diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
index 0bed39c..518fd36 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
@@ -11,48 +11,112 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Parse release tag
+        id: tag
+        run: |
+          TAG="${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}"
+          if [[ "$TAG" != *"@"* ]]; then
+            echo "❌ Tag '$TAG' is not in package@version format"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          PACKAGE_NAME="${TAG%%@*}"
+          VERSION="${TAG#*@}"
+          echo "package=$PACKAGE_NAME" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Package: $PACKAGE_NAME"
+          echo "Version: $VERSION"
+
       - name: Install GitVersion
         run: |
           curl -sL https://github.com/GitTools/GitVersion/releases/download/6.6.0/gitversion-linux-x64-6.6.0.tar.gz -o /tmp/gitversion.tar.gz
           tar xzf /tmp/gitversion.tar.gz -C /usr/local/bin gitversion
           chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gitversion
+
       - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: 24
           registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
           cache: 'pnpm'
+
       - run: pnpm audit
       - run: pnpm i --frozen-lockfile
       - run: pnpm run --if-present build --only
       - run: pnpm run --if-present type-check --only
       - run: pnpm run --if-present test --only
       - run: pnpm run ci
-      - name: Verify release tag matches package.json
+
+      - name: Resolve package directory
+        id: package
+        env:
+          PACKAGE_NAME: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.package }}
         run: |
-          cd "apps/$(cat .packagename)"
-          VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
-          RELEASE_TAG="${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}"
-          echo "package.json version: $VERSION"
-          echo "Release tag:          $RELEASE_TAG"
-          if [ "$VERSION" != "$RELEASE_TAG" ]; then
-            echo "❌ Version mismatch! Release tag does not match package.json"
+          PACKAGE_DIR=$(node -e "
+            const fs = require('fs');
+            const name = process.env.PACKAGE_NAME;
+            const dirs = ['apps', 'packages']
+              .flatMap(d => fs.readdirSync(d).map(p => d + '/' + p))
+              .filter(d => { try { fs.statSync(d + '/package.json'); return true; } catch { return false; } });
+            const match = dirs.find(d => {
+              const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(d + '/package.json', 'utf8'));
+              return pkg.name.split('/').pop() === name;
+            });
+            if (!match) { process.stderr.write('No package found for: ' + name + '\\n'); process.exit(1); }
+            process.stdout.write(match);
+          ")
+          echo "dir=$PACKAGE_DIR" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "Package directory: $PACKAGE_DIR"
+
+
+      - name: Verify changelog
+        run: |
+          CHANGELOG="${{ steps.package.outputs.dir }}/CHANGELOG.md"
+          if [ ! -f "$CHANGELOG" ]; then
+            echo "❌ No CHANGELOG.md found in ${{ steps.package.outputs.dir }}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          # Strip pre-release suffix to get base version (e.g. 1.0.0-alpha.5 → 1.0.0)
+          BASE_VERSION=$(echo "${{ steps.tag.outputs.version }}" | sed 's/^\([0-9]*\.[0-9]*\.[0-9]*\).*/\1/')
+          FIRST_VERSION=$(grep -oE '^## \[[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\]' "$CHANGELOG" | head -n1 | sed 's/## \[\(.*\)\]/\1/')
+          if [ -z "$FIRST_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "✅ No version entries yet — OK for pre-release"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "$BASE_VERSION" != "$FIRST_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "❌ First changelog entry [$FIRST_VERSION] does not match release base version [$BASE_VERSION]"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if ! grep -qE "^## \[$BASE_VERSION\] - [0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}$" "$CHANGELOG"; then
+            echo "❌ Entry ## [$BASE_VERSION] is missing a date (expected: ## [$BASE_VERSION] - YYYY-MM-DD)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Changelog OK"
+
+      - name: Verify version matches tag
+        run: |
+          cd "${{ steps.package.outputs.dir }}"
+          PKG_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+          TAG_VERSION="${{ steps.tag.outputs.version }}"
+          echo "package.json version: $PKG_VERSION"
+          echo "Tag version:          $TAG_VERSION"
+          if [ "$PKG_VERSION" != "$TAG_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "❌ Version mismatch"
             exit 1
           fi
           echo "✅ Versions match"
-      - run: |
-          . ./scripts/get-npm-tag.sh
-          cd "apps/$(cat .packagename)"
 
+      - name: Publish
+        run: |
