diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-builds.yml b/.github/workflows/release-builds.yml
index 560a1e1b..8ac38ed7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-builds.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-builds.yml
@@ -42,7 +42,14 @@ jobs:
             portable-path: src-tauri/target/release/gridfpv-desktop
 
     steps:
+      # fetch-tags is load-bearing for the build stamp (#513): a build names itself by its
+      # release version only when HEAD sits exactly on a clean v* tag, so the tags must be
+      # present in the checkout. Dispatch this workflow FROM the tagged commit to produce a
+      # release-named build; a dispatch from an untagged commit correctly produces the
+      # 0.4.0-dev-<short hash> naming (the dev-* prerelease portables).
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+        with:
+          fetch-tags: true
 
       # Linux-only: Tauri's webkit2gtk/GTK system deps (Windows uses the bundled
       # WebView2 runtime and needs none of these). Mirror src-tauri/README.md.
diff --git a/crates/app/src/logging.rs b/crates/app/src/logging.rs
index 51c4f118..28d4d0b2 100644
--- a/crates/app/src/logging.rs
+++ b/crates/app/src/logging.rs
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ fn open_sink() -> Option<Sink> {
         .unwrap_or_else(|_| "<unknown>".to_string());
     sink.write_line(&format!(
         "==== GridFPV {} — session start (pid {}, {} {}, exe {exe}) ====",
-        env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"),
+        gridfpv_server::BUILD_VERSION,
         std::process::id(),
         std::env::consts::OS,
         std::env::consts::ARCH,
diff --git a/crates/app/src/main.rs b/crates/app/src/main.rs
index b6be6fc8..4254f805 100644
--- a/crates/app/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/app/src/main.rs
@@ -111,7 +111,10 @@ fn print_startup(
         bound.to_string()
     };
 
-    println!("GridFPV Director {} — serving", env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"));
+    println!(
+        "GridFPV Director {} — serving",
+        gridfpv_server::BUILD_VERSION
+    );
     println!("  listening on : http://{bound}");
     println!("  console URL  : http://{url_host}/");
     match rd_token {
@@ -182,7 +185,7 @@ async fn shutdown_signal() {
 fn run_demo() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     println!(
         "GridFPV {} — walking-skeleton demo\n",
-        env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION")
+        gridfpv_server::BUILD_VERSION
     );
 
     let events = synthetic_session(
diff --git a/crates/server/build.rs b/crates/server/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..274a4397
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/server/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+//! Stamps `GRIDFPV_BUILD_VERSION` — the version the running build *reports* (#513), read back
+//! as [`gridfpv_server::BUILD_VERSION`] and served on `/about` (the console's brand stamp, the
+//! Director banner, the log session header).
+//!
+//! The scheme, per the field ruling (#513): **a release names itself, everything else names its
+//! commit.** Before this every build — the `dev-*` prerelease portables included — reported the
+//! static workspace version (`0.4.0-alpha.1`), so "which build is this?" was unanswerable on a
+//! support call.
+//!
+//! Resolution order:
+//! 1. `GRIDFPV_RELEASE_VERSION` env (leading `v` stripped) — the explicit override for a build
+//!    pipeline that knows exactly what it is shipping.
+//! 2. HEAD exactly on a **clean** `v*` tag ⇒ the tag minus the `v` — the standard
+//!    alpha/beta/full naming (`0.4.0-alpha.1`, `0.4.0`). The `--match "v*"` filter is
+//!    load-bearing: the `dev-2026-*` prerelease tags are exactly the builds that must NOT name
+//!    themselves like releases.
+//! 3. Otherwise ⇒ `<workspace base>-dev-<short hash>`, `-dirty` appended when the tree has
+//!    uncommitted changes (a dirty build is not its hash).
+//! 4. No usable git at all (a source tarball) ⇒ the workspace version verbatim.
+
+use std::process::Command;
+
+fn main() {
+    // Re-stamp when HEAD moves (commit / checkout / tag) or the index changes (staging is the
+    // cheapest observable signal that the dirty state may have flipped). Both relative to the
+    // workspace root's .git, two levels up from this crate.
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=../../.git/HEAD");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=../../.git/index");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=GRIDFPV_RELEASE_VERSION");
+
+    let pkg = std::env::var("CARGO_PKG_VERSION").expect("cargo sets CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
+    println!(
+        "cargo:rustc-env=GRIDFPV_BUILD_VERSION={}",
+        build_version(&pkg)
+    );
+}
+
+fn build_version(pkg: &str) -> String {
+    if let Ok(v) = std::env::var("GRIDFPV_RELEASE_VERSION") {
+        let v = v.trim();
+        if !v.is_empty() {
+            return v.trim_start_matches('v').to_string();
+        }
+    }
+    // `git()` yields None for empty output, so Some(porcelain) == a dirty tree.
+    let dirty = git(&["status", "--porcelain"]).is_some();
+    if !dirty {
+        if let Some(tag) = git(&[
+            "describe",
+            "--exact-match",
+            "--tags",
+            "--match",
+            "v*",
+            "HEAD",
+        ]) {
+            return tag.trim_start_matches('v').to_string();
+        }
+    }
+    let Some(hash) = git(&["rev-parse", "--short=7", "HEAD"]) else {
+        // No git (a source tarball / a stripped checkout): the workspace version verbatim is
+        // the most honest answer left.
+        return pkg.to_string();
+    };
+    // The dev base is the workspace version's MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH — the milestone being worked
+    // toward — with the `-alpha.N`-style tail dropped; the commit hash is the real identity.
+    let base = pkg.split('-').next().unwrap_or(pkg);
+    let dirty = if dirty { "-dirty" } else { "" };
+    format!("{base}-dev-{hash}{dirty}")
+}
+
+/// Run `git` in the crate directory (git walks up to the workspace root on its own); `None` on
+/// a failed/missing git or empty output, so callers read `Some` as a real answer.
+fn git(args: &[&str]) -> Option<String> {
+    let out = Command::new("git").args(args).output().ok()?;
+    if !out.status.success() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let s = String::from_utf8(out.stdout).ok()?;
+    let s = s.trim();
+    if s.is_empty() {
+        None
+    } else {
+        Some(s.to_string())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/server/src/app.rs b/crates/server/src/app.rs
index 0e8da6f5..dce008ad 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/app.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/app.rs
@@ -383,14 +383,16 @@ pub fn router(registry: EventRegistry) -> Router {
         .route("/health", get(|| async { "ok" }))
         // The product identity (alpha field-support): WHICH build is this rig running? The
         // console footer reads it, and a bug report from the field should quote it. The
-        // version is the ONE workspace version (v0.4.0-alpha.1 scheme, `cargo xtask version`);
-        // the contract version is the independent wire-compat integer.
+        // version is the BUILD's version (#513): a release names itself (the v0.4.0-alpha.1
+        // scheme, `cargo xtask version`), any other build names its commit
+        // (`0.4.0-dev-<short hash>`); the contract version is the independent wire-compat
+        // integer.
         .route(
             "/about",
             get(|| async {
                 Json(serde_json::json!({
                     "name": "GridFPV",
-                    "version": env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"),
+                    "version": crate::BUILD_VERSION,
                     "contract_version": crate::CONTRACT_VERSION,
                 }))
             }),
diff --git a/crates/server/src/lib.rs b/crates/server/src/lib.rs
index 48dbaef3..1d25d360 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/lib.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,14 @@ impl ContractVersion {
 /// The contract version this server build speaks. The first wire contract is `1`.
 pub const CONTRACT_VERSION: ContractVersion = ContractVersion::new(1);
 
