diff --git a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/activities.ts b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/activities.ts
index 0149bd14cc..1fa7c52645 100644
--- a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/activities.ts
+++ b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/activities.ts
@@ -124,18 +124,23 @@ async function ingestOne(qx: QueryExecutor, purl: string, dispatcher?: Dispatche
     }
 
     // 429 / 5xx / network → bubble up so Temporal retries the activity with exponential backoff.
-    if (!isClientError(packumentResult.statusCode, packumentResult.kind)) {
+    // MALFORMED is permanent (a 200 body that isn't a packument — retrying won't change it),
+    // so it takes the quick-retry-then-skip path below instead of poisoning the lane forever.
+    if (
+      !isClientError(packumentResult.statusCode, packumentResult.kind) &&
+      packumentResult.kind !== 'MALFORMED'
+    ) {
       throw new Error(`Failed to fetch packument for ${name}: ${packumentResult.message}`)
     }
 
-    // 4xx → quick retry a few times (1s, 2s); give up and skip after the last attempt.
+    // 4xx/MALFORMED → quick retry a few times (1s, 2s); give up and skip after the last attempt.
     if (attempt < INGEST_4XX_ATTEMPTS) {
       await sleep(attempt * INGEST_4XX_BACKOFF_MS)
       continue
     }
     log.warn(
       { purl, statusCode: packumentResult.statusCode, kind: packumentResult.kind },
-      'npm packument 4xx after fast retries — marking scanned and skipping',
+      'npm packument 4xx/malformed after fast retries — marking scanned and skipping',
     )
     await markNpmPackageScanned(qx, purl, {
       status: 'error',
diff --git a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/fetchPackument.ts b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/fetchPackument.ts
index f5ff0bfdbd..d79fb0d6d0 100644
--- a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/fetchPackument.ts
+++ b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/fetchPackument.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,11 @@ export async function fetchPackument(
     return { kind: 'MALFORMED', message: 'invalid JSON' }
   }
 
-  if (!isPackument(json)) return { kind: 'MALFORMED', message: 'unexpected shape' }
+  if (!isPackument(json)) {
+    const stub = asUnpublishedStub(json)
+    if (stub) return stub
+    return { kind: 'MALFORMED', message: 'unexpected shape' }
+  }
   delete (json as unknown as Record<string, unknown>).readme
   return json
 }
@@ -56,3 +60,22 @@ export async function fetchPackument(
 function isPackument(v: unknown): v is Packument {
   return typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && 'name' in v && 'versions' in v && 'dist-tags' in v
 }
+
+// A fully unpublished package returns HTTP 200 with a stub document — just name + time,
+// where time.unpublished records the unpublish event; there are no versions/dist-tags keys,
+// so isPackument rejects it. Normalize the stub into an empty packument with `unpublished`
+// set, so ingest stores status='unpublished' instead of erroring on shape.
+function asUnpublishedStub(v: unknown): Packument | null {
+  if (typeof v !== 'object' || v === null) return null
+  const o = v as Record<string, unknown>
+  if (typeof o.name !== 'string' || typeof o.time !== 'object' || o.time === null) return null
+  const t = o.time as Record<string, unknown>
+  const unpublished = t.unpublished
+  if (typeof unpublished !== 'object' || unpublished === null) return null
+  if (typeof (unpublished as Record<string, unknown>).time !== 'string') return null
+  const time: Record<string, string> = {}
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(t)) {
+    if (typeof value === 'string') time[key] = value
+  }
+  return { name: o.name, 'dist-tags': {}, versions: {}, time, unpublished }
+}
diff --git a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/normalize.ts b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/normalize.ts
index f82ad38e56..8b2f2eec96 100644
--- a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/normalize.ts
+++ b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/normalize.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,33 @@ export function normalizeLicenses(packument: Packument): string[] {
   )
 }
 
+// A version's `license` field comes in several shapes: a plain SPDX string ("MIT"),
+// an object ({ type, url }), or the legacy array form ([{ type, file }, ...]). Passing those
+// raw into a text column would persist objects/arrays, so collapse every shape to a single
+// string (OR-joined for the array form) or null. Non-string or blank `type` values are dropped.
+export function versionLicense(raw: unknown): string | null {
+  if (raw == null) return null
+  if (typeof raw === 'string') return blankToNull(raw)
+  if (Array.isArray(raw)) {
+    const types = raw
+      .map((l) => (typeof l === 'string' ? blankToNull(l) : licenseType(l)))
+      .filter((t): t is string => t !== null)
+    return types.length ? types.join(' OR ') : null
+  }
+  return licenseType(raw)
+}
+
+function licenseType(v: unknown): string | null {
+  if (typeof v !== 'object' || v === null) return null
+  const type = (v as { type?: unknown }).type
+  return typeof type === 'string' ? blankToNull(type) : null
+}
+
+function blankToNull(s: string): string | null {
+  const trimmed = s.trim()
+  return trimmed || null
+}
+
 function clean(s: string): string {
   return s.replace(/[()]/g, '').trim()
 }
diff --git a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/upsertPackage.ts b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/upsertPackage.ts
index a3d5f5027c..13cfa7a851 100644
--- a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/upsertPackage.ts
+++ b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/upsertPackage.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
   normalizeLicenses,
   parseNpmName,
   stripNullBytesDeep,
+  versionLicense,
 } from './normalize'
 import type { FundingEntry, Packument } from './types'
 
