diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fefac1d..96fe226 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [v0.2.6] - 2026-06-24
+
+- feat: remove pinned/always_refresh logic and require explicit ref tags
+
 ## [v0.2.5] - 2026-06-24
 
 - chore: normalize workflows
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6ac7676..665b191 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "embedder"
-version = "0.2.5"
+version = "0.2.6"
 description = "Dependency-style updater for embedded text fragments."
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"