Each release chunk is a release inserted once: release_key the SHA-1 of the identity, the owner group and the first article (deterministic; no numbering under a group lock), identity_key the identity's SHA-1 bytes, poster_id and group_set_id through catalog_refs (cached per process), source as a code (weak-stem added), the name into release_texts. A finished release's candidates are claimable at once; a provisional tail release is finished by a later chunk of its key, a finished one sent again is left alone. Gone: joins into earlier releases and across groups, key numbering, the group lock, the fragment merger. Interim: chunks, counts and samples keyed by ranges.block_id, a range without a block gets one. Readers follow: search (posters and group_sets joined, words through release_texts, posters by id, source by code), the par2 merger, the sidecar folder, the judge's scraped rule, the spot inspector, the spotter, the NZB service, releases:regroup, edge:bench. Tests insert fixtures through tests/functional/helpers/releases.ts; the suites pass again. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>