diff --git a/.github/scripts/check-portability.py b/.github/scripts/check-portability.py
index 984f355..2186b98 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/check-portability.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/check-portability.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 FORBIDDEN_PATTERNS = (
     ("Hermes tool name", re.compile(r"\bskill_(?:view|manage)\b", re.IGNORECASE)),
-    ("Hermes config path", re.compile(r"~/\\.hermes(?:/|\b)", re.IGNORECASE)),
+    ("Hermes config path", re.compile(r"~/\.hermes(?:/|\b)", re.IGNORECASE)),
     (
         "Hermes CLI command",
         re.compile(
@@ -53,7 +53,54 @@ def scan_file(path: Path) -> list[tuple[Path, int, str, str]]:
     return violations
 
 
+def run_self_tests() -> int:
+    """Run internal self-tests for the validation logic."""
+    test_cases = [
+        ("skill_view(name)", True, "Hermes tool name"),
+        ("SKILL_VIEW(name)", True, "Hermes tool name case insensitive"),
+        ("from hermes_tools import foo", True, "Hermes Python import"),
+        ("from HERMES_TOOLS import foo", True, "Hermes Python import case insensitive"),
+        ("~/.hermes/config", True, "Hermes config path"),
+        ("~/.hermes/", True, "Hermes config path with slash"),
+        ("hermes skills install", True, "Hermes CLI command"),
+        ("hermes config set", True, "Hermes CLI command"),
+        ("Claude()", True, "Claude Code agent reference"),
+        ("gemini skills", True, "Gemini CLI command"),
+        ("codex run", True, "Codex CLI command"),
+        (".claude/config", True, "Platform-specific path"),
+        (".cursor/config", True, "Platform-specific path"),
+        ("normal text", False, "Normal text"),
+        ("skill_manage(action='create')", True, "Hermes tool name"),
+    ]
+
+    for text, should_match, label in test_cases:
+        for pattern_label, pattern in FORBIDDEN_PATTERNS:
+            if pattern.search(text):
+                if not should_match:
+                    print(f"FAIL: {label} matched unexpectedly: {text!r}")
+                    return 1
+                break
+        else:
+            if should_match:
+                print(f"FAIL: {label} should have matched: {text!r}")
+                return 1
+
+    print("PASS: check-portability.py self-tests")
+    return 0
+
+
 def main() -> int:
+    import argparse
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Check for agent-specific references in portable skill files."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument("--self-test", action="store_true", help="Run internal self-tests")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if args.self_test:
+        return run_self_tests()
+
     violations: list[tuple[Path, int, str, str]] = []
     for path in sorted(SKILLS_DIR.rglob("*.md")):
         try:
@@ -73,4 +120,4 @@ def main() -> int:
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    sys.exit(main())
\ No newline at end of file
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ccd53eb..083feed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check cross-agent portability
         run: python3 .github/scripts/check-portability.py
 
+      - name: Check version consistency
+        run: python3 scripts/check-version-consistency.py
+
       - name: Validate CI policy
         run: python3 scripts/validate-ci.py
 
diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index f0c78ac..4ab2a58 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ cff-version: 1.2.0
 message: "If you use this work in your research, please cite it as below."
 authors:
   - family-names: "CodeSigils"
-    email: "toolsoftrade.web@gmail.com"
 title: "Python Project Workflow"
+version: "0.1.0"
 license: MIT
 type: software
 repository-code: https://github.com/CodeSigils/python-project-workflow-skill
diff --git a/scripts/check-version-consistency.py b/scripts/check-version-consistency.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3e997a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-version-consistency.py
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Check local release versions and git tags for consistency."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+
+LOCAL_VERSION_SOURCES: dict[str, Path] = {
+    "SKILL.md": ROOT / "skills" / "python-project-workflow" / "SKILL.md",
+    "CITATION.cff": ROOT / "CITATION.cff",
+}
+
+
+def normalize_version(version: str) -> str:
+    return version.removeprefix("v")
+
+
+def read_skill_version(path: Path) -> str | None:
+    """Extract metadata version from SKILL.md frontmatter."""
+    try:
+        content = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    except OSError:
+        return None
+    frontmatter = content.split("---", 2)
+    if len(frontmatter) < 3:
+        return None
+    match = re.search(r'(?m)^version:\s*["\']?([^"\'#\s]+)', frontmatter[1])
+    return match.group(1) if match else None
+
+
+def read_citation_version(path: Path) -> str | None:
+    """Extract the version field from CITATION.cff."""
+    try:
+        content = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    except OSError:
+        return None
+    match = re.search(r'(?m)^version:\s*["\']?([^"\'#\s]+)', content)
+    return match.group(1) if match else None
+
+
+def get_latest_tag() -> tuple[str | None, str | None]:
+    """Return the latest v-prefixed tag and an optional query error."""
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            ["git", "tag", "--list", "v*", "--sort=-version:refname"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=False,
+        )
+    except OSError as exc:
+        return None, str(exc)
+    if result.returncode != 0:
+        return None, result.stderr.strip() or f"git exited {result.returncode}"
+    tags = result.stdout.splitlines()
+    return (tags[0], None) if tags else (None, None)
+
+
+def validate_versions(
+    local_versions: dict[str, str | None],
+    latest_tag: str | None,
+    tag_error: str | None,
+) -> tuple[list[str], list[str]]:
+    """Validate version consistency and return errors plus informational notes."""
+    errors: list[str] = []
+    notes: list[str] = []
+    comparable: dict[str, str] = {}
+
+    for source in LOCAL_VERSION_SOURCES:
+        version = local_versions.get(source)
+        if not version:
+            errors.append(f"Could not extract version from {source}")
+        else:
+            comparable[source] = normalize_version(version)
+
+    if tag_error:
+        notes.append(f"SKIP: could not query git tags: {tag_error}")
+    elif latest_tag:
+        comparable["latest tag"] = normalize_version(latest_tag)
+    else:
+        notes.append("SKIP: no v-prefixed git tags found")
+
+    if comparable and len(set(comparable.values())) > 1:
+        rendered = ", ".join(
+            f"{source}={version}" for source, version in comparable.items()
+        )
+        errors.append(f"Version drift: {rendered}")
+
+    return errors, notes
+
+
+def run_self_tests() -> int:
+    """Cover aligned, drifted, and no-tag states."""
+    aligned = {source: "0.1.0" for source in LOCAL_VERSION_SOURCES}
+
+    errors, notes = validate_versions(aligned, "v0.1.0", None)
+    assert errors == [] and notes == []
+
+    drifted = {**aligned, "CITATION.cff": "0.2.0"}
+    errors, _ = validate_versions(drifted, "v0.1.0", None)
+    assert any(error.startswith("Version drift:") for error in errors)
+
+    errors, notes = validate_versions(aligned, None, None)
+    assert errors == [] and notes == ["SKIP: no v-prefixed git tags found"]
+
+    errors, notes = validate_versions(aligned, None, "not a git repository")
+    assert errors == [] and notes == [
+        "SKIP: could not query git tags: not a git repository"
+    ]
+
+    print("PASS: check-version-consistency.py self-tests")
+    return 0
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    import argparse
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
+    parser.add_argument("--self-test", action="store_true")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if args.self_test:
+        return run_self_tests()
+
+    local_versions = {
+        "SKILL.md": read_skill_version(LOCAL_VERSION_SOURCES["SKILL.md"]),
+        "CITATION.cff": read_citation_version(LOCAL_VERSION_SOURCES["CITATION.cff"]),
+    }
+    latest_tag, tag_error = get_latest_tag()
+
+    for source, version in local_versions.items():
+        print(f"{source} version: {version or 'unreadable'}")
+    print(f"Latest tag: {latest_tag or 'none'}")
+
+    errors, notes = validate_versions(local_versions, latest_tag, tag_error)
+    for note in notes:
+        print(note)
+    if errors:
+        for error in errors:
+            print(f"ERROR: {error}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+
+    print("OK: all available version sources are consistent")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/scripts/validate-ci.py b/scripts/validate-ci.py
index dee2c68..aca1ab1 100644
--- a/scripts/validate-ci.py
+++ b/scripts/validate-ci.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 SHA_PIN_RE = re.compile(r"^[^@\s]+@[0-9a-f]{40}$")
 REQUIRED_VALIDATE_COMMANDS = (
     "python3 .github/scripts/check-portability.py",
+    "python3 scripts/check-version-consistency.py",
     "python3 scripts/validate-ci.py",
     "python3 scripts/validate.py",
     "python3 scripts/test-validate-ci.py",
diff --git a/scripts/validate.py b/scripts/validate.py
index bbdfb9d..820d4ee 100755
--- a/scripts/validate.py
+++ b/scripts/validate.py
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ def parse_frontmatter(text: str) -> tuple[dict[str, str], str]:
         fail(f"unsupported frontmatter fields: {sorted(extra)}")
     if data.get("name") != "python-project-workflow":
         fail("frontmatter name must be python-project-workflow")
+    if not data.get("version"):
+        fail("frontmatter must include a version field")
     if len(data.get("description", "").split()) < 18:
         fail("frontmatter description is too short to trigger reliably")
     return data, body
diff --git a/skills/python-project-workflow/SKILL.md b/skills/python-project-workflow/SKILL.md
index 5516010..57c78f1 100644
--- a/skills/python-project-workflow/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/python-project-workflow/SKILL.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: python-project-workflow
+version: "0.1.0"
 description: Set up, inspect, preserve, and verify Python projects across greenfield bootstrap, tooling configuration, CI, packaging, mature-repo preservation, and project-native verification. Use for Python project workflow tasks, not for pure code review; use py-review-skill or another dedicated review skill for review findings.
 ---