diff --git a/docs/release.md b/docs/release.md
index 9131d57e..5e8a254b 100644
--- a/docs/release.md
+++ b/docs/release.md
@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ The artifact packaging and readiness scripts read `publicNpmPackageVersion`
 from `release-policy.json`, so manual version edits in build scripts aren't
 needed for rc releases.
 
+The bundled Python runtime wheel also derives its version from
+`publicNpmPackageVersion`. Stable npm versions are reused as-is, and rc
+versions are normalized to Python's version format. For example,
+`0.1.0-rc.2` becomes `0.1.0rc2` in the `kaelio-ktx` wheel filename and wheel
+metadata.
+
 ## npm authentication
 
 The release workflow publishes through npm Trusted Publishing. It doesn't use
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli-program.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli-program.test.ts
index 79b0d23a..f0ac9595 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli-program.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli-program.test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@ function stubIo(): KtxCliIo {
 }
 
 function stubPackageInfo(): KtxCliPackageInfo {
-  return { name: '@ktx/cli', version: '0.0.0-test', contextPackageName: '@ktx/context' };
+  return {
+    name: '@ktx/cli',
+    version: '0.0.0-test',
+    packageVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+    runtimeVersion: '0.0.0-test',
+    contextPackageName: '@ktx/context',
+  };
 }
 
 describe('buildKtxProgram', () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli-runtime.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli-runtime.ts
index b0fe8eb0..b8bc636d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli-runtime.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import type { KtxSlArgs } from './sl.js';
 import type { KtxSqlArgs } from './sql.js';
 import { profileMark, profileSpan } from './startup-profile.js';
 import type { KtxTextIngestArgs } from './text-ingest.js';
+import { resolveKtxRuntimeVersion } from './release-version.js';
 
 profileMark('module:cli-runtime');
 
@@ -18,6 +19,8 @@ const requirePackageJson = createRequire(import.meta.url);
 export interface KtxCliPackageInfo {
   name: string;
   version: string;
+  packageVersion: string;
+  runtimeVersion: string;
   contextPackageName: '@ktx/context';
 }
 
@@ -61,9 +64,16 @@ export function packageInfoFromJson(packageJson: unknown): KtxCliPackageInfo {
     throw new Error('Invalid KTX CLI package metadata');
   }
 
+  const runtimeVersion = resolveKtxRuntimeVersion({
+    packageName: packageJson.name,
+    packageVersion: packageJson.version,
+  });
+
   return {
     name: packageJson.name,
-    version: packageJson.version,
+    version: runtimeVersion,
+    packageVersion: packageJson.version,
+    runtimeVersion,
     contextPackageName: '@ktx/context',
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts
index 692c7cd0..a48da8d5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/index.test.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@ describe('getKtxCliPackageInfo', () => {
   it('identifies the CLI package and its context dependency', () => {
     expect(getKtxCliPackageInfo()).toEqual({
       name: '@ktx/cli',
-      version: '0.0.0-private',
+      version: '0.1.0-rc.1',
+      packageVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+      runtimeVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
       contextPackageName: '@ktx/context',
     });
   });
@@ -68,6 +70,8 @@ describe('getKtxCliPackageInfo', () => {
     ).toEqual({
       name: '@kaelio/ktx',
       version: '0.1.0',
+      packageVersion: '0.1.0',
+      runtimeVersion: '0.1.0',
       contextPackageName: '@ktx/context',
     });
   });
@@ -114,7 +118,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
 
     await expect(runKtxCli(['--version'], testIo.io)).resolves.toBe(0);
 
-    expect(testIo.stdout()).toBe('@ktx/cli 0.0.0-private\n');
+    expect(testIo.stdout()).toBe('@ktx/cli 0.1.0-rc.1\n');
     expect(testIo.stderr()).toBe('');
   });
 
@@ -252,7 +256,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
     expect(listIo.stderr()).toContain("unknown option '--query'");
   });
 
