diff --git a/.github/actions/set-version/action.yml b/.github/actions/set-version/action.yml
index 872a16c3..aeb05bf3 100644
--- a/.github/actions/set-version/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/set-version/action.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 name: 'Set Version'
-description: 'Compute and set version for httpr builds'
+description: |
+  Compute and set version for httpr builds.
+  
+  Version logic:
+    - Tag release (refs/tags/v*): Extract version from tag (v1.2.3 -> 1.2.3)
+    - Dev release (workflow_dispatch): Base version + .devN (1.2.3.dev42)
+  
+  Updates both pyproject.toml (full version) and Cargo.toml (base version only,
+  since Cargo semver doesn't support .dev suffixes).
+  
+  The version in source files (0.0.0.dev0 / 0.0.0) is a placeholder and should
+  not be edited manually.
 inputs:
   run-number:
     description: 'GitHub run number for dev versions'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI.yml b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
index f0dafd99..a1a8a880 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
+    paths-ignore:
+      - "*.jpg"  # Prevents the benchmark image update from triggering CI
     tags:
       - "*"
   pull_request:
@@ -424,7 +426,14 @@ jobs:
           uv run uvicorn benchmark.server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 &
           sleep 10
       - name: Run benchmark
-        run: uv run python benchmark/benchmark.py
+        run: |
+          # Extract version from tag (v0.3.0 -> 0.3.0) or use 'dev' for manual runs
+          if [[ "${{ github.ref }}" == refs/tags/v* ]]; then
+            HTTPR_VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/v}
+          else
+            HTTPR_VERSION="dev"
+          fi
+          uv run python benchmark/benchmark.py --httpr-version "$HTTPR_VERSION"
       - name: Generate and commit benchmark image
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/set_version.py b/.github/workflows/set_version.py
index 03961fb4..b2fcfe3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/set_version.py
+++ b/.github/workflows/set_version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,20 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Version management script for httpr CI builds.
+
+This script is called by the GitHub Actions workflow (.github/actions/set-version/)
+to set the package version dynamically based on git tags:
+
+  - Tag release (e.g., v1.2.3): Version is extracted from the tag -> "1.2.3"
+  - Dev release (workflow_dispatch): Base version + run number -> "1.2.3.dev42"
+
+Both pyproject.toml and Cargo.toml are updated. Cargo.toml gets the base version
+without any .dev suffix since Cargo's semver doesn't support that format.
+
+Usage:
+    python set_version.py 1.2.3        # Set version to 1.2.3
+    python set_version.py --get-base   # Print base version from pyproject.toml
+"""
 
 import argparse
 import os
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 4fbc94c8..9284f86e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 [package]
 name = "httpr"
-version = "0.2.3"
+# Version is set dynamically by CI from git tags (e.g., v1.2.3 -> 1.2.3).
+# Do not edit manually. See .github/actions/set-version/ for details.
+version = "0.0.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Fast HTTP client for python"
 authors = ["thomasht86"]
diff --git a/benchmark/benchmark.py b/benchmark/benchmark.py
index ccf280a8..e74601f0 100644
--- a/benchmark/benchmark.py
+++ b/benchmark/benchmark.py
@@ -69,9 +69,17 @@ def aiohttp_session_factory():
     ("aiohttp", aiohttp_session_factory),
 ]
 
+# Optional override for httpr version (set via --httpr-version CLI arg)
+_httpr_version_override: str | None = None
+
 
 def add_package_version(packages):
-    return [(f"{name} {version(name)}", classname) for name, classname in packages]
+    def get_version(name):
+        if name == "httpr" and _httpr_version_override:
+            return _httpr_version_override
+        return version(name)
+
+    return [(f"{name} {get_version(name)}", classname) for name, classname in packages]
 
 
 def get_test(session_class, requests_number):
@@ -264,8 +272,17 @@ def run_multithread_benchmarks():
         default=False,
         help="If provided, run the multithreading tests only",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--httpr-version",
+        type=str,
+        default=None,
+        help="Override httpr version in benchmark output (e.g., 0.3.0)",
+    )
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
+    if args.httpr_version:
+        _httpr_version_override = args.httpr_version
+
     if args.run_multithread:
         run_multithread_benchmarks()
     else:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 68d26404..850f44a6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 keywords = [ "python", "request",]
 classifiers = [ "Programming Language :: Rust", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13", "Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPython", "Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPy", "Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP", "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules",]
-version = "0.2.3"
+# Version is set dynamically by CI from git tags (e.g., v1.2.3 -> 1.2.3).
+# Do not edit manually. See .github/actions/set-version/ for details.
+version = "0.0.0.dev0"
 dependencies = []
 [[project.authors]]
 name = "thomasht86"