, script, **env):
+        output = self.repo / "output"
+        output.write_text("")
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            ["bash", "-e", "-o", "pipefail", "-c", script],
+            cwd=self.repo,
+            env={**os.environ, "GITHUB_OUTPUT": str(output), **env},
+            text=True,
+            capture_output=True,
+        )
+        values = dict(line.split("=", 1) for line in output.read_text().splitlines())
+        return result, values
+
+    def meta(self, sha):
+        return self.run_script(
+            META["run"], SHA=sha, WD=".",
+            IDJSON=json.dumps({"tag": {"prefix": "v"}, "version_file": "version.txt"}),
+        )
+
+    def test_workflow_wiring(self):
+        self.assertEqual(META["env"]["SHA"], "${{ github.sha }}")
+        self.assertEqual(GATE["with"]["after-sha"], "${{ github.sha }}")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            GATE["with"]["commit-message"], "${{ steps.meta.outputs.commit-subject }}"
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(TAG["if"], "steps.gate.outputs.should-release == 'true'")
+
+    def test_manual_release_and_dry_run(self):
+        sha = self.commit("feat: ship it\n\nBody must not enter the output file.")
+        result, meta = self.meta(sha)
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
+        self.assertEqual(meta["commit-subject"], "feat: ship it")
+        result, gate = self.run_script(
+            ACTION["runs"]["steps"][0]["run"],
+            ACTION_PATH=str(ROOT / "actions/auto-release"),
+            RELEASE_PATHS="**.go,go.mod,go.sum,version.txt", TOOL_PATHS="",
+            VERSION_FILE=meta["version-file"], TAG_PREFIX=meta["prefix"],
+            VERSION=meta["version"], RUN="9", BEFORE="", AFTER=sha,
+            COMMIT_MESSAGE=meta["commit-subject"],
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stdout + result.stderr)
+        self.assertEqual(gate, {"tag": "v1.2.9", "should-release": "true"})
+        result, _ = self.run_script(
+            TAG["run"], TAG=gate["tag"], DRY_RUN="true", TAG_TOKEN="",
+            REPO="example/test", SHA=sha,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
+        self.assertIn(f"dry-run: would create tag v1.2.9 at {sha}", result.stdout)
+        self.assertEqual(self.git("tag", "--list"), "")
+
+    def test_exact_sha_not_latest_head(self):
+        sha = self.commit("fix(scope)!: ship the selected commit")
+        self.git("-c", "commit.gpgsign=false", "commit", "--allow-empty", "-qm", "docs: newer HEAD")
+        result, meta = self.meta(sha)
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
+        self.assertEqual(meta["commit-subject"], "fix(scope)!: ship the selected commit")
+
+    def test_subjects_still_use_conventional_commit_gate(self):
+        for subject, expected in [("docs: update guide", 1), ("not conventional", 2)]:
+            with self.subTest(subject=subject):
+                self.git("add", "version.txt")
+                self.git("-c", "commit.gpgsign=false", "commit", "--allow-empty", "-qm", subject)
+                result, meta = self.meta(self.git("rev-parse", "HEAD"))
+                self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
+                result = subprocess.run(
+                    ["bash", str(ROOT / "actions/conventional-commit/check.sh"),
+                     "release-gate", meta["commit-subject"]], capture_output=True,
+                )
+                self.assertEqual(result.returncode, expected)
+
+    def test_shell_characters_remain_data(self):
+        subject = 'fix: preserve $(touch injected) `touch injected` "quotes"'
+        result, meta = self.meta(self.commit(subject))
+        self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
+        self.assertEqual(meta["commit-subject"], subject)
+        self.assertFalse((self.repo / "injected").exists())
+
+    def test_missing_sha_fails_without_subject_output(self):
+        self.commit("feat: initial")
+        result, meta = self.meta("0" * 40)
+        self.assertNotEqual(result.returncode, 0)
+        self.assertNotIn("commit-subject", meta)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()