Banners show the release version via git describe

AGENTS.md

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Provisioning kit for Windows 10/11 + WSL2 Ubuntu dev machines. Bash + PowerShell
 - **Supply chain**: pinned version + in-repo SHA256 where upstream artifacts are stable (Go, nvm installer — use these as the model). Checksum mismatch = hard fail; network failure = `log_warn` and continue.
 - **Windows stays clean**: never install dev runtimes on the Windows host.
 - **verify-setup.sh is read-only** and its check count (52) is quoted in README + docs — update all three together if you add checks.
-- Version numbers live in `CHANGELOG.md` only — no version strings in script headers or banners.
+- Version numbers live in `CHANGELOG.md` and git tags only — never hardcode a version in a script header or banner. Banners show the runtime `git describe --tags` result (empty for ZIP copies), so they can't drift.
 
 ## Conventions
 

windows/stage0-winget.ps1

@@ -88,10 +88,21 @@ function Install-NerdFont {
     }
 }
 
+# Release version = latest git tag when run from a clone; empty for ZIP
+# downloads (no .git) or when git is missing. History: CHANGELOG.md / tags.
+$DevkitVersion = ""
+try {
+    $tag = git -C $PSScriptRoot describe --tags 2>$null
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0 -and $tag) { $DevkitVersion = " $tag" }
+} catch { }
+# git exits 128 when there's no repo/tags; don't let that leak as the script's
+# exit code (CI's shell wrapper ends with `exit $LASTEXITCODE`)
+$global:LASTEXITCODE = 0
+
 try {
     Clear-Host
     Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
-    Write-Host "  Windows App Bootstrap (winget)" -ForegroundColor Cyan
+    Write-Host "  Windows App Bootstrap (winget)$DevkitVersion" -ForegroundColor Cyan
     Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 
     # ----- winget must exist AND actually run -----

windows/stage1-windows.ps1

@@ -59,6 +59,17 @@ function Write-Err {
     Write-Host "   [X] $Message" -ForegroundColor Red
 }
 
+# Release version = latest git tag when run from a clone; empty for ZIP
+# downloads (no .git) or when git is missing. History: CHANGELOG.md / tags.
+$DevkitVersion = ""
+try {
+    $tag = git -C $PSScriptRoot describe --tags 2>$null
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0 -and $tag) { $DevkitVersion = " $tag" }
+} catch { }
+# git exits 128 when there's no repo/tags; don't let that leak as the script's
+# exit code (CI's shell wrapper ends with `exit $LASTEXITCODE`)
+$global:LASTEXITCODE = 0
+
 try {
 
 # ===========================================
@@ -67,7 +78,7 @@ try {
 Clear-Host
 Write-Host ""
 Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
-Write-Host "  WSL2 Development Environment" -ForegroundColor Cyan
+Write-Host "  WSL2 Development Environment$DevkitVersion" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 Write-Host "  Stage 1: Windows Configuration" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 Write-Host "  Supports: Windows 10 (2004+) & Windows 11" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan

windows/stage3-vscode.ps1

@@ -14,13 +14,24 @@ function Write-Success { param([string]$Message); Write-Host "   [OK] $Message"
 function Write-Warn { param([string]$Message); Write-Host "   [!] $Message" -ForegroundColor Yellow }
 function Write-Err { param([string]$Message); Write-Host "   [X] $Message" -ForegroundColor Red }
 
+# Release version = latest git tag when run from a clone; empty for ZIP
+# downloads (no .git) or when git is missing. History: CHANGELOG.md / tags.
+$DevkitVersion = ""
+try {
+    $tag = git -C $PSScriptRoot describe --tags 2>$null
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0 -and $tag) { $DevkitVersion = " $tag" }
+} catch { }
+# git exits 128 when there's no repo/tags; don't let that leak as the script's
+# exit code (CI's shell wrapper ends with `exit $LASTEXITCODE`)
+$global:LASTEXITCODE = 0
+
 # ===========================================
 # Header
 # ===========================================
 Clear-Host
 Write-Host ""
 Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
-Write-Host "  VSCode/Cursor Configuration" -ForegroundColor Cyan
+Write-Host "  VSCode/Cursor Configuration$DevkitVersion" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 Write-Host "  Stage 3: Extensions & Settings" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 

windows/wsl-tools.ps1

@@ -10,6 +10,17 @@ param(
 
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
+# Release version = latest git tag when run from a clone; empty for ZIP
+# downloads (no .git) or when git is missing. History: CHANGELOG.md / tags.
+$DevkitVersion = ""
+try {
+    $tag = git -C $PSScriptRoot describe --tags 2>$null
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0 -and $tag) { $DevkitVersion = " $tag" }
+} catch { }
+# git exits 128 when there's no repo/tags; don't let that leak as the script's
+# exit code (CI's shell wrapper ends with `exit $LASTEXITCODE`)
+$global:LASTEXITCODE = 0
+
 # wsl.exe's OWN subcommands (--list/--version/--status) emit UTF-16 (LE) with
 # embedded nulls. Do NOT force [Console]::OutputEncoding globally: that would also
 # mangle the UTF-8 passthrough from 'wsl -- <linux cmd>' (e.g. apt output, which
@@ -84,7 +95,7 @@ function Show-Header {
     Clear-Host
     Write-Host ""
     Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
-    Write-Host "  WSL Management Tools" -ForegroundColor Cyan
+    Write-Host "  WSL Management Tools$DevkitVersion" -ForegroundColor Cyan
     Write-Host "==========================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 }
 

wsl/stage2-ubuntu.sh

@@ -76,10 +76,14 @@ pause_enter() { $NONINTERACTIVE || read -r -p "$1" _ || true; }
 # ===========================================
 # Header
 # ===========================================
+# Release version = latest git tag when run from a clone; empty when the
+# script was copied standalone. History: CHANGELOG.md / release tags.
+DEVKIT_VERSION=$(git -C "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)" describe --tags 2>/dev/null || true)
+
 clear || true   # don't let a missing TTY (piped/CI run) abort under 'set -e'
 echo ""
 echo -e "${CYAN}==========================================${NC}"
-echo -e "${CYAN}  Ubuntu Development Environment${NC}"
+echo -e "${CYAN}  Ubuntu Development Environment${DEVKIT_VERSION:+ $DEVKIT_VERSION}${NC}"
 echo -e "${CYAN}==========================================${NC}"
 echo ""