diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index cb642d7863..3e99af27cb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -609,6 +609,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Assert dist/server.js exists
         run: test -f dist/server.js || (echo "dist/server.js missing — build:cli did not assemble correctly" && exit 1)
       - run: npm run check:pack-artifact
+      # WS1.2 (#7065 class): pack the real tarball, install it into a clean prefix and
+      # BOOT it to a healthy /api/monitoring/health — the gate that structure checks
+      # cannot provide (3 releases shipped boot-crashing tarballs with green lists).
+      - name: Boot-smoke the packed tarball
+        run: npm run check:pack-boot
 
   electron-package-smoke:
     name: Electron Package Smoke
diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/pack-boot-smoke-gate.md b/changelog.d/fixes/pack-boot-smoke-gate.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cc44649218
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/pack-boot-smoke-gate.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- **Packaging**: new `check:pack-boot` gate packs the real npm tarball, installs it into a clean prefix (postinstall runs for real) and boots the installed CLI until `/api/monitoring/health` returns 200 with the packed version — the runtime gate that structure checks could not provide (3 releases shipped boot-crashing tarballs with green packaging lists: tls-options/3.8.41, #7040, #7065). Wired into the CI `package-artifact` job and `check:release-green --with-build`
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b2f2af7389..e060c58635 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@
     "i18n:check-ui-coverage": "node scripts/i18n/check-ui-keys-coverage.mjs",
     "check:node-runtime": "node --import tsx scripts/check/check-supported-node-runtime.ts",
     "check:pack-artifact": "node --import tsx scripts/build/validate-pack-artifact.ts",
+    "check:pack-boot": "node scripts/check/check-pack-boot.mjs",
     "check:pack-policy": "node --import tsx scripts/build/validate-pack-artifact.ts --policy-only",
     "check:cli-i18n": "node scripts/check/check-cli-i18n.mjs",
     "check:openapi-coverage": "node scripts/check/check-openapi-coverage.mjs",
diff --git a/scripts/check/check-pack-boot.mjs b/scripts/check/check-pack-boot.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..62a4b78ab5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check/check-pack-boot.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * check:pack-boot — boot-smoke of the REAL npm tarball (#7065 class killer, WS1.2/T1).
+ *
+ * Three releases shipped a tarball that crashed on every boot (tls-options/3.8.41,
+ * head-response-guard VPS #7040 + npm #7065) because no gate ever EXECUTED the
+ * artifact: structure checks (check:pack-artifact) validate lists, not runtime.
+ * This gate packs the tree, installs the tarball into a clean prefix, boots the
+ * installed CLI and polls /api/monitoring/health until it proves the artifact
+ * starts — regardless of WHICH packaging list drifted.
+ *
+ * Requires a built dist/ (run after `npm run build:cli`, e.g. in the CI
+ * package-artifact job or `check:release-green --with-build`). Exit codes:
+ * 0 = boots and reports the right version · 1 = boot failed · 2 = missing build.
+ */
+import { execFileSync, spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+const POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 2_000;
+const BOOT_DEADLINE_MS = 240_000;
+
+/** Parse `npm pack --json` output into the generated tarball filename. */
+export function pickTarball(packJsonOutput) {
+  const parsed = JSON.parse(packJsonOutput);
+  const filename = Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed[0]?.filename : undefined;
+  if (!filename) throw new Error("npm pack --json returned no filename");
+  // npm >=9 may emit scoped names with "/" — normalize to the on-disk file name.
+  return filename.replace(/\//g, "-");
+}
+
+/**
+ * Boot verdict: HTTP 200 + a JSON body reporting the version we just packed.
+ * `status` is logged but NOT asserted — a clean install with zero providers may
+ * legitimately report degraded states; the gate targets boot crashes, not health.
