diff --git a/RELEASE_SMOKE.md b/RELEASE_SMOKE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a397aaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASE_SMOKE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+# Release Smoke Checklist
+
+Repeatable verification before Chrome Web Store submission. Run after every release candidate build.
+
+## Quick start
+
+```bash
+npm run smoke
+```
+
+This runs all **automated** checks (build, test, lint, dist verification, metadata-only compliance) and prints the **manual** Chrome steps below.
+
+---
+
+## Automated checks
+
+| Step | Command | Pass criteria |
+|------|---------|---------------|
+| Type-check | `tsc --noEmit` | No TypeScript errors |
+| Lint | `eslint src/**/*.{js,ts}` | No lint errors |
+| Unit tests | `jest` | All tests pass (includes metadata-only compliance) |
+| Production build | `webpack --mode production` | `dist/` created without errors |
+| Dist artifacts | `scripts/release-smoke.sh` | manifest, background, popup, tracking, icons present |
+| MV3 manifest | smoke script | `manifest_version: 3`, required permissions |
+| Metadata-only | smoke script + `tests/metadata-only.test.ts` | No PDF bytes persisted to `chrome.storage` |
+
+---
+
+## Manual Chrome verification
+
+Requires Chrome desktop and Binect test credentials.
+
+### 1. Load unpacked extension
+
+1. Run `npm run build` (or `npm run smoke` which builds automatically).
+2. Open `chrome://extensions/`.
+3. Enable **Developer mode**.
+4. Click **Load unpacked** and select the `dist/` directory.
+5. Confirm BinectChrome appears with version from `public/manifest.json`.
+6. Accept any new permission prompts.
+
+**Pass:** Extension loads without service-worker registration errors. Click **service worker** — console shows `BinectChrome service worker loaded`.
+
+### 2. Trigger PDF detection
+
+**Recommended (viewer detection):**
+
+1. Open: `https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf`
+2. Click the BinectChrome toolbar icon.
+
+**Pass:** Popup shows `dummy.pdf`, source domain, and **Send PDF to Binect** button.
+
+**Optional (download detection):**
+
+1. Download: `https://www.africau.edu/images/default/sample.pdf`
+2. Check service worker console for `[PDF Detector] PDF detected!`
+3. Badge shows `1` (when service worker is awake).
+
+**Pass:** Popup finds the PDF (directly or via recent-downloads fallback).
+
+### 3. Verify Binect upload (metadata-only path)
+
+1. Sign in with Binect credentials in the popup.
+2. Click **Send PDF to Binect**.
+3. Wait for **Uploading…** → **Success!** with a document ID.
+
+**Pass:** Upload completes; popup shows document in basket (`in_basket` status).
+
+### 4. Confirm zero-retention storage
+
+1. Right-click popup → **Inspect** → **Application** → **Storage** → **Extension Storage**.
+2. Inspect stored keys:
+
+| Key | Expected content |
+|-----|------------------|
+| `documentProxies` | Filename, URL, size, hash, Binect status — **no PDF bytes** |
+| `credentials` | Encrypted username/password — **no PDF data** |
+| `transferTracking` | Timestamp, domain, size, result — **no PDF content** |
+
+**Pass:** No key contains base64 PDF content or raw byte arrays. Only metadata and encrypted credentials.
+
+### 5. Tracking page
+
+1. Click **?** in the popup footer.
+2. Confirm the transfer appears with timestamp, domain, size, and success/failure.
+
+**Pass:** Transfer logged locally; CSV export works.
