diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc38784
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+repos:
+  - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
+    rev: v5.0.0
+    hooks:
+      - id: trailing-whitespace
+      - id: end-of-file-fixer
+      - id: check-yaml
+      - id: check-merge-conflict
+      - id: mixed-line-ending
+        args: [--fix=lf]
+
+  - repo: https://github.com/AleksaC/hadolint-py
+    rev: v2.15.1
+    hooks:
+      - id: hadolint
+
+  - repo: https://github.com/shellcheck-py/shellcheck-py
+    rev: v0.11.0.1
+    hooks:
+      - id: shellcheck
+
+  # No upstream equivalent: a distro added under distros/ but left out of a
+  # Woodpecker matrix silently never gets built.
+  - repo: local
+    hooks:
+      - id: check-distros
+        name: distros match the woodpecker matrices
+        entry: ci/check-distros.sh
+        language: system
+        pass_filenames: false
diff --git a/.woodpecker/build-matrix.yaml b/.woodpecker/build-matrix.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b956624
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.woodpecker/build-matrix.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+when:
+  - event: pull_request
+
+matrix:
+  include:
+    # One entry per distro. Adding a distro: add distros/<name>/ and one entry here.
+    - DISTRO: alma9
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: almalinux9
+      TAG_SUFFIX: alma9
+      DEFAULT: "true"
+    - DISTRO: fedora42
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: fedora42
+      TAG_SUFFIX: fedora42
+      DEFAULT: "false"
+    - DISTRO: fedora43
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: fedora43
+      TAG_SUFFIX: fedora43
+      DEFAULT: "false"
+    - DISTRO: fedora44
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: fedora44
+      TAG_SUFFIX: fedora44
+      DEFAULT: "false"
+
+steps:
+  - name: build
+    image: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/plugin-docker-buildx:latest"
+    settings:
+      # registry is what gets the internal CA into the buildkit container: the plugin
+      # writes a buildkit.toml pointing at /etc/docker/certs.d/<registry>/ca.crt only
+      # when it is set. The plugin has no buildkit_config setting.
+      registry: artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net
+      repo: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/rpmbuilder"
+      target: image
+      dry_run: true
+      build_args:
+        BASE_IMAGE_NAME: "${BASE_IMAGE_NAME}"
+        DISTRO: "${DISTRO}"
+    backend_options:
+      kubernetes:
+        serviceAccountName: default
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            memory: 1Gi
+            cpu: 1
+          limits:
+            memory: 4Gi
+            cpu: 2
diff --git a/.woodpecker/build.yaml b/.woodpecker/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f027c7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.woodpecker/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Branch protection requires ci/woodpecker/pr/build; matrix entries report build-matrix/<n>.
+when:
+  - event: pull_request
+
+depends_on:
+  - build-matrix
+
+steps:
+  - name: build
+    image: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/plugin-docker-buildx:latest"
+    commands:
+      - echo "all build-matrix entries passed"
+    backend_options:
+      kubernetes:
+        serviceAccountName: default
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            memory: 64Mi
+            cpu: 100m
+          limits:
+            memory: 128Mi
+            cpu: 250m
diff --git a/.woodpecker/docker.yaml b/.woodpecker/docker.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..963473f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.woodpecker/docker.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+when:
+  - event: tag
+    ref: refs/tags/v*
+
+matrix:
+  include:
+    # One entry per distro. Adding a distro: add distros/<name>/ and one entry here.
+    - DISTRO: alma9
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: almalinux9
+      TAG_SUFFIX: alma9
+      DEFAULT: "true"
+    - DISTRO: fedora42
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: fedora42
+      TAG_SUFFIX: fedora42
+      DEFAULT: "false"
+    - DISTRO: fedora43
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: fedora43
+      TAG_SUFFIX: fedora43
+      DEFAULT: "false"
+    - DISTRO: fedora44
+      BASE_IMAGE_NAME: fedora44
+      TAG_SUFFIX: fedora44
+      DEFAULT: "false"
+
+steps:
+  - name: docker
+    image: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/plugin-docker-buildx:latest"
+    settings:
+      # registry is what gets the internal CA into the buildkit container: the plugin
+      # writes a buildkit.toml pointing at /etc/docker/certs.d/<registry>/ca.crt only
+      # when it is set. The plugin has no buildkit_config setting.
