diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index e66681c305..9f8344aa03 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -164,7 +164,10 @@ produces `1.0.0-rc.1.2`. A minor or major change advances the candidate number:
 `1.0.0-rc.1.2` becomes `1.0.0-rc.2`. Packages already on stable 1.x versions,
 including `@tanstack/query-db-collection` and
 `@tanstack/offline-transactions`, continue to use normal semantic versioning
-and publish under npm's `latest` tag.
+and publish under npm's `latest` tag. Release candidates also publish under
+`latest`, per the maintainer's 2026-10-29 decision. Existing versions are not
+republished to move a tag: use `npm dist-tag add <package>@<version> latest`.
+This preserves any existing `rc` alias.
 
 ## Pull requests
 
diff --git a/docs/contributing/oracle-coverage.md b/docs/contributing/oracle-coverage.md
index afa469b5b0..a6616dd4df 100644
--- a/docs/contributing/oracle-coverage.md
+++ b/docs/contributing/oracle-coverage.md
@@ -1,5 +1,22 @@
 # Oracle coverage and closeout
 
+## RC npm tag policy, 2026-10-29
+
+The maintainer directed RC versions to npm's `latest` tag on 2026-10-29.
+`CONTRIBUTING.md` records this policy. The release-history model and command/HTTP
+receivers now expect `latest` for candidate and stable uploads. Exact-version
+membership still decides whether an upload is needed; an existing version is
+never republished to move a tag. Existing `rc` aliases are preserved by the
+separate `npm dist-tag add <package>@<version> latest` operation.
+
+Historical campaign records below retain the former `rc`-only authority and
+its P01 findings. They are not current tag-policy evidence. The existing
+histories, comparisons, reach declarations, and run budgets remain intact.
+The maintainer explicitly stopped local tests during this release. No RED,
+GREEN, or mutant campaign was run for this policy change; execution evidence
+is pending CI. The command/HTTP owners do not cover manual tag promotion,
+production npm credentials, or Actions authentication.
+
 ## RC scope partition, 2026-10-29
 
 The [deferred oracle record](oracle-reviews/2026-10-29-pr-2171-deferred-oracles.md)
diff --git a/scripts/publish-history-oracle.property.test.js b/scripts/publish-history-oracle.property.test.js
index 538ae0755d..db64af9731 100644
--- a/scripts/publish-history-oracle.property.test.js
+++ b/scripts/publish-history-oracle.property.test.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /**
- * Candidates must reach rc and stable versions must reach latest, independent
- * of registry history. CONTRIBUTING.md supplies this policy; stable minors are
- * the maintainer's deliberate policy. The shared model states the independent
+ * Candidates and stable versions must reach latest, independent of registry
+ * history (maintainer decision 2026-10-29, recorded in CONTRIBUTING.md).
+ * Stable minors are the maintainer's deliberate policy. The shared model states the independent
  * version/tag law. A registry ledger is controlled input, not a tag classifier.
  *
  * The receiver invokes production publishDuringRc with its default command.
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ test.each(['duplicate', 'omission', 'tag', 'version', 'registry', 'access'])(
   'release publish judgment rejects wrong %s observation',
   (fault) => {
     const expected = [
-      { name: packageNames.db, version: '1.0.0-rc.1.10', tag: 'rc' },
+      { name: packageNames.db, version: '1.0.0-rc.1.10', tag: 'latest' },
     ]
     const correct = [
       {
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ test.each(['duplicate', 'omission', 'tag', 'version', 'registry', 'access'])(
     else
       wrong[0][fault] =
         fault === 'tag'
-          ? 'latest'
+          ? 'rc'
           : fault === 'version'
             ? '1.0.0-rc.1.9'
             : fault === 'registry'
diff --git a/scripts/publish-http-oracle.property.test.js b/scripts/publish-http-oracle.property.test.js
index bf1569aefe..e4756a57ea 100644
--- a/scripts/publish-http-oracle.property.test.js
+++ b/scripts/publish-http-oracle.property.test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /**
- * Candidate releases reach rc; stable releases reach latest exactly once.
- * Authority: CONTRIBUTING.md Changesets/Releases and the accepted RC policy.
+ * Candidate and stable releases reach latest exactly once.
+ * Authority: CONTRIBUTING.md Changesets/Releases, maintainer decision 2026-10-29.
  * The existing release ledger supplies the independent version/tag judgment.
  * This receiver crosses the real npm11/pnpm11/Changesets HTTP boundary, with
  * the default production publish command and real package-manager archives.
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@
  * The bounded shared grammar retains the original metadata/failure histories
  * and varies exact-version presence independently of tags. Current candidates
  * can have only latest, no tags, or rc pointing to an older present version.
- * The exact wrong-tag aftermath keeps old rc alongside latest=current. A
- * separate stable-phase neighbor removes stable latest while versions remain.
+ * A historical old-policy wrong-tag aftermath keeps old rc alongside
+ * latest=current. A separate stable-phase neighbor removes stable latest
+ * while versions remain.
  * Missing targets also have a no-tags neighbor. Two different candidate
  * versions vary which package is already current and reverse their assignment.
  * A later-candidate fault follows an actual successful candidate upload, in
diff --git a/scripts/publish-packages.mjs b/scripts/publish-packages.mjs
index 80e8bc6af2..1eb1cf785d 100644
--- a/scripts/publish-packages.mjs
+++ b/scripts/publish-packages.mjs
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ async function publishWithHiddenPackages(
 /**
  * Publish stable versions first, then candidates, grouped by exact version.
  * npm reads that exact version even when dist-tags are missing or stale.
- * Explicit upload tags are independent of the metadata selector.
+ * Uploads use latest under the maintainer's RC policy (CONTRIBUTING.md),
+ * independently of the exact-version metadata selector. Existing versions
+ * are skipped; promoting their tags requires a separate npm dist-tag command.
  */
 export async function publishDuringRc(
   rootDirectory = root,
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ export async function publishDuringRc(
       publicPackages.filter(
         ({ packageJson }) => packageJson.version !== version,
       ),
-      { version, tag: stableVersion.test(version) ? 'latest' : 'rc' },
+      { version, tag: 'latest' },
       publishCommand,
     )
   }
diff --git a/scripts/publish-packages.test.mjs b/scripts/publish-packages.test.mjs
index a87713a1e3..adc9906d47 100644
--- a/scripts/publish-packages.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/publish-packages.test.mjs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ function packageState(root) {
   )
 }
 