+
+---
+
+## Failure triage
+
+| Symptom | Check |
+|---------|-------|
+| Service worker won't register | `dist/background.js` exists; reload extension |
+| PDF not detected | Try viewer URL first; check popup console |
+| Upload fails | Credentials, network, popup Network tab for `api.binect.de` |
+| Storage has PDF bytes | **Blocker** — violates zero-retention; do not ship |
+
+---
+
+## Related docs
+
+- `QUICK_TEST_GUIDE.md` — detailed debug steps
+- `DEVELOPMENT.md` — dev workflow and Chrome URLs
+- `SCOPE.md` — in-scope metadata-only proxy model
+- `dev-helper.sh verify` — quick dist check without full smoke
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dev-helper.sh b/dev-helper.sh
index ff68f0c..8b5728f 100755
--- a/dev-helper.sh
+++ b/dev-helper.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ usage() {
     echo "  open-chrome    - Open Chrome extension management"
     echo "  open-sw        - Open Chrome service worker internals"
     echo "  verify         - Verify dist build is valid"
+    echo "  smoke          - Full release smoke (build, test, lint, dist, metadata-only)"
     echo "  help           - Show this help"
     echo ""
     echo "Quick Test-Fix Loop:"
@@ -184,6 +185,9 @@ case "${1:-}" in
     verify)
         verify
         ;;
+    smoke)
+        bash "$(dirname "$0")/scripts/release-smoke.sh"
+        ;;
     help|--help|-h)
         usage
         ;;
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 52366dd..dbf02fa 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
     "test:watch": "jest --watch",
     "lint": "eslint src/**/*.{js,ts}",
     "lint:fix": "eslint src/**/*.{js,ts} --fix",
-    "type-check": "tsc --noEmit"
+    "type-check": "tsc --noEmit",
+    "smoke": "bash scripts/release-smoke.sh"
   },
   "keywords": [
     "chrome-extension",
diff --git a/scripts/release-smoke.sh b/scripts/release-smoke.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..0840e5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release-smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Release smoke path — automated pre-flight checks before Chrome manual verification.
+# Run: npm run smoke   or   ./scripts/release-smoke.sh
+#
+# Automates: install, type-check, lint, test, production build, dist verification,
+# and static metadata-only compliance checks.
+# Manual Chrome steps are printed at the end (see RELEASE_SMOKE.md).
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+DIST="$ROOT/dist"
+
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+BLUE='\033[0;34m'
+NC='\033[0m'
+
+step=0
+pass() { echo -e "${GREEN}✅ [$((++step))] $1${NC}"; }
+fail() { echo -e "${RED}❌ $1${NC}"; exit 1; }
+info() { echo -e "${BLUE}   $1${NC}"; }
+warn() { echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠️  $1${NC}"; }
+
+echo ""
+echo "BinectChrome — Release Smoke (automated)"
+echo "========================================"
+echo ""
+
+cd "$ROOT"
+
+# --- Prerequisites ---
+if ! command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  fail "Node.js is required"
+fi
+if ! command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  fail "npm is required"
+fi
+if [ ! -d "../binect-js" ]; then
+  fail "Sibling repo ../binect-js not found — required for @binect/js dependency"
+fi
+pass "Prerequisites (node, npm, binect-js)"
+
+# --- Dependencies ---
+if [ ! -d node_modules ] || [ ! -f node_modules/.bin/jest ]; then
+  info "Installing dependencies..."
+  npm install
+fi
+pass "Dependencies ready"
+
+# --- Static analysis ---
+info "Running type-check..."
+npm run type-check
+pass "Type-check"
+
+info "Running lint..."
+npm run lint
+pass "Lint"
+
+info "Running unit tests..."
+npm test
+pass "Unit tests (24+)"
+
+# --- Production build ---
+info "Building production dist/..."
+npm run build
+pass "Production build"
+
+# --- Dist verification ---
+REQUIRED=(
+  "$DIST/manifest.json"
+  "$DIST/background.js"
+  "$DIST/popup.html"
+  "$DIST/popup.js"
+  "$DIST/tracking.html"
+  "$DIST/tracking.js"
+  "$DIST/icons/icon-128.png"
+  "$DIST/_locales/en/messages.json"
+)
+for f in "${REQUIRED[@]}"; do
+  [ -f "$f" ] || fail "Missing dist artifact: $f"
+done
+
+MANIFEST="$DIST/manifest.json"
+grep -q '"manifest_version": 3' "$MANIFEST" || fail "manifest.json must be MV3"
+for perm in downloads storage alarms activeTab; do
+  grep -q "\"$perm\"" "$MANIFEST" || fail "manifest.json missing permission: $perm"
+done
+grep -q 'https://api.binect.de' "$MANIFEST" || fail "manifest.json missing Binect API host permission"
+
+VERSION=$(grep -o '"version": "[^"]*"' "$MANIFEST" | head -1 | cut -d'"' -f4)
+pass "Dist verification (v${VERSION})"
+
+# --- Metadata-only compliance (static) ---
+info "Checking metadata-only storage compliance..."
