diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 517bd93..fd13084 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,7 +6,15 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project follows [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html)
 where applicable.
 
-## Unreleased
+## 1.2.0 - 2026-10-01
+
+### Added
+
+- `EncoreEntrypointsLoader::fromFile()` validates local manifests, including
+  extensions, traversal and symlink confinement, while preserving valid entries
+  when optional entries are broken.
+- `EncoreEntrypointsLoader::editorStyles()` and `SmallStyleConfigurator` share
+  editor stylesheet discovery and opt-in inlining of small hashed CSS files.
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/docs/theme-entrypoints.md b/docs/theme-entrypoints.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e57a181
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/theme-entrypoints.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Local theme entrypoints
+
+`EncoreEntrypointsLoader::fromFile($manifest)` reads and validates an Encore
+manifest before building assets. Each entry is validated independently: invalid
+optional editor files do not discard a valid frontend entry. Missing/broken
+manifests return an empty asset list. CSS and JS entries must have their matching
+extension; files must be readable and remain inside the manifest directory after
+canonicalization. Absolute paths, remote URLs, traversal and escaping symlinks
+are rejected. The existing general-purpose `load()` API remains unchanged.
+
+```php
+$loader = (new EncoreEntrypointsLoader())->withDirectoryUrl($themeUrl . '/build/');
+$inline = new SmallStyleConfigurator(new FilesystemPathPolicy([$themePath . '/build']));
+foreach ($loader->fromFile($themePath . '/build/entrypoints.json') as $asset) {
+    $inline->configure($asset);
+    $manager->register($asset);
+}
+foreach ($loader->editorStyles($themePath . '/build/entrypoints.json', 'theme-editor') as $css) {
+    add_editor_style($css);
+}
+```
+
+`editorStyles()` returns relative CSS paths, prefixed with `build/` by default;
+the prefix is configurable. Select only the frontend entry handles before
+registering assets if the manifest also contains editor entries.
+
+`SmallStyleConfigurator` is opt-in and implements `AssetConfiguratorInterface`.
+It only configures CSS filenames containing a hexadecimal hash of at least eight
+characters. Files must be within the supplied path policy, no larger than 16 KiB
+(configurable), and contain neither `url()` nor `@import`. Existing inline-content
+and filesystem policies still apply when WordPress outputs the asset. The helper
+has no kernel dependency and works in standalone WordPress.
diff --git a/src/Loader/EncoreEntrypointsLoader.php b/src/Loader/EncoreEntrypointsLoader.php
index ca59eb3..1b08534 100644
--- a/src/Loader/EncoreEntrypointsLoader.php
+++ b/src/Loader/EncoreEntrypointsLoader.php
@@ -13,6 +13,26 @@
  */
 class EncoreEntrypointsLoader extends AbstractWebpackLoader implements LoaderInterface
 {
+    /**
+     * Load local files only, confined to the manifest directory.
+     *
+     * @return array<Asset>
+     */
+    public function fromFile(string $file): array
+    {
+        $entries = EncoreManifest::read($file);
+        return $entries === null ? [] : $this->loadFromArray(['entrypoints' => $entries], $file);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return list<string>
+     */
+    public function editorStyles(string $file, string $entry, string $prefix = 'build/'): array
+    {
+        $entries = EncoreManifest::read($file);
+        return array_map(static fn (string $css): string => $prefix . preg_replace('~^\\./~', '', $css), $entries[$entry]['css'] ?? []);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Load an already decoded and validated Encore manifest without reading it again.
      * The resource path anchors relative asset paths; the manifest need not exist.
@@ -33,7 +53,9 @@ public function loadFromArray(array $data, string $resource): array
     protected function parseData(array $data, string $resource): array
     {
         $directory = Path::getDirectory($resource);
-        /** @var array{entrypoints:array{css?:array<string>, js?:array<string>}} $data */
+        /**
+     * @var array{entrypoints:array{css?:array<string>, js?:array<string>}} $data
+     */
         $data = $data['entrypoints'] ?? [];
 
         $assets = [];
diff --git a/src/Loader/EncoreManifest.php b/src/Loader/EncoreManifest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d0a811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Loader/EncoreManifest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SymPress\Assets\Loader;
+
+use SymPress\Assets\Security\FilesystemPathPolicy;
+
+final class EncoreManifest
+{
+    /**
+     * @return array<string, array<string, list<string>>>|null
+     */
+    public static function read(string $file): ?array
+    {
+        if (!is_readable($file)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        $contents = file_get_contents($file);
+        if ($contents === false) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        try {
+            $manifest = json_decode($contents, true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);
+        } catch (\JsonException) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        $entries = is_array($manifest) ? ($manifest['entrypoints'] ?? null) : null;
+        if (!is_array($entries)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        $valid = [];
+        foreach ($entries as $name => $entry) {
+            if (!is_string($name) || !is_array($entry)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            $assets = [];
+            foreach (['css', 'js'] as $type) {
+                if (!isset($entry[$type])) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if (!self::validFiles($entry[$type], dirname($file), $type)) {
+                    continue 2;
+                }
+                $assets[$type] = $entry[$type];
+            }
+            if (array_filter($assets) === []) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            $valid[$name] = $assets;
+        }
+        return $valid === [] ? null : $valid;
+    }
+
