diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7d629f2..f2f7a94 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.2.1] - 2026-09-29
+
 ### Fixed
 - `ack.sh` left the previous state's `transitions` in `state.json`, so a second ack before the hook fired again failed with `invalid next state ''`. The agent had to retry the gated command after every step. `ack.sh` now sets `transitions` and `next_state` for the new state, and a session started by an older steplock gets the fixed `ack.sh` on its next block
 
diff --git a/core/Cargo.lock b/core/Cargo.lock
index 3aeae9d..e1b4663 100644
--- a/core/Cargo.lock
+++ b/core/Cargo.lock
@@ -994,7 +994,7 @@ checksum = "67b1b7a3b5fe4f1376887184045fcf45c69e92af734b7aaddc05fb777b6fbd03"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "steplock"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 dependencies = [
  "cel-interpreter",
  "chrono",
diff --git a/core/Cargo.toml b/core/Cargo.toml
index 8ed2206..d30f9eb 100644
--- a/core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "steplock"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 edition = "2021"
 rust-version = "1.88"
 description = "Stateful quality gate logic for steplock"