diff --git a/.github/workflows/on-release-main.yml b/.github/workflows/on-release-main.yml
index 3e9261f..30f62b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/on-release-main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/on-release-main.yml
@@ -6,44 +6,36 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
 
-  set-version:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+  release-note:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Check out
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Export tag
-        id: vars
-        run: echo tag=${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/} >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' }}
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+        with:
+          node-version: lts/*
 
-      - name: Update project version
-        run: |
-          sed -i "s/^version = \".*\"/version = \"$RELEASE_VERSION\"/" pyproject.toml
+      - run: npx changelogithub
+        continue-on-error: true
         env:
-          RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.tag }}
-        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' }}
-
-      - name: Upload updated pyproject.toml
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: pyproject-toml
-          path: pyproject.toml
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
   publish:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [set-version]
     steps:
       - name: Check out
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Set up the environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-python-env
 
-      - name: Download updated pyproject.toml
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: pyproject-toml
-
       - name: Build package
         run: uv build
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3311e1c..56a67b7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -209,3 +209,5 @@ cython_debug/
 marimo/_static/
 marimo/_lsp/
 __marimo__/
+
+_version.py
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6a21d4b..cdedef3 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "republic"
-version = "0.5.8"
+dynamic = ["version"]
 description = "Build LLM workflows like normal Python while keeping a full audit trail by default."
 authors = [
     { name = "Chojan Shang", email = "psiace@apache.org" },
@@ -59,9 +59,16 @@ dev = [
 ]
 
 [build-system]
-requires = ["hatchling"]
+requires = ["hatchling", "hatch-vcs"]
 build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
+
+[tool.hatch.version]
+source = "vcs"
+
+[tool.hatch.build.hooks.vcs]
+version-file = "src/republic/_version.py"
+
 [tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
 packages = ["src/republic"]
 
diff --git a/src/republic/__about__.py b/src/republic/__about__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 969ed17..0000000
--- a/src/republic/__about__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-DEFAULT_MODEL = "openai:gpt-4o-mini"
-
-__version__ = "0.5.8"
-__author__ = "PsiACE, Frost Ming"
-__author_email__ = "psiace@apache.org, me@frostming.com"
-__copyright__ = "Copyright (c) 2026 Bub Build contributors."
-__homepage__ = "https://github.com/bubbuild/republic"
-__docs__ = "Minimal, tape-first LLM client with structured outputs."
-
-__all__ = [
-    "DEFAULT_MODEL",
-    "__author__",
-    "__author_email__",
-    "__copyright__",
-    "__docs__",
-    "__homepage__",
-    "__version__",
-]
diff --git a/src/republic/__init__.py b/src/republic/__init__.py
index 7ae4f63..e77e457 100644
--- a/src/republic/__init__.py
+++ b/src/republic/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 """Republic public API."""
 
+from importlib import import_module
+from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError
+from importlib.metadata import version as metadata_version
+
 from republic.auth import (
     github_copilot_oauth_resolver,
     load_openai_codex_oauth_tokens,
@@ -52,3 +56,11 @@
     "tool",
     "tool_from_model",
 ]
+
+try:
+    __version__ = import_module("republic._version").version
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    try:
+        __version__ = metadata_version("republic")
+    except PackageNotFoundError:
+        __version__ = "0.0.0"
diff --git a/src/republic/llm.py b/src/republic/llm.py
index 4e46379..90494a7 100644
--- a/src/republic/llm.py
+++ b/src/republic/llm.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 from collections.abc import Callable
 from typing import Any, Literal, cast
 
-from republic.__about__ import DEFAULT_MODEL
 from republic.auth import APIKeyResolver
 from republic.clients._internal import InternalOps
 from republic.clients.chat import ChatClient
@@ -35,6 +34,8 @@
 from republic.tools.executor import ToolExecutor
 from republic.tools.schema import ToolInput
 
+DEFAULT_MODEL = "openrouter:free"
+
 
 class LLM:
     """Developer-first LLM client powered by any-llm."""
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index bfdbea1..d4067e0 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1153,7 +1153,6 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "republic"
-version = "0.5.8"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "any-llm-sdk" },