-  it('routes runtime management commands with the CLI package version', async () => {
+  it('routes runtime management commands with the release runtime version', async () => {
     const runtime = vi.fn(async () => 0);
     const installIo = makeIo();
     const startIo = makeIo();
@@ -278,7 +282,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       1,
       {
         command: 'install',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         feature: 'local-embeddings',
         force: true,
       },
@@ -288,7 +292,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       2,
       {
         command: 'start',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         projectDir: expect.any(String),
         feature: 'local-embeddings',
         force: true,
@@ -299,7 +303,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       3,
       {
         command: 'stop',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         projectDir: expect.any(String),
         all: false,
       },
@@ -309,7 +313,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       4,
       {
         command: 'stop',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         projectDir: expect.any(String),
         all: true,
       },
@@ -319,7 +323,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       5,
       {
         command: 'status',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         json: true,
       },
       statusIo.io,
@@ -392,7 +396,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
       expect.objectContaining({
         command: 'query',
         projectDir: tempDir,
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'prompt',
         query: expect.objectContaining({ measures: ['orders.order_count'], dimensions: [] }),
       }),
@@ -407,7 +411,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
     expect(sl).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'auto',
       }),
       autoIo.io,
@@ -423,7 +427,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
     ).resolves.toBe(0);
     expect(sl).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'never',
       }),
       noInputIo.io,
@@ -562,7 +566,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
           skipAgents: false,
           inputMode: 'auto',
           yes: false,
-          cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+          cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
           skipLlm: false,
           skipEmbeddings: false,
           databaseSchemas: [],
@@ -692,7 +696,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         inputMode: 'disabled',
         depth: 'fast',
         queryHistory: 'default',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'never',
       },
       testIo.io,
@@ -719,7 +723,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         inputMode: 'auto',
         depth: 'deep',
         queryHistory: 'default',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'prompt',
       },
       testIo.io,
@@ -796,7 +800,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
           json: false,
           inputMode: 'disabled',
           queryHistory: 'default',
-          cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+          cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
           runtimeInstallPolicy: 'never',
         },
         testIo.io,
@@ -1074,7 +1078,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         command: 'run',
         projectDir: tempDir,
         inputMode: 'disabled',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         anthropicApiKeyEnv: 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY', // pragma: allowlist secret
         anthropicModel: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
         skipLlm: false,
@@ -1113,7 +1117,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         command: 'run',
         projectDir: tempDir,
         inputMode: 'disabled',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         llmBackend: 'vertex',
         vertexProject: 'local-gcp-project',
         vertexLocation: 'us-east5',
@@ -1150,7 +1154,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         command: 'run',
         projectDir: tempDir,
         inputMode: 'disabled',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         llmBackend: 'claude-code',
         llmModel: 'opus',
         skipLlm: false,
@@ -1258,7 +1262,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         projectDir: '/tmp/project',
         inputMode: 'disabled',
         yes: true,
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         skipLlm: true,
         skipEmbeddings: true,
         databaseDrivers: ['postgres'],
@@ -1576,7 +1580,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         queryFile: '/tmp/query.json',
         execute: false,
         format: 'json',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'auto',
       },
       autoIo.io,
@@ -1590,7 +1594,7 @@ describe('runKtxCli', () => {
         queryFile: '/tmp/query.json',
         execute: false,
         format: 'json',
-        cliVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+        cliVersion: '0.1.0-rc.1',
         runtimeInstallPolicy: 'never',
       },
       neverIo.io,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/print-command-tree.ts b/packages/cli/src/print-command-tree.ts
index 2ede889c..6c9de751 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/print-command-tree.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/print-command-tree.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@ function silentIo(): KtxCliIo {
 }
 
 function stubPackageInfo(): KtxCliPackageInfo {
-  return { name: '@ktx/cli', version: '0.0.0-docs', contextPackageName: '@ktx/context' };
+  return {
+    name: '@ktx/cli',
+    version: '0.0.0-docs',
+    packageVersion: '0.0.0-private',
+    runtimeVersion: '0.0.0-docs',
+    contextPackageName: '@ktx/context',
+  };
 }
 
 export function renderKtxCommandTree(): string {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/release-version.ts b/packages/cli/src/release-version.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..77bcb833
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/release-version.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, join, parse } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+const semverPattern =
+  /^(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)(?:-([0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*))?(?:\+[0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*)?$/;
+
+function isPlainObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return typeof value === 'object' && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
+}
+
+function assertReleaseVersion(value: unknown, source: string): string {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string' || !semverPattern.test(value)) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid KTX release version in ${source}`);
+  }
+  return value;
+}
+
+function findReleasePolicyPath(startDir: string): string | undefined {
+  let current = startDir;
+  const root = parse(current).root;
+  while (true) {
+    const candidate = join(current, 'release-policy.json');
+    if (existsSync(candidate)) {
+      return candidate;
+    }
+    if (current === root) {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+    current = dirname(current);
+  }
+}
+
+function readSourceReleaseVersion(startDir = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))): string | undefined {
+  const policyPath = findReleasePolicyPath(startDir);
+  if (!policyPath) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const policy = JSON.parse(readFileSync(policyPath, 'utf8')) as unknown;
+  if (!isPlainObject(policy)) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid KTX release policy: ${policyPath}`);
+  }
+  return assertReleaseVersion(policy.publicNpmPackageVersion, policyPath);
+}
+
+export function resolveKtxRuntimeVersion(input: {
+  packageName: string;
+  packageVersion: string;
+  startDir?: string;
+}): string {
+  if (input.packageName === '@kaelio/ktx') {
+    return assertReleaseVersion(input.packageVersion, `${input.packageName}/package.json`);
+  }
+  return readSourceReleaseVersion(input.startDir) ?? input.packageVersion;
+}
diff --git a/python/ktx-daemon/pyproject.toml b/python/ktx-daemon/pyproject.toml
index 16437879..4f21f9de 100644
--- a/python/ktx-daemon/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/ktx-daemon/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "ktx-daemon"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.0.0+private"
 description = "Portable compute package for KTX semantic-layer operations"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.13"
diff --git a/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/__init__.py b/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/__init__.py
index ddc5f6d9..d228ac79 100644
--- a/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/__init__.py
+++ b/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,28 @@
 """Portable compute package for KTX."""
 
