diff --git a/emrg/__init__.py b/emrg/__init__.py
index 78805b96..af616610 100644
--- a/emrg/__init__.py
+++ b/emrg/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """EMRG — a self-evolving AI agent architecture."""
 
-__version__ = "0.2.81"
+__version__ = "0.2.82"
diff --git a/emrg/gui/package-lock.json b/emrg/gui/package-lock.json
index 5d6bc81a..f2e92df4 100644
--- a/emrg/gui/package-lock.json
+++ b/emrg/gui/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "emrg-gui",
-  "version": "0.2.81",
+  "version": "0.2.82",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "emrg-gui",
-      "version": "0.2.81",
+      "version": "0.2.82",
       "dependencies": {
         "dompurify": "^3.4.13",
         "highlight.js": "^11.10.0",
diff --git a/emrg/gui/package.json b/emrg/gui/package.json
index 96ce6ff6..5123f0be 100644
--- a/emrg/gui/package.json
+++ b/emrg/gui/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "emrg-gui",
-  "version": "0.2.81",
+  "version": "0.2.82",
   "description": "EMRG GUI — Electron client for the EMRG self-evolving AI agent (Phase 3)",
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/packaging/build-runtime.sh b/packaging/build-runtime.sh
index 55b8e2cd..52edc192 100755
--- a/packaging/build-runtime.sh
+++ b/packaging/build-runtime.sh
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ cp "$ROOT/LICENSE" "$DIST/assets/LICENSE" 2>/dev/null || echo "Apache-2.0" > "$D
 # the runtime so installed machines have it even before daemon first run.
 cp "$ROOT/packaging/assets/skill-catalog.md" "$DIST/assets/skill-catalog.md" 2>/dev/null || true
 "$PY_BIN" -c "import emrg,sys; sys.path.insert(0,'$DIST/source'); import emrg as e; print(e.__version__)" > "$DIST/version.txt" 2>/dev/null \
-  || echo "0.2.81" > "$DIST/version.txt"
+  || echo "0.2.82" > "$DIST/version.txt"
 
 echo "==> runtime size: $(du -sh "$DIST" | cut -f1)"
 echo "==> runtime built OK"
diff --git a/packaging/make-installer.sh b/packaging/make-installer.sh
index d0b39d04..78fdd0a6 100755
--- a/packaging/make-installer.sh
+++ b/packaging/make-installer.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 DIST="$ROOT/dist"
 RUNTIME="$DIST/runtime"
-VERSION="$(cat "$RUNTIME/version.txt" 2>/dev/null || echo 0.2.81)"
+VERSION="$(cat "$RUNTIME/version.txt" 2>/dev/null || echo 0.2.82)"
 PLATFORM="${1:-$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')}"
 
 mkdir -p "$DIST/artifacts"
diff --git a/packaging/make-run-installer.sh b/packaging/make-run-installer.sh
index 19f852f6..15fb4be5 100644
--- a/packaging/make-run-installer.sh
+++ b/packaging/make-run-installer.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 DIST="$ROOT/dist"
 RUNTIME="$DIST/runtime"
-VERSION="$(cat "$RUNTIME/version.txt" 2>/dev/null || echo 0.2.81)"
+VERSION="$(cat "$RUNTIME/version.txt" 2>/dev/null || echo 0.2.82)"
 ARCH="${ARCH:-$(uname -m)}"   # x86_64 / aarch64
 OUT="$DIST/artifacts/EMRG-$VERSION-linux-$ARCH.run"
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1e124a55..a64e922b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "emrg"
-version = "0.2.81"
+version = "0.2.82"
 description = "EMRG — a self-evolving AI agent architecture"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
 license = { file = "LICENSE" }
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index be682e87..696330ee 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "emrg"
-version = "0.2.81"
+version = "0.2.82"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "httpx" },