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ export async function upsertPackage(
         publishedAt: time[number] ?? null,
         isLatest: number === latestVersion,
         isPrerelease: isPrerelease(number),
-        license: v.license ?? licenses[0] ?? null,
+        license: versionLicense(v.license) ?? licenses[0] ?? null,
       })),
     )
     verChanged.forEach((f) => changed.add(f))
diff --git a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/workflows.ts b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/workflows.ts
index e638aff394..4f6512d408 100644
--- a/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/workflows.ts
+++ b/services/apps/packages_worker/src/npm/workflows.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const heartbeatingActs = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
 
 // Per lane, per round. Total purls fetched per round = lanes × INGEST_PER_LANE.
 const INGEST_PER_LANE = 50
-const INGEST_ROUNDS_PER_RUN = 25
+const INGEST_ROUNDS_PER_RUN = 5
 
 interface IngestState {
   unscannedCursor: string
diff --git a/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/maintainers.ts b/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/maintainers.ts
index 6cd5680e53..43a828c08a 100644
--- a/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/maintainers.ts
+++ b/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/maintainers.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ export async function upsertNpmMaintainers(
 ): Promise<string[]> {
   const changed = new Set<string>()
 
-  for (const m of maintainers) {
+  const ordered = [...maintainers].sort((a, b) =>
+    a.username < b.username ? -1 : a.username > b.username ? 1 : 0,
+  )
+
+  for (const m of ordered) {
     const row: { changed_fields: string[] } = await qx.selectOne(
       `WITH old AS (
          SELECT display_name, email FROM maintainers WHERE ecosystem = 'npm' AND username = $(username)
@@ -50,7 +54,7 @@ export async function upsertNpmMaintainers(
   })
 
   const afterMap = new Map<string, string | null>()
-  for (const m of maintainers) {
+  for (const m of ordered) {
     const row: { maintainer_id: string } | null = await qx.selectOneOrNone(
       `INSERT INTO package_maintainers (package_id, maintainer_id, role, created_at, updated_at)
        SELECT $(packageId)::bigint, id, $(role), NOW(), NOW() FROM maintainers WHERE ecosystem = 'npm' AND username = $(username)
diff --git a/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/packages.ts b/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/packages.ts
index 4e2d5585ea..fc8f258d76 100644
--- a/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/packages.ts
+++ b/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/packages.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,11 @@ export async function upsertNpmPackage(
          dist_tags_latest        = EXCLUDED.dist_tags_latest,
          dist_tags_next          = EXCLUDED.dist_tags_next,
          dist_tags_beta          = EXCLUDED.dist_tags_beta,
-         versions_count          = EXCLUDED.versions_count,
+         -- An unpublished stub reports 0 versions; don't clobber a previously-known count
+         -- (keep it consistent with the version rows that are retained on unpublish).
+         versions_count          = CASE WHEN EXCLUDED.versions_count = 0
+                                        THEN packages.versions_count
+                                        ELSE EXCLUDED.versions_count END,
          latest_version          = EXCLUDED.latest_version,
          first_release_at        = EXCLUDED.first_release_at,
          latest_release_at       = EXCLUDED.latest_release_at,
diff --git a/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/repos.ts b/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/repos.ts
index 678bcc9532..469ce883a8 100644
--- a/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/repos.ts
+++ b/services/libs/data-access-layer/src/packages/repos.ts
@@ -5,22 +5,31 @@ export async function getOrCreateRepoByUrl(
   url: string,
   host: string,
 ): Promise<{ id: string; changedFields: string[] }> {
-  const row: { id: string; created: boolean } = await qx.selectOne(
-    `
-    WITH ins AS (
-      INSERT INTO repos (url, host) VALUES ($(url), $(host))
-      ON CONFLICT (url) DO NOTHING
-      RETURNING id
-    )
-    SELECT id::text AS id, true AS created FROM ins
-    UNION ALL
-    SELECT id::text AS id, false AS created
-      FROM repos
-     WHERE url = $(url) AND NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM ins)
-    `,
+  // Repos are shared across packages (every package in a monorepo points at one repo)
+  // so this is by far the common case
+  const existing: { id: string } | null = await qx.selectOneOrNone(
+    `SELECT id::text AS id FROM repos WHERE url = $(url)`,
+    { url },
+  )
+  if (existing) return { id: existing.id, changedFields: [] }
+
+  // Not seen yet — try to create it. ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING so a concurrent ingest lane creating
+  // the same shared repo doesn't raise a unique violation.
+  const inserted: { id: string } | null = await qx.selectOneOrNone(
+    `INSERT INTO repos (url, host) VALUES ($(url), $(host))
+     ON CONFLICT (url) DO NOTHING
+     RETURNING id::text AS id`,
     { url, host },
   )
-  return { id: row.id, changedFields: row.created ? ['repos.url', 'repos.host'] : [] }
+  if (inserted) return { id: inserted.id, changedFields: ['repos.url', 'repos.host'] }
+
+  // Lost the race: another lane committed the same url between our SELECT and INSERT, so
+  // ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING returned no row. Re-read in a fresh statement — under READ COMMITTED
+  const row: { id: string } = await qx.selectOne(
+    `SELECT id::text AS id FROM repos WHERE url = $(url)`,
+    { url },
+  )
+  return { id: row.id, changedFields: [] }
 }
 
 export async function upsertPackageRepo(