diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-packages.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-packages.yml
index 540375d..9b2563d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-packages.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-packages.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ name: Publish packages
 # request or push can start it. It needs the version-set commit of a release (`version` must equal
 # the platform version there), and the repository secret EKKLESIA_PACKAGES_PUBLISH_TOKEN, a token of
 # the dedicated publisher account with only the `write:package` scope. Packages are publicly
-# readable; publishing is what this protects.
+# readable (ADR 0054); publishing is what this protects.
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 352a936..34a77cd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,8 +68,10 @@ a curated `@ekklesia/module-sdk`, `@ekklesia/module-database`, the UI packages,
 packaging tools. They are released as one coordinated train of tarballs with a release manifest,
 and CI proves on every run that two builds of a commit are byte-identical and that a module outside
 the repository installs, builds, packages, and verifies from those artifacts alone. A manual
-workflow publishes exactly those artifacts to the public npm registry, verifying every package byte
-for byte; the first train published will be the next platform release
+workflow, the only way to publish, publishes exactly those artifacts to the npm registry and
+verifies every package byte for byte. Anyone may read and install the packages before launch
+([ADR 0054](docs/architecture/decisions/0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md)). The first train
+published will be the next platform release
 ([Releases and the public package train](docs/development/releases.md)).
 
 Phase 4A added Core-owned identity foundations: a Core-owned Better Auth database schema
diff --git a/docs/architecture/decisions/0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md b/docs/architecture/decisions/0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md
index bcc1b14..9122d3d 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/decisions/0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/decisions/0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 - Status: Accepted
 - Date: 2026-10-07
+- Superseded in part by: [0054](0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md) — only where this ADR
+  describes the package phase before launch as private, or requires authenticated package reads.
 - Extends: [0049](0049-module-package-v1.md). This is the step ADR 0049 deferred: "publishing the
   Ekklesia SDK packages for module builds outside a platform workspace". A registry is used only to
   build a module. Installing one stays registry-free: an installed package is self-contained, as ADR
diff --git a/docs/architecture/decisions/0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md b/docs/architecture/decisions/0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc23a58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/architecture/decisions/0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# 0054: Ekklesia's module-development packages are publicly readable before launch
+
+- Status: Accepted
+- Date: 2026-10-08
+- Supersedes (partial): [0053](0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md) — only where it
+  describes the package phase before launch as private: "Gitea may host the private phase", the
+  read credential for module CI in "Registry access and the private phase", and its requirement
+  that packages not be served anonymously while Ekklesia is not public. Every other part of that ADR
+  remains accepted and unchanged: the npm registry protocol, the public package set and its
+  boundaries, the curated SDK, the dependency rules, the coordinated package train, exact release
+  artifacts, standalone module builds, provider portability, supply chain and immutability, and the
+  credential handling for publishing.
+- Related: [ADR 0049](0049-module-package-v1.md)
+
+## Context
+
+ADR 0053 decided how Ekklesia's module-development packages (`@ekklesia/*`) are built, released, and
+distributed over the npm registry protocol. It assumed that the phase before Ekklesia's public
+launch would be private: module CI would carry a read credential where reads needed one, and the
+first publication had to make sure the registry would not serve the packages anonymously.
+
+Checking the chosen host before the first publication showed what keeping the packages private would
+take:
+
+- Gitea 1.27.2 decides package read access by the package **owner's** visibility, never a
+  repository's. The `River_of_Glory_Church` owner is a public organization, so its packages are
+  readable anonymously.
+- That organization's repositories, Ekklesia's source among them, are already publicly readable.
+- The instance allows self-registration, so "limited" visibility, readable by any signed-in user,
+  is readable by anyone who creates an account.
+- Private packages would therefore need a separate private package owner, plus reader accounts and
+  read tokens for every module repository, every module's CI, and every developer.
+
+The project owner has decided that Ekklesia is not secret. Its source is public; the project is
+simply not being launched or promoted yet. Hiding the packages built from that public source would
+protect nothing, and would still cost every module author an account and a token.
+
+## Decision
+
+1. **Ekklesia's module-development packages may be anonymously readable before the project's public
+   launch.** This covers the public package set of ADR 0053: search, metadata, and download.
+2. **Readability is not a launch, and promises nothing more.** Public readability does not mean:
+   - that Ekklesia has been publicly launched;
+   - that the APIs are stable beyond the project's pre-1.0 SemVer policy;
+   - that third-party production use is supported;
+   - that a marketplace or public module ecosystem exists.
+3. **Reading needs no authentication in this phase.** Installing `@ekklesia/*` needs no account,
+   reader account, read token, or authenticated install workflow. A module repository configures only
+   the scope's registry.
+4. **Publication stays authenticated and tightly controlled.** Only Ekklesia's release process
+   publishes, with one dedicated publisher credential that holds nothing beyond package write
+   access, used only by that process, as ADR 0053's credential handling for publishing already
+   requires.
+5. **Published versions stay immutable by Ekklesia policy.** A published version is never deleted or
+   republished with other bytes, whatever the registry technically allows.
+6. **The current Gitea owner is an acceptable host.** The `River_of_Glory_Church` package namespace
+   on the current Gitea may host this phase, as long as publishing permission stays restricted to
+   the publisher. No private package organization is needed.
+7. **A public launch is a separate decision.** Launching or promoting Ekklesia publicly, and anything
+   that changes for its packages then, is a product and release decision this ADR does not make.
+
+## Consequences
+
+- **Module authors and module CI need no Ekklesia credential.** The committed `.npmrc` scope mapping
+  is the whole registry configuration. ADR 0053's example of a read credential in user or CI
+  configuration is no longer needed in this phase.
+- **ADR 0053's pre-publication access check changes meaning.** It now confirms that anonymous reads
+  work as intended and that publishing is refused without the publisher's permission, rather than
+  that reads are private. The disposable-registry suite proves both, and the publication tool can
+  require an anonymous download to match each published artifact.
+- **Restricting publishing is now the whole access boundary**, so the publisher credential's scope,
+  where it is held, and who can reach it matter all the more.
+- **Making the packages private again would be a new decision.** Package names, versions, and
+  contents already published stay public, because a published version is never deleted.
+
+## Alternatives considered
+
+- **A private package organization on the same Gitea.** Rejected: it hides nothing that is not
+  already public in the source, and it requires reader accounts and tokens for every module
+  repository, its CI, and every developer.
+- **"Limited" package visibility.** Rejected: with self-registration open, anyone can read anyway,
+  while the configuration suggests otherwise.
+- **Requiring sign-in for the whole instance.** Rejected: it would also hide the public
+  repositories.
+- **Another registry for a private phase.** Unnecessary once reads are public.
diff --git a/docs/architecture/decisions/README.md b/docs/architecture/decisions/README.md
index a0d8c8e..0efa5b9 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/decisions/README.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/decisions/README.md
@@ -62,3 +62,4 @@ ADRs capture durable choices that affect more than one package or phase.
 - [0051: Module packages declare their own license and carry its text](0051-module-package-license-material.md) — Accepted
 - [0052: Reviewed license supplements cover redistributed dependencies whose packages omit required material](0052-reviewed-license-supplements.md) — Proposed
 - [0053: A module builds outside the monorepo, from Ekklesia packages published over the npm registry protocol](0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md) — Accepted
+- [0054: Ekklesia's module-development packages are publicly readable before launch](0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md) — Accepted
diff --git a/docs/development/releases.md b/docs/development/releases.md
index e1c486c..968dc31 100644
--- a/docs/development/releases.md
+++ b/docs/development/releases.md
@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@ release happens in and the public package train
 ([ADR 0053](../architecture/decisions/0053-standalone-module-development-packages.md)): how its
 artifacts are produced, what proves them, and how exactly those artifacts are published.
 
