diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 98f1c0d..11849ab 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,6 +26,28 @@ fmt.Println(clone.Head(ctx, dst))
 
 Pass `true` as the final argument for a full clone, including when an existing shallow checkout needs to be unshallowed. Clone and fetch errors are returned as `*clone.UnreachableError`, except when the context was canceled or reached its deadline. `errors.As` retrieves the URL and underlying Git error. `ValidateURL` accepts `https://` URLs, while `ValidateRef` rejects leading hyphens, `..`, and characters outside letters, digits, `.`, `_`, `/`, and `-`.
 
+## Temporarily check out an exact tag
+
+`CheckoutTag` resolves only a local tag with the given exact name, peels an
+annotated tag to its commit, and checks it out with detached HEAD. The returned
+function restores the previous commit and reattaches its branch if that branch
+has not moved. Both operations discard tracked changes.
+
+```go
+restore, err := clone.CheckoutTag(ctx, dst, "v1.2.3")
+if err != nil {
+    log.Fatal(err)
+}
+defer func() {
+    if err := restore(context.Background()); err != nil {
+        log.Printf("restore checkout: %v", err)
+    }
+}()
+```
+
+Use `errors.Is(err, clone.ErrTagNotFound)` to distinguish an absent tag from
+an invalid tag or another local repository error. `CheckoutTag` does not fetch.
+
 ## Persistent cache
 
 `Cache` stores one checkout per URL under `Root`. `Prepare` holds a per-URL lock while updating the shallow checkout, then replaces `dst` with a copy and returns its commit. The destination must be outside `Root`.
diff --git a/checkout.go b/checkout.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..323b89e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/checkout.go
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+package clone
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ErrTagNotFound reports that an exact local tag does not exist.
+var ErrTagNotFound = errors.New("tag not found")
+
+// CheckoutTag force-checks out the commit named by an exact local tag in
+// detached-HEAD state. It returns a function that force-restores the previous
+// HEAD commit and reattaches its branch when that branch has not moved.
+//
+// CheckoutTag does not fetch. It discards tracked working-tree and index
+// changes both when checking out the tag and when restoring the previous HEAD.
+// The caller supplies the restoration context so cleanup can continue with a
+// fresh context after the original operation is cancelled.
+func CheckoutTag(ctx context.Context, dir, tag string) (restore func(context.Context) error, err error) {
+	tagRef := "refs/tags/" + tag
+	if _, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil, "check-ref-format", tagRef); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid tag %q: %w", tag, err)
+	}
+
+	previous, err := headCommit(ctx, dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	branch, err := headBranch(ctx, dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	commit, err := tagCommit(ctx, dir, tag, tagRef)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if err := checkoutCommit(ctx, dir, commit); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("checkout tag %q: %w", tag, err)
+	}
+
+	return func(restoreCtx context.Context) error {
+		if err := checkoutCommit(restoreCtx, dir, previous); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("restore HEAD %s: %w", previous, err)
+		}
+		if branch == "" {
+			return nil
+		}
+		current, err := exactRefCommit(restoreCtx, dir, branch)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("restore branch %q: %w", branch, err)
+		}
+		if current != previous {
+			return fmt.Errorf("restore branch %q: moved from %s to %s", branch, previous, current)
+		}
+		if _, err := Run(restoreCtx, dir, nil, "symbolic-ref", "HEAD", branch); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("restore branch %q: %w", branch, err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func headCommit(ctx context.Context, dir string) (string, error) {
+	out, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil, "rev-parse", "--verify", "HEAD")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve HEAD: %w", err)
+	}
+	commit := strings.TrimSpace(out)
+	if !ValidCommit(commit) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve HEAD: invalid commit %q", commit)
+	}
+	return commit, nil
+}
+
+func headBranch(ctx context.Context, dir string) (string, error) {
+	out, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil, "symbolic-ref", "--quiet", "HEAD")
+	if err == nil {
+		return strings.TrimSpace(out), nil
+	}
+	if gitExitCode(err) == 1 {
+		return "", nil
+	}
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve HEAD branch: %w", err)
+}
+
+func tagCommit(ctx context.Context, dir, tag, tagRef string) (string, error) {
+	out, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil, "show-ref", "--tags", "--", tagRef)
+	if err != nil {
+		if gitExitCode(err) == 1 {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", ErrTagNotFound, tag)
