diff --git a/tools/release.ts b/tools/release.ts
index 0565d00..16e3ec7 100644
--- a/tools/release.ts
+++ b/tools/release.ts
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ async function npmRelease(version: string, token: string): Promise<void> {
   const pub = npmRun(['publish'], token);
   // npm stages a token publish for the maintainer's approval on npmjs.com (409 "previously staged version" on a retry):
   // nothing to wait for here, the owner approves it once
-  if (/staged/i.test(pub.out)) { say(`npm: ${version} is staged and waits for the maintainer's approval: https://www.npmjs.com/package/storebound (approve it there; then deprecate runs with: bun tools/release.ts npm-publish)`); return; }
+  if (/staged/i.test(pub.out)) { say(`npm: ${version} is staged: npm published 0.8.25 and 0.8.26 on its own about 10 minutes later with nothing waiting at https://www.npmjs.com/settings/<user>/staged-packages; check "npm view storebound dist-tags.latest" before approving anything, then run bun tools/release.ts npm-publish for the deprecate`); return; }
   if (pub.code !== 0 && !/previously published|cannot publish over/i.test(pub.out)) fail(`npm publish failed: ${pub.out.trim().split('\n').slice(-4).join(' ')}`);
   // the registry lags a little after a publish; wait (timeout, heartbeat) until it serves the version as latest
   const end = Date.now() + 5 * 60_000;
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ async function npmRelease(version: string, token: string): Promise<void> {
         say(`npm: ${version} is not on the registry yet: publishing once more`);
         const p2 = npmRun(['publish'], token);
         // 0.8.25: the first publish was staged silently; the retry's 409 "previously staged" says so (no 5-minute wait)
-        if (/staged/i.test(p2.out)) { say(`npm: ${version} is staged and waits for the maintainer's approval: https://www.npmjs.com/package/storebound (approve it there; then deprecate runs with: bun tools/release.ts npm-publish)`); return; }
+        if (/staged/i.test(p2.out)) { say(`npm: ${version} is staged: npm published 0.8.25 and 0.8.26 on its own about 10 minutes later with nothing waiting at https://www.npmjs.com/settings/<user>/staged-packages; check "npm view storebound dist-tags.latest" before approving anything, then run bun tools/release.ts npm-publish for the deprecate`); return; }
         if (p2.code !== 0 && !/previously published|cannot publish over/i.test(p2.out)) fail(`npm publish (second try) failed: ${p2.out.trim().split('\n').slice(-4).join(' ')}`);
       }
     }