diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index a1b0e56b..aa34d37b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       release_kind:
-        description: "Release kind: rc publishes to next, stable publishes to latest"
+        description: "Release kind: stable publishes to latest, main rc publishes to next. Branch rc releases publish to branch-specific npm tags."
         required: true
         type: choice
         default: "stable"
diff --git a/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.test.ts b/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.test.ts
index d12ce167..66fea320 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.test.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.test.ts
@@ -351,6 +351,43 @@ describe('local ingest', () => {
     ).rejects.toThrow();
   });
 
+  it('writes a new raw snapshot when an unchanged latest snapshot is missing from disk', async () => {
+    const sourceDir = join(tempDir, 'missing-snapshot-source');
+    await mkdir(join(sourceDir, 'orders'), { recursive: true });
+    await writeFile(join(sourceDir, 'orders', 'orders.json'), '{"name":"orders","version":1}\n', 'utf-8');
+
+    const first = await runLocalStageOnlyIngest({
+      project,
+      adapters: [new FakeSourceAdapter()],
+      adapter: 'fake',
+      connectionId: 'warehouse',
+      sourceDir,
+      jobId: 'local-missing-snapshot-1',
+      now: () => new Date('2026-04-27T12:20:00.000Z'),
+    });
+
+    await rm(join(project.projectDir, 'raw-sources/warehouse/fake', first.syncId), { recursive: true, force: true });
+
+    const rerun = await runLocalStageOnlyIngest({
+      project,
+      adapters: [new FakeSourceAdapter()],
+      adapter: 'fake',
+      connectionId: 'warehouse',
+      sourceDir,
+      jobId: 'local-missing-snapshot-2',
+      now: () => new Date('2026-04-27T12:25:00.000Z'),
+    });
+
+    expect(rerun.previousRunId).toBe(first.runId);
+    expect(rerun.syncId).toBe('2026-04-27-122500-local-missing-snapshot-2');
+    expect(rerun.diffSummary).toEqual({ added: 0, modified: 0, deleted: 0, unchanged: 1 });
+    expect(rerun.workUnitCount).toBe(0);
+
+    await expect(
+      readFile(join(project.projectDir, 'raw-sources/warehouse/fake', rerun.syncId, 'orders/orders.json'), 'utf-8'),
+    ).resolves.toBe('{"name":"orders","version":1}\n');
+  });
+
   it('reuses the existing sync id when the same local run id is retried', async () => {
     const sourceDir = join(tempDir, 'idempotent-source');
     await mkdir(join(sourceDir, 'orders'), { recursive: true });
diff --git a/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.ts b/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.ts
index 001c321e..0365b071 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/ingest/local-stage-ingest.ts
@@ -209,6 +209,16 @@ async function pruneStaleRawFiles(input: {
   return staleRawPaths;
 }
 
+async function rawSnapshotContainsFiles(
+  project: KtxLocalProject,
+  rawPrefix: string,
+  relativeFiles: string[],
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  const existing = await project.fileStore.listFiles(rawPrefix);
+  const existingFiles = new Set(existing.files);
+  return relativeFiles.every((file) => existingFiles.has(`${rawPrefix}/${file}`));
+}
+
 async function prepareLocalStagedDir(
   project: KtxLocalProject,
   adapter: SourceAdapter,
@@ -292,14 +302,20 @@ async function runLocalStageOnlyIngestInner(options: RunLocalStageOnlyIngestOpti
     priorHashes,
     scopeDescriptor ? scopeDescriptor.isPathInScope.bind(scopeDescriptor) : undefined,
   );
-  const unchangedFromLatestCompletedRun =
+  const matchesLatestCompletedRun =
     !existingRun &&
     !!latestReport &&
     diffSet.added.length === 0 &&
     diffSet.modified.length === 0 &&
     diffSet.deleted.length === 0;
+  const reusableLatestSyncId = matchesLatestCompletedRun ? latestReport.syncId : null;
+  const latestRawPrefix = reusableLatestSyncId
+    ? `raw-sources/${connectionId}/${adapter.source}/${reusableLatestSyncId}`
+    : null;
+  const canReuseLatestCompletedRun =
+    latestRawPrefix !== null && (await rawSnapshotContainsFiles(options.project, latestRawPrefix, relativeFiles));
   const syncId =
-    existingRun?.syncId ?? (unchangedFromLatestCompletedRun ? latestReport.syncId : buildSyncId(started, jobId));
+    existingRun?.syncId ?? (canReuseLatestCompletedRun && reusableLatestSyncId ? reusableLatestSyncId : buildSyncId(started, jobId));
   options.memoryFlow?.update({ syncId });
   options.memoryFlow?.emit({ type: 'raw_snapshot_written', syncId, rawFileCount: relativeFiles.length });
   options.memoryFlow?.emit({
@@ -319,7 +335,7 @@ async function runLocalStageOnlyIngestInner(options: RunLocalStageOnlyIngestOpti
   });
   const rawPrefix = `raw-sources/${connectionId}/${adapter.source}/${syncId}`;
   const rawPaths = relativeFiles.map((file) => `${rawPrefix}/${file}`);
-  const staleRawPaths = options.dryRun || unchangedFromLatestCompletedRun
+  const staleRawPaths = options.dryRun || canReuseLatestCompletedRun
     ? []
     : await pruneStaleRawFiles({
         project: options.project,
@@ -331,7 +347,7 @@ async function runLocalStageOnlyIngestInner(options: RunLocalStageOnlyIngestOpti
   for (const file of relativeFiles) {
     const absolutePath = assertInside(stagedDir, join(stagedDir, file));
     const rawPath = `${rawPrefix}/${file}`;
-    if (!options.dryRun && !unchangedFromLatestCompletedRun) {
+    if (!options.dryRun && !canReuseLatestCompletedRun) {
       await options.project.fileStore.writeFile(
         rawPath,
         await readFile(absolutePath, 'utf-8'),
@@ -387,7 +403,7 @@ async function runLocalStageOnlyIngestInner(options: RunLocalStageOnlyIngestOpti
       rawContentHashes: Object.fromEntries(hashes),
     });
 
