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+# HANDOFF — deploy companion 0.5.28 (vc48) to the live surfaces
+
+**For: the agent on archi-dev-box.** Companion 0.5.28 shipped to `main`
+today (PR #149, merge `9f1a289d` — backup & restore #128, NIP-46 remote
+signer #139, companion-gated install pitch #61 residual, hub sub-pages).
+The dev box verified everything it can reach; three live surfaces remain,
+same shape as the 2026-07-23 deploy handoff
+([`HANDOFF-2026-07-23-companion-apk-deploy.md`](HANDOFF-2026-07-23-companion-apk-deploy.md)).
+
+## Already done and verified (do not redo)
+
+- `neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.apk` on `main` is
+  **0.5.28 / versionCode 48**, clean build via `Android/ship-companion.sh`,
+  **v1+v2+v3 signatures verified**, meta json refreshed beside it.
+- Gitea raw-on-main serves it byte-identical:
+  `shasum -a 256` = `fc786b46c704c5752f04fe603371365524c749734f17bd8858cf02fa2dbc34ca`
+  (2 bytes: 28,206,999… file size ≈ 28.2 MB).
+- The foundation server's **raw-proxy** path already serves 0.5.28 (verified
+  via `https://source.archipelago-foundation.org/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.json`).
+- Demo CI (`demo-images.yml`) fired on the push and redeploys the stack via
+  the Portainer webhook — should flip on its own; confirm only.
+- Signing key unchanged (cert SHA-256 `d622e07e…ec2664d`), so phones update
+  **in place** over any 0.5.27 install.
+
+## 1. Foundation server static `/packages/` mirror — the real-node QR URL
+
+`https://source.archipelago-foundation.org/packages/archipelago-companion.apk`
+is a **static dir** on the release server (openresty; still 0.5.27,
+last-modified 2026-08-17). This is the exact URL real nodes' companion QR
+downloads (`DEFAULT_DOWNLOAD_URL` in `CompanionIntroOverlay.vue`) — it must
+flip before the release is done.
+
+```bash
+# Find the webroot once:
+grep -rl "packages" /etc/openresty /etc/nginx 2>/dev/null
+find / -name archipelago-companion.apk -not -path '/proc/*' 2>/dev/null
+
+# Mirror the exact bytes from Gitea raw-on-main (no rebuild, no re-sign):
+cd <that webroot>
+curl -fsS -o archipelago-companion.apk  http://146.59.87.168:3000/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.apk
+curl -fsS -o archipelago-companion.json http://146.59.87.168:3000/lfg2025/archy/raw/branch/main/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.json
+shasum -a 256 archipelago-companion.apk
+# MUST print: fc786b46c704c5752f04fe603371365524c749734f17bd8858cf02fa2dbc34ca
+```
+
+## 2. Node web-bundle redeploys
+
+Same as 2026-07-23: redeploy the web-ui bundle from current `main` to the
+active nodes — web root `/opt/archipelago/web-ui/` (NOT a `neode-ui/`
+subfolder), at minimum every node the user pairs against. The APK rides in
+the bundle's `packages/` dir, so this is also what makes each node's own
+served QR download 0.5.28.
+
+## 3. Confirm the demo flipped
+
+`curl -s http://146.59.87.168:2100/packages/archipelago-companion.json`
+should read 0.5.28/48 once CI's Portainer webhook redeploy lands; trigger a
+stack redeploy if it lags.
+
+## Final verify (all three must show 0.5.28 / 48)
+
+```bash
+aapt2 dump badging <downloaded apk> | head -1   # versionCode='48' versionName='0.5.28-debug'
+apksigner verify -v --min-sdk-version 21 <downloaded apk> | grep scheme   # v1/v2/v3 true
+curl -s https://source.archipelago-foundation.org/packages/archipelago-companion.json
+curl -s http://146.59.87.168:2100/packages/archipelago-companion.json
+```
+
+Then the user's on-device end-to-end: scan the node's companion QR →
+installs vc48 in place → hub → Backup & Restore / Remote Signer.
+Testing notes for the new features live in the closed tracker issues
+(#61/#128/#139) and `docs/companion-backup-restore.md` /
+`docs/companion-nip46-remote-signer.md` (the signer's e2e harness:
+`Android/tools/nip46-test-client.py`).