diff --git a/scripts/hf-manifest.py b/scripts/hf-manifest.py
index ea0eea0..0dc80cb 100755
--- a/scripts/hf-manifest.py
+++ b/scripts/hf-manifest.py
@@ -4,9 +4,15 @@
 Usage: python3 scripts/hf-manifest.py <owner/repo> [outfile]
 
 Lists the repo tree via the HF API and, for each file, records the size and
-the LFS sha256 (the X-Linked-ETag header on the resolve endpoint). Non-LFS
-files (config.json, tokenizer, ...) have no LFS sha256, so they get a blank
-hash field — hf-fetch.sh then checks size only for them.
+the content sha256. LFS and Xet-backed files redirect the resolve endpoint to
+a CDN (302), whose own headers carry the truth: X-Linked-Size is the byte
+count and X-Linked-ETag is the sha256 of the file's bytes. The redirect must
+NOT be followed: on Xet-backed repos the bridge answers with ETag = the Xet
+CAS chunk-dag hash, which is NOT the content sha256 (seen on
+Qwen/Qwen3.8-Flash-Next-FP8, 2026-09-26: every shard "failed" verification
+against a hash no download could ever match). Non-LFS files (config.json,
+tokenizer, ...) are answered directly (200) and carry no 64-hex etag, so they
+get a blank hash field — hf-fetch.sh then checks size only for them.
 
 Output: one line per file, three space-separated fields:
     <filename> <size_bytes> <sha256-or-blank>
@@ -14,12 +20,13 @@ Output: one line per file, three space-separated fields:
 Token: $HF_TOKEN, else ~/.cache/huggingface/token, else the llamaswap conf
 (grep hf_...). Gated repos need a token that has been granted access.
 """
+import http.client
 import json
 import os
 import re
 import sys
-import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
+from urllib.parse import urlsplit
 
 
 def get_token():
@@ -40,11 +47,21 @@ def get_token():
 
 
 def head(url, token):
+    """HEAD via http.client, which does not follow redirects.
+
+    urllib's default opener follows the resolve endpoint's 302, and the Xet
+    bridge's ETag is the Xet CAS hash, not the content sha256 — so the 302's
+    own X-Linked-* headers must be read instead. Returns an http.client
+    response; the caller reads r.status and r.headers.
+    """
+    parts = urlsplit(url)
+    conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection(parts.netloc, timeout=30)
+    path = parts.path + (f"?{parts.query}" if parts.query else "")
     h = {"User-Agent": "hf-manifest/1.0"}
     if token:
         h["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {token}"
-    req = urllib.request.Request(url, method="HEAD", headers=h)
-    return urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30)
+    conn.request("HEAD", path, headers=h)
+    return conn.getresponse()
 
 
 def main():
@@ -54,8 +71,8 @@ def main():
     repo = sys.argv[1]
     outfile = sys.argv[2] if len(sys.argv) > 2 else None
     token = get_token()
-    # 1. List the repo tree (siblings[].rfilename). Sizes and LFS sha256s
-    # come from the resolve endpoint's HEAD (Content-Length + X-Linked-ETag);
+    # 1. List the repo tree (siblings[].rfilename). Sizes and content sha256s
+    # come from the resolve endpoint's HEAD (not followed — see head());
     # the API's siblings carry only rfilename.
     api = f"https://huggingface.co/api/models/{repo}"
     req = urllib.request.Request(
@@ -71,22 +88,30 @@ def main():
         name = s.get("rfilename", "")
         if not name or name.endswith("/"):
             continue
-        # 2. Size (Content-Length) + LFS sha256 (X-Linked-ETag) from the
-        # resolve endpoint's HEAD. Non-LFS files have no 64-hex etag, so the
-        # hash field stays blank (hf-fetch.sh checks size only for them).
+        # 2. Size + content sha256 from the resolve endpoint's HEAD, not
+        # followed (see head()). 200 = direct answer (Content-Length +
+        # ETag); 302 = LFS/Xet redirect (X-Linked-Size + X-Linked-ETag =
+        # the sha256 of the file's bytes). Non-LFS files carry no 64-hex
+        # etag, so the hash field stays blank (hf-fetch.sh then checks
+        # size only for them).
         size = 0
         sha = ""
         resolve = f"https://huggingface.co/{repo}/resolve/main/{name}"
         try:
             with head(resolve, token) as r:
-                size = int(r.headers.get("Content-Length") or 0)
-                etag = (r.headers.get("X-Linked-ETag")
-                        or r.headers.get("ETag") or "").strip('"')
+                if r.status == 404:
+                    raise FileNotFoundError(name)
+                if r.status == 200:
+                    size = int(r.headers.get("Content-Length") or 0)
+                    etag = (r.headers.get("ETag") or "").strip('"')
+                else:
+                    size = int(r.headers.get("X-Linked-Size")
+                               or r.headers.get("Content-Length") or 0)
+                    etag = (r.headers.get("X-Linked-ETag") or "").strip('"')
                 if re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{64}", etag):
                     sha = etag
-        except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
-            if e.code != 404:
-                raise
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            pass
         lines.append(f"{name} {size} {sha}")
         print(f"  {name}  {size:>12}  {sha or '(size only)'}", file=sys.stderr)