diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 69535c6..461d94a 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.2.4"
+  ".": "0.2.5"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 01a895b..414dd6d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.2.5](https://github.com/kunchenguid/tasks-axi/compare/tasks-axi-v0.2.4...tasks-axi-v0.2.5) (2026-08-07)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **cli:** speed up standalone version queries ([#34](https://github.com/kunchenguid/tasks-axi/issues/34)) ([92911b2](https://github.com/kunchenguid/tasks-axi/commit/92911b2e0cc4ddfd6bafee977cca369bab7e165c))
+
 ## [0.2.4](https://github.com/kunchenguid/tasks-axi/compare/tasks-axi-v0.2.3...tasks-axi-v0.2.4) (2026-07-23)
 
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b97ea40..d297815 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "tasks-axi",
-  "version": "0.2.4",
+  "version": "0.2.5",
   "packageManager": "pnpm@11.1.1",
   "description": "AXI-compliant task/backlog CLI — token-efficient TOON output, pluggable backends, byte-exact markdown round-trip, idempotent mutations",
   "type": "module",