diff --git a/scripts/artifact-publish.mjs b/scripts/artifact-publish.mjs
index b23d0650..b23a85c3 100644
--- a/scripts/artifact-publish.mjs
+++ b/scripts/artifact-publish.mjs
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ const sourceStates = new Set([
   "source-present",
   "intentionally-disabled"
 ]);
-const runtimeArtifactLanePattern = /^v\d{2,}$/u;
+const runtimeArtifactLanePattern = /^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$/u;
 
 const ciArtifactIdentityEnvNames = [
   "HWLAB_CI_ARTIFACT_RUN_ID",
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ function printHelp() {
     "Commit-pinned artifact build/publish helper for controlled CI execution.",
     "",
     "options:",
-    "  --lane LANE              node or runtime lane vNN; default: node",
+    "  --lane LANE              node or a lane declared in deploy.lanes; default: node",
     `  --catalog-path PATH      default: ${defaultCatalogPath}`,
     `  --deploy-config PATH     default: ${defaultDeployPath}`,
     "  --image-tag-mode MODE    short or full; v02 uses full source commit IDs",
diff --git a/scripts/refresh-artifact-catalog.mjs b/scripts/refresh-artifact-catalog.mjs
index 957abcc0..d4ab429d 100644
--- a/scripts/refresh-artifact-catalog.mjs
+++ b/scripts/refresh-artifact-catalog.mjs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ const defaultPublishReportPath = tempReportPath("dev-artifacts.json");
 const defaultRegistryPrefix = process.env.HWLAB_DEV_REGISTRY_PREFIX || process.env.HWLAB_DEV_REGISTRY || "127.0.0.1:5000/hwlab";
 const digestPattern = /^sha256:[a-f0-9]{64}$/;
 const commitPattern = /^[a-f0-9]{7,40}$/;
-const runtimeArtifactLanePattern = /^v\d{2,}$/u;
+const runtimeArtifactLanePattern = /^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$/u;
 
 const publishReadyStatuses = new Set(["published", "reused"]);
 const v02EnvReuseRuntimeMode = "env-reuse-git-mirror-checkout";