diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 717328f..dc075d7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -189,10 +189,18 @@ jobs:
           # release tag like v1.0.0 for a package whose version string
           # happens to contain "alpha"/"beta" as a substring isn't
           # mis-tagged on npm.
-          if [[ "${VERSION}" == *-alpha* ]]; then
-            npm publish --access public --tag alpha
-          elif [[ "${VERSION}" == *-beta* ]]; then
-            npm publish --access public --tag beta
+          # Any SemVer prerelease (identifier after the first "-") publishes
+          # under its own dist-tag, never "latest": alpha/beta/rc/next/... A
+          # tag like v1.1.0-rc.1 previously fell through to a bare publish and
+          # would have moved "latest" to a prerelease.
+          PRERELEASE="${VERSION#*-}"
+          if [[ "${PRERELEASE}" != "${VERSION}" ]]; then
+            DIST_TAG="${PRERELEASE%%.*}"        # 1.0.0-rc.1  -> rc
+            DIST_TAG="${DIST_TAG%%+*}"          # strip build metadata
+            DIST_TAG="$(printf '%s' "${DIST_TAG}" | tr -cd '[:alnum:]-')"
+            [[ -z "${DIST_TAG}" ]] && DIST_TAG="prerelease"
+            echo "Publishing prerelease ${VERSION} with --tag ${DIST_TAG}"
+            npm publish --access public --tag "${DIST_TAG}"
           else
             PKG_NAME=$(node -p "require('./package.json').name")
             PKG_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
@@ -288,8 +296,20 @@ jobs:
           try {
             execFileSync(binPath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: "inherit" });
           } catch (e) {
-            if (e && typeof e === "object" && "status" in e) {
-              process.exit(e.status);
+            if (e && typeof e === "object") {
+              // Normal non-zero exit: pass the code through.
+              if (typeof e.status === "number") {
+                process.exit(e.status);
+              }
+              // Signal death (SIGTERM/SIGSEGV/...): execFileSync reports
+              // status: null + signal. Exiting with e.status here becomes
+              // process.exit(null) -> 0, turning a killed process into
+              // "success" for any caller checking $?. Use the shell
+              // convention 128+signal instead (SIGTERM -> 143).
+              if (e.signal) {
+                const signum = (os.constants && os.constants.signals && os.constants.signals[e.signal]) || 0;
+                process.exit(signum ? 128 + signum : 1);
+              }
             }
             throw e;
           }
@@ -300,10 +320,18 @@ jobs:
           # release tag like v1.0.0 for a package whose version string
           # happens to contain "alpha"/"beta" as a substring isn't
           # mis-tagged on npm.
-          if [[ "${VERSION}" == *-alpha* ]]; then
-            npm publish --access public --tag alpha
-          elif [[ "${VERSION}" == *-beta* ]]; then
-            npm publish --access public --tag beta
+          # Any SemVer prerelease (identifier after the first "-") publishes
+          # under its own dist-tag, never "latest": alpha/beta/rc/next/... A
+          # tag like v1.1.0-rc.1 previously fell through to a bare publish and
+          # would have moved "latest" to a prerelease.
+          PRERELEASE="${VERSION#*-}"
+          if [[ "${PRERELEASE}" != "${VERSION}" ]]; then
+            DIST_TAG="${PRERELEASE%%.*}"        # 1.0.0-rc.1  -> rc
+            DIST_TAG="${DIST_TAG%%+*}"          # strip build metadata
+            DIST_TAG="$(printf '%s' "${DIST_TAG}" | tr -cd '[:alnum:]-')"
+            [[ -z "${DIST_TAG}" ]] && DIST_TAG="prerelease"
+            echo "Publishing prerelease ${VERSION} with --tag ${DIST_TAG}"
+            npm publish --access public --tag "${DIST_TAG}"
           else
             PKG_NAME=$(node -p "require('./package.json').name")
             PKG_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3797534..f7b4afb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ checksum = "320119579fcad9c21884f5c4861d16174d0e06250625266f50fe6898340abefa"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "agentmail-cli"
-version = "1.0.0"
+version = "1.0.1"
 dependencies = [
  "agentmail_sdk",
  "anyhow",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9607486..537d8b2 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "agentmail-cli"
-version = "1.0.0"
+version = "1.0.1"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Command-line interface for the AgentMail API. Send, receive, reply, and manage threaded email conversations from your terminal."
 license = "MIT"