diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b4c4bb1..70c764e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -67,6 +67,56 @@ make html
 This generates both HTML files in the `_sites_/` directory. The pages are automatically deployed to GitHub Pages when changes are pushed to the main branch.
 
 
+## backfill
+
+The `backfill/` directory contains metadata files that supplement the main crawl. Each file is named
+`<org>_<repo>.json` (e.g., `launchdarkly_java-server-sdk.json`), and the filename determines which
+GitHub repo is queried for releases.
+
+There are two types of backfill files:
+
+### Old-repo backfill (default)
+
+Used when an SDK has migrated from a standalone repo to a monorepo. The backfill file references the
+**old** repo to capture historical releases that used simple unprefixed tags (e.g., `7.7.0`). The new
+monorepo's `.sdk_metadata.json` uses a `tag-prefix` to capture new releases (e.g.,
+`launchdarkly-java-server-sdk-7.8.0`).
+
+When the main crawl encounters a repo that has a backfill file, it **skips** that repo — since the
+old repo's metadata is no longer authoritative.
+
+Example (`backfill/launchdarkly_java-server-sdk.json`):
+```json
+{
+  "version": 1,
+  "sdks": {
+    "java-server-sdk": {}
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Same-repo backfill (`"same-repo": true`)
+
+Used when a repo changed its tag format (e.g., from `3.3.2` to `launchdarkly-react-client-sdk-v3.4.0`)
+without migrating to a different repo. The backfill file references the **same** repo to capture the
+old unprefixed releases, while the repo's `.sdk_metadata.json` uses a `tag-prefix` to capture the
+new prefixed releases.
+
+Setting `"same-repo": true` tells the crawl that this repo is still the canonical home for the SDK.
+The main crawl will **still process** this repo (rather than skipping it), so that full metadata and
+prefixed releases are also ingested.
+
+Example (`backfill/launchdarkly_java-core.json`):
+```json
+{
+  "same-repo": true,
+  "version": 1,
+  "sdks": {
+    "java-server-sdk": {}
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ## versioning policy
 
 The JSON products have an implicit 'v1' version at this time.
diff --git a/backfill/launchdarkly_java-core.json b/backfill/launchdarkly_java-core.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99a6774
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backfill/launchdarkly_java-core.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "same-repo": true,
+  "version": 1,
+  "sdks": {
+    "java-server-sdk": {}
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backfill/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json b/backfill/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b5d473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backfill/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "same-repo": true,
+  "version": 1,
+  "sdks": {
+    "react-client-sdk": {}
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backfill/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json b/backfill/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2584598
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backfill/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "same-repo": true,
+  "version": 1,
+  "sdks": {
+    "vue": {}
+  }
+}
diff --git a/metadata/launchdarkly_java-core.json b/metadata/launchdarkly_java-core.json
index 0d1eaa2..5828732 100644
--- a/metadata/launchdarkly_java-core.json
+++ b/metadata/launchdarkly_java-core.json
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
         "Java"
       ],
       "userAgents": ["JavaClient"],
+      "releases": {
+        "tag-prefix": "launchdarkly-java-server-sdk-"
+      },
       "features": {
         "allFlags": { "introduced": "1.0" },
         "appMetadata": { "introduced": "5.8" },
diff --git a/metadata/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json b/metadata/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json
index 1945f46..e1f7f79 100644
--- a/metadata/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json
+++ b/metadata/launchdarkly_react-client-sdk.json
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@
       "languages": [
         "JavaScript", "TypeScript"
       ],
-      "wrapperNames": ["react-client-sdk"]
+      "wrapperNames": ["react-client-sdk"],
+      "releases": {
+        "tag-prefix": "launchdarkly-react-client-sdk-"
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/metadata/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json b/metadata/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json
index 10ec582..df37f72 100644
--- a/metadata/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json
+++ b/metadata/launchdarkly_vue-client-sdk.json
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@
       "languages": [
         "JavaScript", "TypeScript"
       ],
-      "wrapperNames": ["vue-client-sdk"]
+      "wrapperNames": ["vue-client-sdk"],
+      "releases": {
+        "tag-prefix": "launchdarkly-vue-client-sdk-"
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/crawl.sh b/scripts/crawl.sh
index b97acdb..2e01a2d 100755
--- a/scripts/crawl.sh
+++ b/scripts/crawl.sh
@@ -22,20 +22,48 @@ rm -rf "$temp_dir"
 sqlite3 "$temp_db" < ./schemas/sdk_metadata.sql
 mkdir "$temp_dir"
 