+      registry: artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net
+      repo: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/rpmbuilder"
+      target: image
+      build_args:
+        BASE_IMAGE_NAME: "${BASE_IMAGE_NAME}"
+        DISTRO: "${DISTRO}"
+      tags:
+        - "${CI_COMMIT_TAG##v}-${TAG_SUFFIX}"
+    backend_options:
+      kubernetes:
+        serviceAccountName: default
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            memory: 1Gi
+            cpu: 1
+          limits:
+            memory: 4Gi
+            cpu: 2
+
+  # The default distro's unsuffixed tag is an alias of the image the step above just
+  # pushed, not a second build of it: imagetools create only writes a new tag reference
+  # to the existing manifest, so :<version> and :<version>-<suffix> are one digest. No
+  # daemon is involved; the internal CA is baked into this image at /etc/docker/certs.d/.
+  - name: docker-default-tag
+    image: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/plugin-docker-buildx:latest"
+    when:
+      - evaluate: 'DEFAULT == "true"'
+    environment:
+      REPO: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/rpmbuilder"
+      VERSION: "${CI_COMMIT_TAG##v}"
+      SUFFIX: "${TAG_SUFFIX}"
+    commands:
+      - 'docker buildx imagetools create -t "$REPO:$VERSION" "$REPO:$VERSION-$SUFFIX"'
+    backend_options:
+      kubernetes:
+        serviceAccountName: default
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            memory: 256Mi
+            cpu: 250m
+          limits:
+            memory: 512Mi
+            cpu: 500m
diff --git a/.woodpecker/pre-commit.yaml b/.woodpecker/pre-commit.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99db64b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.woodpecker/pre-commit.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+when:
+  - event: pull_request
+
+steps:
+  - name: pre-commit
+    image: "artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/gobuilder:0.1.0-alma9"
+    commands:
+      - uvx pre-commit run --all-files
+    backend_options:
+      kubernetes:
+        serviceAccountName: default
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            memory: 512Mi
+            cpu: 1
+          limits:
+            memory: 2Gi
+            cpu: 2
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..427924e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+ARG REGISTRY=artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal
+# The container-base release this image is built on — the one place to bump it.
+ARG BASE_VERSION=0.2.0
+ARG BASE_IMAGE_NAME=almalinux9
+
+FROM ${REGISTRY}/${BASE_IMAGE_NAME}:${BASE_VERSION} AS image
+ARG DISTRO=alma9
+
+COPY distros/${DISTRO}/ /tmp/distro/
+# DL3041: versions are pinned by the estate dnf repos, not here. SC2086: $PACKAGES is a
+# word list on purpose.
+# hadolint ignore=DL3041,SC2086
+RUN set -eux; \
+    . /tmp/distro/distro.env; \
+    dnf install -y $PACKAGES; \
+    dnf clean all; \
+    rm -rf /var/cache/dnf /tmp/distro
+CMD ["/bin/bash"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9577ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+REGISTRY := artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal
+DISTROS  := $(notdir $(wildcard distros/*))
+VERSION  ?= $(patsubst v%,%,$(or $(shell git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null),0.1.0-dev))
+
+.PHONY: build clean pre-commit patch minor major
+build: $(addprefix build-,$(DISTROS))
+clean: $(addprefix clean-,$(DISTROS))
+
+pre-commit:
+	@uvx pre-commit run --all-files
+
+# Not .PHONY: GNU make skips implicit-rule search for phony targets.
+
+build-%:
+	@set -eu; . ./distros/$*/distro.env; \
+	docker build --build-arg "BASE_IMAGE_NAME=$$BASE_IMAGE_NAME" --build-arg "DISTRO=$*" \
+	  -t "$(REGISTRY)/$$IMAGE:$(VERSION)-$$TAG_SUFFIX" .