+/// The **product version this build reports** (#513), stamped by `build.rs`: a release build
+/// (HEAD on a clean `v*` tag, or an explicit `GRIDFPV_RELEASE_VERSION`) names itself by its
+/// standard alpha/beta/full version, and every other build names its commit —
+/// `0.4.0-dev-<short hash>` (`-dirty` when the tree had uncommitted changes). This is what
+/// `/about` serves and the console's brand stamp shows; use it in place of
+/// `CARGO_PKG_VERSION` anywhere a human reads a version off a running build.
+pub const BUILD_VERSION: &str = env!("GRIDFPV_BUILD_VERSION");
+
 /// The **oldest** contract version this server still serves (protocol.html §7, §9.7) —
 /// the bottom of the supported band `MIN_SUPPORTED_CONTRACT_VERSION..=CONTRACT_VERSION`.
 ///
@@ -254,4 +262,20 @@ mod tests {
         let back: ServerHello = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(reply, back);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_version_is_semver_shaped_whatever_named_this_build() {
+        // The stamp (#513) resolves differently per build (a release tag, a dev commit hash, a
+        // tarball fallback), but every spelling must satisfy the shape the /about contract test
+        // pins: x.y.z with an optional -prerelease tail. This is the compile-time proof the
+        // build.rs emitted SOMETHING sane for the build running these tests.
+        let v = crate::BUILD_VERSION;
+        let (core, _tail) = v.split_once('-').unwrap_or((v, ""));
+        assert_eq!(core.split('.').count(), 3, "MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH core: {v:?}");
+        assert!(
+            core.split('.')
+                .all(|p| !p.is_empty() && p.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_digit())),
+            "numeric core: {v:?}"
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/frontend/apps/rd-console/src/lib/buildVersion.svelte.ts b/frontend/apps/rd-console/src/lib/buildVersion.svelte.ts
index 0a12d126..0475f510 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/rd-console/src/lib/buildVersion.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/apps/rd-console/src/lib/buildVersion.svelte.ts
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ let version = $state<string | undefined>(undefined);
 let asked = false;
 
 /**
- * The Director's version string (`"0.4.0-alpha.1"`), or `undefined` until the read lands — or for
- * good, if it never does. Reading this the first time starts the fetch.
+ * The Director's version string — a release's standard name (`"0.4.0-alpha.1"`) or a
+ * non-release build's commit stamp (`"0.4.0-dev-<short hash>"`, #513) — or `undefined` until
+ * the read lands, or for good, if it never does. Reading this the first time starts the fetch.
  */
 export function directorVersion(): string | undefined {
   if (!asked) {
diff --git a/frontend/contract/events.contract.ts b/frontend/contract/events.contract.ts
index 45572a6b..d32e1ae5 100644
--- a/frontend/contract/events.contract.ts
+++ b/frontend/contract/events.contract.ts
@@ -1720,7 +1720,9 @@ describe('seam: /about (the build stamp)', () => {
     expect(res.ok).toBe(true);
     const about = await res.json();
     expect(about.name).toBe('GridFPV');
-    // x.y.z with an optional -prerelease tail (the v0.4.0-alpha.1 scheme).
+    // x.y.z with an optional -prerelease tail: a release's standard naming
+    // (0.4.0-alpha.1), or a non-release build's commit stamp (0.4.0-dev-<short hash>,
+    // -dirty appended for an uncommitted tree) — #513.
     expect(about.version).toMatch(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+(-[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?$/);
     expect(typeof about.contract_version).toBe('number');
   });