diff --git a/.ci/build-manifest.py b/.ci/build-manifest.py
index 529bb92..16ca8b2 100644
--- a/.ci/build-manifest.py
+++ b/.ci/build-manifest.py
@@ -146,6 +146,29 @@ def parse_readme_sections(repo_root: str) -> dict:
     return out
 
 
+def screenshot_captions(repo_root: str) -> dict:
+    """Numbered captions from the readme `== Screenshots ==` block (N -> caption)."""
+    for name, body in parse_readme_sections(repo_root).items():
+        if section_key(name) == "screenshots":
+            caps = {}
+            for line in body.splitlines():
+                m = re.match(r"^\s*(\d+)\.\s+(.*\S)", line)
+                if m:
+                    caps[int(m.group(1))] = m.group(2).strip()
+            return caps
+    return {}
+
+
+def build_screenshots(urls: dict, repo_root: str) -> dict:
+    """Pair release-provided screenshot URLs {N: src} with the readme's numbered
+    captions into the WP `screenshots` field ({N: {src, caption}})."""
+    caps = screenshot_captions(repo_root)
+    return {
+        str(n): {"src": urls[str(n)], "caption": caps.get(n, "")}
+        for n in sorted(int(k) for k in urls)
+    }
+
+
 def build_sections(base: dict, repo_root: str, autogen: bool, strip_cfg) -> dict:
     resolved = {}
     # 1. curated overrides (.mu-manifest.yaml sections).
@@ -168,6 +191,8 @@ def build_sections(base: dict, repo_root: str, autogen: bool, strip_cfg) -> dict
         # 2. readme.txt == Section == blocks (the WP-native default).
         for name, body in parse_readme_sections(repo_root).items():
             key = section_key(name)
+            if key == "screenshots":
+                continue  # not a text tab — handled as the `screenshots` gallery.
             if key not in resolved:
                 resolved[key] = md_section(wporg_subheads(body), key, strip_cfg)
         # 3. changelog fallback -> CHANGELOG.md.
@@ -203,6 +228,7 @@ def main() -> None:
             sys.exit(f"build-manifest: {BASE_FILE} must be a mapping")
 
     computed = json.load(open(args.computed, encoding="utf-8"))
+    shots = computed.pop("_screenshots", None)  # {N: src} from release.sh (channel URLs)
     sections = build_sections(base, repo_root, autogen, strip_cfg)
 
     result = dict(computed)
@@ -212,6 +238,8 @@ def main() -> None:
         result[k] = v
     if sections:
         result["sections"] = sections
+    if shots:
+        result["screenshots"] = build_screenshots(shots, repo_root)
 
     with open(args.out, "w", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
         json.dump(result, fh, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)
diff --git a/.ci/release.sh b/.ci/release.sh
index fb4064c..41a0e2a 100644
--- a/.ci/release.sh
+++ b/.ci/release.sh
@@ -157,11 +157,21 @@ ICONS='{}'
 if [ -f icons/icon-256x256.png ]; then
   ICONS="$(printf '{"1x":"%s/icon-128x128.png","2x":"%s/icon-256x256.png"}' "${RAW}" "${RAW}")"
 fi
-python3 - "$NAME" "$SLUG" "$VER" "$DL" "$HOST/${CHANNEL%/*}/$SLUG" "$REQ" "$TESTED" "$RPHP" "$NOW" "$ICONS" > computed.json <<'PY'
+# screenshot images (screenshots/screenshot-N.ext) -> {N: filename}; build-manifest
+# pairs these with the readme == Screenshots == captions into the `screenshots` field.
+SHOTS='{}'
+if [ -d screenshots ]; then
+  SHOTS="$(ls screenshots 2>/dev/null | python3 -c 'import sys,re,json;print(json.dumps({m.group(1):m.group(0) for m in (re.match(r"screenshot-(\d+)\.(?:png|jpe?g|gif|webp)$",f,re.I) for f in sys.stdin.read().split()) if m}))' || echo '{}')"
+fi
+python3 - "$NAME" "$SLUG" "$VER" "$DL" "$HOST/${CHANNEL%/*}/$SLUG" "$REQ" "$TESTED" "$RPHP" "$NOW" "$ICONS" "$SHOTS" "$RAW" > computed.json <<'PY'
 import json, sys
 k = ["name","slug","version","download_url","homepage","requires","tested","requires_php","last_updated"]
 d = dict(zip(k, sys.argv[1:10]))
 d["icons"] = json.loads(sys.argv[10])
+shots = json.loads(sys.argv[11])
+if shots:
+    raw = sys.argv[12]
+    d["_screenshots"] = {n: f"{raw}/{fn}" for n, fn in shots.items()}
 json.dump(d, sys.stdout)
 PY
 
@@ -175,6 +185,7 @@ mkdir -p "_upd/${SLUG}"
 rm -f "_upd/${SLUG}"/*.zip
 cp "${ZIP}" "_upd/${SLUG}/"
 [ -d icons ] && cp icons/icon-128x128.png icons/icon-256x256.png "_upd/${SLUG}/" 2>/dev/null || true
+[ -d screenshots ] && cp screenshots/screenshot-*.* "_upd/${SLUG}/" 2>/dev/null || true
 
 ( cd _upd
   git config user.email "ci@${SSH_HOST}"