--next now prefers a fast npm @next install (CLI + gateway from the Gitea registry) and falls back to source build at next if the dist-tag is unavailable. Registry lane gated to non-dev, non-explicit-ref next installs; CLI/gateway prerelease versions must share a pipeline suffix. Adds tools/install-next-lane.test.sh (wired into CI). PR-event CI 1635 fully green + review-of-record APPROVE (functional install test, head 2fd7cfc3).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