-test('RC publishing gives candidate and stable packages their own npm tags', async (t) => {
+test('RC publishing uses latest while isolating candidate and stable versions', async (t) => {
   const root = createWorkspace()
   t.after(() => rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true }))
   const before = packageState(root)
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ test('RC publishing gives candidate and stable packages their own npm tags', asy
       publicNames: ['@tanstack/db'],
       preMode: false,
       version: '1.0.0-rc.2',
-      tag: 'rc',
+      tag: 'latest',
     },
   ])
   assert.deepEqual(packageState(root), before)
@@ -98,7 +98,8 @@ test('failed candidate publishing restores package manifests and prerelease stat
   await assert.rejects(
     publishDuringRc(root, (_, publication) => {
       phase++
-      if (publication.tag === 'rc') throw new Error('publish failed')
+      if (publication.version.startsWith('1.0.0-rc.'))
+        throw new Error('publish failed')
     }),
     /publish failed/,
   )
diff --git a/scripts/release-history-oracle.js b/scripts/release-history-oracle.js
index 154951dda7..837d0a9209 100644
--- a/scripts/release-history-oracle.js
+++ b/scripts/release-history-oracle.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
  * Release laws come from CONTRIBUTING.md's Changesets and Releases sections:
  * candidates start at 1.0.0-rc.1, patches extend the current candidate, and a
  * minor or major starts the next candidate. Stable packages use ordinary semver
- * and latest; candidates use rc. Versioning consumes each changeset once.
+ * and latest. Candidates also use latest (maintainer decision 2026-10-29,
+ * recorded in CONTRIBUTING.md). Versioning consumes each changeset once.
  * Exit promotes candidates to 1.0.0 and applies only still-pending work.
  *
  * This independent model uses numeric tuples and an authored changeset ledger.
@@ -318,11 +319,7 @@ export function expectedPublishes(manifests, registry) {
     .map((manifest) => ({
       name: manifest.name,
       version: manifest.version,
-      tag:
-        manifest.name === packageNames.db ||
-        manifest.name === packageNames.react
-          ? 'rc'
-          : 'latest',
+      tag: 'latest',
     }))
 }