+		}
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve tag %q: %w", tag, err)
+	}
+	object, ok := exactShowRefObject(out, tagRef)
+	if !ok {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", ErrTagNotFound, tag)
+	}
+	if !ValidCommit(object) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve tag %q: invalid object %q", tag, object)
+	}
+
+	peeled, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil, "rev-parse", "--verify", object+"^{commit}")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve tag %q commit: %w", tag, err)
+	}
+	commit := strings.TrimSpace(peeled)
+	if !ValidCommit(commit) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve tag %q commit: invalid commit %q", tag, commit)
+	}
+	return commit, nil
+}
+
+func exactShowRefObject(out, ref string) (string, bool) {
+	for line := range strings.SplitSeq(out, "\n") {
+		object, foundRef, ok := strings.Cut(line, " ")
+		if ok && foundRef == ref {
+			return object, true
+		}
+	}
+	return "", false
+}
+
+func exactRefCommit(ctx context.Context, dir, ref string) (string, error) {
+	out, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil, "show-ref", "--verify", "--hash", ref)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	commit := strings.TrimSpace(out)
+	if !ValidCommit(commit) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid commit %q", commit)
+	}
+	return commit, nil
+}
+
+func checkoutCommit(ctx context.Context, dir, commit string) error {
+	if !ValidCommit(commit) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid commit %q", commit)
+	}
+	_, err := Run(ctx, dir, nil,
+		"-c", "advice.detachedHead=false", "checkout", "--force", "--detach", commit)
+	return err
+}
+
+func gitExitCode(err error) int {
+	var exitErr *exec.ExitError
+	if errors.As(err, &exitErr) {
+		return exitErr.ExitCode()
+	}
+	return -1
+}
diff --git a/checkout_test.go b/checkout_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd71c24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/checkout_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+package clone
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+type checkoutFixture struct {
+	dir      string
+	firstSHA string
+	headSHA  string
+}
+
+func newCheckoutFixture(t *testing.T) checkoutFixture {
+	t.Helper()
+	requireGit(t)
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "init", "--quiet", "-b", "main")
+	marker := filepath.Join(dir, "version.txt")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(marker, []byte("first\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "add", "version.txt")
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "commit", "--quiet", "-m", "first")
+	firstSHA := runGitTest(t, dir, "rev-parse", "HEAD")
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "tag", "v1", firstSHA)
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "tag", "-a", "v1-annotated", "-m", "v1-annotated", firstSHA)
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "tag", "v1.0.0+build", firstSHA)
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(marker, []byte("head\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "commit", "--quiet", "-am", "head")
+	headSHA := runGitTest(t, dir, "rev-parse", "HEAD")
+	runGitTest(t, dir, "branch", "v1", headSHA)
+
+	return checkoutFixture{dir: dir, firstSHA: firstSHA, headSHA: headSHA}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagChecksOutExactTagAndRestoresBranch(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "v1")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := Head(context.Background(), fixture.dir); got != fixture.firstSHA {
+		t.Fatalf("tag HEAD = %q, want %q", got, fixture.firstSHA)
+	}
+	if _, err := Run(context.Background(), fixture.dir, nil, "symbolic-ref", "--quiet", "HEAD"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("tag checkout left HEAD attached")
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(fixture.dir, "version.txt"), []byte("dirty\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if err := restore(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := Head(context.Background(), fixture.dir); got != fixture.headSHA {
+		t.Errorf("restored HEAD = %q, want %q", got, fixture.headSHA)
+	}
+	branch, err := Run(context.Background(), fixture.dir, nil, "symbolic-ref", "--quiet", "HEAD")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := strings.TrimSpace(branch); got != "refs/heads/main" {
+		t.Errorf("restored branch = %q, want refs/heads/main", got)
+	}
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(fixture.dir, "version.txt"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := string(content); got != "head\n" {
+		t.Errorf("restored content = %q, want %q", got, "head\n")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagPeelsAnnotatedTag(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "v1-annotated")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if err := restore(context.Background()); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("restore: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+	if got := Head(context.Background(), fixture.dir); got != fixture.firstSHA {
