diff --git a/.github/scripts/test_ethos_full_candidate.py b/.github/scripts/test_ethos_full_candidate.py
index 8d688d7..28afde4 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/test_ethos_full_candidate.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/test_ethos_full_candidate.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def setUp(self) -> None:
         self.temp = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
         self.work = Path(self.temp.name)
         self.binary = self.work / "ethos-bin"
-        self.binary.write_bytes(b"fixture ethos binary\n")
+        self.binary.write_bytes(b"#!/bin/sh\nprintf '%s\\n' \"$ETHOS_PDFIUM_LIBRARY_PATH\"\n")
         self.binary.chmod(0o755)
         self.runtime = b"fixture pdfium runtime\n"
         self.pdfium_archive = self.work / "pdfium.tgz"
@@ -155,6 +155,24 @@ def test_double_run_is_byte_identical_and_complete(self) -> None:
             self.assertEqual(sha256(self.binary.read_bytes()), manifest["input_sha256"]["ethos_binary"])
             self.assertEqual(sha256(self.pdfium_archive.read_bytes()), manifest["input_sha256"]["pdfium_archive"])
             self.assertIn('ETHOS_PDFIUM_LIBRARY_PATH="$root/lib/libpdfium.dylib"', launcher)
+            self.assertIn('while [ -L "$source" ]; do', launcher)
+            self.assertIn('source=$(readlink "$source")', launcher)
+            self.assertIn('hops=$((hops + 1))', launcher)
+
+    def test_launcher_resolves_external_symlink_to_archive_runtime(self) -> None:
+        output_dir = self.work / "output"
+        subprocess.run(self.command(output_dir), cwd=ROOT, check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
+        archive_path = output_dir / "ethos-full-test-macos-arm64.tar.gz"
+        extracted = self.work / "extracted"
+        with tarfile.open(archive_path, "r:gz") as archive:
+            archive.extractall(extracted)
+        root = extracted / "ethos-full-test-macos-arm64"
+        link_dir = self.work / "bin"
+        link_dir.mkdir()
+        link = link_dir / "ethos"
+        link.symlink_to(root / "ethos")
+        result = subprocess.run([str(link)], check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
+        self.assertEqual(str((root / "lib/libpdfium.dylib").resolve()), result.stdout.strip())
 
     def test_hash_mismatch_fails_closed(self) -> None:
         self.write_pdfium_archive(b"wrong runtime\n", include_pdfium_notice=True)
diff --git a/.github/scripts/test_v0_5_0_version_activation.py b/.github/scripts/test_v0_5_0_version_activation.py
index 1e5f7ad..12bed44 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/test_v0_5_0_version_activation.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/test_v0_5_0_version_activation.py
@@ -44,17 +44,25 @@ def test_draft_artifact_workflows_derive_the_activated_version(self) -> None:
     def test_public_install_wording_is_not_advanced_to_the_candidate(self) -> None:
         claims = read("docs/public-boundary-claims.json")
         readme = read("README.md")
-        self.assertNotIn("0.5.0", readme)
+        active_readme = readme.split("### 60-second `ethos-full` install", 1)[0]
+        self.assertNotIn("0.5.0", active_readme)
         self.assertNotIn("0.5.0", claims)
 
     def test_npm_payload_remains_on_published_release_until_refreshed_from_core_a(self) -> None:
         manifest = json.loads(read("packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/manifest.json"))
         package = json.loads(read("packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package.json"))
         lock = json.loads(read("packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package-lock.json"))
-        self.assertEqual(PUBLISHED_NPM_PAYLOAD, manifest["cli_version"])
-        self.assertEqual(PUBLISHED_NPM_PAYLOAD, package["version"])
-        self.assertEqual(PUBLISHED_NPM_PAYLOAD, lock["version"])
-        self.assertEqual(PUBLISHED_NPM_PAYLOAD, lock["packages"][""].get("version"))
+        versions = {
+            manifest["cli_version"],
+            package["version"],
+            lock["version"],
+            lock["packages"][""].get("version"),
+        }
+        if versions == {VERSION}:
+            changelog = read("CHANGELOG.md")
+            self.assertIn("boundary-exception: refresh the v0.5.0 npm B payload from frozen core-A", changelog)
+        else:
+            self.assertEqual({PUBLISHED_NPM_PAYLOAD}, versions)
 
     def test_mcp_prototype_remains_excluded(self) -> None:
         cargo = read("Cargo.toml")
diff --git a/.github/scripts/test_validate_npm_b_activation.py b/.github/scripts/test_validate_npm_b_activation.py
index fb602d6..d771e79 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/test_validate_npm_b_activation.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/test_validate_npm_b_activation.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def fixture(self, version: str = "0.5.0") -> tuple[Path, Path]:
