diff --git a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
index 23d0da60..09e23fbd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ concurrency:
   group: desktop-release-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
+# A manual run is a release rehearsal: both platforms build and go through the
+# same signing gates a tag does, with nothing published and the installers
+# attached to the run instead. Only the release-repo steps stay tag-gated, so a
+# credential that has expired or a configuration Electron Builder no longer
+# accepts surfaces on demand rather than on the tag that needed it.
 jobs:
   # Create one draft before either platform uploads. It stays private until both
   # jobs and the final downloaded-asset validation succeed.
@@ -179,11 +184,11 @@ jobs:
             echo 'No macOS signing certificate configured; building unsigned.'
           fi
 
-      # A tag build that quietly produces an unsigned app is worse than a failed
+      # A build that quietly produces an unsigned app is worse than a failed
       # one: macOS rejects unsigned updates, so it ships a release users cannot
-      # install or update from. Manual runs stay free to build unsigned.
-      - name: Require signing for tagged releases
-        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/desktop-v')
+      # install or update from. Manual runs are held to the same bar, which is
+      # what makes them a rehearsal rather than a smoke test.
+      - name: Require signing
         working-directory: apps/desktop
         run: node --import tsx scripts/assert-release-signing.ts
 
@@ -206,7 +211,6 @@ jobs:
           node --import tsx apps/desktop/scripts/verify-update-manifest.ts mac apps/desktop/dist "$DESKTOP_VERSION"
 
       - name: Verify macOS signatures and notarization
-        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/desktop-v')
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
@@ -313,9 +317,9 @@ jobs:
         working-directory: apps/desktop
         run: node --import tsx scripts/stage-runtime.ts
 
-      # Only non-empty WIN_CSC_* signing secrets are exported. Without them,
-      # Windows artifacts are unsigned and installers trigger a SmartScreen
-      # warning on first run.
+      # Only non-empty WIN_CSC_* signing secrets are exported. Without them the
+      # artifacts are unsigned and installers trigger a SmartScreen warning, so
+      # the credential check below fails the run rather than shipping one.
       - name: Resolve Windows signing credentials
         shell: bash
         env:
@@ -347,8 +351,7 @@ jobs:
             if [ -n "$value" ]; then printf '%s<<%s\n%s\n%s\n' "$name" "$delimiter" "$value" "$delimiter" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"; fi
           done
 
-      - name: Require signing for tagged Windows releases
-        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/desktop-v')
+      - name: Require signing
         working-directory: apps/desktop
         run: node --import tsx scripts/assert-windows-release-signing.ts
 
@@ -366,7 +369,6 @@ jobs:
           node --import tsx apps/desktop/scripts/verify-update-manifest.ts win apps/desktop/dist "$DESKTOP_VERSION"
 
       - name: Verify Windows release signatures
-        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/desktop-v')
         working-directory: apps/desktop
         run: node --import tsx scripts/verify-windows-signatures.ts
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts
index 9f335ea7..043df82f 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/tests/desktop-release-workflow.spec.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,28 @@ describe('desktop release workflow', () => {
     expect(workflow).toContain("if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/desktop-v')\n        shell: bash\n        env:\n          GH_TOKEN:")
   })
 
+  it('runs every signing gate on a manual rehearsal, not only on a tag', () => {
+    // A manual run is the only chance to prove the signing path before the tag
+    // that depends on it. Gating these behind the tag would make a rehearsal
+    // pass while the credentials it was meant to exercise were already broken.
+    const rehearsed = [
+      'scripts/assert-release-signing.ts',
+      'scripts/assert-windows-release-signing.ts',
+      'scripts/verify-windows-signatures.ts',
+      'xcrun stapler validate',
+    ]
+    for (const step of rehearsed) {
+      const stepIndex = workflow.indexOf(step)
+      expect(stepIndex).toBeGreaterThan(-1)
+      const precedingStep = workflow.lastIndexOf('      - name:', stepIndex)
+      // Any condition at all, not just a tag test, would skip one trigger:
+      // `github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'` reintroduces the same hole
+      // from the other side. These steps must be unconditional.
+      const declaration = workflow.slice(precedingStep, stepIndex)
+      expect(declaration).not.toMatch(/^\s+if:/mu)
+    }
+  })
+
   it('downloads and revalidates uploaded assets before publishing', () => {
     expect(workflow).toContain('gh release download "$RELEASE_TAG"')
     expect(workflow).toContain('scripts/verify-update-manifest.ts mac release-assets')