@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ on:
         description: Base branch to create the update branch from
         type: string
         default: "main"
+      artifact-only:
+        description: Generate artifacts from main without pushing or creating a PR
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 defaults:
   run:
@@ -30,9 +34,20 @@ jobs:
           - windows-latest
           - macos-latest
     steps:
+      - name: Validate artifact-only source
+        if: ${{ inputs.artifact-only }}
+        env:
+          BASE_REF: ${{ inputs.base-ref }}
+        run: |
+          if [ "$GITHUB_REF" != "refs/heads/main" ] || [ "$BASE_REF" != "main" ]; then
+            echo 'Artifact-only generation requires the main workflow ref and main base.' >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
+          ref: ${{ github.sha }}
           sparse-checkout: |
             crates/doc
 
@@ -54,19 +69,19 @@ jobs:
   merge:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: generate
+    outputs:
+      base-sha: ${{ steps.base.outputs.sha }}
     permissions:
-      contents: write
-      pull-requests: write
+      contents: read
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
-          persist-credentials: true
-          ref: ${{ inputs.base-ref }}
+          persist-credentials: false
+          ref: ${{ inputs.artifact-only && github.sha || inputs.base-ref }}
 
-      - name: Create update branch
-        run: git switch -c "update-doc-${PYTHON_VERSION}"
-        env:
-          PYTHON_VERSION: ${{ inputs.python-version }}
+      - name: Record merge base
+        id: base
+        run: echo "sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Download generated doc DBs
         uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
@@ -107,6 +122,30 @@ jobs:
           retention-days: 7
           overwrite: true
 
+  publish:
+    if: ${{ !inputs.artifact-only }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: merge
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: true
+          ref: ${{ needs.merge.outputs.base-sha }}
+
+      - name: Create update branch
+        run: git switch -c "update-doc-${PYTHON_VERSION}"
+        env:
+          PYTHON_VERSION: ${{ inputs.python-version }}
+
+      - name: Download merged doc DB
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
+        with:
+          name: doc-db-${{ inputs.python-version }}
+          path: crates/doc/src/
+
       - name: Commit, push and create PR
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
 
@@ -6,14 +6,18 @@
 import os
 import pathlib
 import platform
-import pydoc
 import re
 import sys
 import types
 import typing
 import warnings
 from importlib.machinery import EXTENSION_SUFFIXES, ExtensionFileLoader
 
+try:
+    from inspect import _getowndoc
+except ImportError:  # Python 3.14 and earlier
+    from pydoc import _getowndoc
+
 if typing.TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Iterable
 
@@ -146,7 +150,7 @@ def traverse(
         parts += (obj.__name__,)
 
     if any(f(obj) for f in (inspect.ismodule, inspect.isclass, inspect.isbuiltin)):
-        yield DocEntry(parts, pydoc._getowndoc(obj))
+        yield DocEntry(parts, _getowndoc(obj))
 
     if inspect.isclass(obj):
         # getmembers() shows the class's own metadata for these names (e.g.
@@ -159,7 +163,7 @@ def traverse(
             if isinstance(
                 attr, (types.GetSetDescriptorType, types.MemberDescriptorType)
             ):
-                yield DocEntry(parts + (name,), pydoc._getowndoc(attr))
+                yield DocEntry(parts + (name,), _getowndoc(attr))
 
     for name, attr in inspect.getmembers(obj):
         if name in IGNORED_ATTRS:
@@ -211,7 +215,7 @@ def traverse(
         )
 
         if is_callable or is_func:
-            yield DocEntry(new_parts, pydoc._getowndoc(attr))
+            yield DocEntry(new_parts, _getowndoc(attr))
             # A native type the module exposes only through an instance
             # (e.g. the type of sys.flags).
             if (
@@ -283,7 +287,7 @@ def iter_native_on_python_modules(
             if inspect.isclass(attr):
                 yield from traverse(attr, module, parts)
             else:
-                yield DocEntry(parts, pydoc._getowndoc(attr))
+                yield DocEntry(parts, _getowndoc(attr))
 
 
 def find_doc_entries() -> "Iterable[DocEntry]":
@@ -322,7 +326,7 @@ def find_doc_entries() -> "Iterable[DocEntry]":
             module_names.append(typ.__module__)
         for module_name in module_names:
             parts = (module_name, typ.__name__)
-            yield DocEntry(parts, pydoc._getowndoc(typ))
+            yield DocEntry(parts, _getowndoc(typ))
             yield from traverse(typ, __builtins__, parts)