-    const commitPaths = unchangedFromLatestCompletedRun ? [] : [...rawPaths, ...staleRawPaths].sort();
+    const commitPaths = canReuseLatestCompletedRun ? [] : [...rawPaths, ...staleRawPaths].sort();
     if (commitPaths.length > 0) {
       await options.project.git.commitFiles(
         commitPaths,
diff --git a/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs b/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
index 20b437c7..76b299e3 100644
--- a/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ describe('release workflow', () => {
     assert.match(workflow, /^name: KTX Release$/m);
     assert.match(workflow, /^  workflow_dispatch:$/m);
     assert.match(workflow, /release_kind:/);
+    assert.match(workflow, /Branch rc releases publish to branch-specific npm tags/);
     assert.match(workflow, /release_kind:[\s\S]*?default: "stable"/);
     assert.match(workflow, /options:\n          - stable\n          - rc/);
     assert.match(workflow, /force_release:/);
diff --git a/scripts/semantic-release-config.cjs b/scripts/semantic-release-config.cjs
index d1f17bbf..31b3e5e2 100644
--- a/scripts/semantic-release-config.cjs
+++ b/scripts/semantic-release-config.cjs
@@ -78,15 +78,43 @@ function releaseKind(env) {
   return env.KTX_RELEASE_KIND || env.INPUT_RELEASE_KIND || 'rc';
 }
 
-function releaseTag(kind) {
-  return kind === 'rc' ? 'next' : 'latest';
+function currentBranchName(env = process.env) {
+  return env.GITHUB_REF_NAME || env.INPUT_BRANCH || 'main';
+}
+
+function branchPrereleaseId(branchName) {
+  return (
+    branchName
+      .toLowerCase()
+      .replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, '-')
+      .replace(/^-+|-+$/g, '') || 'branch'
+  );
+}
+
+function releaseTag(kind, env = process.env) {
+  if (kind !== 'rc') {
+    return 'latest';
+  }
+
+  const branchName = currentBranchName(env);
+  if (branchName === 'main') {
+    return 'next';
+  }
+
+  return `branch-${branchPrereleaseId(branchName)}`;
 }
 
 function releaseBranches(env = process.env) {
   const kind = releaseKind(env);
 
   if (kind === 'rc') {
-    return [{ name: 'main', prerelease: 'rc', channel: 'next' }];
+    const branches = [{ name: 'main', prerelease: 'rc', channel: 'next' }];
+    const branchName = currentBranchName(env);
+    if (branchName !== 'main') {
+      const prerelease = branchPrereleaseId(branchName);
+      branches.push({ name: branchName, prerelease, channel: `branch-${prerelease}` });
+    }
+    return branches;
   }
 
   if (kind === 'stable') {
@@ -98,7 +126,7 @@ function releaseBranches(env = process.env) {
 
 function createReleaseConfig(env = process.env) {
   const kind = releaseKind(env);
-  const tag = releaseTag(kind);
+  const tag = releaseTag(kind, env);
 
   return {
     tagFormat: 'v${version}',
diff --git a/scripts/semantic-release-config.test.mjs b/scripts/semantic-release-config.test.mjs
index be4dcc38..4fb26d42 100644
--- a/scripts/semantic-release-config.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/semantic-release-config.test.mjs
@@ -39,6 +39,24 @@ describe('semantic-release config', () => {
     assert.doesNotMatch(JSON.stringify(config.plugins), /release:npm-publish/);
   });
 
+  it('configures rc releases from branches with branch-specific prerelease and npm tag', () => {
+    assert.equal(releaseTag('rc', { GITHUB_REF_NAME: 'feature/branch-release' }), 'branch-feature-branch-release');
+    assert.deepEqual(releaseBranches({ KTX_RELEASE_KIND: 'rc', GITHUB_REF_NAME: 'feature/branch-release' }), [
+      { name: 'main', prerelease: 'rc', channel: 'next' },
+      { name: 'feature/branch-release', prerelease: 'feature-branch-release', channel: 'branch-feature-branch-release' },
+    ]);
+
+    const config = createReleaseConfig({ KTX_RELEASE_KIND: 'rc', GITHUB_REF_NAME: 'feature/branch-release' });
+    assert.match(
+      releaseExecOptions(config).prepareCmd,
+      /update-public-release-version\.mjs "\$\{nextRelease\.version\}" "branch-feature-branch-release"/,
+    );
+    assert.match(
+      releaseExecOptions(config).publishCmd,
+      /^npm publish dist\/artifacts\/npm\/kaelio-ktx-\$\{nextRelease\.version\}\.tgz --tag branch-feature-branch-release --access public --provenance/,
+    );
+  });
+
   it('configures stable releases only from main with latest tag', () => {
     assert.equal(releaseKind({ KTX_RELEASE_KIND: 'stable' }), 'stable');
     assert.equal(releaseTag('stable'), 'latest');