diff --git a/.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk b/.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk
index ac0dc96f..e5d1eeb7 100644
--- a/.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk
+++ b/.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk
@@ -1,4 +1,68 @@
-/^flag / { flag=$2; in_desc=0 }
-/^ *description:/ { in_desc=1; if ($0 ~ /\(experimental\)/) print flag; next }
-in_desc && /^[[:space:]]+/ { if ($0 ~ /\(experimental\)/) print flag; next }
-/^[^[:space:]]/ { in_desc=0 }
+# Purpose:
+# - If EXPERIMENTAL_ONLY is non-empty -> print flags that contain "(experimental)"
+# - If EXPERIMENTAL_ONLY is empty     -> print flags that contain NO parentheses at all
+
+# Per-flag state
+#   flag         - current flag name
+#   in_desc      - currently inside a description block
+#   experimental - description contains "(experimental)"
+#   has_parens   - description contains ANY "(...)"
+#
+# Policy:
+#   experimental-only mode → only print flags marked experimental
+#   default mode           → only print flags without ANY parentheses
+
+# Compiled regexes for readability
+BEGIN {
+    exp_rx   = "\\(experimental\\)"
+    paren_rx = "\\([^)]*\\)"
+}
+
+# Decide whether to print the current flag
+function should_print() {
+    if (EXPERIMENTAL_ONLY != "" && experimental)  return 1
+    if (EXPERIMENTAL_ONLY == "" && !has_parens)   return 1
+    return 0
+}
+
+# Output a completed flag if appropriate
+function finalize_flag() {
+    if (flag != "" && should_print()) {
+        print flag
+    }
+}
+
+# Start of flag block
+/^flag[[:space:]]+/ {
+    finalize_flag()     # finish previous flag first
+    flag = $2
+    in_desc = 0
+    experimental = 0
+    has_parens = 0
+    next
+}
+
+# Description start line
+/^ *description:/ {
+    in_desc = 1
+    if ($0 ~ exp_rx)   experimental = 1
+    if ($0 ~ paren_rx) has_parens = 1
+    next
+}
+
+# Description continuation (indented)
+/^[[:space:]]+/ && in_desc {
+    if ($0 ~ exp_rx)   experimental = 1
+    if ($0 ~ paren_rx) has_parens = 1
+    next
+}
+
+# Any non-indented line ends description
+/^[^[:space:]]/ {
+    in_desc = 0
+}
+
+# EOF, finalize last flag
+END {
+    finalize_flag()
+}
diff --git a/.github/scripts/add_experimental_flags.sh b/.github/scripts/add_experimental_flags.sh
index f2eeca50..446d5e0f 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/add_experimental_flags.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/add_experimental_flags.sh
@@ -17,15 +17,20 @@ fi
 
 MATRIX_JSON=$(sed -E 's/^matrix=//' <"$MATRIX_FILE")
 
-readarray -t EXP_FLAGS < <(awk -f ./.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk "$CABAL_FILE")
+readarray -t STABLE_FLAGS < <(awk -f ./.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk "$CABAL_FILE")
+readarray -t EXP_FLAGS < <(awk -v EXPERIMENTAL_ONLY=1 -f ./.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk "$CABAL_FILE")
 
-ORIGINAL=$(jq --arg label "stable" '.include[0] += {label: $label}' <<<"$MATRIX_JSON")
+STABLE_FLAGS_STRING=""
+if ! [[ ${#STABLE_FLAGS[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
+  STABLE_FLAGS_STRING=$(printf '+%s ' "${STABLE_FLAGS[@]}")
+fi
+ORIGINAL=$(jq --arg flags "$STABLE_FLAGS_STRING" --arg label "stable" '.include[0] += {flags: $flags, label: $label}' <<<"$MATRIX_JSON")
 
 if [[ ${#EXP_FLAGS[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
   UPDATED="$ORIGINAL"
 else
   EXP_FLAGS_STRING=$(printf '+%s ' "${EXP_FLAGS[@]}")
-  EXPERIMENTAL=$(jq --arg flags "$EXP_FLAGS_STRING" --arg label "experimental" \
+  EXPERIMENTAL=$(jq --arg flags "$STABLE_FLAGS_STRING $EXP_FLAGS_STRING" --arg label "experimental" \
     '.include[0] += {flags: $flags, label: $label}' <<<"$MATRIX_JSON")
 
   UPDATED=$(jq --argjson exp_include "$(jq '.include' <<<"$EXPERIMENTAL")" \
diff --git a/.github/scripts/configure_project.sh b/.github/scripts/configure_project.sh
index f565327a..9b69ddb7 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/configure_project.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/configure_project.sh
@@ -2,24 +2,15 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-IS_EXPERIMENTAL=0
-
 cabal configure --project-file cabal.project.release -O1
 
-if [[ "$LABEL" == "" ]]; then
-  echo "LABEL must be set"
-elif [[ "$LABEL" == "experimental" ]]; then
-  IS_EXPERIMENTAL=1
-fi
-
-echo "package jbeam-edit" >>cabal.project.release.local
-echo "  tests: True" >>cabal.project.release.local
+printf "package jbeam-edit\n  tests: True\n" >>cabal.project.release.local
 
 if echo "$MATRIX_FLAGS" | grep -qa ' +transformation '; then
   echo "  benchmarks: True" >>cabal.project.release.local
 fi
 
-if [[ $IS_EXPERIMENTAL -eq 1 ]]; then
+if ! [[ "$MATRIX_FLAGS" == "" ]]; then
   echo "  flags: $MATRIX_FLAGS" >>cabal.project.release.local
 fi
 
diff --git a/.github/scripts/extract_resolver_and_flags_for_stack.sh b/.github/scripts/extract_resolver_and_flags_for_stack.sh
index 2e44f106..7b5e6d3e 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/extract_resolver_and_flags_for_stack.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/extract_resolver_and_flags_for_stack.sh
@@ -4,15 +4,24 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 CABAL_FILE="${CABAL_FILE:?Environment variable CABAL_FILE is required}"
 
-readarray -t EXP_FLAGS < <(awk -f ./.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk "$CABAL_FILE")
+readarray -t STABLE_FLAGS < <(awk -f ./.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk "$CABAL_FILE")
+readarray -t EXP_FLAGS < <(awk -v EXPERIMENTAL_ONLY=1 -f ./.github/script_helpers/extract_flags.awk "$CABAL_FILE")
 
 echo "extracting experimental flags and setting them to true."
 echo "if this fails, please verify all flags in package.yaml are set to true/false in stack.yaml"
-for flag in "${EXP_FLAGS[@]}"; do
-  pattern="^( *${flag})[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*(true|false)"
-  grep -qE "${pattern}" stack.yaml
-  sed -i -E "s/${pattern}/\1: true/g" stack.yaml
-done
+
+update_flags() {
+  local flags=("$@")
+  for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+    local pattern="^( *${flag})[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*(true|false)"
+    if grep -qE "${pattern}" stack.yaml; then
+      sed -i -E "s/${pattern}/\1: true/g" stack.yaml
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
+update_flags "${STABLE_FLAGS[@]}"
+update_flags "${EXP_FLAGS[@]}"
 
 echo "contents of stack.yaml file:"
 cat stack.yaml
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bc76b28a..2e611bd4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -126,6 +126,12 @@ cabal update
 cabal install
 jbeam-edit your-file.jbeam
 ```
+## Tags in flag descriptions
+
+- **(experimental)**: functionality under active development
+- **(dev-only)**: tools and commands intended for developers
+- **(windows-installer-only)**: used only in Windows installer builds
+- Untagged flags are considered to be stable.
 
 ## Examples
 
diff --git a/jbeam-edit.cabal b/jbeam-edit.cabal
index 51edd933..a9fc3aa1 100644
--- a/jbeam-edit.cabal
+++ b/jbeam-edit.cabal
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ flag dump-ast
     manual:      True
 
 flag lsp-server
-    description: Enable LSP server (experimental)
+    description: Enable LSP server
     default:     False
     manual:      True
 
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ flag transformation
 
 flag windows-example-paths
     description:
-        Use executable-relative example paths (for Windows release builds)
+        Use executable-relative example paths (windows-installer-only)
 
     default:     False
     manual:      True
diff --git a/package.yaml b/package.yaml
index 106cf6cf..e687f17b 100644
--- a/package.yaml
+++ b/package.yaml
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ flags:
     manual: true
     default: false
   lsp-server:
-    description: Enable LSP server (experimental)
+    description: Enable LSP server
     manual: true
     default: false
   lsp-test-server:
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ flags:
     manual: false
     default: false
   windows-example-paths:
-    description: Use executable-relative example paths (for Windows release builds)
+    description: Use executable-relative example paths (windows-installer-only)
     default: false
     manual: true