+          . ./scripts/get-npm-tag.sh
+          cd "${{ steps.package.outputs.dir }}"
           VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
-          echo "Package version: $VERSION"
           TAG=$(get_npm_tag "$VERSION")
           if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
             echo "Failed to get valid npm tag: $TAG"
             exit 1
           fi
           echo "Publishing with tag: $TAG"
-
           pnpm publish --ignore-scripts --no-git-checks --tag "$TAG"
         env:
-          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{secrets.npm_token}}
+          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.npm_token }}
diff --git a/.packagename b/.packagename
deleted file mode 100644
index 676fc13..0000000
--- a/.packagename
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-claude-cli
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/claude-cli/CHANGELOG.md b/apps/claude-cli/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a58814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/claude-cli/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## [Unreleased]
diff --git a/apps/claude-sdk-cli/CHANGELOG.md b/apps/claude-sdk-cli/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a58814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/claude-sdk-cli/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## [Unreleased]
diff --git a/apps/claude-sdk-cli/package.json b/apps/claude-sdk-cli/package.json
index 62a7e9a..638c5dd 100644
--- a/apps/claude-sdk-cli/package.json
+++ b/apps/claude-sdk-cli/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@shellicar/claude-sdk-cli",
-  "version": "1.0.0-alpha.4",
+  "version": "1.0.0-alpha.5",
   "private": false,
   "description": "Interactive CLI for Claude AI built on the Anthropic SDK",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/lefthook.yml b/lefthook.yml
index 861fb9a..56ff35c 100644
--- a/lefthook.yml
+++ b/lefthook.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,3 @@ pre-push:
     check:
       files: git diff --name-only origin/main...HEAD
       run: pnpm biome ci --diagnostic-level=error --no-errors-on-unmatched --colors=off {files}
-  scripts:
-    'verify-version.sh':
-      runner: sh
diff --git a/packages/claude-core/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/claude-core/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a58814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/claude-core/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## [Unreleased]
diff --git a/packages/claude-sdk-tools/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/claude-sdk-tools/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a58814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/claude-sdk-tools/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## [Unreleased]
diff --git a/packages/claude-sdk/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/claude-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a58814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/claude-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## [Unreleased]
diff --git a/packages/typescript-config/package.json b/packages/typescript-config/package.json
index 2f2c126..be1177c 100644
--- a/packages/typescript-config/package.json
+++ b/packages/typescript-config/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@shellicar/typescript-config",
   "version": "0.0.0",
-  "private": "true",
+  "private": true,
   "exports": {
     "./base.json": "./base.json"
   },
diff --git a/scripts/verify-version.sh b/scripts/verify-version.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index e85bdfc..0000000
--- a/scripts/verify-version.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# Verify that package.json version matches gitversion
-#
-# Usage:
-#   scripts/verify-version.sh
-
-set -e
-
-# Get full version from package.json
-PACKAGE_DIR="apps/$(cat .packagename)"
-full_version=$(node -p "JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync('$PACKAGE_DIR/package.json')).version")
-
-# Extract base version (x.y.z) stripping any prerelease suffix
-base_version=$(echo "$full_version" | sed 's/^\([0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\).*/\1/')
-
-# Get version from gitversion
-if command -v gitversion >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  GITVERSION=gitversion
-elif command -v dotnet-gitversion >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  GITVERSION=dotnet-gitversion
-else
-  echo "❌ gitversion not found" >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-gitversion_output=$($GITVERSION /showvariable SemVer)
-
-if [ "$base_version" = "$gitversion_output" ]; then
-  echo "✅ Version match: $base_version (package.json: $full_version)"
-else
-  echo "❌ Version mismatch" >&2
-  echo "  package.json base: $base_version (full: $full_version)" >&2
-  echo "  gitversion:        $gitversion_output" >&2
-  exit 1
-fi