diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7052638..429207f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@
 All notable changes to this project are documented in this file. The format is based on
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/), and the project uses semantic versioning.
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Added
+
+- `GET /version.json` on `play.<base>`: `{"version": "<arcade.__version__>"}` with
+  `Content-Type: application/json` and `Cache-Control: no-store`, so a deploy can be verified by the
+  version it reports. It is answered on the API host only, never on a game's host, so it cannot
+  shadow a static game's own `/version.json`.
+
 ## [0.6.0] - 2026-10-03
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 326579c..d86573d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ out for a phone first, and is sent with `Cache-Control: public, max-age=60`. Set
 | `PUT` | `/api/games/<slug>/versions/<version>` | Body: a `.tar` (optionally compressed) or `.zip` holding exactly `index.html`, `game.zip`, `version.txt`. It is validated before anything is written, then stored and made current unless `?activate=false`. Responses: **201**; **409** if the version exists (versions are immutable); **401/403** on a missing or wrong token; **411** without a `Content-Length`; **413** over the size cap; **400** for a missing or extra file, a `version.txt` that disagrees with `<version>`, or a `game.zip` without tak's four assets. |
 | `POST` | `/api/games/<slug>/current` | `{"version": "…"}`: repoints the game to a stored version. This is rollback. **404** for a version not on disk. |
 | `GET` | `/api/games`, `/api/games/<slug>` | slug, title, repo, url, aliases, kind, isolation, current, versions, **plays** (page loads by people; crawlers and scripts are excluded by User-Agent). Needs no token, never shows hashes, and is readable cross-origin (`Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *`) so the portal can show play counts. |
+| `GET` | `/version.json` | `{"version": "<x.y.z>"}`: the version of arcade itself that is running (`arcade.__version__`), with `Cache-Control: no-store`, so a deploy can be verified by the version it reports. Needs no token. Answered on `play.<base>` only: on a game's host `/version.json` is the game's own path. |
 
 The token is `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, and each game's token deploys only that game. An
 unknown slug and a wrong token both get 403. The last `ARCADE_KEEP_VERSIONS` (5) versions per game
diff --git a/src/arcade/server.py b/src/arcade/server.py
index de49483..8296bcf 100644
--- a/src/arcade/server.py
+++ b/src/arcade/server.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 
   play.<base>               the upload API, and / a page listing every game
                             (or, with ARCADE_LANDING_MODE=redirect, a 302 to
-                            the portal)
+                            the portal), and /version.json: the running
+                            arcade's own version, {"version": "<x.y.z>"}
   <slug>.play.<base>        a game, served the way tak.web.serve serves one
   <alias>                   a game's old hostname (registry `aliases`)
 
@@ -394,6 +395,9 @@ def _api(self, path, read):
             if read and path in ("/", "/index.html"):
                 self._landing()
                 return
+            if read and path == "/version.json":
+                self._version()
+                return
             if read and path == "/api/games":
                 registry = arcade.registry.registry
                 self._json(200, {"games": [self._describe(game) for game in registry]}, public=True)
@@ -416,6 +420,14 @@ def _api(self, path, read):
                 return
             self._json(404, {"error": "not found"})
 
+        def _version(self):
+            # The version of the code this process is running, so a deploy can
+            # be verified by the version it reports. Only on the API host: on a
+            # game's host /version.json belongs to the game (a static site may
+            # ship its own), so it is never answered there.
+            body = json.dumps({"version": __version__}).encode("utf-8")
+            self._send(200, body, "application/json", headers=(("Cache-Control", "no-store"),))
+
         def _landing(self):
             if config.landingMode == "redirect":
                 self._send(302, b"", headers=(("Location", config.landingUrl),))
diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index 6d02788..2363b0a 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from arcade import __version__ as arcade_version
 from arcade.server import ISOLATION_HEADERS, Arcade, Config, makeServer
 from helpers import ASSETS, OTHER_SHA, OTHER_TOKEN, TOKEN, bundleFiles, game, registryText, tarBundle
 
@@ -84,6 +85,28 @@ def test_health_on_any_host(arcade):
     assert (response.status, data) == (200, b"ok\n")
 
 
+def test_the_api_host_reports_the_running_version(arcade):
+    for method in ("GET", "HEAD"):
+        response, data = request(arcade, method, API, "/version.json")
+        assert response.status == 200
+        assert response.getheader("Content-Type") == "application/json"
+        assert response.getheader("Cache-Control") == "no-store"
+        if method == "GET":
+            assert json.loads(data) == {"version": arcade_version}
+        else:
+            assert data == b""
+
+
+def test_version_json_on_a_game_host_belongs_to_the_game(arcade):
+    site = dict(_site("0.1"), **{"version.json": b'{"game": "rps"}'})
+    assert upload(arcade, slug="rps", version="0.1", body=tarBundle(site))[0].status == 201
+    response, data = request(arcade, "GET", "rps." + DOMAIN, "/version.json")
+    assert (response.status, data) == (200, b'{"game": "rps"}')
+    upload(arcade)
+    for host in (TIDEWATER, "tidewater.example.org", "nope." + DOMAIN, "localhost"):
+        assert request(arcade, "GET", host, "/version.json")[0].status == 404, host
+
+
 def test_unknown_hosts_are_404_and_still_isolated(arcade):
     for host in ("example.com", "nope." + DOMAIN, "a.b." + DOMAIN, ""):
         response, _ = request(arcade, "GET", host, "/")