diff --git a/scripts/registry-auth.sh b/scripts/registry-auth.sh
index 824119c63..d905dce1e 100755
--- a/scripts/registry-auth.sh
+++ b/scripts/registry-auth.sh
@@ -1,53 +1,89 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# Robust Registry Authentication Script
-# Following Mintel CI/CD Hardening Standards
+set -e
 
-# 1. Discovery
-TOKENS="${NPM_TOKEN} ${GITEA_PAT} ${MINTEL_PRIVATE_TOKEN}"
-
-VALID_TOKEN=""
+# Configuration
+REGISTRY_URL="https://git.infra.mintel.me/api/packages/mmintel/npm/"
+REGISTRY_DOMAIN="git.infra.mintel.me"
+REGISTRY_PATH="/api/packages/mmintel/npm/"
+SCOPE="@mintel"
 
 echo "🔍 Starting functional registry discovery..."
 
-for T in $TOKENS; do
-    [ -z "$T" ] && continue
-    
-    T_START="${T:0:4}"
-    T_END="${T: -4}"
-    echo "Testing token starting with '$T_START...' and ending with '...$T_END'"
-    
-    # Use Gitea API to verify token
-    # We use -k (insecure) if needed, but infra.mintel.me should have valid certs
-    STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -H "Authorization: token $T" "https://git.infra.mintel.me/api/v1/user" || echo "500")
-    
-    if [ "$STATUS" == "200" ]; then
-        VALID_TOKEN="$T"
-        echo "✅ Token verified via API"
-        break
-    else
-        echo "❌ Token rejected by API (Status: $STATUS)"
-    fi
-done
-
-# Fallback: If API verification failed, try to use NPM_TOKEN if provided
-if [ -z "$VALID_TOKEN" ] && [ -n "$NPM_TOKEN" ]; then
-    echo "⚠️ API verification failed, falling back to provided NPM_TOKEN"
-    VALID_TOKEN="$NPM_TOKEN"
+# Discover token
+token=""
+token_src=""
+if [ -n "$NPM_TOKEN" ]; then
+    token="$NPM_TOKEN"
+    token_src="NPM_TOKEN"
+elif [ -n "$GITEA_PAT" ]; then
+    token="$GITEA_PAT"
+    token_src="GITEA_PAT"
+elif [ -n "$MINTEL_PRIVATE_TOKEN" ]; then
+    token="$MINTEL_PRIVATE_TOKEN"
+    token_src="MINTEL_PRIVATE_TOKEN"
 fi
 
-if [ -z "$VALID_TOKEN" ]; then
-    echo "❌ CRITICAL: No valid registry token found in environment."
+if [ -z "$token" ]; then
+    echo "❌ No registry token found (checked NPM_TOKEN, GITEA_PAT, MINTEL_PRIVATE_TOKEN)"
     exit 1
 fi
 
-# 2. Hardened .npmrc Generation
-# Trailing slashes are CRITICAL for pnpm registry matching
+# Diagnostic: check token format
+echo "Found token from $token_src (length: ${#token})"
+
+# Check if it's base64 encoded user:pass (common in legacy npm)
+is_base64_auth=false
+if [[ "$token" =~ ^[A-Za-z0-9+/]*={0,2}$ ]] && [ ${#token} -gt 20 ]; then
+    decoded=$(echo "$token" | base64 -d 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+    if [[ "$decoded" == *":"* ]]; then
+        echo "💡 Detected base64 encoded user:pass format."
+        is_base64_auth=true
+    fi
+fi
+
+# Functional check against the registry instead of the general API
+# We test by fetching metadata for a known package
+test_pkg="@mintel/mail"
+echo "Testing registry access for $test_pkg..."
+
+if [ "$is_base64_auth" = true ]; then
+    status_code=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -H "Authorization: Basic $token" "${REGISTRY_URL}${test_pkg//\//@}")
+else
+    # Try both 'token' and 'Bearer' for Gitea compatibility
+    status_code=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -H "Authorization: token $token" "${REGISTRY_URL}${test_pkg//\//@}")
+    if [ "$status_code" -ne 200 ]; then
+        status_code=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" "${REGISTRY_URL}${test_pkg//\//@}")
+    fi
+fi
+
+if [ "$status_code" -eq 200 ]; then
+    echo "✅ Registry verification successful (Status: 200)"
+else
+    echo "❌ Registry verification failed (Status: $status_code)"
+    echo "⚠️ Proceeding with generation but installation will likely fail."
+fi
+
+# Generate .npmrc
+echo "Generating .npmrc..."
+
+# Clean up registry path for keys (no protocol, trailing slash matters)
+# We add multiple variations to be safe
 cat << EOF > .npmrc
-@mintel:registry=https://git.infra.mintel.me/api/packages/mmintel/npm/
-//git.infra.mintel.me/api/packages/mmintel/npm/:_authToken=${VALID_TOKEN}
-//git.infra.mintel.me/api/packages/mmintel/npm/:always-auth=true
-//registry.infra.mintel.me/api/packages/mmintel/npm/:_authToken=${VALID_TOKEN}
-//registry.infra.mintel.me/api/packages/mmintel/npm/:always-auth=true
+$SCOPE:registry=$REGISTRY_URL
+always-auth=true
 EOF
 
+if [ "$is_base64_auth" = true ]; then
+    echo "//${REGISTRY_DOMAIN}${REGISTRY_PATH}:_auth=$token" >> .npmrc
+    echo "//${REGISTRY_DOMAIN}${REGISTRY_PATH%/}:_auth=$token" >> .npmrc
+else
+    echo "//${REGISTRY_DOMAIN}${REGISTRY_PATH}:_authToken=$token" >> .npmrc
+    echo "//${REGISTRY_DOMAIN}${REGISTRY_PATH%/}:_authToken=$token" >> .npmrc
+fi
+
+# Add explicit registry mapping for non-scoped packages if needed (not here usually)
+# Add some extra flags for stability
+echo "progress=false" >> .npmrc
+echo "verify-store-integrity=false" >> .npmrc
+
 echo "✅ .npmrc hardened and generated."