diff --git a/tools/create_release.py b/tools/create_release.py
index d3f07e8..12a1949 100755
--- a/tools/create_release.py
+++ b/tools/create_release.py
@@ -146,14 +146,16 @@ def assign_to_user(
             s.ok(f"Assigned to {self.github.actor()}")
         return stage.UserAbort(f"Returning to the user to {action}")
 
-    def report_failure(self, version: str, exception: Exception) -> None:
+    def report_failure(
+        self, version: str, exception: Exception | BaseException
+    ) -> None:
         """Report a failure to the release tracking issue."""
         if not self.config.issue:
             return
 
         print(f"Reporting failure to tracking issue #{self.config.issue}...")
         instruction = f"❌ **Failure:** {exception}"
-        self.assign_to_user(
+        raise self.assign_to_user(
             None,
             version,
             action="fix the failure",
@@ -166,7 +168,7 @@ def run(self) -> None:
             self.run_stages()
         except stage.UserAbort as e:
             print(e.message)
-        except Exception as e:
+        except (Exception, BaseException) as e:
             self.report_failure(self.version, e)
             raise e
 
@@ -440,7 +442,8 @@ def stage_validate(self) -> None:
             validate_pr.Config(
                 commit=not self.config.verify,
                 release=self.config.production,
-            )
+            ),
+            failures=[],
         )
 
     def extract_issue_release_notes(self, body: str) -> str:
@@ -989,6 +992,7 @@ def run_stages(self, version: str | None = None) -> None:
             self.stage_branch(version)
             self.stage_gitignore()
             self.stage_validate()
+            self.update_dashboard(version)
             self.stage_release_notes(version)
             self.stage_commit(version)
             self.stage_push()
diff --git a/tools/create_release_test.py b/tools/create_release_test.py
index b2577c6..7078d05 100644
--- a/tools/create_release_test.py
+++ b/tools/create_release_test.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock
 
 from create_release import Config, Releaser
+from lib import stage
 
 
 class TestDashboardRenderer(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -70,13 +71,28 @@ def setUp(self) -> None:
         self.git = MagicMock()
         self.releaser = Releaser(self.config, self.git, self.github)
 
+    def test_run_catches_base_exception(self) -> None:
+        # Mock run_stages to raise SystemExit (a BaseException)
+        with unittest.mock.patch.object(
+            self.releaser, "run_stages", side_effect=SystemExit(1)
+        ), unittest.mock.patch.object(
+            self.releaser, "report_failure", side_effect=stage.UserAbort("failed")
+        ) as mock_report:
+            with self.assertRaises(stage.UserAbort):
+                self.releaser.run()
+
+            mock_report.assert_called()
+            args, kwargs = mock_report.call_args
+            self.assertIsInstance(args[1], SystemExit)
+
     def test_report_failure(self) -> None:
         self.github.actor.return_value = "human"
         self.github.get_issue.return_value = MagicMock(
             body="### Release progress\n[ ] ..."
         )
 
-        self.releaser.report_failure("v1.0.0", Exception("Something went wrong"))
+        with self.assertRaises(stage.UserAbort):
+            self.releaser.report_failure("v1.0.0", Exception("Something went wrong"))
 
         # Check that issue was reassigned
         self.github.issue_unassign.assert_called_with(1, ["toktok-releaser"])
diff --git a/tools/validate_pr.py b/tools/validate_pr.py
index 0bf0e69..ec5d010 100755
--- a/tools/validate_pr.py
+++ b/tools/validate_pr.py
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ def check_changelog(failures: list[str], config: Config) -> None:
             check.ok("The changelog is up-to-date")
 
 
-def main(config: Config) -> None:
+def main(config: Config, failures: list[str] | None = None) -> None:
     """Main entry point."""
     actor = github.actor()
     if config.debug:
@@ -326,29 +326,32 @@ def main(config: Config) -> None:
 
         print("\nRunning checks...\n")
 
-    failures: list[str] = []
+    failed_checks: list[str] = failures if failures is not None else []
 
     # If the PR branch looks like a version number, do checks for a release PR.
     if config.release or re.match(git.RELEASE_BRANCH_REGEX, github.head_ref()):
         print("This is a release PR.\n")
-        check_github_weblate_prs(failures)
-        check_flathub_descriptor_dependencies(failures, config)
-        check_toxcore_version(failures)
-        check_package_versions(failures, config)
+        check_github_weblate_prs(failed_checks)
+        check_flathub_descriptor_dependencies(failed_checks, config)
+        check_toxcore_version(failed_checks)
+        check_package_versions(failed_checks, config)
     else:
         print(f"This is not a release PR ({git.RELEASE_BRANCH_REGEX.pattern}).\n")
-        check_no_version_changes(failures)
+        check_no_version_changes(failed_checks)
 
-    check_changelog(failures, config)
+    check_changelog(failed_checks, config)
 
     if config.debug:
         print(f"\nDebug: {len(github.api_requests)} GitHub API requests made")
 
-    if failures:
+    if failed_checks:
         print("\nSome checks failed:")
-        for failure in failures:
+        for failure in failed_checks:
             print(f"  - {failure}")
-        exit(1)
+
+        if failures is None:
+            exit(1)
+        raise stage.InvalidState(f"{len(failed_checks)} checks failed")
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/tools/validate_pr_test.py b/tools/validate_pr_test.py
index dad8b41..4777f50 100644
--- a/tools/validate_pr_test.py
+++ b/tools/validate_pr_test.py
@@ -2,15 +2,16 @@
 # Copyright © 2026 The TokTok team
 import unittest
 import unittest.mock
+from typing import Any
 
