diff --git a/scripts/release/families.spec.ts b/scripts/release/families.spec.ts
index c3ae3c8c2f..8d9fbbe3e8 100644
--- a/scripts/release/families.spec.ts
+++ b/scripts/release/families.spec.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,22 @@ describe('release families', () => {
     ])
   })
 
+  it.each(['0.0.2-alpha.1', '0.0.2-canary.1', '0.0.2-rc.1'])(
+    'accepts the explicit dsh prerelease version %s',
+    (version) => {
+      const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'dsh-release-prerelease-'))
+      roots.push(root)
+      write(join(root, 'package.json'), '{"version":"0.0.1"}\n')
+
+      const dsh = releaseFamily('dsh')
+      const published = member('packages/core/published', '@deepseek-ai/dsh-published')
+      const plan = planShared(dsh, root, [published], version)
+
+      expect(plan.version).toBe(version)
+      expect(plan.planned[1]?.tag).toBe(`dsh-v${version}`)
+    },
+  )
+
   it('names one tag for the whole dsh family and one per vendored package', () => {
     const dsh = releaseFamily('dsh')
     const vendor = releaseFamily('vendor')
@@ -81,6 +97,18 @@ describe('release families', () => {
     expect(vendor.tagFor({ ...cordis, version: '4.0.0-rc.7' })).toBe('vendor-cordis-v4.0.0-rc.7')
   })
 
+  it('assigns alpha and canary dist-tags only to dsh releases', () => {
+    const dsh = releaseFamily('dsh')
+    const vendor = releaseFamily('vendor')
+
+    expect(dsh.distTagForVersion('0.0.2-alpha.1')).toBe('alpha')
+    expect(dsh.distTagForVersion('0.0.2-canary.1')).toBe('canary')
+    expect(dsh.distTagForVersion('0.0.2-rc.1')).toBe('next')
+    expect(dsh.distTagForVersion('0.0.2')).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(vendor.distTagForVersion('4.0.1-alpha.1')).toBe('next')
+    expect(vendor.distTagForVersion('4.0.1-canary.1')).toBe('next')
+  })
+
   it('rejects a family whose members disagree on the shared version', () => {
     const dsh = releaseFamily('dsh')
     const members = [member('apps/cli', '@deepseek-ai/dsh'), { ...member('apps/web', '@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-frontend'), version: '0.0.2' }]
@@ -277,6 +305,12 @@ describe('vendored version baseline', () => {
 })
 
 describe('version precedence', () => {
+  it('orders alpha, canary, and release-candidate versions by semver precedence', () => {
+    expect(compareVersions('4.0.1-alpha.1', '4.0.1-canary.1')).toBeLessThan(0)
+    expect(compareVersions('4.0.1-canary.1', '4.0.1-rc.1')).toBeLessThan(0)
+    expect(compareVersions('4.0.1-rc.1', '4.0.1')).toBeLessThan(0)
+  })
+
   it('ranks a release above the prerelease it follows', () => {
     // git --sort=v:refname disagrees, placing 4.0.1-rc.1 above 4.0.1, which is
     // why the newest published version is chosen here rather than by git.
diff --git a/scripts/release/families.ts b/scripts/release/families.ts
index 7a73323244..6a888c9879 100644
--- a/scripts/release/families.ts
+++ b/scripts/release/families.ts
@@ -285,6 +285,15 @@ export abstract class ReleaseFamily {
    */
   abstract tagPrefixFor(member: ReleaseMember): string
 
+  /**
+   * The npm dist-tag assigned while publishing a version.
+   * @param version - package version from the packed manifest.
+   * @returns `next` for a prerelease, or undefined so npm uses `latest`.
+   */
+  distTagForVersion(version: string): string | undefined {
+    return version.includes('-') ? 'next' : undefined
+  }
+
   /**
    * The tag a member publishes from.
    * @param member - the member being published.
@@ -339,6 +348,14 @@ class DshFamily extends ReleaseFamily {
     return this.tagPrefix
   }
 
+  override distTagForVersion(version: string): string | undefined {
+    const separator = version.indexOf('-')
+    if (separator === -1) return undefined
+    const [channel] = version.slice(separator + 1).split('.')
+    if (channel === 'alpha' || channel === 'canary') return channel
+    return 'next'
+  }
+
   /**
    * Reject source and declaration-map members, the repository's publication policy.
    * @param member - the packed member.
diff --git a/scripts/release/publish.ts b/scripts/release/publish.ts
index 2590e96e52..36498b4392 100644
--- a/scripts/release/publish.ts
+++ b/scripts/release/publish.ts
@@ -93,10 +93,15 @@ function registryState(name: string, version: string): RegistryState {
  * @param tarball - absolute tarball path.
  * @param name - package name the tarball declares.
  * @param version - package version the tarball declares.
+ * @param distTag - explicit npm dist-tag, or undefined for npm's `latest` default.
  */
-async function publishTarball(tarball: string, name: string, version: string): Promise<void> {
-  // A prerelease version never takes the latest dist-tag.
-  const tagArgs = version.includes('-') ? ['--tag', 'next'] : []
+async function publishTarball(
+  tarball: string,
+  name: string,
+  version: string,
+  distTag: string | undefined,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const tagArgs = distTag === undefined ? [] : ['--tag', distTag]
   for (let tries = 1; tries <= PUBLISH_ATTEMPTS; tries += 1) {
     // No --access: the sequences do not share one access level, so a
     // command-line flag could not serve both and would override the manifest
@@ -164,7 +169,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     // Space out the writes: the gap belongs between publishes, so a run that
     // only skips does not wait at all.
     if (published > 0) await sleep(PUBLISH_SPACING_MS)
-    await publishTarball(tarball, name, version)
+    await publishTarball(tarball, name, version, family.distTagForVersion(version))
     console.log(`release publish: ${progress} ${name}@${version} published`)
     published += 1
   }