diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 69e0736801..a230b991df 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ AR = @AR@
 # C Compiler and options for use in building executables that
 # will run on the platform that is doing the build.
 #
-BCC = @CC_FOR_BUILD@
+BCC = @BUILD_CC@ @BUILD_CFLAGS@
 # TODO: @BUILD_CFLAGS@
 #
 #XX## TCC is the C Compile and options for use in building executables that
@@ -37,22 +37,22 @@ BCC = @CC_FOR_BUILD@
 #XX## on the "make" command-line.  Ex:  "make CC=clang CFLAGS=-fsanitize=undefined"
 #XX##
 CC = @CC@
-CFLAGS = @CPPFLAGS@ @CFLAGS@
-#TODO: figure out how to get autosetup to do CC_FOR_TARGET.
-#XX#TCC = ${CC} ${CFLAGS} -I. -I${TOP}/src -I${TOP}/ext/rtree -I${TOP}/ext/icu
-#XX#TCC += -I${TOP}/ext/fts3 -I${TOP}/ext/async -I${TOP}/ext/session
-#XX#TCC += -I${TOP}/ext/userauth
-#XX#
-#XX## Define this for the autoconf-based build, so that the code knows it can
-#XX## include the generated sqlite_cfg.h
-#XX##
-#XX#TCC += -D_HAVE_SQLITE_CONFIG_H -DBUILD_sqlite
-#XX#
-#XX## Define -DNDEBUG to compile without debugging (i.e., for production usage)
-#XX## Omitting the define will cause extra debugging code to be inserted and
-#XX## includes extra comments when "EXPLAIN stmt" is used.
-#XX##
-#XX#TCC += @TARGET_DEBUG@
+CFLAGS ?= @CFLAGS@
+CPPFLAGS ?= @CPPFLAGS@
+TCC = ${CC} ${CFLAGS} -I. -I${TOP}/src -I${TOP}/ext/rtree -I${TOP}/ext/icu
+TCC += -I${TOP}/ext/fts3 -I${TOP}/ext/async -I${TOP}/ext/session
+TCC += -I${TOP}/ext/userauth
+
+# Define this for the autoconf-based build, so that the code knows it can
+# include the generated sqlite_cfg.h
+#
+TCC += -D_HAVE_SQLITE_CONFIG_H -DBUILD_sqlite
+
+# Define -DNDEBUG to compile without debugging (i.e., for production usage)
+# Omitting the define will cause extra debugging code to be inserted and
+# includes extra comments when "EXPLAIN stmt" is used.
+#
+TCC += @TARGET_DEBUG@
 #XX#
 #XX## Compiler options needed for programs that use the TCL library.
 #XX##
@@ -111,8 +111,7 @@ TCC += @LDFLAGS_ZLIB@
 # Version numbers and release number for the SQLite being compiled.
 #
 VERSION = @VERSION@
-#XX#VERSION_NUMBER = @VERSION_NUMBER@
-#XX#RELEASE = @RELEASE@
+RELEASE = @RELEASE@
 
 # Filename extensions for binaries
 #
diff --git a/auto.def b/auto.def
index 6cac92c5c7..641cfa7807 100644
--- a/auto.def
+++ b/auto.def
@@ -67,9 +67,12 @@ options {
 
 set srcdir $autosetup(srcdir)
 #puts "srcdir = $srcdir"
-set VERSION [readfile $autosetup(srcdir)/VERSION]
-puts "VERSION = $VERSION"
+set RELEASE [readfile $autosetup(srcdir)/VERSION]
+regsub {([0-9]*\.*[0-9]*).*} $RELEASE {\1} VERSION
 define VERSION $VERSION
+define RELEASE $RELEASE
+puts "RELEASE = $RELEASE"
+puts "VERSION = $VERSION"
 #puts "with-wasi-sdk? = [opt-val with-wasi-sdk]"
 #puts "with-debug? = [opt-val with-debug]"
 
@@ -79,6 +82,8 @@ if {![file exists sqlite3.pc.in]} {
   set outOfTreeBuild 1
 }
 
+cc-check-tools ld ar
+
 #
 # The build process allows for using a cross-compiler.  But the default
 # action is to target the same platform that we are running on.  The
@@ -185,6 +190,9 @@ if {"" eq [hwaci-bin-define install]} {
 # XXX fi
 # XXX AC_SUBST BUILD_CC
 
+define BUILD_CC [get-define CC_FOR_BUILD]
+define BUILD_CFLAGS [get-env CFLAGS {-g}]
+
 ##########
 # Handle --with-wasi-sdk=DIR
 #
@@ -201,15 +209,18 @@ if {1} {
     define WASI_SDK_DIR ""
   } else {
     msg-checking "Checking WASI SDK directory \[$wasiSdkDir]... "
-    if {![file exists $wasiSdkDir/bin/clang]} {
-      user-error "--with-wasi-sdk=${wasiSdkDir} directory does not contain bin/clang"
-    }
-    msg-result "using wasi-sdk clang, disabling: tcl, CLI shell, DLL, threading"
+    puts "prefix = [prefix $wasiSdkDir/bin {clang ld}]"
+    hwaci-affirm-files-exist -v {*}[prefix "$wasiSdkDir/bin/" {clang wasm-ld}]
+    msg-result "Using wasi-sdk clang, disabling: tcl, CLI shell, DLL, loadable extensions, threading"
     define HAVE_WASI_SDK 1
     define WASI_SDK_DIR $wasiSdkDir
-    hwaci-opt-set tcl 0
-    hwaci-opt-set threadsafe 0
+    hwaci-opt-set load-extension 0; # ==> --disable-load-extension
+    hwaci-opt-set threadsafe 0; # ==> --threadsafe
+    hwaci-opt-set tcl 0; # ==> --disable-tcl
+    define HAVE_TCL 0
     set cross_compiling 1
+    # libtool is apparently hard-coded to use gcc for linking DLLs, so
+    # we disable the DLL build.
     set enable_shared 0
 
     # Changing --host and --target have no effect here except to possibly
@@ -224,13 +235,9 @@ if {1} {
     # XXX CC="${wasiSdkDir}/bin/clang"
     # XXX LD="${wasiSdkDir}/bin/wasm-ld"
     # XXX RANLIB="${wasiSdkDir}/bin/llvm-ranlib"
-    #  set cross_compiling yes
-    #  hwaci-opt-set threadsafe 0
-    #  set use_tcl no
-    #  hwaci-opt-set tcl 0
-    # libtool is apparently hard-coded to use gcc for linking DLLs, so
-    # we disable the DLL build...
-    #  set enable_shared no
+    define CC "${wasiSdkDir}/bin/clang"
+    define LD "${wasiSdkDir}/bin/wasm-ld"
+    #define STRIP "${wasiSdkDir}/bin/strip"
   }
   unset wasiSdkDir
 }; # --wasi-sdk-dir
@@ -737,6 +744,7 @@ foreach {boolFlag featureFlag ifSetEvalThis} {
   }
 }
 
+define ENABLE_SHARED $enable_shared
 
 #########
 # Generate the output files.
@@ -775,7 +783,7 @@ hwaci-if-opt-truthy dump-defines {
   # achtung: ^^^^ whichever SQLITE_OS_foo flag which is set to 0 will
   # get _undefined_ here unless it's part of the -bare set.
   if {0} {
-    foreach x $::define {
+    foreach x [all-defines] {
       puts "\t$x"
     }
   }
diff --git a/autosetup/hwaci-common.tcl b/autosetup/hwaci-common.tcl
index ca458b7407..166ea18db2 100644
--- a/autosetup/hwaci-common.tcl
+++ b/autosetup/hwaci-common.tcl
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ proc hwaci-opt-set {flag {val 1}} {
 # Returns 1 if $val appears to be a truthy value, else returns
 # 0. Truthy values are any of {1 on enabled yes}
 proc hwaci-val-truthy {val} {
-  return [expr {$val in {1 on enabled yes}}]
+  expr {$val in {1 on enabled yes}}
 }
 
 ########################################################################
@@ -435,6 +435,29 @@ proc hwaci-check-exeext {} {
   }
 }
 
+########################################################################
+# Expects a list of file names. If any one of them does not exist in
+# the filesystem, it fails fatally with an informative message.
+# Returns the last file name it checks. If the first argument is -v
+# then it emits msg-checking/msg-result messages for each file.
+proc hwaci-affirm-files-exist {args} {
+  set rc ""
+  set verbose 1
+  if {[lindex $args 0] eq "-v"} {
+    set verbose 1
+    set args [lrange $args 1 end]
+  }
+  foreach f $args {
+    if {$verbose} { msg-checking "looking for file... " }
+    if {![file exists $f]} {
+      user-error "not found: $f"
+    }
+    if {$verbose} { msg-result "$f" }
+    set rc $f
+  }
+  return rc
+}
+
 ########################################################################
 # Emscripten is used for doing in-tree builds of web-based WASM stuff,
 # as opposed to WASI-based WASM or WASM binaries we import from other
diff --git a/manifest b/manifest
index 0561850002..84305538bd 100644
--- a/manifest
+++ b/manifest
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-C Merge\scurrent\strunk\sinto\sthis\sbranch.
-D 2024-09-26T08:53:37.393
+C Cleanups\sof\sthe\s--with-wasi-sdk\sbits.\sStraighten\sout\sVERSION\svs\sRELEASE.
+D 2024-09-26T12:16:46.672
 F .fossil-settings/empty-dirs dbb81e8fc0401ac46a1491ab34a7f2c7c0452f2f06b54ebb845d024ca8283ef1
 F .fossil-settings/ignore-glob 35175cdfcf539b2318cb04a9901442804be81cd677d8b889fcc9149c21f239ea
 F LICENSE.md df5091916dbb40e6e9686186587125e1b2ff51f022cc334e886c19a0e9982724
-F Makefile.in dee85c233bbfcdf21bc843ecec065c650b0a4c677e87af9bdf50cdf3c3179df7
+F Makefile.in c9d2e625e2f79127e28e1691e4514ae3c2c426af650cb3e1d59737e89f66f7dc
 F Makefile.linux-gcc f3842a0b1efbfbb74ac0ef60e56b301836d05b4d867d014f714fa750048f1ab6
 F Makefile.msc e3c4723c27464acc31da4420b808c8d2690180ba2b915897bece0a9d5d2cecf6
 F README.md c3c0f19532ce28f6297a71870f3c7b424729f0e6d9ab889616d3587dd2332159
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ F art/icon-80x90.gif 65509ce3e5f86a9cd64fe7fca2d23954199f31fe44c1e09e208c80fb83d
 F art/sqlite370.eps aa97a671332b432a54e1d74ff5e8775be34200c2
 F art/sqlite370.ico af56c1d00fee7cd4753e8631ed60703ed0fc6e90
 F art/sqlite370.jpg d512473dae7e378a67e28ff96a34da7cb331def2
-F auto.def caf598afa0fb40cb86bbfa24be170984a16095b36e317c99f3d2521858e89d9c
+F auto.def d2d9c2d473a81551ddd29a155c375fa31a068e05b2227862a24a2e84c00a0bdf
 F autoconf/INSTALL 83e4a25da9fd053c7b3665eaaaf7919707915903
 F autoconf/Makefile.am adedc1324b6a87fdd1265ddd336d2fb7d4f36a0e77b86ea553ae7cc4ea239347
 F autoconf/Makefile.fallback 22fe523eb36dfce31e0f6349f782eb084e86a5620b2b0b4f84a2d6133f53f5ac
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ F autosetup/cc-lib.tcl 493c5935b5dd3bf9bd4eca89b07c8b1b1a9356d61783035144e21795f
 F autosetup/cc-shared.tcl 4f024e94a47f427ba61de1739f6381ef0080210f9fae89112d5c1de1e5460d78
 F autosetup/cc.tcl 1b52de228642c1db5a714d54ca974d723ec8b4092e8c3765d348b625850f7311
 F autosetup/default.auto 5cdf016de2140e50f1db190a02039dc42fb390af1dda4cc4853e3042a9ef0e82
-F autosetup/hwaci-common.tcl 48465634f1fc73ac30ad747e1d1d1ec897f009ce40edf94092575d9851a61846
+F autosetup/hwaci-common.tcl b2b8b94915baaa68f5355c3753835095da6290e0fccb22b6f5fa024a452400bc
 F autosetup/jimsh0.c 1b5fe91fffcddbc29f2b16acb80f1650632ea2edbe8336b8155ef7b4c66f6d8d
 F autosetup/pkg-config.tcl 4e635bf39022ff65e0d5434339dd41503ea48fc53822c9c5bde88b02d3d952ba
 F autosetup/system.tcl 3a39d6e0b3bfba526fd39afe07c1d0d325e5a31925013a1ba7c671e1128e31bb
@@ -2233,8 +2233,8 @@ F vsixtest/vsixtest.tcl 6195aba1f12a5e10efc2b8c0009532167be5e301abe5b31385638080
 F vsixtest/vsixtest.vcxproj.data 2ed517e100c66dc455b492e1a33350c1b20fbcdc
 F vsixtest/vsixtest.vcxproj.filters 37e51ffedcdb064aad6ff33b6148725226cd608e
 F vsixtest/vsixtest_TemporaryKey.pfx e5b1b036facdb453873e7084e1cae9102ccc67a0
-P c419168938b009b2cf8a42a01272971497b5329792ccb8cef235f47ab5f142e2 9592b9ba3ad7a842cdd4c4010da278485a6fdec7e811bda01ebe640162a8c3b6
-R af319e126fc6fc33c648f8f6f76c92f2
+P 683a9e1e2f68a5c34fe524867576a4405fa2460880ad0bf4c07799744fea4192
+R ad6080b33e617c2bb00e20e12e921109
 U stephan
-Z b233c57887cfbb961cc652ff444473d0
+Z 6dde9c36df32e2200ff90b427b0efc9c
 # Remove this line to create a well-formed Fossil manifest.
diff --git a/manifest.uuid b/manifest.uuid
index 15e6e68ed7..72d66ab700 100644
--- a/manifest.uuid
+++ b/manifest.uuid
@@ -1 +1 @@
-683a9e1e2f68a5c34fe524867576a4405fa2460880ad0bf4c07799744fea4192
+7638f3ad1588ff16c2980763c6c4c1386a711acd64adb21c465f186a47bc975d