+    /** @phpstan-assert-if-true list<string> $files */
+    private static function validFiles(mixed $files, string $directory, string $type): bool
+    {
+        if (!is_array($files) || !array_is_list($files)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        foreach ($files as $asset) {
+            if (
+                !is_string($asset) || !preg_match('~^(?:\./)?(?:[a-zA-Z0-9_-][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*/)*[a-zA-Z0-9_-][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*\.(?:css|js)$~', $asset)
+                || pathinfo($asset, PATHINFO_EXTENSION) !== $type
+                || !is_readable($directory . '/' . $asset)
+                || !(new FilesystemPathPolicy([$directory]))->allowsPath($directory . '/' . $asset)
+            ) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/SmallStyleConfigurator.php b/src/SmallStyleConfigurator.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fde3883
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SmallStyleConfigurator.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SymPress\Assets;
+
+use SymPress\Assets\Security\FilesystemPathPolicy;
+
+/** Opt-in standalone configurator; the existing inline policy remains authoritative at output time. */
+final readonly class SmallStyleConfigurator implements AssetConfiguratorInterface
+{
+    public function __construct(private FilesystemPathPolicy $paths, private int $maxBytes = 16_384)
+    {
+    }
+
+    public function supports(Asset $asset): bool
+    {
+        return $asset instanceof Style;
+    }
+
+    public function configure(Asset $asset): Asset
+    {
+        if (!$asset instanceof Style) {
+            return $asset;
+        }
+        $path = $asset->filePath();
+        if (!$this->paths->allowsPath($path) || !preg_match('/\.[a-f0-9]{8,}\.css$/', $path) || !is_readable($path) || filesize($path) > $this->maxBytes) {
+            return $asset;
+        }
+        $css = file_get_contents($path);
+        if ($css !== false && !preg_match('/\burl\s*\(|@import\b/i', $css)) {
+            $asset->useInlineFilter();
+        }
+        return $asset;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/Unit/Loader/EncoreManifestTest.php b/tests/phpunit/Unit/Loader/EncoreManifestTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2545778
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/phpunit/Unit/Loader/EncoreManifestTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SymPress\Assets\Tests\Unit\Loader;
+
+use SymPress\Assets\Loader\EncoreEntrypointsLoader;
+use SymPress\Assets\Loader\EncoreManifest;
+use SymPress\Assets\Security\FilesystemPathPolicy;
+use SymPress\Assets\SmallStyleConfigurator;
+use SymPress\Assets\Style;
+use SymPress\Assets\Tests\Unit\AbstractTestCase;
+
+final class EncoreManifestTest extends AbstractTestCase
+{
+    private string $directory;
+
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+        $this->directory = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/sympress-manifest-' . bin2hex(random_bytes(6));
+        mkdir($this->directory);
+        mkdir($this->directory . '/build');
+        file_put_contents($this->directory . '/build/app.12345678.css', 'body{color:red}');
+        file_put_contents($this->directory . '/outside.css', 'body{color:blue}');
+    }
+
+    protected function tearDown(): void
+    {
+        foreach (glob($this->directory . '/build/*') ?: [] as $file) {
+            unlink($file);
+        }
+        rmdir($this->directory . '/build');
+        unlink($this->directory . '/outside.css');
+        rmdir($this->directory);
+        parent::tearDown();
+    }
+
+    public function testUnsafeOptionalEntriesDoNotDisableValidFrontendAssets(): void
+    {
+        symlink($this->directory . '/outside.css', $this->directory . '/build/link.css');
+        $file = $this->directory . '/build/entrypoints.json';
+        file_put_contents($file, json_encode([
+        'entrypoints' => [
+            'app' => ['css' => ['app.12345678.css']],
+            'traversal' => ['css' => ['../outside.css']],
+            'symlink' => ['css' => ['link.css']],
+            'wrong-type' => ['js' => ['app.12345678.css']],
+            'missing-editor' => ['css' => ['missing.css']],
+            'remote' => ['css' => ['https://example.test/outside.css']],
+        ],
+        ], JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR));
+        self::assertSame(['app'], array_keys(EncoreManifest::read($file) ?? []));
+        $loader = (new EncoreEntrypointsLoader())->withDirectoryUrl('https://example.test/build/');
+        $assets = $loader->fromFile($file);
+        self::assertCount(1, $assets);
+        self::assertSame('https://example.test/build/app.12345678.css', $assets[0]->url());
+        self::assertSame(['build/app.12345678.css'], $loader->editorStyles($file, 'app'));
+        self::assertSame([], $loader->editorStyles($file, 'missing-editor'));
+    }
+
+    public function testBrokenManifestReturnsNoAssets(): void
+    {
+        $file = $this->directory . '/build/entrypoints.json';
+        $loader = new EncoreEntrypointsLoader();
+        self::assertSame([], $loader->fromFile($file));
+        foreach (['null', '{}', '{broken', '{"entrypoints":false}'] as $json) {
+            file_put_contents($file, $json);
+            self::assertSame([], $loader->fromFile($file));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function testInliningRequiresHashSmallFileAndSafeDirectory(): void
+    {
+        $file = $this->directory . '/build/app.12345678.css';
+        $configurator = new SmallStyleConfigurator(new FilesystemPathPolicy([$this->directory . '/build']));
+        $style = (new Style('app', '/app.css'))->withFilePath($file);
+        $configurator->configure($style);
+        self::assertNotEmpty($style->filters());
+        file_put_contents($file, 'body{background:url(image.png)}');
+        $external = (new Style('external', '/app.css'))->withFilePath($file);
+        $configurator->configure($external);
+        self::assertSame([], $external->filters());
+        $outside = (new Style('outside', '/outside.css'))->withFilePath($this->directory . '/outside.css');
+        $configurator->configure($outside);
+        self::assertSame([], $outside->filters());
+    }
+}