diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 0b60e30..a3c8486 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2026-02-26 - 5.2.6 - fix(postinstall)
+remove legacy postinstall binary installer and packaging entry
+
+- Deleted scripts/install-binary.js (legacy postinstall script that downloaded platform-specific binaries).
+- Removed reference to scripts/install-binary.js from package.json "files" array so the installer is no longer included in published packages.
+- This prevents automatic binary downloads during npm install and reduces package size; recommend a patch version bump.
+
 ## 2026-02-26 - 5.2.5 - fix(package)
 remove CLI bin wrapper and exclude bin/ from published files
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3a1d49c..b8e5a0a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@
   "files": [
     "ts/**/*",
     "dist_ts/**/*",
-    "scripts/install-binary.js",
     "dist_rust/**/*",
     "readme.md",
     "license",
diff --git a/scripts/install-binary.js b/scripts/install-binary.js
deleted file mode 100755
index 71f6025..0000000
--- a/scripts/install-binary.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,230 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env node
-
-/**
- * MAILER npm postinstall script
- * Downloads the appropriate binary for the current platform from GitHub releases
- */
-
-import { platform, arch } from 'os';
-import { existsSync, mkdirSync, writeFileSync, chmodSync, unlinkSync } from 'fs';
-import { join, dirname } from 'path';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
-import https from 'https';
-import { pipeline } from 'stream';
-import { promisify } from 'util';
-import { createWriteStream } from 'fs';
-
-const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
-const __dirname = dirname(__filename);
-const streamPipeline = promisify(pipeline);
-
-// Configuration
-const REPO_BASE = 'https://code.foss.global/serve.zone/mailer';
-const VERSION = process.env.npm_package_version || '1.0.0';
-
-function getBinaryInfo() {
-  const plat = platform();
-  const architecture = arch();
-
-  const platformMap = {
-    'darwin': 'macos',
-    'linux': 'linux',
-    'win32': 'windows'
-  };
-
-  const archMap = {
-    'x64': 'x64',
-    'arm64': 'arm64'
-  };
-
-  const mappedPlatform = platformMap[plat];
-  const mappedArch = archMap[architecture];
-
-  if (!mappedPlatform || !mappedArch) {
-    return { supported: false, platform: plat, arch: architecture };
-  }
-
-  let binaryName = `mailer-${mappedPlatform}-${mappedArch}`;
-  if (plat === 'win32') {
-    binaryName += '.exe';
-  }
-
-  return {
-    supported: true,
-    platform: mappedPlatform,
-    arch: mappedArch,
-    binaryName,
-    originalPlatform: plat
-  };
-}
-
-function downloadFile(url, destination) {
-  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    console.log(`Downloading from: ${url}`);
-
-    // Follow redirects
-    const download = (url, redirectCount = 0) => {
-      if (redirectCount > 5) {
-        reject(new Error('Too many redirects'));
-        return;
-      }
-
-      https.get(url, (response) => {
-        if (response.statusCode === 301 || response.statusCode === 302) {
-          console.log(`Following redirect to: ${response.headers.location}`);
-          download(response.headers.location, redirectCount + 1);
-          return;
-        }
-
-        if (response.statusCode !== 200) {
-          reject(new Error(`Failed to download: ${response.statusCode} ${response.statusMessage}`));
-          return;
-        }
-
-        const totalSize = parseInt(response.headers['content-length'], 10);
-        let downloadedSize = 0;
-        let lastProgress = 0;
-
-        response.on('data', (chunk) => {
-          downloadedSize += chunk.length;
-          const progress = Math.round((downloadedSize / totalSize) * 100);
-
-          // Only log every 10% to reduce noise
-          if (progress >= lastProgress + 10) {
-            console.log(`Download progress: ${progress}%`);
-            lastProgress = progress;
-          }
-        });
-
-        const file = createWriteStream(destination);
-
-        pipeline(response, file, (err) => {
-          if (err) {
-            reject(err);
-          } else {
-            console.log('Download complete!');
-            resolve();
-          }
-        });
-      }).on('error', reject);
-    };
-
-    download(url);
-  });
-}
-
-async function main() {
-  console.log('===========================================');
-  console.log('  MAILER - Binary Installation');
-  console.log('===========================================');
