diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 68ecd87..81b3bcf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -31,3 +31,32 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Test
         run: go test ./... -race -count=1
+
+  smoke:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@3041bf56c941b39c61721a86cd11f3bb1338122a  # v5.2.0
+        with:
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+          cache: true
+
+      - name: Build
+        run: go build -o fspeek ./cmd/fspeek
+
+      - name: Version flag prints fspeek dev
+        run: |
+          output=$(./fspeek --version)
+          echo "Got: $output"
+          echo "$output" | grep -qE "^fspeek (dev|v?[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)"
+
+      - name: No URL exits non-zero with usage
+        run: |
+          if output=$(./fspeek 2>&1); then
+            echo "Expected non-zero exit when no --url given"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "$output" | grep -q "\-\-url"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/release-smoke.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5066952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-smoke.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+name: Release Smoke
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+
+jobs:
+  install-smoke:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    container: golang:1.26.2-trixie
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Install fspeek
+        env:
+          TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+        run: go install github.com/steadyfall/fspeek/cmd/fspeek@"$TAG"
+
+      - name: Version flag prints release version
+        run: |
+          output=$(fspeek --version)
+          echo "Got: $output"
+          echo "$output" | grep -qE "^fspeek v?[0-9]+\.[0-9]+"
+
+      - name: No URL exits non-zero with usage
+        run: |
+          if output=$(fspeek 2>&1); then
+            echo "Expected non-zero exit when no --url given"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "$output" | grep -q "\-\-url"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b9c727f..ef22edb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,18 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
+## [0.2.3.0] - 2026-04-20
+
+### Added
+
+- **Smoke tests** — two CI smoke jobs verify the binary works after every build. The `smoke` job in `ci.yml` builds from source and checks that `--version` prints a recognizable version and that running with no `--url` exits non-zero with usage output. A new `release-smoke.yml` workflow triggers on every GitHub release publication: it enters a `golang:1.26.2-trixie` container, installs fspeek via `go install`, and runs the same checks to confirm the released module is installable and functional end-to-end.
+
+### Changed
+
+- No-URL smoke check now captures output on the first invocation and greps that, avoiding a redundant second binary run.
+- Release smoke install step assigns `github.ref_name` to an env var before shell expansion.
+- Release smoke version check no longer accepts `dev` — a release binary must print a real version string.
+
 ## [0.2.2.0] - 2026-04-19
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 68cc747..517717a 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.2.2.0
+0.2.3.0