-from validate_pr import (Config, check_changelog, parse_toxcore_version,
-                         parse_version_diff, parse_weblate_prs)
+import validate_pr
+from lib import stage
 
 
 class TestCheckChangelog(unittest.TestCase):
-    @unittest.mock.patch("update_changelog.main")
-    @unittest.mock.patch("update_changelog.read_clog_toml", return_value={})
-    @unittest.mock.patch("update_changelog.parse_config")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.update_changelog.main")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.update_changelog.read_clog_toml", return_value={})
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.update_changelog.parse_config")
     @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.github.head_ref")
     @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.has_diff", return_value=False)
     @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.stage.Stage")
@@ -29,23 +30,23 @@ def test_check_changelog_production(
 
         # 1. Release config set to True
         mock_head_ref.return_value = "some-branch"
-        config = Config(commit=False, release=True)
-        check_changelog([], config)
+        config = validate_pr.Config(commit=False, release=True)
+        validate_pr.check_changelog([], config)
         self.assertTrue(clog_config.production)
         mock_clog_main.assert_called_with(clog_config)
 
         # 2. Release config False, but branch is a production release branch
         clog_config.production = False
         mock_head_ref.return_value = "release/v1.0.0"
-        config = Config(commit=False, release=False)
-        check_changelog([], config)
+        config = validate_pr.Config(commit=False, release=False)
+        validate_pr.check_changelog([], config)
         self.assertTrue(clog_config.production)
 
         # 3. Release config False, branch is an RC release branch
         clog_config.production = False
         mock_head_ref.return_value = "release/v1.0.0-rc.1"
-        config = Config(commit=False, release=False)
-        check_changelog([], config)
+        config = validate_pr.Config(commit=False, release=False)
+        validate_pr.check_changelog([], config)
         self.assertFalse(clog_config.production)
 
 
@@ -65,15 +66,15 @@ def test_parse_weblate_prs(self) -> None:
             },
         ]
         expected = [("Translation 1", "url1"), ("Translation 2", "url3")]
-        self.assertEqual(parse_weblate_prs(prs_data), expected)
+        self.assertEqual(validate_pr.parse_weblate_prs(prs_data), expected)
 
     def test_parse_toxcore_version(self) -> None:
         content = """#!/bin/bash
 TOXCORE_VERSION=0.2.20
 SOME_OTHER_VAR=val
 """
-        self.assertEqual(parse_toxcore_version(content), "0.2.20")
-        self.assertIsNone(parse_toxcore_version("no version here"))
+        self.assertEqual(validate_pr.parse_toxcore_version(content), "0.2.20")
+        self.assertIsNone(validate_pr.parse_toxcore_version("no version here"))
 
     def test_parse_version_diff(self) -> None:
         diff = """--- a/platform/linux/chat.tox.CiTools.appdata.xml
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ def test_parse_version_diff(self) -> None:
 -  <release version="1.18.0-rc.3" date="2024-12-29"/>
 +  <release version="1.18.0" date="2024-12-29"/>
 """
-        minus, plus = parse_version_diff(diff)
+        minus, plus = validate_pr.parse_version_diff(diff)
         self.assertEqual(minus, ["1.18.0-rc.3"])
         self.assertEqual(plus, ["1.18.0"])
 
@@ -89,10 +90,48 @@ def test_parse_version_diff_no_changes(self) -> None:
         diff = """some other changes
 - <p>line</p>
 + <p>new line</p>"""
-        minus, plus = parse_version_diff(diff)
+        minus, plus = validate_pr.parse_version_diff(diff)
         self.assertEqual(minus, [])
         self.assertEqual(plus, [])
 
 
+class TestMain(unittest.TestCase):
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.github.actor", return_value="human")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.github.head_ref", return_value="master")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.github.api_requests", new_callable=list)
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.check_github_weblate_prs")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.check_flathub_descriptor_dependencies")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.check_toxcore_version")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.check_package_versions")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.check_no_version_changes")
+    @unittest.mock.patch("validate_pr.check_changelog")
+    def test_main_with_failures_list(
+        self,
+        mock_check_changelog: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_check_no_version_changes: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_check_package_versions: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_check_toxcore_version: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_check_flathub_descriptor_dependencies: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_check_github_weblate_prs: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_api_requests: list[Any],
+        mock_head_ref: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+        mock_actor: unittest.mock.MagicMock,
+    ) -> None:
+        # Setup: check_changelog appends a failure
+        mock_check_changelog.side_effect = lambda f, c: f.append("Changelog failure")
+
+        config = validate_pr.Config(commit=False, release=False)
+
+        # 1. Test with failures=[] -> should raise stage.InvalidState
+        with self.assertRaises(stage.InvalidState) as cm:
+            validate_pr.main(config, failures=[])
+        self.assertIn("1 checks failed", str(cm.exception))
+
+        # 2. Test with failures=None -> should call exit(1)
+        with self.assertRaises(SystemExit) as cm_exit:
+            validate_pr.main(config, failures=None)
+        self.assertEqual(cm_exit.exception.code, 1)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()