diff --git a/.github/workflows/binaries.yml b/.github/workflows/binaries.yml
index 1f14d59..97d1b86 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/binaries.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/binaries.yml
@@ -107,6 +107,13 @@ jobs:
           chmod +x packaging/build_appimage.sh
           ./packaging/build_appimage.sh dist/${{ matrix.artifact_name }}
 
+      - name: Validate Linux release artifacts
+        if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          chmod +x scripts/validate-release-artifacts.sh
+          ./scripts/validate-release-artifacts.sh
+
       - name: Build Flatpak (Linux)
         if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04'
         run: |
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f9bbda0..b4c1ee7 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ voxvera = ["templates/**", "src/**", "resources/**", "locales/**", "resources/bi
 
 [project]
 name = "voxvera"
-version = "0.3.8"
+version = "0.3.9"
 description = "VoxVera CLI utilities"
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [{name = "VoxVera"}]
diff --git a/scripts/validate-release-artifacts.sh b/scripts/validate-release-artifacts.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8e69d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-release-artifacts.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
+
+ARCH="${ARCH_OVERRIDE:-$(uname -m)}"
+if [[ "$ARCH" == "x86_64" ]]; then
+  DEB_ARCH="amd64"
+else
+  DEB_ARCH="$ARCH"
+fi
+
+DEB_PATH="${1:-voxvera/resources/bin/voxvera_$(python3 - <<'PY'
+from voxvera import __version__
+print(__version__)
+PY
+)_${DEB_ARCH}.deb}"
+APPIMAGE_PATH="${2:-voxvera/resources/bin/VoxVera-${ARCH}.AppImage}"
+
+tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$tmpdir"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+json_get() {
+  local file="$1"
+  local key="$2"
+  python3 - "$file" "$key" <<'PY'
+import json
+import sys
+
+path = sys.argv[2].split(".")
+data = json.load(open(sys.argv[1], "r", encoding="utf-8"))
+for part in path:
+    data = data[part]
+if isinstance(data, list):
+    print("\n".join(str(item) for item in data))
+else:
+    print(data)
+PY
+}
+
+require_non_empty_json_field() {
+  local file="$1"
+  local key="$2"
+  local value
+  value="$(json_get "$file" "$key")"
+  if [[ -z "${value// }" ]]; then
+    echo "Expected non-empty JSON field '$key' in $file" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+echo "Validating Debian artifact: $DEB_PATH"
+if [[ ! -f "$DEB_PATH" ]]; then
+  echo "Debian package not found: $DEB_PATH" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "$tmpdir/deb-root" "$tmpdir/deb-data"
+dpkg-deb -x "$DEB_PATH" "$tmpdir/deb-root"
+
+if [[ ! -x "$tmpdir/deb-root/usr/bin/voxvera" ]]; then
+  echo "Packaged voxvera binary missing from .deb payload" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VOXVERA_DIR="$tmpdir/deb-data" \
+  "$tmpdir/deb-root/usr/bin/voxvera" \
+  --config "$tmpdir/deb-data/config.json" \
+  init --non-interactive
+
+if [[ ! -f "$tmpdir/deb-data/config.json" ]]; then
+  echo ".deb validation failed: config.json was not created" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -f "$tmpdir/deb-data/host/voxvera/index.html" ]]; then
+  echo ".deb validation failed: built site missing index.html" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Validating AppImage artifact: $APPIMAGE_PATH"
+if [[ ! -f "$APPIMAGE_PATH" ]]; then
+  echo "AppImage not found: $APPIMAGE_PATH" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+chmod +x "$APPIMAGE_PATH"
+"$APPIMAGE_PATH" platform-status --json > "$tmpdir/platform-status.json"
+require_non_empty_json_field "$tmpdir/platform-status.json" "tier_description"
+require_non_empty_json_field "$tmpdir/platform-status.json" "hosting_model"
+
+VOXVERA_DIR="$tmpdir/appimage-data" \
+  "$APPIMAGE_PATH" \
+  --config "$tmpdir/appimage-data/config.json" \
+  init --non-interactive
+
+if [[ ! -f "$tmpdir/appimage-data/config.json" ]]; then
+  echo "AppImage validation failed: config.json was not created" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -f "$tmpdir/appimage-data/host/voxvera/index.html" ]]; then
+  echo "AppImage validation failed: built site missing index.html" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Release artifact validation passed."
diff --git a/site/download/voxvera-source.zip b/site/download/voxvera-source.zip
index b20ce22..37fac55 100644
Binary files a/site/download/voxvera-source.zip and b/site/download/voxvera-source.zip differ
diff --git a/tests/test_integrity.py b/tests/test_integrity.py
index 808f02d..a7a35ca 100644
--- a/tests/test_integrity.py
+++ b/tests/test_integrity.py
@@ -64,6 +64,18 @@ def test_frozen_builds_bundle_support_matrix():
     assert '--add-data "support-matrix.json:."' in build_script
     assert '--add-data "support-matrix.json${SEP}."' in binaries_workflow
 
+
+def test_release_artifact_validation_is_wired_into_binaries_workflow():
+    validation_script = REPO_ROOT / "scripts" / "validate-release-artifacts.sh"
+    binaries_workflow = (REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "binaries.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    script_text = validation_script.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert validation_script.exists()
+    assert "scripts/validate-release-artifacts.sh" in binaries_workflow
+    assert "dpkg-deb -x" in script_text
+    assert "platform-status --json" in script_text
+    assert "init --non-interactive" in script_text
+
 def test_locale_completeness():
     """Verify that all non-English locales have the same keys as English."""
     locales_dir = REPO_ROOT / "voxvera" / "locales"
diff --git a/voxvera/__init__.py b/voxvera/__init__.py
index d337cc6..eb7e8da 100644
--- a/voxvera/__init__.py
+++ b/voxvera/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
-__version__ = "0.3.8"
+__version__ = "0.3.9"
 
 # Add the vendor directory to sys.path ONLY for PyInstaller (frozen) builds.
 # For pip/pipx installs the system/venv packages are correct and the vendored
diff --git a/voxvera/cli.py b/voxvera/cli.py
index 8ce0f8a..4ee7550 100644
--- a/voxvera/cli.py
+++ b/voxvera/cli.py
@@ -2076,7 +2076,8 @@ def main(argv=None):
         if args.template:
             copy_template(args.template)
             return
-        elif not args.non_interactive:
+        ensure_config_exists(config_path)
+        if not args.non_interactive:
             interactive_update(config_path)
         build_assets(config_path)
     elif args.command == "build":