@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ import { buildBylinesTsv } from './build-bylines-tsv.mjs';
 import { CORPUS_PROVENANCE_FILE, hostAssertedProvenance } from './edition-provenance.mjs';
 import { PUBLIC_CONTENT_PATHS, isPublicContentPath } from './public-content.mjs';
 import { releaseClock } from './release-time.mjs';
-import { resolveStagedEdition } from './staged-edition.mjs';
-export { artifactDigest, resolveStagedEdition } from './staged-edition.mjs';
+import { pruneEarlierEditions, resolveStagedEdition } from './staged-edition.mjs';
+export { artifactDigest, pruneEarlierEditions, resolveStagedEdition } from './staged-edition.mjs';
 export { CORPUS_PROVENANCE_FILE, CORPUS_PROVENANCE_VERSION, DEFAULT_LANDED_RECORD, LANDED_VERSION, editionCorpusClaim, hostAssertedProvenance, landedCorpus } from './edition-provenance.mjs';
 
 // One ed25519 deploy key per repository, reached through an SSH host alias so
@@ -382,7 +382,8 @@ export async function publishEditionBranch(options, url = remoteUrl(EDITION_PUSH
 }
 
 export async function main(argv = process.argv.slice(2)) {
-  const result = await publishEditionBranch(parseArguments(argv));
+  const options = parseArguments(argv), result = await publishEditionBranch(options);
+  if (!options.dryRun && (result.pushed || result.already_published)) await pruneEarlierEditions(options.staging, result.edition).catch((error) => console.warn(`staging prune skipped: ${error.message}`));
   // A positive signal, not an exit code: the branch and commit are what a
   // person needs to open the pull request, and their absence is the failure.
   console.log(JSON.stringify(result, undefined, 2));
 
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
-import { lstat, readFile, readdir, readlink, stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { lstat, readFile, readdir, readlink, rm, stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { validateRenderedEvidence } from '../../ops/validate-rendered-evidence.mjs';
 
@@ -94,3 +94,18 @@ async function stagedReceipt(stateRoot, edition, artifact) {
   return value;
 }
 
+// Each staged artifact is a full site build (~0.5 GB) and only proves the
+// edition compiles; once its branch is pushed it is never read again. Only
+// earlier editions go: today's may still be restaged for a late addition, and a
+// candidate pressman is writing right now always carries today's date.
+export async function pruneEarlierEditions(stagingRoot, edition) {
+  const removed = [];
+  for (const name of await readdir(stagingRoot)) {
+    const date = name.slice(0, 10);
+    if (!EDITION_PATTERN.test(date) || name[10] !== '-' || date >= edition) continue;
+    await rm(path.join(stagingRoot, name), { recursive: true, force: true });
+    removed.push(name);
+  }
+  return removed;
+}
+
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import { mkdir, mkdtemp, readFile, readdir, rename, rm, symlink, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { artifactDigest, resolveStagedEdition } from './staged-edition.mjs';
+import { artifactDigest, pruneEarlierEditions, resolveStagedEdition } from './staged-edition.mjs';
 
 const edition = '2026-09-11';
 async function stages(t) {
@@ -101,3 +101,14 @@ test('publication rechecks final evidence even when the receipt authenticates co
   await writeFile(latest.file, JSON.stringify(latest.receipt));
   assert.equal((await f.resolve()).artifact, latest.artifact);
 });
+
+test('pruning after a publish removes only earlier editions and keeps the current link working', async t => {
+  const f = await stages(t);
+  const older = ['2026-09-09-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa', '2026-09-10-bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb'];
+  for (const name of older) await mkdir(path.join(f.staging, name, 'website'), { recursive: true });
+  await mkdir(path.join(f.staging, 'scratch'));
+  assert.deepEqual((await pruneEarlierEditions(f.staging, edition)).sort(), older);
+  const left = (await readdir(f.staging)).sort();
+  assert.deepEqual(left, ['current-edition', ...f.entries.map(e => e.name), 'scratch'].sort());
+  assert.equal((await f.resolve()).artifact, f.entries.at(-1).artifact);
+});