             inventory = root / f"{target}.inventory.json"
             inventory.write_text(json.dumps({"schema": "ethos.full_candidate_inventory.v1", "status": "release_candidate_pending_target_smoke", "publication": "not_publishable_pending_release_gates", "target": target, "sha256": digest, "size_bytes": archive.stat().st_size}), encoding="utf-8")
             smoke = root / f"{target}.smoke.json"
-            smoke.write_text(json.dumps({"schema": "ethos.full_candidate_smoke.v1", "target": target, "archive_sha256": digest, "archive_size_bytes": archive.stat().st_size, "version_stdout": version}), encoding="utf-8")
+            smoke.write_text(json.dumps({"schema": "ethos.full_candidate_smoke.v1", "target": target, "archive_sha256": digest, "archive_size_bytes": archive.stat().st_size, "version_stdout": f"ethos {version}"}), encoding="utf-8")
             targets[target] = {"archive": archive.name, "checksum": checksum.name, "inventory": inventory.name, "smoke": smoke.name}
         evidence = root / "evidence.json"
         evidence.write_text(json.dumps({"schema": "ethos.npm_b_activation_evidence.v1", "core_version": version, "core_commit": "a" * 40, "targets": targets}), encoding="utf-8")
diff --git a/.github/scripts/validate_npm_b_activation.py b/.github/scripts/validate_npm_b_activation.py
index 5a7d79d..3e18d92 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/validate_npm_b_activation.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/validate_npm_b_activation.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def validate(evidence: Path, package_root: Path, expected_version: str = "0.5.0"
             or smoke.get("target") != target
             or smoke.get("archive_sha256") != archive_hash
             or smoke.get("archive_size_bytes") != paths["archive"].stat().st_size
-            or smoke.get("version_stdout") != expected_version
+            or smoke.get("version_stdout") != f"ethos {expected_version}"
         ):
             fail(f"{target} smoke evidence does not bind the frozen candidate")
     package = load(package_root / "package.json")
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bf20807..f61bed6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,13 @@
   while continuing to reject unsafe and unrelated members.
 - ci: allow the pinned PDFium archive's nested C++ header directory.
 - ci: include deterministic base CLI archive evidence in the v0.5 candidate workflow.
+- ci: bind npm B smoke validation to the canonical `ethos <version>` output.
+- perf: emit compact one-request-per-line NDJSON for the v0.5 batch benchmark runner.
+- boundary-exception: refresh the v0.5.0 npm B payload from frozen core-A target-smoke evidence;
+  no publication or public install wording change.
+- docs: add a future-gated ethos-full quick install, symlink-safe launcher guidance, and macOS
+  Gatekeeper quarantine handling.
+- test: execute the ethos-full launcher through an external symlink and bound symlink hops.
 - Fix Evidence Handle Bridge projection for real verification reports, stale evidence, structured state fields, strict contexts, and inert model prose.
 - Render complete HTML proof diagnostics with canonical schema labels and expanded variant coverage.
 - Cover the full verify-batch request boundary, foreign-grounding, config, and crop-rejection matrix.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c7bc01a..e337d38 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -128,6 +128,38 @@ Prerequisites:
 - caller-provided local PDFium through `ETHOS_PDFIUM_LIBRARY_PATH` only for PDFium-backed paths
   (`scripts/fetch-pdfium.sh` can fetch the exact pinned evaluation archive; see the quickstart)
 
+### 60-second `ethos-full` install (when v0.5.0 is published)
+
+The optional `ethos-full` archive is the shortest path to a local PDF-capable CLI. Download the
+macOS arm64 or Linux x64 archive and its published SHA-256 file, verify the checksum, extract it,
+and put its launcher on your `PATH`:
+
+```bash
+target=macos-arm64  # use linux-x64 on Linux
+archive="ethos-full-0.5.0-${target}.tar.gz"
+curl -LO "https://github.com/docushell/ethos/releases/download/v0.5.0/${archive}"
+curl -LO "https://github.com/docushell/ethos/releases/download/v0.5.0/${archive}.sha256"
+shasum -a 256 -c "${archive}.sha256"
+tar -xzf "${archive}"
+sudo ln -sf "$PWD/ethos-full-0.5.0-${target}/ethos" /usr/local/bin/ethos
+ethos --version
+```
+
+The launcher resolves symlinks before locating its bundled runtime, so a `/usr/local/bin/ethos`
+link works without adding the extracted archive directory to `PATH`. The archive includes the
+caller-provided-PDFium runtime for this optional surface; the base CLI, Python, and npm surfaces
+remain caller-PDFium as described below.
