diff --git a/cmd/ninja/cmd/plugin.go b/cmd/ninja/cmd/plugin.go
index 8979e30..0b9a656 100644
--- a/cmd/ninja/cmd/plugin.go
+++ b/cmd/ninja/cmd/plugin.go
@@ -679,9 +679,10 @@ func newPluginPublishCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var channel string
 	var strict bool
 	var privateFlag bool
+	var bnpFile string
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "publish",
-		Short: "Build a source archive and publish a new version to the registry",
+		Short: "Publish a new version to the registry (source archive, or a prebuilt .bnp via --bnp)",
 		RunE: func(c *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 			host, _ := c.Flags().GetString("host")
 			cr, err := creds.Load()
@@ -751,9 +752,27 @@ func newPluginPublishCmd() *cobra.Command {
 				return err
 			}
 
-			archiveBytes, err := archive.BuildSourceArchive(".")
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("build archive: %w", err)
+			// WO-WZ-011: --bnp <file> uploads a prebuilt wasm artifact (from
+			// `ninja plugin build`) instead of a source archive. The orchestrator
+			// verifies the .bnp layout/ABI/name/version server-side and records
+			// its abi_version. Without --bnp, publish keeps shipping a source
+			// archive (compiled in-container by the CMS reconciler) for
+			// backwards compatibility until the CMS install path is wasm-native.
+			var (
+				archiveBytes []byte
+				artifactKind = "source archive"
+			)
+			if bnpFile != "" {
+				archiveBytes, err = os.ReadFile(bnpFile)
+				if err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("read --bnp file: %w", err)
+				}
+				artifactKind = ".bnp artifact"
+			} else {
+				archiveBytes, err = archive.BuildSourceArchive(".")
+				if err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("build archive: %w", err)
+				}
 			}
 
 			ctx := context.Background()
@@ -784,7 +803,7 @@ func newPluginPublishCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("publish: %w", err)
 			}
-			fmt.Printf("Published %s (%d bytes)\n", mod.Coords(), len(archiveBytes))
+			fmt.Printf("Published %s (%s, %d bytes)\n", mod.Coords(), artifactKind, len(archiveBytes))
 			for _, w := range pubResp.Msg.Warnings {
 				fmt.Printf("  warning: %s\n", w)
 			}
@@ -794,6 +813,7 @@ func newPluginPublishCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&channel, "channel", "latest", "Channel to point at this version")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&strict, "strict", false, "Fail if the working tree is dirty (default: ship dirty trees via stash-create)")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&privateFlag, "private", false, "Publish as a private plugin under your active account's @private namespace")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&bnpFile, "bnp", "", "Upload a prebuilt .bnp wasm artifact (from `ninja plugin build`) instead of a source archive")
 	return cmd
 }