diff --git a/.github/workflows/linux-release.yml b/.github/workflows/linux-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e4b512
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/linux-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+name: Linux Release Artifacts
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      release_tag:
+        description: "Release tag to upload artifacts to (e.g. v2.4.0)"
+        required: true
+        default: "v2.4.0"
+
+jobs:
+  build-linux:
+    name: Build AppImage + .deb
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Python 3.10
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.10"
+
+      - name: Install build tools
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+          pip install build setuptools wheel
+
+      - name: Install app dependencies
+        run: pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+      - name: Build Python wheel
+        run: python -m build --wheel --no-isolation
+
+      - name: Install AppImage + .deb prerequisites
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update -qq
+          sudo apt-get install -y wget fuse libfuse2 dpkg-dev
+
+      - name: Build AppImage
+        run: |
+          bash linux/appimage/build_appimage.sh \
+            --wheel dist/vibrante_node-*.whl
+
+      - name: Build .deb package
+        run: |
+          bash linux/deb/build_deb.sh \
+            --wheel dist/vibrante_node-*.whl
+
+      - name: Resolve release tag
+        id: tag
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
+            echo "value=${{ github.event.inputs.release_tag }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            echo "value=${{ github.ref_name }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+
+      - name: Upload AppImage
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          gh release upload "${{ steps.tag.outputs.value }}" \
+            linux/build/Vibrante-Node-*-x86_64.AppImage \
+            --clobber
+
+      - name: Upload .deb
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          gh release upload "${{ steps.tag.outputs.value }}" \
+            linux/build/vibrante-node_*.deb \
+            --clobber
+
+      - name: Upload wheel
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          gh release upload "${{ steps.tag.outputs.value }}" \
+            dist/vibrante_node-*.whl \
+            --clobber
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a6e8ddd..412dc09 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -50,3 +50,9 @@ linux/build/
 # Runtime logs
 crash.log
 upload_result.json
+
+# Cached MCP / package dependencies (local dev only)
+.mcp_deps/
+
+# Temporary orchestration run reports
+tmp/
diff --git a/workflows/hou_mcp_scene_context_demo.json b/workflows/hou_mcp_scene_context_demo.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a96c6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/workflows/hou_mcp_scene_context_demo.json
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+{
+    "nodes": [
+        {
+            "instance_id": "d538ca27-24a2-4786-b480-a88328ed5306",
+            "node_id": "hou_mcp_scene_context",
+            "position": [-280.0, -80.0],
+            "parameters": {
+                "exec_in": null,
+                "exec_out": true,
+                "include_selection": true,
+                "include_assets": true,
+                "include_render": true,
+                "force_refresh": false,
+                "context": {},
+                "context_json": "",
+                "scene": {},
+                "networks": {},
+                "selection": []
+            },
+            "state": "idle"
+        },
+        {
+            "instance_id": "ce864ced-6172-4611-b522-0409084628ba",
+            "node_id": "console_print",
+            "position": [220.0, -80.0],
+            "parameters": {
+                "exec_in": null,
+                "exec_out": true,
+                "data": "",
+                "out": ""
+            },
+            "state": "idle"
+        }
+    ],
+    "connections": [
+        {
+            "id": "ecc29f87-2a4d-476c-a69d-54d2ca541999",
+            "from_node": "d538ca27-24a2-4786-b480-a88328ed5306",
+            "from_port": "exec_out",
+            "to_node": "ce864ced-6172-4611-b522-0409084628ba",
+            "to_port": "exec_in",
+            "is_exec": true
+        },
+        {
+            "id": "8b2f1c32-98f3-4a01-aa71-4166aa31786d",
+            "from_node": "d538ca27-24a2-4786-b480-a88328ed5306",
+            "from_port": "context_json",
+            "to_node": "ce864ced-6172-4611-b522-0409084628ba",
+            "to_port": "data",
+            "is_exec": false
+        }
+    ],
+    "sticky_notes": [
+        {
+            "id": "d86cbc0b-8fd2-4d8c-babd-be6fbae395e2",
+            "position": [-280.0, -210.0],
+            "size": [680.0, 110.0],
+            "text": "Demo: aggregate the live Houdini scene state via the runtime layer and print the JSON-serialised context.\n\nPrereqs: Vibrante-Node was launched from Houdini (the bridge is reachable). The output is shape-stable JSON — feed it directly into an LLM prompt.\n\nToggle force_refresh on the scene_context node to bypass the 5-second cache.",
+            "color": "#ffffcc"
+        }
+    ],
+    "backdrops": [],
+    "metadata": {
+        "name": "Houdini MCP: Scene Context Demo",
+        "description": "Tier 1 smoke graph for the AI-oriented scene context node."