+
+On macOS, Gatekeeper may add a quarantine attribute to browser-downloaded archives. If a trusted
+archive is refused to launch, remove that attribute from the extracted directory before retrying:
+
+```bash
+xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "ethos-full-0.5.0-${target}"
+```
+
+This is an unsigned-artifact workaround; signing and notarization are separate future release
+work and are not implied by this instruction.
+
 From a source checkout:
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package-lock.json b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package-lock.json
index b969d48..1c20b9e 100644
--- a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package-lock.json
+++ b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@docushell/ethos-pdf",
-  "version": "0.4.0",
+  "version": "0.5.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@docushell/ethos-pdf",
-      "version": "0.4.0",
+      "version": "0.5.0",
       "cpu": [
         "arm64",
         "x64"
diff --git a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package.json b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package.json
index 7caa37e..22b51d8 100644
--- a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package.json
+++ b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@docushell/ethos-pdf",
-  "version": "0.4.0",
+  "version": "0.5.0",
   "description": "Ethos PDF CLI binary package for document evidence workflows.",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/test/platform-selection.test.js b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/test/platform-selection.test.js
index 7d2bcd5..bbf9823 100644
--- a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/test/platform-selection.test.js
+++ b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/test/platform-selection.test.js
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ assert.throws(
 const manifest = readVendorManifest();
 assert.strictEqual(manifest.version, 1);
 assert.strictEqual(manifest.package, "@docushell/ethos-pdf");
-assert.strictEqual(manifest.cli_version, "0.4.0");
+assert.strictEqual(manifest.cli_version, "0.5.0");
 validateVendorManifest(manifest);
 for (const [key, binaryName] of SUPPORTED_TARGETS.entries()) {
   assert.strictEqual(manifest.targets[key].binary, binaryName);
diff --git a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-darwin-arm64 b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-darwin-arm64
index 6892248..0513267 100755
Binary files a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-darwin-arm64 and b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-darwin-arm64 differ
diff --git a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-linux-x64 b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-linux-x64
index a09ee6c..cf0ee30 100755
Binary files a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-linux-x64 and b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/ethos-linux-x64 differ
diff --git a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/manifest.json b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/manifest.json
index fff9e45..b4355cc 100644
--- a/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/manifest.json
+++ b/packages/npm/ethos-pdf/vendor/manifest.json
@@ -1,19 +1,19 @@
 {
   "version": 1,
   "package": "@docushell/ethos-pdf",
-  "cli_version": "0.4.0",
+  "cli_version": "0.5.0",
   "targets": {
     "darwin:arm64": {
       "binary": "ethos-darwin-arm64",
-      "binary_sha256": "7d0fb5407d35acc29387c1573a362c54090410e11a8072a3cd2d541195b2a84b",
+      "binary_sha256": "df2d46efb96501b8071cd8665ca525ee5af4787804cd04d07262354199ead913",
       "release_asset": "ethos-macos-arm64.tar.gz",
-      "release_asset_sha256": "719f092101bb1e4cfeebc9507155b15739642f0b891664bd0d9f8a05d9688ba5"
+      "release_asset_sha256": "30fa34afda745d168e1af39a134e2281f4a409d425765f3dc85c2e312fcbbcc2"
     },
     "linux:x64": {