+
+clean-%:
+	@set -eu; . ./distros/$*/distro.env; \
+	docker rmi "$(REGISTRY)/$$IMAGE:$(VERSION)-$$TAG_SUFFIX" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+_LATEST := $(shell git tag --sort=-v:refname | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$$' | head -1)
+_BASE   := $(if $(_LATEST),$(_LATEST),v0.0.0)
+_MAJ    := $(shell echo $(_BASE) | sed 's/^v//' | cut -d. -f1)
+_MIN    := $(shell echo $(_BASE) | sed 's/^v//' | cut -d. -f2)
+_PAT    := $(shell echo $(_BASE) | sed 's/^v//' | cut -d. -f3)
+
+patch:
+	@NEW=v$(_MAJ).$(_MIN).$(shell expr $(_PAT) + 1); \
+	git tag $$NEW && echo "Tagged $$NEW" && git push origin $$NEW
+
+minor:
+	@NEW=v$(_MAJ).$(shell expr $(_MIN) + 1).0; \
+	git tag $$NEW && echo "Tagged $$NEW" && git push origin $$NEW
+
+major:
+	@NEW=v$(shell expr $(_MAJ) + 1).0.0; \
+	git tag $$NEW && echo "Tagged $$NEW" && git push origin $$NEW
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c857e75..48a0fd5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,35 @@
 # container-rpmbuilder
 
-RPM build container image (rpmbuild/nfpm toolchain), built per distro, used by Woodpecker pipelines to package RPMs.
\ No newline at end of file
+The estate's RPM packaging image, built on each `container-base` distro image.
+Published as `artifactapi.k8s.syd1.au.unkin.net/docker-internal/rpmbuilder:<version>-<suffix>`;
+the default distro's build is retagged as the unsuffixed `:<version>`, so both resolve
+to one digest. Only explicit versions are published; never a floating tag.
+
+| distro | from | tag suffix | default |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| `alma9` | `docker-internal/almalinux9:<base version>` | `alma9` | yes |
+| `fedora42` | `docker-internal/fedora42:<base version>` | `fedora42` | no |
+| `fedora43` | `docker-internal/fedora43:<base version>` | `fedora43` | no |
+| `fedora44` | `docker-internal/fedora44:<base version>` | `fedora44` | no |
+
+Adds `rpm-build`, `rpmdevtools`, `rpmlint`, `rpm-sign`, `nfpm`, `envsubst` (`gettext`),
+`buildah`, `go`, `gcc` and the usual autotools/debug toolchain; see `PACKAGES` in each
+`distros/<name>/distro.env`.
+
+The `container-base` release this image builds on is `BASE_VERSION` in the `Dockerfile`.
+
+## Adding a distro
+
+1. `distros/<name>/distro.env` — `BASE_IMAGE_NAME`, `IMAGE`, `TAG_SUFFIX`, `DEFAULT`, `PACKAGES`.
+2. One `include` entry in each of `.woodpecker/{build-matrix,docker}.yaml`.
+
+The `check-distros` pre-commit hook fails if step 1 or 2 is incomplete, or if more than
+one distro claims `DEFAULT`. `.woodpecker/build.yaml` only aggregates the matrix into the
+`ci/woodpecker/pr/build` context that branch protection requires.
+
+## Make
+
+    make build          # build every distro
+    make pre-commit     # uvx pre-commit run --all-files
+    make build-alma9    # one distro
+    make patch|minor|major
diff --git a/ci/check-distros.sh b/ci/check-distros.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1095b76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/check-distros.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Every distros/<name>/ needs a complete distro.env and an entry in every Woodpecker
+# matrix, or a newly added distro silently never gets built.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+KEYS="BASE_IMAGE_NAME IMAGE TAG_SUFFIX DEFAULT PACKAGES"
+WORKFLOWS=(.woodpecker/build-matrix.yaml .woodpecker/docker.yaml)
+
+fail=0
+for d in distros/*/; do
+  n=$(basename "$d")
+  for k in $KEYS; do
+    grep -q "^${k}=" "${d}distro.env" || { echo "${d}distro.env: missing ${k}"; fail=1; }
+  done
+  for wf in "${WORKFLOWS[@]}"; do
+    grep -q "DISTRO: ${n}\$" "$wf" || { echo "${wf}: distro ${n} missing from matrix"; fail=1; }
+
+    # A matrix entry that restates a distro.env key must not drift from it — a stale
+    # BASE_IMAGE here silently overrides distro.env for every CI build.
