diff --git a/scripts/__tests__/docs-cache.test.ts b/scripts/__tests__/docs-cache.test.ts
index ce22977..e46167c 100644
--- a/scripts/__tests__/docs-cache.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/__tests__/docs-cache.test.ts
@@ -174,6 +174,22 @@ describe('summarizeCatalog', () => {
     },
   }
 
+  /** The order `summarizeCatalog` puts these boot versions in. */
+  function publishedOrder(...versions: string[]): string[] {
+    const catalog = {
+      ...MULTI,
+      projects: {
+        boot: Object.fromEntries(
+          versions.map(v => [v, { tag: `boot-${v}`, released_at: '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z' }]),
+        ),
+      },
+    }
+    const summary = summarizeCatalog(catalog, 'boot')
+    if (summary.kind !== 'coverage')
+      throw new Error(`expected coverage, got ${summary.kind}`)
+    return summary.projects[0]?.published ?? []
+  }
+
   test('reports every project, with reserved tags kept out of the published list', () => {
     expect(summarizeCatalog(MULTI)).toEqual({
       kind: 'coverage',
@@ -206,18 +222,14 @@ describe('summarizeCatalog', () => {
   })
 
   test('orders a shorter version before the longer one it prefixes', () => {
-    const catalog = {
-      ...MULTI,
-      projects: {
-        boot: {
-          '4.0': { tag: 'boot-4.0', released_at: '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z' },
-          '4.0.8': { tag: 'boot-4.0.8', released_at: '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z' },
-          '4': { tag: 'boot-4', released_at: '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z' },
-        },
-      },
-    }
-    const summary = summarizeCatalog(catalog, 'boot')
-    expect(summary.kind === 'coverage' && summary.projects[0]?.published).toEqual(['4', '4.0', '4.0.8'])
+    expect(publishedOrder('4.0', '4.0.8', '4')).toEqual(['4', '4.0', '4.0.8'])
+  })
+
+  test('keeps comparing past a numeric tie, so a leading zero cannot hide a later difference', () => {
+    // '1.02.3' and '1.2.4' agree at the '02'/'2' chunk. Settling on that tie
+    // reported two different versions as equal and left the rest of the list
+    // in input order.
+    expect(publishedOrder('1.2.4', '1.02.3', '1.2.1')).toEqual(['1.2.1', '1.02.3', '1.2.4'])
   })
 
   test('refuses a catalog schema it does not understand, as lookupTag does', () => {
diff --git a/scripts/docs.ts b/scripts/docs.ts
index 1333a1e..03003ac 100644
--- a/scripts/docs.ts
+++ b/scripts/docs.ts
@@ -778,18 +778,24 @@ export function parseArgs(argv: string[]): ParsedArgs | { error: string } {
     else positional.push(arg)
   }
 
-  if (list) {
-    // Neither flag has anything to act on: the catalog is read fresh every
-    // time and never cached, so accepting them would promise behaviour that
-    // does not exist.
-    if (refresh || noFetch)
-      return { error: '--list takes no --refresh or --no-fetch' }
-    const [project, ...extra] = positional
-    if (extra.length > 0)
-      return { error: `unexpected argument: ${extra[0]}` }
-    return project === undefined ? { mode: 'list' } : { mode: 'list', project }
-  }
+  return list
+    ? parseList(positional, refresh || noFetch)
+    : parseResolve(positional, refresh, noFetch)
+}
+
+function parseList(positional: string[], cacheFlags: boolean): ParsedArgs | { error: string } {
+  // Neither flag has anything to act on: the catalog is read fresh every time
+  // and never cached, so accepting them would promise behaviour that does not
+  // exist.
+  if (cacheFlags)
+    return { error: '--list takes no --refresh or --no-fetch' }
+  const [project, ...extra] = positional
+  if (extra.length > 0)
+    return { error: `unexpected argument: ${extra[0]}` }
+  return project === undefined ? { mode: 'list' } : { mode: 'list', project }
+}
 
+function parseResolve(positional: string[], refresh: boolean, noFetch: boolean): ParsedArgs | { error: string } {
   const [project, version, ...extra] = positional
   if (!project)
     return { error: 'missing <project>' }
diff --git a/scripts/lib/docs-cache.ts b/scripts/lib/docs-cache.ts
index 60312be..81cc0dd 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/docs-cache.ts
+++ b/scripts/lib/docs-cache.ts
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ export function summarizeCatalog(catalog: Catalog, project?: string): CoverageRe
   if (catalog.version !== SUPPORTED_CATALOG_VERSION)
     return { kind: 'schema', found: catalog.version }
 
-  const names = Object.keys(catalog.projects).sort()
+  const names = Object.keys(catalog.projects).sort(compareCodeUnits)
   if (project !== undefined && !names.includes(project))
     return { kind: 'unknown-project', project, known: names }
 
