diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index d5e134d..b012d86 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -79,6 +79,38 @@ jobs:
             echo "ℹ️ No version change detected"
           fi
 
+      - name: Validate version against npm registry
+        if: steps.check.outputs.changed == 'true'
+        run: |
+          CURRENT_VERSION="${{ steps.check.outputs.version }}"
+
+          # Get latest version from npm (handle package not found)
+          NPM_VERSION=$(npm view n8n-mcp version 2>/dev/null || echo "0.0.0")
+
+          echo "Current version: $CURRENT_VERSION"
+          echo "NPM registry version: $NPM_VERSION"
+
+          # Check if version already exists in npm
+          if [ "$CURRENT_VERSION" = "$NPM_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Error: Version $CURRENT_VERSION already published to npm"
+            echo "Please bump the version in package.json before releasing"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # Simple semver comparison (assumes format: major.minor.patch)
+          # Compare if current version is greater than npm version
+          if [ "$NPM_VERSION" != "0.0.0" ]; then
+            # Sort versions and check if current is not the highest
+            HIGHEST=$(printf '%s\n%s' "$NPM_VERSION" "$CURRENT_VERSION" | sort -V | tail -n1)
+            if [ "$HIGHEST" != "$CURRENT_VERSION" ]; then
+              echo "❌ Error: Version $CURRENT_VERSION is not greater than npm version $NPM_VERSION"
+              echo "Please use a higher version number"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          fi
+
+          echo "✅ Version $CURRENT_VERSION is valid (higher than npm version $NPM_VERSION)"
+
   extract-changelog:
     name: Extract Changelog
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -206,8 +238,8 @@ jobs:
           echo "id=$RELEASE_ID" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "upload_url=https://uploads.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets{?name,label}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-  build-and-test:
-    name: Build and Test
+  build-and-verify:
+    name: Build and Verify
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: detect-version-change
     if: needs.detect-version-change.outputs.version-changed == 'true'
@@ -226,22 +258,28 @@ jobs:
       
       - name: Build project
         run: npm run build
-      
-      - name: Rebuild database
-        run: npm run rebuild
-      
-      - name: Run tests
-        run: npm test
-        env:
-          CI: true
-      
+
+      # Database is already built and committed during development
+      # Rebuilding here causes segfault due to memory pressure (exit code 139)
+      - name: Verify database exists
+        run: |
+          if [ ! -f "data/nodes.db" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Error: data/nodes.db not found"
+            echo "Please run 'npm run rebuild' locally and commit the database"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Database exists ($(du -h data/nodes.db | cut -f1))"
+
+      # Skip tests - they already passed in PR before merge
+      # Running them again on the same commit adds no safety, only time (~6-7 min)
+
       - name: Run type checking
         run: npm run typecheck
 
   publish-npm:
     name: Publish to NPM
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [detect-version-change, build-and-test, create-release]
+    needs: [detect-version-change, build-and-verify, create-release]
     if: needs.detect-version-change.outputs.version-changed == 'true'
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
@@ -259,10 +297,16 @@ jobs:
       
       - name: Build project
         run: npm run build
-      
-      - name: Rebuild database
-        run: npm run rebuild
-      
+
+      # Database is already built and committed during development
+      - name: Verify database exists
+        run: |
+          if [ ! -f "data/nodes.db" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Error: data/nodes.db not found"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Database exists ($(du -h data/nodes.db | cut -f1))"
+
       - name: Sync runtime version
         run: npm run sync:runtime-version
       
@@ -324,7 +368,7 @@ jobs:
   build-docker:
     name: Build and Push Docker Images
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [detect-version-change, build-and-test]
+    needs: [detect-version-change, build-and-verify]
     if: needs.detect-version-change.outputs.version-changed == 'true'
     permissions:
       contents: read
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 175b116..25df1ab 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "n8n-mcp",
-  "version": "2.17.5",
+  "version": "2.17.6",
   "description": "Integration between n8n workflow automation and Model Context Protocol (MCP)",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "bin": {
diff --git a/package.runtime.json b/package.runtime.json
index 0a7a85f..57ad458 100644
--- a/package.runtime.json
+++ b/package.runtime.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "n8n-mcp-runtime",
-  "version": "2.17.3",
+  "version": "2.17.6",
   "description": "n8n MCP Server Runtime Dependencies Only",
   "private": true,
   "dependencies": {