diff --git a/docs/runbooks/web-dashboard-rollout.md b/docs/runbooks/web-dashboard-rollout.md
index b84d4e1..9059d19 100644
--- a/docs/runbooks/web-dashboard-rollout.md
+++ b/docs/runbooks/web-dashboard-rollout.md
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ already be complete.
 The deployed binary does not require Node. For UI development, edit
 `src/web/tailwind.css`, the templates, or `src/web/static/app.js`, then run
 `npm run css` and commit the regenerated `src/web/static/app.css` alongside the
-source. CI and release preparation should run `npm run css:check` to detect
+source. The `/static/*.css|js` URLs carry a hash of the embedded assets
+(`web::ASSET_VERSION`), so a new build busts browser caches on its own — no
+hard refresh and no version bump needed. CI and release preparation should run `npm run css:check` to detect
 stylesheet drift.
 
 ```sh
diff --git a/src/web/mod.rs b/src/web/mod.rs
index a328f8e..1601081 100644
--- a/src/web/mod.rs
+++ b/src/web/mod.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ pub mod session;
 pub mod users;
 
 use std::fmt;
-use std::sync::Mutex;
+use std::sync::{LazyLock, Mutex};
 use std::time::SystemTime;
 
 use askama::Template;
@@ -204,8 +204,21 @@ pub struct Page {
     pub flash: Option<Flash>,
     pub active_nav: String,
     pub version: &'static str,
+    /// Cache-busting token for `/static/*.css|js` URLs: a content hash, so
+    /// any stylesheet or script change reaches browsers that cached the
+    /// previous build (they are served with a one-day `max-age`).
+    pub asset_version: &'static str,
 }
 
+/// First 12 hex digits of the SHA-256 over the embedded CSS and JS assets.
+pub static ASSET_VERSION: LazyLock<String> = LazyLock::new(|| {
+    let mut hasher = Sha256::new();
+    hasher.update(include_str!("static/app.css"));
+    hasher.update(include_str!("static/app.js"));
+    hasher.update(include_str!("static/theme.js"));
+    hex::encode(hasher.finalize())[..12].to_string()
+});
+
 impl Page {
     pub fn new(title: impl Into<String>, viewer: Option<Viewer>, active_nav: &str) -> Self {
         Self {
@@ -214,6 +227,7 @@ impl Page {
             flash: None,
             active_nav: active_nav.to_string(),
             version: crate::VERSION,
+            asset_version: ASSET_VERSION.as_str(),
         }
     }
 
@@ -995,6 +1009,24 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(session.status(), StatusCode::OK);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn asset_urls_carry_a_content_hash_not_the_crate_version() {
+        let page = Page::new("t", None, "latest");
+        assert_eq!(page.asset_version.len(), 12);
+        assert!(page.asset_version.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_hexdigit()));
+        assert_ne!(page.asset_version, crate::VERSION);
+        let html = ErrorTemplate {
+            page,
+            heading: "h".into(),
+            message: "m".into(),
+        }
+        .render()
+        .unwrap();
+        let expected = format!("/static/app.css?v={}", ASSET_VERSION.as_str());
+        assert!(html.contains(&expected), "{html}");
+        assert!(!html.contains(&format!("/static/app.css?v={}", crate::VERSION)));
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn static_assets_use_content_hash_etags() {
         let (_dir, state) = test_state(Config::default()).await;
diff --git a/src/web/templates/layout.html b/src/web/templates/layout.html
index 15ed82e..9f3d057 100644
--- a/src/web/templates/layout.html
+++ b/src/web/templates/layout.html
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
   <meta charset="utf-8">
   <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
   <title>{{ page.title }} · The Daily EPUB</title>
-  <script src="/static/theme.js?v={{ page.version }}"></script>
+  <script src="/static/theme.js?v={{ page.asset_version }}"></script>
   <link rel="preload" href="/static/Newsreader.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/app.css?v={{ page.version }}">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/app.css?v={{ page.asset_version }}">
   <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="The Daily EPUB" href="/feed.xml">
   <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon.svg">
 </head>
@@ -47,6 +47,6 @@
   {% match page.flash %}{% when Some with (flash) %}<div class="mx-auto max-w-7xl px-4 sm:px-6"><div class="flash {{ flash.kind }}" role="status">{{ flash.text }}</div></div>{% when None %}{% endmatch %}
   <main id="content" class="min-h-[68vh]">{% block content %}{% endblock %}</main>
   <footer class="mx-auto mt-16 flex max-w-7xl flex-wrap justify-between gap-2 border-t border-rule px-4 py-6 font-sans text-[0.72rem] uppercase tracking-[0.1em] text-muted sm:px-6"><span>The Daily EPUB</span><span>daily-epub {{ page.version }}</span></footer>
-  <script src="/static/app.js?v={{ page.version }}"></script>
+  <script src="/static/app.js?v={{ page.asset_version }}"></script>
 </body>
 </html>