diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c659135..ff46e8b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,8 @@ _tmp/
 
 # agent runtime output (plans the agent writes during /plan runs)
 .hermes/
+
+# packed tarballs — `npm pack` output is a build artifact, never source.
+# The release workflow packs a fresh one from the tagged commit; a committed
+# copy goes stale the moment anything merges after it.
+*.tgz
diff --git a/aether-agents-0.2.0.tgz b/aether-agents-0.2.0.tgz
deleted file mode 100644
index 8cbb596..0000000
Binary files a/aether-agents-0.2.0.tgz and /dev/null differ