-> **The packages are publicly readable, on purpose.** Anyone can search, read, and install
-> `@ekklesia/*` from the registry with no account and no token, like any public npm package. That is
-> not a public launch: Ekklesia's source is already publicly readable, and the project is simply not
-> promoted yet. Only **publishing** is restricted, to one manual, authenticated workflow. Before
-> 1.0, the APIs may change between versions under the project's SemVer policy: a 0.x minor version
-> may break them.
+> **The packages are publicly readable, on purpose**
+> ([ADR 0054](../architecture/decisions/0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md)). Anyone can
+> search, read, and install `@ekklesia/*` from the registry with no account and no token, like any
+> public npm package. That is not a public launch: Ekklesia's source is already publicly readable,
+> and the project is simply not promoted yet. Only **publishing** is restricted, to one manual,
+> authenticated workflow. Before 1.0, the APIs may change between versions under the project's
+> SemVer policy: a 0.x minor version may break them.
 
 ## Where each step sits
 
diff --git a/docs/module-development/README.md b/docs/module-development/README.md
index e9570b0..740b94d 100644
--- a/docs/module-development/README.md
+++ b/docs/module-development/README.md
@@ -82,8 +82,10 @@ A module does not need an Ekklesia checkout. Do not clone Ekklesia and put your
 `modules/` directory: your module is its own repository, and it depends on Ekklesia's
 module-development packages like any other npm packages.
 
-The packages are **publicly readable**: installing them needs no account, no token, and no access
-to Ekklesia's Gitea. Only Ekklesia's release workflow can publish them. Point the `@ekklesia` scope at
+The packages are **publicly readable**
+([ADR 0054](../architecture/decisions/0054-public-package-reads-before-launch.md)): installing them
+needs no account, no token, and no access to Ekklesia's Gitea. That is not a public launch, and it
+promises no API stability beyond the pre-1.0 SemVer policy. Only Ekklesia's release workflow can publish them. Point the `@ekklesia` scope at
 the registry in your repository's committed `.npmrc`; that is all the configuration there is:
 
 ```ini