+    }
+}
diff --git a/workflows/mcp_list_tools_demo.json b/workflows/mcp_list_tools_demo.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5abed58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/workflows/mcp_list_tools_demo.json
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+{
+    "nodes": [
+        {
+            "instance_id": "2ee17392-cacb-4e57-92ab-d2817996c8a6",
+            "node_id": "mcp_server_init",
+            "position": [-360.0, -80.0],
+            "parameters": {
+                "exec_in": null,
+                "exec_out": true,
+                "server_name": "everything",
+                "transport_type": "stdio",
+                "command": "npx",
+                "args": "-y, @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything",
+                "env_json": "",
+                "url": "",
+                "connected": false,
+                "server_info": {},
+                "capabilities": {}
+            },
+            "state": "idle"
+        },
+        {
+            "instance_id": "8ed659c6-c027-431a-942b-f7e1f0459d6a",
+            "node_id": "mcp_list_tools",
+            "position": [40.0, -80.0],
+            "parameters": {
+                "exec_in": null,
+                "exec_out": true,
+                "server_name": "everything",
+                "tools": [],
+                "names": [],
+                "schemas": [],
+                "count": 0
+            },
+            "state": "idle"
+        },
+        {
+            "instance_id": "12f93d2e-59c7-482c-ae5b-f3fa7305a33c",
+            "node_id": "console_print",
+            "position": [400.0, -80.0],
+            "parameters": {
+                "exec_in": null,
+                "exec_out": true,
+                "data": "",
+                "out": ""
+            },
+            "state": "idle"
+        }
+    ],
+    "connections": [
+        {
+            "id": "dc90adad-04a3-492a-9360-cd7f42b08697",
+            "from_node": "2ee17392-cacb-4e57-92ab-d2817996c8a6",
+            "from_port": "exec_out",
+            "to_node": "8ed659c6-c027-431a-942b-f7e1f0459d6a",
+            "to_port": "exec_in",
+            "is_exec": true
+        },
+        {
+            "id": "32b30ae5-c747-4f24-adb7-70f159ba08c6",
+            "from_node": "8ed659c6-c027-431a-942b-f7e1f0459d6a",
+            "from_port": "exec_out",
+            "to_node": "12f93d2e-59c7-482c-ae5b-f3fa7305a33c",
+            "to_port": "exec_in",
+            "is_exec": true
+        },
+        {
+            "id": "9cbfd9da-6465-4d8d-9e70-80782509dd96",
+            "from_node": "8ed659c6-c027-431a-942b-f7e1f0459d6a",
+            "from_port": "names",
+            "to_node": "12f93d2e-59c7-482c-ae5b-f3fa7305a33c",
+            "to_port": "data",
+            "is_exec": false
+        }
+    ],
+    "sticky_notes": [
+        {
+            "id": "6a8b449a-2dd5-4393-96db-5ec3dbf91a9c",
+            "position": [-360.0, -200.0],
+            "size": [820.0, 90.0],
+            "text": "Demo: connect to the reference MCP server (npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything), list its tools, then print their names.\n\nPrereqs: Node.js with npx on PATH, mcp Python package installed (pip install mcp). The first run will download the server package on demand.",
+            "color": "#ffffcc"
+        }
+    ],
+    "backdrops": [],
+    "metadata": {
+        "name": "MCP: List Tools Demo",
+        "description": "Tier 1 smoke graph for the generic MCP client nodes."
+    }
+}