diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 09abe4d..89c5a3b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@
     "scripts/openclaw-after-tool-call-messages.patch.sh",
     "scripts/setup-offload.sh",
     "hermes-plugin/",
+    "!hermes-plugin/**/__pycache__/**",
+    "!hermes-plugin/**/*.pyc",
+    "!hermes-plugin/**/tests/**",
     "openclaw.plugin.json",
     "README.md",
     "CHANGELOG.md",
diff --git a/src/package-files.test.ts b/src/package-files.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ba1548
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/package-files.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+type PackageJson = {
+  files?: string[];
+};
+
+const packageJson = JSON.parse(
+  readFileSync(new URL("../package.json", import.meta.url), "utf8"),
+) as PackageJson;
+
+describe("package files", () => {
+  it("keeps Hermes runtime while excluding Python cache and tests", () => {
+    expect(packageJson.files).toContain("hermes-plugin/");
+    expect(packageJson.files).toContain("!hermes-plugin/**/__pycache__/**");
+    expect(packageJson.files).toContain("!hermes-plugin/**/*.pyc");
+    expect(packageJson.files).toContain("!hermes-plugin/**/tests/**");
+  });
+});