+ */
+export function evaluateBoot(httpStatus, body, expectedVersion) {
+  const failures = [];
+  if (httpStatus !== 200) failures.push(`health HTTP ${httpStatus} (expected 200)`);
+  if (!body || typeof body !== "object") failures.push("health body is not JSON");
+  else if (body.version !== expectedVersion)
+    failures.push(`version "${body.version}" (expected "${expectedVersion}")`);
+  return { ok: failures.length === 0, failures };
+}
+
+/** Deterministic-enough free-ish port in a range CI runners don't use. */
+export function pickPort(seed = process.pid) {
+  return 23000 + (seed % 4000);
+}
+
+function log(msg) {
+  console.log(`[pack-boot] ${msg}`);
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  const ROOT = process.cwd();
+  if (!fs.existsSync(path.join(ROOT, "dist", "server.js"))) {
+    console.error("[pack-boot] dist/server.js missing — run `npm run build:cli` first (this is a --with-build gate)");
+    process.exit(2);
+  }
+  const expectedVersion = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, "package.json"), "utf8")).version;
+  const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "omniroute-pack-boot-"));
+  let child = null;
+  let exitCode = 1;
+  try {
+    log(`packing v${expectedVersion}…`);
+    const packOut = execFileSync("npm", ["pack", "--json", "--pack-destination", tmp], {
+      cwd: ROOT,
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      maxBuffer: 64 * 1024 * 1024,
+    });
+    const tarball = path.join(tmp, pickTarball(packOut));
+    log(`installing ${path.basename(tarball)} into a clean prefix (postinstall runs for real)…`);
+    const prefix = path.join(tmp, "prefix");
+    execFileSync("npm", ["install", "-g", "--prefix", prefix, tarball], {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      maxBuffer: 64 * 1024 * 1024,
+    });
+
+    const port = pickPort();
+    const dataDir = path.join(tmp, "data");
+    fs.mkdirSync(dataDir, { recursive: true });
+    const binPath = path.join(prefix, "bin", "omniroute");
+    log(`booting installed CLI on :${port} (DATA_DIR isolated)…`);
+    child = spawn(binPath, ["serve", "--port", String(port)], {
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PORT: String(port),
+        DATA_DIR: dataDir,
+        JWT_SECRET: "pack-boot-smoke-secret-with-sufficient-length-000",
+        API_KEY_SECRET: "pack-boot-smoke-api-key-secret-long",
+        DISABLE_SQLITE_AUTO_BACKUP: "true",
+        OMNIROUTE_SKIP_SYSTEM_TRUST: "1",
+      },
+      stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+      detached: true,
+    });
+    const tail = [];
+    const keepTail = (chunk) => {
+      tail.push(String(chunk));
+      while (tail.length > 80) tail.shift();
+    };
+    child.stdout.on("data", keepTail);
+    child.stderr.on("data", keepTail);
+    let childExit = null;
+    child.on("exit", (code) => {
+      childExit = code ?? -1;
+    });
+
+    const deadline = Date.now() + BOOT_DEADLINE_MS;
+    let verdict = { ok: false, failures: ["never polled"] };
+    while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+      if (childExit !== null) {
+        verdict = { ok: false, failures: [`process exited with code ${childExit} before serving`] };
+        break;
+      }
+      try {
+        const res = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/monitoring/health`);
+        const body = await res.json().catch(() => null);
+        verdict = evaluateBoot(res.status, body, expectedVersion);
+        if (verdict.ok) {
+          log(`healthy: HTTP 200, version ${body.version}, status "${body.status}"`);
+          break;
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // not listening yet — keep polling
+      }
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, POLL_INTERVAL_MS));
+    }
+
+    if (verdict.ok) {
+      log("✅ the packed tarball boots — #7065 class gate green");
+      exitCode = 0;
+    } else {
+      console.error(`[pack-boot] ❌ boot FAILED: ${verdict.failures.join("; ")}`);
+      console.error("[pack-boot] last server output:\n" + tail.join("").split("\n").slice(-40).join("\n"));
+      exitCode = 1;
+    }
+  } finally {
+    if (child?.pid) {
+      try {
+        process.kill(-child.pid, "SIGTERM");
+      } catch {
+        /* already gone */
+      }
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 2_000));
+      try {
+        process.kill(-child.pid, "SIGKILL");
+      } catch {
+        /* already gone */
+      }
+    }
+    fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+  process.exit(exitCode);
+}
+
+const isDirectRun =
+  process.argv[1] && path.resolve(process.argv[1]) === path.resolve(new URL(import.meta.url).pathname);
+if (isDirectRun) {
+  main().catch((e) => {
+    console.error("[pack-boot] fatal:", e.message);
+    process.exit(1);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/scripts/quality/validate-release-green.mjs b/scripts/quality/validate-release-green.mjs
index db0933ed67..13ffdb8ff0 100644
--- a/scripts/quality/validate-release-green.mjs
+++ b/scripts/quality/validate-release-green.mjs
@@ -543,6 +543,14 @@ async function main() {
         args: ["run", "check:pack-artifact"],
         timeout: 20 * 60 * 1000,
       });
+      // WS1.2 (#7065 class): boot the REAL packed tarball from a clean install —
+      // the runtime gate structure checks cannot provide. Reuses the same dist/ build.
