diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
index a217d6f..2b3f184 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 # Publish on GitHub release using npm Trusted Publishing (OIDC).
 # Docs: https://docs.npmjs.com/trusted-publishers
 #
+# Versioning: npm rejects republishing the same version. Before publish, CI sets
+# the package version from the GitHub release tag (v1.5.0 → 1.5.0). If that
+# version is already on the registry, the patch number is incremented until it
+# is unpublished. Bump major/minor by tagging the release (for example v1.6.0).
+#
 # Required on npmjs.com → @veryfi/veryfi-sdk → Settings → Trusted Publisher:
 #   Organization or user: veryfi
 #   Repository:           veryfi-nodejs
@@ -28,12 +33,25 @@ jobs:
           node-version: "24"
           package-manager-cache: false
       - run: npm ci
+      - name: Set unpublished package version
+        env:
+          RELEASE_TAG: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+        run: node scripts/set-publish-version.js
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: package-version
+          path: |
+            package.json
+            package-lock.json
 
   publish-npm:
     needs: build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: package-version
       # Intentionally omit registry-url. setup-node writes an empty
       # _authToken placeholder that blocks the OIDC exchange (E404).
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
@@ -121,6 +139,9 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: package-version
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
         with:
           node-version: "24"
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index a39cf43..62a067f 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@veryfi/veryfi-sdk",
-  "version": "1.4.8",
+  "version": "1.5.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@veryfi/veryfi-sdk",
-      "version": "1.4.8",
+      "version": "1.5.0",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@jest/globals": "^30.4.1",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a8ccc44..6d40608 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@veryfi/veryfi-sdk",
-  "version": "1.4.8",
+  "version": "1.5.0",
   "description": "Node.js module for communicating with the Veryfi OCR API",
   "main": "lib/client/client.js",
   "typings": "lib/types/Client.ts",
diff --git a/scripts/next-publish-version.js b/scripts/next-publish-version.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42cc2f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/next-publish-version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/**
+ * Resolve an unpublished npm version for CI releases.
+ *
+ * Preference order:
+ * 1. GitHub release tag (v1.5.0 → 1.5.0) when it is valid semver
+ * 2. package.json version
+ *
+ * If that version is already on the registry, bump the patch until it is free.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @param {string|undefined|null} value
+ * @returns {{major: number, minor: number, patch: number}|null}
+ */
+function parseSemver(value) {
+    if (!value || typeof value !== "string") {
+        return null;
+    }
+    const match = value.trim().replace(/^v/i, "").match(/^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)$/);
+    if (!match) {
+        return null;
+    }
+    return {
+        major: Number(match[1]),
+        minor: Number(match[2]),
+        patch: Number(match[3]),
+    };
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {{major: number, minor: number, patch: number}} version
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+function formatSemver(version) {
+    return `${version.major}.${version.minor}.${version.patch}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {{major: number, minor: number, patch: number}} version
+ * @returns {{major: number, minor: number, patch: number}}
+ */
+function incrementPatch(version) {
+    return {
+        major: version.major,
+        minor: version.minor,
+        patch: version.patch + 1,
+    };
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} packageVersion
+ * @param {string|undefined|null} releaseTag
+ * @param {string[]|string|undefined|null} publishedVersions
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+function resolvePublishVersion(packageVersion, releaseTag, publishedVersions) {
+    const fromPackage = parseSemver(packageVersion);
+    if (!fromPackage) {
+        throw new Error(`Invalid package.json version: ${packageVersion}`);
+    }
+
+    const candidate = parseSemver(releaseTag) || fromPackage;
+    const publishedList = Array.isArray(publishedVersions)
+        ? publishedVersions
+        : publishedVersions
+            ? [publishedVersions]
+            : [];
+    const published = new Set(
+        publishedList
+            .map((version) => parseSemver(version))
+            .filter(Boolean)
+            .map((version) => formatSemver(version))
+    );
+
+    let next = candidate;
+    while (published.has(formatSemver(next))) {
+        next = incrementPatch(next);
+    }
+    return formatSemver(next);
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    parseSemver,
+    formatSemver,
+    incrementPatch,
+    resolvePublishVersion,
+};
diff --git a/scripts/set-publish-version.js b/scripts/set-publish-version.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5598a0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/set-publish-version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Set package.json (and package-lock.json) to an unpublished version before npm publish.