+
+# Proxies must not define PDF content fields
+if grep -qE 'pdfContent|pdfBytes|contentBase64|base64Content' "$ROOT/src/utils/pdf-queue.ts"; then
+  fail "pdf-queue.ts must not store PDF content fields"
+fi
+
+# No chrome.storage writes of PDF byte data in src/ (same-line check)
+STORAGE_OFFENDERS=$(rg -n 'chrome\.storage.*\.set' "$ROOT/src" \
+  | rg 'pdfBytes|pdfData|base64Content|pdfContent' || true)
+if [ -n "$STORAGE_OFFENDERS" ]; then
+  fail "Source persists PDF bytes to chrome.storage — violates zero-retention"
+fi
+
+# Upload path: bytes fetched in-memory only, not written to storage
+rg -q 'fetchPDFBytes' "$ROOT/src/popup/popup.ts" \
+  || fail "popup.ts must fetch PDF bytes at send time"
+rg -q 'uploadPDF' "$ROOT/src/popup/popup.ts" \
+  || fail "popup.ts must call uploadPDF for Binect dispatch"
+
+pass "Metadata-only compliance (no PDF persistence in storage)"
+
+# --- Summary ---
+echo ""
+echo -e "${GREEN}========================================${NC}"
+echo -e "${GREEN}Automated smoke checks: ALL PASSED${NC}"
+echo -e "${GREEN}========================================${NC}"
+echo ""
+echo "Dist ready at: $DIST"
+echo "  background.js  $(du -h "$DIST/background.js" | cut -f1)"
+echo "  popup.js       $(du -h "$DIST/popup.js" | cut -f1)"
+echo ""
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Manual Chrome verification (required before store submission):${NC}"
+echo ""
+echo "  1. Open chrome://extensions/ → Developer mode ON"
+echo "  2. Load unpacked → select: $DIST"
+echo "  3. Open test PDF:"
+echo "     https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf"
+echo "  4. Click extension icon → confirm PDF detected (filename, domain)"
+echo "  5. Sign in with Binect credentials → Send PDF to Binect"
+echo "  6. Confirm upload success and document ID in popup"
+echo "  7. Open popup DevTools → Application → Storage → Extension Storage"
+echo "     Verify keys are metadata-only (documentProxies, credentials, transferTracking)"
+echo "     — no PDF byte content stored"
+echo "  8. Open tracking page (?) → confirm transfer logged with size, not content"
+echo ""
+echo "Full checklist: RELEASE_SMOKE.md"
+echo ""
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/popup/popup.ts b/src/popup/popup.ts
index 85bb848..f6f176a 100644
--- a/src/popup/popup.ts
+++ b/src/popup/popup.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@
 
 import './popup.css';
 import { loadCredentials, saveCredentials, deleteCredentials, updateLastUse } from '../utils/storage';
-import { uploadPDF, testConnection, BinectAPIError, Document } from '../utils/binect-api';
+import { uploadPDF, testConnection, BinectAPIError } from '../utils/binect-api';
 import { fetchPDFBytes, DetectedPDF } from '../utils/pdf-detector';
 import { addTrackingEntry } from '../tracking/tracker';
-import { DocumentProxy, PDFQueueEntry, PDFStatus, PDFStatusMeta } from '../utils/pdf-queue';
+import { DocumentProxy, PDFStatus, PDFStatusMeta } from '../utils/pdf-queue';
 import { computeContentFingerprint } from '../utils/hash';
 
 // DOM Elements
diff --git a/tests/metadata-only.test.ts b/tests/metadata-only.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4224889
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/metadata-only.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * Release smoke — metadata-only compliance checks
+ *
+ * Verifies the extension never persists PDF content to chrome.storage.
+ * Run as part of `npm test` and `npm run smoke`.
