diff --git a/SimLoop/PUBLISHING.md b/SimLoop/PUBLISHING.md
index fe2455b..81c6fcf 100644
--- a/SimLoop/PUBLISHING.md
+++ b/SimLoop/PUBLISHING.md
@@ -59,9 +59,10 @@ except where a row says it was overtaken.
 | `EnvelopeGuardrails` guardrail names | `withinBound`, `loopTimeUnderBudget` and `safeStopAtEnd` now embed their thresholds in `Guardrail.name()`. Any persisted last-best score from an earlier version will read as a different envelope in `Gate` and must be re-baselined. Non-finite and negative thresholds are now rejected at construction. |
 | `RunResult.fromRlog` | `RealOutputs/Console` and `RealOutputs/Logger/QueuedCycles` are no longer scoreable, so `keys()` and `frames()` no longer contain them. |
 
-`SimLoop/build.gradle` declares the source version. Installation snippets, the starter, agent guides
-and the site footer repeat it. Review all current-version references during a release; keep references
-to older tags where they explain compatibility or historical checks.
+`SimLoop/build.gradle` declares the source version. The documentation footer is populated from
+that value by the `docsSite` Gradle task; it is not repeated in `mkdocs.yml`. Installation snippets,
+the starter and agent guides may still contain current-version references. Review those during a release,
+and keep references to older tags where they explain compatibility or historical checks.
 
 ## Cutting a release
 
@@ -70,10 +71,11 @@ to older tags where they explain compatibility or historical checks.
    and read by people and agents who have nothing else, so a missing unit is a release defect there in a
    way it is not in an IDE.
 2. **Update the approved version** in `SimLoop/build.gradle` and its current-version references.
-   Search the root and module READMEs, `SimLoop/docs/`, `SimLoop/mkdocs.yml`, `simloop-starter/` and
-   `simloop-agents/`. Review each match rather than replacing historical tags blindly. Run
-   `./gradlew :SimLoop:docsSite`; its version check verifies the footer, and its example check verifies
-   the first-test snippet. These checks do not replace reviewing installation coordinates.
+   Search the root and module READMEs, `SimLoop/docs/`, `simloop-starter/` and `simloop-agents/`.
+   Review each match rather than replacing historical tags blindly. Run
+   `./gradlew :SimLoop:docsSite`; the generated pages take their footer version directly from Gradle,
+   and the example check verifies the first-test snippet. These checks do not replace reviewing
+   installation coordinates.
 3. **Verify the artifact locally before anyone can consume it** — the section below says how, and it is
    the part people skip.
 4. **Commit, tag, push the tag.** The tag is the version, e.g. `v0.2.0-alpha.1`.
diff --git a/SimLoop/build.gradle b/SimLoop/build.gradle
index f9b1b37..9e8b42e 100644
--- a/SimLoop/build.gradle
+++ b/SimLoop/build.gradle
@@ -374,24 +374,10 @@ tasks.named('check') {
 // Three tasks rather than one, because each of the three can fail for its own reason and a reader
 // chasing a red build should be told which one it was.
 
-// Fails if the version in mkdocs.yml and the version in this file have drifted apart. They are not
-// linked - `copyright:` in mkdocs.yml is what stamps the footer of every page - and a site claiming one
-// version while the jar beside it is another is worse than a site with no version on it at all. The file
-// is read while this build script is configured, not while the task runs, so the check survives Gradle's
-// configuration cache.
-def mkdocsConfigText = file('mkdocs.yml').text
-def declaredVersion = project.version.toString()
-tasks.register('checkDocsVersion') {
-    group = 'documentation'
-    description = 'Fails if mkdocs.yml stamps a different version than this build does.'
-    doLast {
-        if (!mkdocsConfigText.contains(declaredVersion)) {
-            throw new GradleException("mkdocs.yml never mentions version " + declaredVersion
-                    + ", so every page would stamp the wrong one in its footer. Bump the `copyright:` "
-                    + "line in this module's mkdocs.yml to match `version` in its build.gradle.")
-        }
-    }
-}
+// Pass the module's authoritative version to MkDocs. Its !ENV YAML tag resolves the footer
+// at build time, so mkdocs.yml never needs a second copy of the release version.
+def docsCopyright = "SimLoop ${project.version} · Horizon (FTC 36596) · BSD-3-Clause"
+
 
 tasks.register('checkDocExamples', Exec) {
     group = 'documentation'
@@ -405,9 +391,10 @@ tasks.register('mkdocsBuild', Exec) {
     group = 'documentation'
     description = 'Renders the markdown pages. Needs, in this directory: pip install -r docs-requirements.txt'
 
-    dependsOn 'checkDocsVersion', 'checkDocExamples'
+    dependsOn 'checkDocExamples'
 
     workingDir projectDir
+    environment 'SIMLOOP_DOCS_COPYRIGHT', docsCopyright
     commandLine 'python', '-m', 'mkdocs', 'build', '-f', 'mkdocs.yml', '--strict'
 
     doFirst {
diff --git a/SimLoop/mkdocs.yml b/SimLoop/mkdocs.yml
index f7a5568..7be7ec2 100644
--- a/SimLoop/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/SimLoop/mkdocs.yml
@@ -31,12 +31,8 @@ docs_dir: docs
 # site is never committed by accident.
 site_dir: build/docs/site
 
-# The version stamp, shown in the footer of every page so a reader always knows what they are looking at.
-#
-# This is a SECOND place the version is written; `SimLoop/build.gradle` is the authoritative one. They are
-# not linked yet, so PUBLISHING.md's release checklist lists this file as a place to bump. Wiring the two
-# together is a build change and belongs with the rest of the site build.
-copyright: "SimLoop 0.2.0-alpha.2 · Horizon (FTC 36596) · BSD-3-Clause"
+# The footer comes from the version in SimLoop/build.gradle, passed by the docsSite Gradle task.
+copyright: !ENV SIMLOOP_DOCS_COPYRIGHT
 
 theme:
   name: material