diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 6c608ee..f32d9d5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -78,6 +78,34 @@ jobs:
             echo "the index has not caught up yet (attempt $attempt of 6); waiting 60s"
             sleep 60
           done
+          # ⚠️⚠️ TRANSITION: GIVE THE BOOTSTRAP THE glibc ITS BINDING NAMES.
+          #
+          # `xim:glibc`'s `latest` moved from `2.44` to `2.44.2`. A payload
+          # directory is named after the version a request RESOLVED to, while a
+          # RuntimeBinding carries the version that was DECLARED — and the xlings
+          # a released mcpp vendors into its own sandbox still declares `2.44`.
+          # So a clean machine installs `2.44.2`, the toolchain fixup asks for
+          # `2.44`, and the build stops before anything is compiled:
+          #
+          #     error: selected RuntimeBinding glibc@2.44 requires payload
+          #            '…/xpkgs/xim-x-glibc/2.44', but it is not installed
+          #
+          # ⚠️ On every NEW machine and on none that already existed, which is why
+          # it is invisible from a developer's own. Measured on `main` as readily
+          # as on any branch — the index records the same failure verbatim in
+          # `pkgs/g/glibc.lua` and states the rule it broke: "The index is DATA
+          # and the client is a PROGRAM: the consumer ships first."
+          #
+          # ⭐ REMOVE THIS once a released mcpp resolves it. `mcpp 2026.8.27.1`
+          # accepts an installed payload whose version REFINES the requested one
+          # (`payload_dir_for_version`), so a bootstrap from it needs nothing
+          # here. Until then the missing payload is simply installed.
+          if [ -x "$HOME/.mcpp/registry/bin/xlings" ]; then
+            XLINGS_HOME="$HOME/.mcpp/registry" XLINGS_NON_INTERACTIVE=1 \
+              "$HOME/.mcpp/registry/bin/xlings" install glibc@2.44 -y -g \
+              >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            echo "glibc payloads present: $(ls "$HOME/.mcpp/registry/data/xpkgs/xim-x-glibc" 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ' ')"
+          fi
           mcpp --version
           mcpp self config --mirror GLOBAL
           # ⭐⭐ CROSS-VALIDATION: BUILD THE mcpp UNDER REVIEW AND USE THAT ONE.
@@ -307,6 +335,34 @@ jobs:
             echo "the index has not caught up yet (attempt $attempt of 6); waiting 60s"
             sleep 60
           done
+          # ⚠️⚠️ TRANSITION: GIVE THE BOOTSTRAP THE glibc ITS BINDING NAMES.
+          #
+          # `xim:glibc`'s `latest` moved from `2.44` to `2.44.2`. A payload
+          # directory is named after the version a request RESOLVED to, while a
+          # RuntimeBinding carries the version that was DECLARED — and the xlings
+          # a released mcpp vendors into its own sandbox still declares `2.44`.
+          # So a clean machine installs `2.44.2`, the toolchain fixup asks for
+          # `2.44`, and the build stops before anything is compiled:
+          #
+          #     error: selected RuntimeBinding glibc@2.44 requires payload
+          #            '…/xpkgs/xim-x-glibc/2.44', but it is not installed
+          #
+          # ⚠️ On every NEW machine and on none that already existed, which is why
+          # it is invisible from a developer's own. Measured on `main` as readily
+          # as on any branch — the index records the same failure verbatim in
+          # `pkgs/g/glibc.lua` and states the rule it broke: "The index is DATA
+          # and the client is a PROGRAM: the consumer ships first."
+          #
+          # ⭐ REMOVE THIS once a released mcpp resolves it. `mcpp 2026.8.27.1`
+          # accepts an installed payload whose version REFINES the requested one
+          # (`payload_dir_for_version`), so a bootstrap from it needs nothing
+          # here. Until then the missing payload is simply installed.
+          if [ -x "$HOME/.mcpp/registry/bin/xlings" ]; then
+            XLINGS_HOME="$HOME/.mcpp/registry" XLINGS_NON_INTERACTIVE=1 \
+              "$HOME/.mcpp/registry/bin/xlings" install glibc@2.44 -y -g \
+              >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            echo "glibc payloads present: $(ls "$HOME/.mcpp/registry/data/xpkgs/xim-x-glibc" 2>/dev/null | tr '\n' ' ')"
+          fi
           mcpp --version
           mcpp self config --mirror GLOBAL
           # ⭐⭐ CROSS-VALIDATION: BUILD THE mcpp UNDER REVIEW AND USE THAT ONE.