diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index abcc6f1d39..aeb8a4b00d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 
 ---
 
+## [3.8.17] — Unreleased
+
+_Development cycle in progress — entries are added as work merges into `release/v3.8.17` and finalized by the release flow._
+
+---
+
 ## [3.8.16] — 2026-06-08
 
 ### ✨ New Features
diff --git a/docs/reference/openapi.yaml b/docs/reference/openapi.yaml
index 9509aaf783..5c6b020add 100644
--- a/docs/reference/openapi.yaml
+++ b/docs/reference/openapi.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 openapi: 3.1.0
 info:
   title: OmniRoute API
-  version: 3.8.16
+  version: 3.8.17
   description: |
     OmniRoute is a local-first AI API proxy router. It provides an OpenAI-compatible
     endpoint that routes requests to multiple AI providers with load balancing,
diff --git a/electron/package-lock.json b/electron/package-lock.json
index 0a3a8675fb..33a8b3056d 100644
--- a/electron/package-lock.json
+++ b/electron/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "omniroute-desktop",
-  "version": "3.8.16",
+  "version": "3.8.17",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "omniroute-desktop",
-      "version": "3.8.16",
+      "version": "3.8.17",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "electron-updater": "^6.8.8"
diff --git a/electron/package.json b/electron/package.json
index f5faa5de26..31c3274fe2 100644
--- a/electron/package.json
+++ b/electron/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "omniroute-desktop",
-  "version": "3.8.16",
+  "version": "3.8.17",
   "description": "OmniRoute Desktop Application",
   "main": "main.js",
   "author": {
diff --git a/open-sse/package.json b/open-sse/package.json
index 56d8dcf9f8..56a3eb94a6 100644
--- a/open-sse/package.json
+++ b/open-sse/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@omniroute/open-sse",
-  "version": "3.8.16",
+  "version": "3.8.17",
   "description": "Express SSE sidecar for OmniRoute — handles streaming, protocol translation, and provider orchestration",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "index.js",
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index b475b33222..8899390941 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "omniroute",
-  "version": "3.8.16",
+  "version": "3.8.17",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "omniroute",
-      "version": "3.8.16",
+      "version": "3.8.17",
       "hasInstallScript": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "workspaces": [
@@ -21467,7 +21467,7 @@
     },
     "open-sse": {
       "name": "@omniroute/open-sse",
-      "version": "3.8.16"
+      "version": "3.8.17"
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fc1a454e8c..5c361a75a1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "omniroute",
-  "version": "3.8.16",
+  "version": "3.8.17",
   "description": "Unified AI router with 160+ providers, RTK+Caveman compression, auto fallback, MCP/A2A, desktop, PWA, and OpenAI-compatible APIs.",
   "type": "module",
   "bin": {