+      slow.push({
+        id: "pack-boot",
+        label: "Tarball boot-smoke (installed CLI serves /health)",
+        args: ["run", "check:pack-boot"],
+        timeout: 15 * 60 * 1000,
+      });
     }
     slow.forEach((g) => announce(`${g.label} [parallel]`));
     const slowResults = await Promise.all(
diff --git a/tests/unit/check-pack-boot.test.ts b/tests/unit/check-pack-boot.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b22ca557b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/check-pack-boot.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { pickTarball, evaluateBoot, pickPort } from "../../scripts/check/check-pack-boot.mjs";
+
+// WS1.2 (T1, v3.8.49 quality plan) — pure-function guards for the tarball boot-smoke
+// gate that kills the #7065 class (published artifact crashes on every boot because a
+// packaging list drifted; 3rd recurrence). The end-to-end path runs in CI's
+// package-artifact job; these tests pin the decision logic.
+
+const SCRIPT_PATH = path.join(
+  path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)),
+  "../../scripts/check/check-pack-boot.mjs"
+);
+
+test("pickTarball extracts the filename from npm pack --json output", () => {
+  assert.equal(pickTarball('[{"filename":"omniroute-3.8.49.tgz","size":1}]'), "omniroute-3.8.49.tgz");
+});
+
+test("pickTarball normalizes scoped slashes to the on-disk dash form", () => {
+  assert.equal(pickTarball('[{"filename":"@scope/pkg-1.0.0.tgz"}]'), "@scope-pkg-1.0.0.tgz");
+});
+
+test("pickTarball throws on empty/odd npm output instead of booting garbage", () => {
+  assert.throws(() => pickTarball("[]"));
+  assert.throws(() => pickTarball("{}"));
+});
+
+test("evaluateBoot passes on HTTP 200 + matching version, whatever the health status", () => {
+  const r = evaluateBoot(200, { version: "3.8.49", status: "warning" }, "3.8.49");
+  assert.equal(r.ok, true);
+  assert.deepEqual(r.failures, []);
+});
+
+test("evaluateBoot fails on non-200, non-JSON body, and version mismatch", () => {
+  assert.equal(evaluateBoot(503, { version: "3.8.49" }, "3.8.49").ok, false);
+  assert.equal(evaluateBoot(200, null, "3.8.49").ok, false);
+  const wrong = evaluateBoot(200, { version: "3.8.48" }, "3.8.49");
+  assert.equal(wrong.ok, false);
+  assert.match(wrong.failures[0], /3\.8\.48/);
+});
+
+test("pickPort stays inside the reserved smoke range for any pid", () => {
+  for (const seed of [0, 1, 4000, 65535, 123456]) {
+    const p = pickPort(seed);
+    assert.ok(p >= 23000 && p < 27000, `port ${p} out of range for seed ${seed}`);
+  }
+});
+
+test("source guard: the gate polls the real health endpoint of the INSTALLED binary", () => {
+  const src = readFileSync(SCRIPT_PATH, "utf8");
+  assert.ok(src.includes('"install", "-g", "--prefix"'), "must install the packed tarball into a clean prefix");
+  assert.ok(src.includes("/api/monitoring/health"), "must poll the health endpoint");
+  assert.ok(src.indexOf("npm") < src.indexOf("spawn"), "pack+install must precede the boot spawn");
+});