+    while IFS='=' read -r k v; do
+      [ -n "$k" ] || continue
+      grep -q "^${k}=" "${d}distro.env" || continue
+      ev=$(sed -n "s/^${k}=//p" "${d}distro.env" | head -1 | sed 's/^"//;s/"$//')
+      [ "$v" = "$ev" ] || { echo "${wf}: matrix ${k}=\"${v}\" for ${n} disagrees with ${d}distro.env (\"${ev}\")"; fail=1; }
+    done <<EOF
+$(awk -v d="$n" '
+  $0 ~ "^[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]+DISTRO:[[:space:]]*"d"[[:space:]]*$" { inb=1; next }
+  inb && /^[[:space:]]*-/ { inb=0 }
+  inb && match($0, /^[[:space:]]+[A-Z_]+:/) {
+    k=$1; sub(/:$/,"",k)
+    v=$0; sub(/^[[:space:]]*[A-Z_]+:[[:space:]]*/,"",v); gsub(/^"|"$/,"",v)
+    print k "=" v
+  }
+' "$wf")
+EOF
+  done
+done
+
+# Exactly one distro owns the unsuffixed :<version> tag.
+defaults=$(grep -l 'DEFAULT="true"' distros/*/distro.env | wc -l)
+[ "$defaults" -eq 1 ] || { echo "expected exactly one distro with DEFAULT=\"true\", found ${defaults}"; fail=1; }
+
+exit "$fail"
diff --git a/distros/alma9/distro.env b/distros/alma9/distro.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd4c55d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distros/alma9/distro.env
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# alma9 — built on the container-base almalinux9 image
+BASE_IMAGE_NAME="almalinux9"
+IMAGE="rpmbuilder"
+TAG_SUFFIX="alma9"
+# The default distro also gets the unsuffixed :<version> tag.
+DEFAULT="true"
+
+PACKAGES="asciidoc autoconf automake binutils bison buildah byacc cmake diffstat flex gcc gcc-c++ gdb gettext glibc-devel go gzip intltool jna ltrace nfpm patchutils perl-Fedora-VSP perl-generators pesign pkgconf pkgconf-m4 pkgconf-pkg-config redhat-rpm-config rpm rpm-build rpm-sign rpmdevtools rpmlint source-highlight strace systemtap tar unzip valgrind valgrind-devel"
diff --git a/distros/fedora42/distro.env b/distros/fedora42/distro.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38705e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distros/fedora42/distro.env
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# fedora42 — built on the container-base fedora42 image
+BASE_IMAGE_NAME="fedora42"
+IMAGE="rpmbuilder"
+TAG_SUFFIX="fedora42"
+DEFAULT="false"
+
+PACKAGES="asciidoc autoconf automake binutils bison buildah byacc cmake diffstat flex gcc gcc-c++ gdb gettext glibc-devel go gzip intltool jna ltrace nfpm patchutils perl-Fedora-VSP perl-generators pesign pkgconf pkgconf-m4 pkgconf-pkg-config redhat-rpm-config rpm rpm-build rpm-sign rpmdevtools rpmlint source-highlight strace systemtap tar unzip valgrind valgrind-devel"
diff --git a/distros/fedora43/distro.env b/distros/fedora43/distro.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..538e165
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distros/fedora43/distro.env
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# fedora43 — built on the container-base fedora43 image
+BASE_IMAGE_NAME="fedora43"
+IMAGE="rpmbuilder"
+TAG_SUFFIX="fedora43"
+DEFAULT="false"
+
+PACKAGES="asciidoc autoconf automake binutils bison buildah byacc cmake diffstat flex gcc gcc-c++ gdb gettext glibc-devel go gzip intltool jna ltrace nfpm patchutils perl-Fedora-VSP perl-generators pesign pkgconf pkgconf-m4 pkgconf-pkg-config redhat-rpm-config rpm rpm-build rpm-sign rpmdevtools rpmlint source-highlight strace systemtap tar unzip valgrind valgrind-devel"
diff --git a/distros/fedora44/distro.env b/distros/fedora44/distro.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac8421b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distros/fedora44/distro.env
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# fedora44 — built on the container-base fedora44 image
+BASE_IMAGE_NAME="fedora44"
+IMAGE="rpmbuilder"
+TAG_SUFFIX="fedora44"
+DEFAULT="false"
+
+PACKAGES="asciidoc autoconf automake binutils bison buildah byacc cmake diffstat flex gcc gcc-c++ gdb gettext glibc-devel go gzip intltool jna ltrace nfpm patchutils perl-Fedora-VSP perl-generators pesign pkgconf pkgconf-m4 pkgconf-pkg-config redhat-rpm-config rpm rpm-build rpm-sign rpmdevtools rpmlint source-highlight strace systemtap tar unzip valgrind valgrind-devel"