+		t.Errorf("tag HEAD = %q, want %q", got, fixture.firstSHA)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagAcceptsGitValidTagOutsideValidateRefPolicy(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "v1.0.0+build")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := restore(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagRestoresDetachedHead(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	runGitTest(t, fixture.dir, "checkout", "--quiet", "--detach", fixture.headSHA)
+	restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "v1")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := restore(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := Head(context.Background(), fixture.dir); got != fixture.headSHA {
+		t.Errorf("restored HEAD = %q, want %q", got, fixture.headSHA)
+	}
+	if _, err := Run(context.Background(), fixture.dir, nil, "symbolic-ref", "--quiet", "HEAD"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("restore attached a previously detached HEAD")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagRestoreRefusesMovedBranch(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "v1")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	runGitTest(t, fixture.dir, "update-ref", "refs/heads/main", fixture.firstSHA)
+	if err := restore(context.Background()); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "moved") {
+		t.Fatalf("restore error = %v, want moved-branch error", err)
+	}
+	if got := Head(context.Background(), fixture.dir); got != fixture.headSHA {
+		t.Errorf("HEAD after refused branch attachment = %q, want %q", got, fixture.headSHA)
+	}
+	if _, err := Run(context.Background(), fixture.dir, nil, "symbolic-ref", "--quiet", "HEAD"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("restore attached HEAD to a moved branch")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagRejectsMissingAndRevisionLikeTagsWithoutMovingHead(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	runGitTest(t, fixture.dir, "tag", "nested/refs/tags/suffix-only", fixture.firstSHA)
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		tag      string
+		notFound bool
+	}{
+		{tag: "missing", notFound: true},
+		{tag: "suffix-only", notFound: true},
+		{tag: "--ignore-skip-worktree-bits", notFound: true},
+		{tag: "v1~1"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(test.tag, func(t *testing.T) {
+			restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, test.tag)
+			if err == nil || restore != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("CheckoutTag(%q) restore set = %t, error = %v; want nil restore and error", test.tag, restore != nil, err)
+			}
+			if errors.Is(err, ErrTagNotFound) != test.notFound {
+				t.Errorf("error = %v, ErrTagNotFound = %t", err, test.notFound)
+			}
+			if got := Head(context.Background(), fixture.dir); got != fixture.headSHA {
+				t.Errorf("HEAD after rejected tag = %q, want %q", got, fixture.headSHA)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagHonorsContexts(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	cancelled, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	cancel()
+	if _, err := CheckoutTag(cancelled, fixture.dir, "v1"); !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+		t.Fatalf("checkout error = %v, want context.Canceled", err)
+	}
+
+	restore, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "v1")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := restore(cancelled); !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+		t.Errorf("restore error = %v, want context.Canceled", err)
+	}
+	if err := restore(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("cleanup restore: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckoutTagRejectsNonCommitTag(t *testing.T) {
+	fixture := newCheckoutFixture(t)
+	blob := runGitTest(t, fixture.dir, "hash-object", "-w", "version.txt")
+	runGitTest(t, fixture.dir, "tag", "blob", blob)
+	if _, err := CheckoutTag(context.Background(), fixture.dir, "blob"); err == nil || errors.Is(err, ErrTagNotFound) {
+		t.Fatalf("error = %v, want non-commit tag error", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/doc.go b/doc.go
index d449156..c1f7086 100644
--- a/doc.go
+++ b/doc.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Package clone keeps local checkouts of HTTPS Git repositories. It provides
-// shallow clone-or-fetch, bounded retries for network failures, a persistent
-// cache, and capped reads and content classification for files from commits.
-// Blob reads use go-git in process. Clone, fetch, remote queries, and command
-// retries shell out to the git binary, which must be on PATH.
+// shallow clone-or-fetch, exact temporary tag checkouts, bounded retries for
+// network failures, a persistent cache, and capped reads and content
+// classification for files from commits. Blob reads use go-git in process.
+// Clone, fetch, checkout, remote queries, and command retries shell out to the
+// git binary, which must be on PATH.
 package clone