-  console.log('');
-
-  const binaryInfo = getBinaryInfo();
-
-  if (!binaryInfo.supported) {
-    console.error(`❌ Error: Unsupported platform/architecture: ${binaryInfo.platform}/${binaryInfo.arch}`);
-    console.error('');
-    console.error('Supported platforms:');
-    console.error('  • Linux (x64, arm64)');
-    console.error('  • macOS (x64, arm64)');
-    console.error('  • Windows (x64)');
-    console.error('');
-    console.error('If you believe your platform should be supported, please file an issue:');
-    console.error('  https://code.foss.global/serve.zone/mailer/issues');
-    process.exit(1);
-  }
-
-  console.log(`Platform: ${binaryInfo.platform} (${binaryInfo.originalPlatform})`);
-  console.log(`Architecture: ${binaryInfo.arch}`);
-  console.log(`Binary: ${binaryInfo.binaryName}`);
-  console.log(`Version: ${VERSION}`);
-  console.log('');
-
-  // Create dist/binaries directory if it doesn't exist
-  const binariesDir = join(__dirname, '..', 'dist', 'binaries');
-  if (!existsSync(binariesDir)) {
-    console.log('Creating binaries directory...');
-    mkdirSync(binariesDir, { recursive: true });
-  }
-
-  const binaryPath = join(binariesDir, binaryInfo.binaryName);
-
-  // Check if binary already exists and skip download
-  if (existsSync(binaryPath)) {
-    console.log('✓ Binary already exists, skipping download');
-  } else {
-    // Construct download URL
-    // Try release URL first, fall back to raw branch if needed
-    const releaseUrl = `${REPO_BASE}/releases/download/v${VERSION}/${binaryInfo.binaryName}`;
-    const fallbackUrl = `${REPO_BASE}/raw/branch/main/dist/binaries/${binaryInfo.binaryName}`;
-
-    console.log('Downloading platform-specific binary...');
-    console.log('This may take a moment depending on your connection speed.');
-    console.log('');
-
-    try {
-      // Try downloading from release
-      await downloadFile(releaseUrl, binaryPath);
-    } catch (err) {
-      console.log(`Release download failed: ${err.message}`);
-      console.log('Trying fallback URL...');
-
-      try {
-        // Try fallback URL
-        await downloadFile(fallbackUrl, binaryPath);
-      } catch (fallbackErr) {
-        console.error(`❌ Error: Failed to download binary`);
-        console.error(`  Primary URL: ${releaseUrl}`);
-        console.error(`  Fallback URL: ${fallbackUrl}`);
-        console.error('');
-        console.error('This might be because:');
-        console.error('1. The release has not been created yet');
-        console.error('2. Network connectivity issues');
-        console.error('3. The version specified does not exist');
-        console.error('');
-        console.error('You can try:');
-        console.error('1. Installing from source: https://code.foss.global/serve.zone/mailer');
-        console.error('2. Downloading the binary manually from the releases page');
-
-        // Clean up partial download
-        if (existsSync(binaryPath)) {
-          unlinkSync(binaryPath);
-        }
-
-        process.exit(1);
-      }
-    }
-
-    console.log(`✓ Binary downloaded successfully`);
-  }
-
-  // On Unix-like systems, ensure the binary is executable
-  if (binaryInfo.originalPlatform !== 'win32') {
-    try {
-      console.log('Setting executable permissions...');
-      chmodSync(binaryPath, 0o755);
-      console.log('✓ Binary permissions updated');
-    } catch (err) {
-      console.error(`⚠️  Warning: Could not set executable permissions: ${err.message}`);
-      console.error('   You may need to manually run:');
-      console.error(`   chmod +x ${binaryPath}`);
-    }
-  }
-
-  console.log('');
-  console.log('✅ MAILER installation completed successfully!');
-  console.log('');
-  console.log('You can now use MAILER by running:');
-  console.log('  mailer --help');
-  console.log('');
-  console.log('For initial setup, run:');
-  console.log('  sudo mailer service enable');
-  console.log('');
-  console.log('===========================================');
-}
-
-// Run the installation
-main().catch(err => {
-  console.error(`❌ Installation failed: ${err.message}`);
-  process.exit(1);
-});
diff --git a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
index e465fde..a1474fc 100644
--- a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
+++ b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
  */
 export const commitinfo = {
   name: '@push.rocks/smartmta',
-  version: '5.2.5',
+  version: '5.2.6',
   description: 'A high-performance, enterprise-grade Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) built from scratch in TypeScript with Rust acceleration.'
 }