+ */
+
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as path from 'path';
+
+const SRC = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src');
+
+const PDF_CONTENT_FIELD_PATTERN =
+  /\b(pdfContent|pdfBytes|contentBase64|base64Content|pdfData)\b/;
+
+function readSourceFiles(dir: string): string[] {
+  const files: string[] = [];
+  for (const entry of fs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true })) {
+    const full = path.join(dir, entry.name);
+    if (entry.isDirectory()) {
+      files.push(...readSourceFiles(full));
+    } else if (entry.name.endsWith('.ts')) {
+      files.push(full);
+    }
+  }
+  return files;
+}
+
+describe('metadata-only storage compliance', () => {
+  test('DocumentProxy queue does not define PDF content fields', () => {
+    const queueSource = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(SRC, 'utils', 'pdf-queue.ts'),
+      'utf-8'
+    );
+    expect(queueSource).not.toMatch(PDF_CONTENT_FIELD_PATTERN);
+    expect(queueSource).toContain('contentHash');
+    expect(queueSource).not.toContain('pdfContent');
+  });
+
+  test('DetectedPDF interface is metadata-only', () => {
+    const detectorSource = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(SRC, 'utils', 'pdf-detector.ts'),
+      'utf-8'
+    );
+    const interfaceMatch = detectorSource.match(
+      /export interface DetectedPDF \{([^}]+)\}/
+    );
+    expect(interfaceMatch).not.toBeNull();
+    const fields = interfaceMatch![1];
+    expect(fields).toMatch(/filename/);
+    expect(fields).toMatch(/url/);
+    expect(fields).toMatch(/size/);
+    expect(fields).not.toMatch(PDF_CONTENT_FIELD_PATTERN);
+  });
+
+  test('no source file persists PDF bytes via chrome.storage', () => {
+    const offenders: string[] = [];
+    for (const file of readSourceFiles(SRC)) {
+      const content = fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf-8');
+      if (!content.includes('chrome.storage')) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      const lines = content.split('\n');
+      for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+        const line = lines[i];
+        if (
+          line.includes('chrome.storage') &&
+          line.includes('.set') &&
+          PDF_CONTENT_FIELD_PATTERN.test(line)
+        ) {
+          offenders.push(`${path.relative(SRC, file)}:${i + 1}`);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    expect(offenders).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  test('upload path fetches bytes in-memory and delegates to Binect API', () => {
+    const popupSource = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(SRC, 'popup', 'popup.ts'),
+      'utf-8'
+    );
+    expect(popupSource).toMatch(/fetchPDFBytes/);
+    expect(popupSource).toMatch(/uploadPDF/);
+    expect(popupSource).toMatch(/computeContentFingerprint/);
+  });
+
+  test('manifest declares required MV3 permissions', () => {
+    const manifest = JSON.parse(
+      fs.readFileSync(
+        path.join(__dirname, '..', 'public', 'manifest.json'),
+        'utf-8'
+      )
+    );
+    expect(manifest.manifest_version).toBe(3);
+    for (const perm of ['downloads', 'storage', 'alarms', 'activeTab']) {
+      expect(manifest.permissions).toContain(perm);
+    }
+    expect(manifest.host_permissions).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(['https://api.binect.de/*'])
+    );
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/workplans/BINECT-CHROME-WP-0002-release-smoke-path.md b/workplans/BINECT-CHROME-WP-0002-release-smoke-path.md
index ac733c6..79e261f 100644
--- a/workplans/BINECT-CHROME-WP-0002-release-smoke-path.md
+++ b/workplans/BINECT-CHROME-WP-0002-release-smoke-path.md
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ type: workplan
 title: "Extension release smoke path"
 domain: communication
 repo: binect-chrome
-status: ready
+status: finished
 owner: codex
 topic_slug: communication
 created: "2026-06-22"
-updated: "2026-06-22"
+updated: "2026-06-24"
 state_hub_workstream_id: "085de6b3-4627-4678-a1ce-e03e4cbab445"
 ---
 
@@ -20,9 +20,11 @@ Establish repeatable build, load-unpacked, and PDF-send smoke verification befor
 
 ```task
 id: BINECT-CHROME-WP-0002-T01
-status: todo
+status: done
 priority: high
 state_hub_task_id: "436e1136-a94e-454e-b8ca-e1e2817e9796"
 ```
 
+Result 2026-06-24: Added `npm run smoke`, `scripts/release-smoke.sh`, `RELEASE_SMOKE.md`, and `tests/metadata-only.test.ts`. Automated checks cover build, test, lint, dist verification, and metadata-only compliance; manual Chrome checklist documents load-unpacked, PDF detection, and upload verification.
+
 Document and automate smoke steps: build, load `dist/`, trigger PDF detection, verify Binect upload metadata-only path.