@@ -251,6 +251,26 @@ function coverageOf(catalog: Catalog, project: string): ProjectCoverage {
   return { project, published, unpublished }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Order two strings by UTF-16 code unit — the order a bare `.sort()` implies.
+ *
+ * Code *unit*, not code point: `<` compares UTF-16 units, so a non-BMP
+ * character (stored as a surrogate pair) sorts by its leading surrogate rather
+ * than by its scalar value. Left that way on purpose. What this order has to be
+ * is reproducible, since it is asserted in tests and read by tooling, and code
+ * unit order is exactly as reproducible as code point order; a key that could
+ * expose the difference carries a character `isSafeSegment` rejects, so it
+ * never resolves to documentation whatever position it sorts into.
+ *
+ * Spelled out rather than left implicit, and deliberately not `localeCompare`,
+ * which would vary with the locale of the machine running the CLI.
+ */
+function compareCodeUnits(a: string, b: string): number {
+  if (a === b)
+    return 0
+  return a < b ? -1 : 1
+}
+
 /** Digit runs and non-digit runs, so `3.5.10` sorts after `3.5.9` rather than before it. */
 const VERSION_CHUNK_RE = /\d+|\D+/g
 
@@ -269,6 +289,12 @@ const DIGIT_CHUNK_RE = /^\d/
  * today, but that is a property of a generator in another repository, and a
  * coverage report that silently reorders itself when that generator changes is
  * worse than one that always decides for itself.
+ *
+ * Numerically equal chunks do not settle the comparison, because equal as a
+ * number is not equal as text: `1.02.3` and `1.2.4` agree at `02`/`2` and
+ * differ afterwards. Returning that 0 would call two different versions equal
+ * and stop before the chunk that separates them, so the loop carries on and a
+ * run of numeric ties falls through to the whole string.
  */
 function compareVersions(a: string, b: string): number {
   const left = a.match(VERSION_CHUNK_RE) ?? []
@@ -283,7 +309,11 @@ function compareVersions(a: string, b: string): number {
     if (x === y)
       continue
     const numeric = DIGIT_CHUNK_RE.test(x) && DIGIT_CHUNK_RE.test(y)
-    return numeric ? Number(x) - Number(y) : (x < y ? -1 : 1)
+    if (!numeric)
+      return compareCodeUnits(x, y)
+    const diff = Number(x) - Number(y)
+    if (diff !== 0)
+      return diff
   }
-  return 0
+  return compareCodeUnits(a, b)
 }
diff --git a/skills/spring-docs/scripts/docs.mjs b/skills/spring-docs/scripts/docs.mjs
index 1dcec08..f041b0a 100644
--- a/skills/spring-docs/scripts/docs.mjs
+++ b/skills/spring-docs/scripts/docs.mjs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ function parseChecksum(contents, expectedName) {
 function summarizeCatalog(catalog, project) {
   if (catalog.version !== SUPPORTED_CATALOG_VERSION)
     return { kind: "schema", found: catalog.version };
-  const names = Object.keys(catalog.projects).sort();
+  const names = Object.keys(catalog.projects).sort(compareCodeUnits);
   if (project !== undefined && !names.includes(project))
     return { kind: "unknown-project", project, known: names };
   const wanted = project === undefined ? names : [project];
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ function coverageOf(catalog, project) {
   unpublished.sort(compareVersions);
   return { project, published, unpublished };
 }
+function compareCodeUnits(a, b) {
+  if (a === b)
+    return 0;
+  return a < b ? -1 : 1;
+}
 var VERSION_CHUNK_RE = /\d+|\D+/g;
 var DIGIT_CHUNK_RE = /^\d/;
 function compareVersions(a, b) {
@@ -120,9 +125,13 @@ function compareVersions(a, b) {
     if (x === y)
       continue;
     const numeric = DIGIT_CHUNK_RE.test(x) && DIGIT_CHUNK_RE.test(y);
-    return numeric ? Number(x) - Number(y) : x < y ? -1 : 1;
+    if (!numeric)
+      return compareCodeUnits(x, y);
+    const diff = Number(x) - Number(y);
+    if (diff !== 0)
+      return diff;
   }
-  return 0;
+  return compareCodeUnits(a, b);
 }
 
 // scripts/docs.ts
@@ -436,14 +445,17 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
     else
       positional.push(arg);
   }
-  if (list) {
-    if (refresh || noFetch)
-      return { error: "--list takes no --refresh or --no-fetch" };
-    const [project, ...extra] = positional;
-    if (extra.length > 0)
-      return { error: `unexpected argument: ${extra[0]}` };
-    return project === undefined ? { mode: "list" } : { mode: "list", project };
-  }
+  return list ? parseList(positional, refresh || noFetch) : parseResolve(positional, refresh, noFetch);
+}
+function parseList(positional, cacheFlags) {
+  if (cacheFlags)
+    return { error: "--list takes no --refresh or --no-fetch" };
+  const [project, ...extra] = positional;
+  if (extra.length > 0)
+    return { error: `unexpected argument: ${extra[0]}` };
+  return project === undefined ? { mode: "list" } : { mode: "list", project };
+}
+function parseResolve(positional, refresh, noFetch) {
   const [project, version, ...extra] = positional;
   if (!project)
     return { error: "missing <project>" };