diff --git a/api/services/forge_projection.py b/api/services/forge_projection.py
index ef4735b..b503c78 100644
--- a/api/services/forge_projection.py
+++ b/api/services/forge_projection.py
@@ -680,12 +680,34 @@ async def reset_repository_projection(
         ).scalars()
     )
 
+    # Release identifiers held by rows retired before retirement freed them.
+    # This runs here, ahead of every refusal path, because it completes a
+    # decision already taken rather than making a new one — gating it behind an
+    # unrelated pending decision left four identifiers locked in repositories
+    # that refuse for reasons having nothing to do with them.
+    for r in rows:
+        if r.projection_retired_at is not None and RETIRED_SLUG_MARK not in (r.slug or ""):
+            before = r.slug
+            r.slug = _tombstone_slug(r.slug or str(r.id), r.projection_retired_at)
+            outcome.released.append(before)
+
     want = {w.record_id.strip().lower(): w for w in derived.workplans}
     want_paths = {_path_key(w.relative_path): k for k, w in want.items()}
 
+    # The derived UUID is the strongest key there is: if a row's id equals
+    # uuid5 of a wanted record's identifier, that row *is* that record, whatever
+    # its slug says. Checking it first is what stops a correct record with a
+    # legacy title slug — `testdrive-jsui-publication` for MARKITECT-WP-0002 —
+    # from being read as a re-key and proposed for retirement.
+    want_by_uuid = {w.uuid: k for k, w in want.items()}
+
     matched: dict[str, Any] = {}
     for row in rows:
         key = (row.slug or "").strip().lower()
+        by_uuid = want_by_uuid.get(str(row.id))
+        if by_uuid is not None:
+            matched[by_uuid] = row
+            continue
         if key not in want:
             if _identity_is_derived(row) or _slug_is_identifier(row.slug or ""):
                 # ADR-007: a record identified by an identifier *is* that
@@ -889,16 +911,6 @@ async def reset_repository_projection(
         if changed:
             outcome.updated.append(w.record_id)
 
-    # Rows retired before retirement released identifiers still hold theirs, and
-    # `stale` excludes anything already retired — so nothing would ever revisit
-    # them. Completing a decision already taken is not a new retirement, so this
-    # runs without acknowledgement and is reported on its own.
-    for r in rows:
-        if r.projection_retired_at is not None and RETIRED_SLUG_MARK not in (r.slug or ""):
-            before = r.slug
-            r.slug = _tombstone_slug(r.slug or str(r.id), r.projection_retired_at)
-            outcome.released.append(before)
-
     for r in stale:
         outcome.retired.append(r.slug or str(r.id))
         r.projection_retired_at = now
@@ -980,7 +992,11 @@ async def reset_fleet_projection(
                     acknowledge_retirements=acknowledge_retirements,
                     forge_base=forge_base,
                 )
-                if result.status == "applied":
+                # A released identifier is a repair that stands on its own, so
+                # it must survive a refusal in the same repository — otherwise
+                # moving the release ahead of the refusal returns achieves
+                # nothing and the rollback quietly undoes it.
+                if result.status == "applied" or result.released:
                     await session.commit()
                 else:
                     await session.rollback()
diff --git a/tests/test_forge_projection.py b/tests/test_forge_projection.py
index b9fced9..32eca8d 100644
--- a/tests/test_forge_projection.py
+++ b/tests/test_forge_projection.py
@@ -809,3 +809,39 @@ class TestRetirementReleasesTheIdentifier:
             "repo-wp-0001@retired-20260828", datetime(2026, 8, 28, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
         )
         assert fp.RETIRED_SLUG_MARK in row.slug
+
+    def test_a_release_is_committed_even_when_the_repo_refuses(self):
+        """The fleet driver commits only on `applied` and rolls back otherwise.
+
+        Moving the release ahead of the refusal returns achieves nothing if the
+        rollback then discards it — which is the state railiance-cluster and
+        inter-hub were in.
+        """
+        import inspect
+        src = inspect.getsource(fp.reset_fleet_projection)
+        assert 'result.status == "applied" or result.released' in src
+
+
+class TestUuidMatchWins:
+    """A row whose UUID is uuid5 of the identifier IS that record.
+
+    `testdrive-jsui-publication` and `three-phoenix-ha-cluster` carry legacy
+    title slugs while their UUIDs are derived from MARKITECT-WP-0002 and
+    RCLUSTER-WP-0007. The slug-identifier rule alone reads them as re-keys and
+    proposes retiring records that were correct all along.
+    """
+
+    def test_a_title_slugged_row_is_still_its_derived_record(self):
+        import uuid as _u
+        rid = "MARKITECT-WP-0002"
+        row_id = _u.UUID(fp.derived_record_uuid(rid))
+        # The slug says one thing, the UUID says another; the UUID is identity.
+        assert not fp._slug_is_identifier("testdrive-jsui-publication")
+        assert str(row_id) == fp.derived_record_uuid(rid)
+
+    def test_uuid_match_is_checked_before_the_rekey_rules(self):
+        import inspect
+        src = inspect.getsource(fp.reset_repository_projection)
+        uuid_at = src.index("want_by_uuid.get(str(row.id))")
+        rekey_at = src.index("_identity_is_derived(row) or _slug_is_identifier")
+        assert uuid_at < rekey_at, "UUID match must precede the re-key heuristics"