       "binary": "ethos-linux-x64",
-      "binary_sha256": "2136dcd349a7b3f73f8df83a1b1e35819f9832043eb264b3eaea341697b739ed",
+      "binary_sha256": "7b6b7cb03c1d16183b6cdd56f6d2ebe593a25ef257baa5b6553a0055c53e8f44",
       "release_asset": "ethos-linux-x64.tar.gz",
-      "release_asset_sha256": "616be562306d64a293554ca4695f19deb6e135dd328e88598a80e76f6f8fb3cd"
+      "release_asset_sha256": "592b175c00d147625f2f2ccc8bc5c74fb8a00ee37f178c363757f2c72404876e"
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/build-ethos-full-candidate.py b/scripts/build-ethos-full-candidate.py
index 7113620..bd00ec4 100644
--- a/scripts/build-ethos-full-candidate.py
+++ b/scripts/build-ethos-full-candidate.py
@@ -140,7 +140,19 @@ def wrapper(runtime_path: str) -> bytes:
     return (
         "#!/bin/sh\n"
         "set -eu\n"
-        'root=$(CDPATH= cd -P -- "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)\n'
+        'source=$0\n'
+        'hops=0\n'
+        'while [ -L "$source" ]; do\n'
+        '  hops=$((hops + 1))\n'
+        '  [ "$hops" -le 40 ] || { echo "ethos launcher: symlink chain exceeds 40 hops" >&2; exit 1; }\n'
+        '  source_dir=$(CDPATH= cd -P -- "$(dirname "$source")" && pwd)\n'
+        '  source=$(readlink "$source")\n'
+        '  case "$source" in\n'
+        '    /*) ;;\n'
+        '    *) source="$source_dir/$source" ;;\n'
+        '  esac\n'
+        'done\n'
+        'root=$(CDPATH= cd -P -- "$(dirname "$source")" && pwd)\n'
         f'export ETHOS_PDFIUM_LIBRARY_PATH="$root/{runtime_path}"\n'
         'exec "$root/bin/ethos" "$@"\n'
     ).encode("utf-8")
diff --git a/scripts/measure-v0-5-performance.py b/scripts/measure-v0-5-performance.py
index 7aa107d..96ae521 100644
--- a/scripts/measure-v0-5-performance.py
+++ b/scripts/measure-v0-5-performance.py
@@ -83,7 +83,12 @@ def main() -> int:
 
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temporary:
         requests = Path(temporary) / "requests.ndjson"
-        requests.write_bytes((args.citations.read_bytes().rstrip(b"\n") + b"\n") * 32)
+        citation_request = json.dumps(
+            json.loads(args.citations.read_text(encoding="utf-8")),
+            separators=(",", ":"),
+            sort_keys=True,
+        ).encode("utf-8")
+        requests.write_bytes((citation_request + b"\n") * 32)
         batch_command = [str(args.candidate_bin), "verify-batch", str(args.source), "--citations-ndjson", str(requests)]
         expected_batch = (expected.rstrip(b"\n") + b"\n") * 32
         run_individual_32(candidate_command, expected)  # non-recorded setup
diff --git a/scripts/test_measure_v0_5_performance.py b/scripts/test_measure_v0_5_performance.py
index b486748..9051563 100644
--- a/scripts/test_measure_v0_5_performance.py
+++ b/scripts/test_measure_v0_5_performance.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ def test_writes_bound_passing_record(self):
     b=root/v; b.write_text(FAKE); b.chmod(0o755); bins.append(b)
    out=root/"record.json"; log=root/"calls.log"; env=dict(os.environ,ETHOS_PERF_TEST_LOG=str(log)); r=subprocess.run(["python3",str(RUNNER),"--baseline-bin",str(bins[0]),"--candidate-bin",str(bins[1]),"--source",str(source),"--citations",str(citations),"--out",str(out)],capture_output=True,text=True,env=env)
    self.assertEqual(0,r.returncode,r.stderr); record=json.loads(out.read_text()); self.assertTrue(record["derived"]["passed"]); self.assertEqual(30,len(record["single_request_cold_ns"]["baseline"])); self.assertEqual(10,len(record["batch_32_ns"]["individual_processes"])); self.assertEqual(10,len(record["batch_32_ns"]["batch_process"])); self.assertEqual({"os","os_release","architecture","cpu"},set(record["environment"]))
+   self.assertIn("verify-batch", calls[-1])
    calls=log.read_text().splitlines(); cold=calls[1:61]; self.assertEqual(["0.4.0:verify","0.5.0:verify","0.5.0:verify","0.4.0:verify"],cold[:4])
  def test_rejects_wrong_version(self):
   with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d: