A model registry that only knows whether weights can load is incomplete. Teams also need to know whether the model can be served commercially, what evidence supports that conclusion, and who changed its publication state.
Those questions belong near the model because the serving decision is where they become operational.
Publication is a gate
A model can be valuable for evaluation and still be the wrong choice for a commercial endpoint. A clear registry distinguishes those states instead of making every downstream consumer interpret a license file on their own.
The gate should be explicit, current, and auditable. If a model is blocked, the console should tell the operator why — before a route is exposed.
The boring parts are the reliable parts
Names, versions, evidence, status, and an audit trail are not glamorous features. They are the pieces that let a team move from a notebook to a product without losing track of the rules that product must follow.