+# Phase 1: Old-repo backfills. These capture releases from repositories that are
+# no longer the canonical home for an SDK (e.g. standalone repos that have been
+# merged into a monorepo). They run first so their sdk_repos entries have lower
+# rowids, which matters because generate-products.sh uses jq reduce (last writer
+# wins) to build repos.json.
 for file in ./backfill/*.json; do
+  same_repo=$(jq -r '."same-repo" // false' "$file")
+  if [ "$same_repo" = "true" ]; then
+    continue
+  fi
   repo=$(basename "$file" .json | tr '_' '/')
   echo "backfilling $repo"
+  ./tool/ingest -metadata "$file" -db "$temp_db" -repo "$repo"
+done
 
+# Phase 2: Same-repo backfills. These capture old unprefixed releases from repos
+# that have transitioned to prefixed tags but are still the canonical home for the
+# SDK. They run after old-repo backfills so their sdk_repos entries take precedence
+# in repos.json.
+for file in ./backfill/*.json; do
+  same_repo=$(jq -r '."same-repo" // false' "$file")
+  if [ "$same_repo" != "true" ]; then
+    continue
+  fi
+  repo=$(basename "$file" .json | tr '_' '/')
+  echo "backfilling $repo"
   ./tool/ingest -metadata "$file" -db "$temp_db" -repo "$repo"
 done
 
+# Phase 3: Main crawl. Fetch live metadata and prefixed releases from GitHub.
+# Repos with old-repo backfills are skipped (their metadata lives elsewhere now).
+# Repos with same-repo backfills are still crawled for metadata and new releases.
 ./scripts/repos.sh | while read -r repo; do
   echo "checking $repo"
   sanitized_repo=$(echo "$repo" | tr '/' '_')
 
   if [ -f "./backfill/$sanitized_repo.json" ]; then
-    echo "skipping $repo, it was backfilled"
-    continue
+    same_repo=$(jq -r '."same-repo" // false' "./backfill/$sanitized_repo.json")
+    if [ "$same_repo" != "true" ]; then
+      echo "skipping $repo, it was backfilled"
+      continue
+    fi
   fi
 
   metadata=$(gh api "repos/$repo/contents/.sdk_metadata.json" -q '.content') || {
diff --git a/tool/cmd/ingest/main.go b/tool/cmd/ingest/main.go
index 5705da7..e74a7a1 100644
--- a/tool/cmd/ingest/main.go
+++ b/tool/cmd/ingest/main.go
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ func insertName(tx *sql.Tx, id string, metadata *metadataV1) error {
 }
 
 func insertRepo(tx *sql.Tx, id string, repo string) error {
-	stmt, err := tx.Prepare("INSERT INTO sdk_repos (id, github) VALUES (?, ?)")
+	stmt, err := tx.Prepare("INSERT INTO sdk_repos (id, github) VALUES (?, ?) ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING")
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/tool/lib/releases/releases.go b/tool/lib/releases/releases.go
index dc0b132..6ccfe7f 100644
--- a/tool/lib/releases/releases.go
+++ b/tool/lib/releases/releases.go
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ const supportWindowYears = 1
 
 // Raw is the raw tag data returned from the github GraphQL releases query.
 type Raw struct {
-	Tag  string `graphql:"tagName"`
-	Date string `graphql:"publishedAt"`
+	Tag     string `graphql:"tagName"`
+	Date    string `graphql:"publishedAt"`
+	IsDraft bool   `graphql:"isDraft"`
 }
 
 // Parsed is the post-processed version of a Raw structure, with the version extracted and date
@@ -159,6 +160,9 @@ func Filter(releases []Raw, prefix string) ([]Parsed, error) {
 
 	var processed []Parsed
 	for _, r := range releases {
+		if r.IsDraft || r.Date == "" {
+			continue
+		}
 		if !parser.Relevant(r.Tag) {
 			continue
 		}