diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5e0c68e..6158d38 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ All notable changes to `openarmature-python` are documented in this file.
 
 The format follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/). The package follows [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/); pre-1.0 minor bumps may carry behavioral changes per [spec governance](https://github.com/LunarCommand/openarmature-spec/blob/main/GOVERNANCE.md).
 
-## [Unreleased]
+## [0.8.0] — 2026-05-23
 
 LLM-provider span payload and GenAI semconv release. Pinned spec
 jumps from v0.16.1 to v0.17.0 (proposal 0024 / observability §5.5
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f726300..3932436 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "openarmature"
-version = "0.7.0"
+version = "0.8.0rc1"
 description = "Workflow framework for LLM pipelines and tool-calling agents."
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.12"
diff --git a/src/openarmature/__init__.py b/src/openarmature/__init__.py
index a145c88..26d6c8c 100644
--- a/src/openarmature/__init__.py
+++ b/src/openarmature/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 """OpenArmature: workflow framework for LLM pipelines and tool-calling agents."""
 
-__version__ = "0.7.0"
+__version__ = "0.8.0rc1"
 __spec_version__ = "0.17.0"
diff --git a/tests/test_smoke.py b/tests/test_smoke.py
index 672338c..e78d828 100644
--- a/tests/test_smoke.py
+++ b/tests/test_smoke.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 
 def test_package_versions() -> None:
-    assert openarmature.__version__ == "0.7.0"
+    assert openarmature.__version__ == "0.8.0rc1"
     assert openarmature.__spec_version__ == "0.17.0"
 
 
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index b1701ea..290ced0 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openarmature"
-version = "0.7.0"
+version = "0.8.0rc1"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "httpx" },