+ *
+ * Reads RELEASE_TAG or GITHUB_REF_NAME for the GitHub release tag.
+ * Queries the npm registry for already-published versions of this package.
+ */
+const {execFileSync} = require("child_process");
+const path = require("path");
+const {resolvePublishVersion} = require("./next-publish-version");
+
+function readPublishedVersions(packageName) {
+    try {
+        const output = execFileSync(
+            "npm",
+            ["view", packageName, "versions", "--json"],
+            {encoding: "utf8", stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"]}
+        );
+        const parsed = JSON.parse(output);
+        if (Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+            return parsed;
+        }
+        if (typeof parsed === "string") {
+            return [parsed];
+        }
+        return [];
+    } catch (error) {
+        const stderr = error.stderr ? String(error.stderr) : String(error.message || error);
+        if (/E404|404 Not Found|code E404/i.test(stderr)) {
+            return [];
+        }
+        console.warn("Could not read published versions from npm; treating as none.");
+        console.warn(stderr.trim());
+        return [];
+    }
+}
+
+function main() {
+    const packageJsonPath = path.join(__dirname, "..", "package.json");
+    const pkg = require(packageJsonPath);
+    const releaseTag = process.env.RELEASE_TAG || process.env.GITHUB_REF_NAME || "";
+    const published = readPublishedVersions(pkg.name);
+    const nextVersion = resolvePublishVersion(pkg.version, releaseTag, published);
+
+    console.log(`package.json version: ${pkg.version}`);
+    console.log(`release tag: ${releaseTag || "(none)"}`);
+    console.log(`latest published: ${published[published.length - 1] || "(none)"}`);
+    console.log(`publish version: ${nextVersion}`);
+
+    if (nextVersion === pkg.version) {
+        console.log("package.json already matches an unpublished version");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    execFileSync("npm", ["version", nextVersion, "--no-git-tag-version", "--allow-same-version"], {
+        stdio: "inherit",
+        cwd: path.join(__dirname, ".."),
+    });
+}
+
+if (require.main === module) {
+    main();
+}
+
+module.exports = {readPublishedVersions, main};
diff --git a/test/next-publish-version.test.js b/test/next-publish-version.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9a8552
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/next-publish-version.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+const {describe, expect, test} = require("@jest/globals");
+const {parseSemver, resolvePublishVersion} = require("../scripts/next-publish-version");
+
+describe("parseSemver", () => {
+    test("accepts v-prefixed release tags", () => {
+        expect(parseSemver("v1.5.0")).toEqual({major: 1, minor: 5, patch: 0});
+    });
+
+    test("rejects extra numeric segments used on some git tags", () => {
+        expect(parseSemver("v1.4.8.1")).toBeNull();
+    });
+});
+
+describe("resolvePublishVersion", () => {
+    const published = ["1.4.6", "1.4.8"];
+
+    test("uses an unpublished GitHub release tag instead of package.json", () => {
+        expect(resolvePublishVersion("1.4.8", "v1.5.0", published)).toBe("1.5.0");
+    });
+
+    test("autoincrements patch when the release tag is already published", () => {
+        expect(resolvePublishVersion("1.4.8", "v1.4.8", published)).toBe("1.4.9");
+    });
+
+    test("falls back to package.json when the tag is not valid semver", () => {
+        expect(resolvePublishVersion("1.4.8", "v1.4.8.1", published)).toBe("1.4.9");
+    });
+
+    test("keeps walking patch until the version is unpublished", () => {
+        expect(resolvePublishVersion("1.4.8", "v1.4.8", ["1.4.8", "1.4.9"])).toBe("1.4.10");
+    });
+
+    test("uses package.json when it is already unpublished and no tag is set", () => {
+        expect(resolvePublishVersion("1.5.0", "", published)).toBe("1.5.0");
+    });
+
+    test("accepts a single published version string from npm view", () => {
+        expect(resolvePublishVersion("1.0.0", "v1.0.0", "1.0.0")).toBe("1.0.1");
+    });
+});