-PACKAGE_NAME = "ktx-daemon"
-VERSION = "0.1.0"
+from collections.abc import Callable
+from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError, version
 
-__all__ = ["PACKAGE_NAME", "VERSION"]
+PACKAGE_NAME = "ktx-daemon"
+RUNTIME_DISTRIBUTION_NAME = "kaelio-ktx"
+
+
+def resolve_package_version(
+    version_loader: Callable[[str], str] = version,
+) -> str:
+    for distribution_name in (RUNTIME_DISTRIBUTION_NAME, PACKAGE_NAME):
+        try:
+            return version_loader(distribution_name)
+        except PackageNotFoundError:
+            continue
+    return "0.0.0+local"
+
+
+VERSION = resolve_package_version()
+
+__all__ = [
+    "PACKAGE_NAME",
+    "RUNTIME_DISTRIBUTION_NAME",
+    "VERSION",
+    "resolve_package_version",
+]
diff --git a/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/app.py b/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/app.py
index 0d7016dd..3208264c 100644
--- a/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/app.py
+++ b/python/ktx-daemon/src/ktx_daemon/app.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from typing import Any
 from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
 from fastapi.responses import Response
 
+from ktx_daemon import VERSION
 from ktx_daemon.code_execution import (
     ExecuteCodeRequest,
     ExecuteCodeResponse,
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ def create_app(
     app = FastAPI(
         title="KTX Daemon",
         description="Stateless portable compute server for KTX.",
-        version="0.1.0",
+        version=VERSION,
     )
 
     @app.get("/health")
diff --git a/python/ktx-daemon/tests/test_package.py b/python/ktx-daemon/tests/test_package.py
index 3812b448..943a85a4 100644
--- a/python/ktx-daemon/tests/test_package.py
+++ b/python/ktx-daemon/tests/test_package.py
@@ -1,6 +1,19 @@
-from ktx_daemon import PACKAGE_NAME, VERSION
+from ktx_daemon import PACKAGE_NAME, VERSION, resolve_package_version
 
 
 def test_package_metadata() -> None:
     assert PACKAGE_NAME == "ktx-daemon"
-    assert VERSION == "0.1.0"
+    assert VERSION == resolve_package_version()
+
+
+def test_package_version_prefers_bundled_runtime_distribution() -> None:
+    calls: list[str] = []
+
+    def fake_version(distribution_name: str) -> str:
+        calls.append(distribution_name)
+        if distribution_name == "kaelio-ktx":
+            return "0.1.0rc1"
+        raise AssertionError(f"unexpected distribution lookup: {distribution_name}")
+
+    assert resolve_package_version(version_loader=fake_version) == "0.1.0rc1"
+    assert calls == ["kaelio-ktx"]
diff --git a/python/ktx-sl/pyproject.toml b/python/ktx-sl/pyproject.toml
index f3081327..51e97a83 100644
--- a/python/ktx-sl/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/ktx-sl/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "ktx-sl"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.0.0+private"
 description = "Agent-first semantic layer engine with aggregate locality"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.13"
diff --git a/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.mjs b/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.mjs
index 9623b48a..46e30ce5 100644
--- a/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.mjs
+++ b/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.mjs
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@ import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
 
+import { publicPythonRuntimePackageVersion } from './public-npm-release-metadata.mjs';
+
 const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
 export const RUNTIME_WHEEL_DISTRIBUTION_NAME = 'kaelio-ktx';
 export const RUNTIME_WHEEL_NORMALIZED_NAME = 'kaelio_ktx';
-export const RUNTIME_WHEEL_PACKAGE_VERSION = '0.1.0';
+export const RUNTIME_WHEEL_PACKAGE_VERSION = publicPythonRuntimePackageVersion();
 
 function scriptRootDir() {
   return resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..');
diff --git a/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.test.mjs b/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.test.mjs
index 2fbb3fbc..7fc3923b 100644
--- a/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/build-python-runtime-wheel.test.mjs
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@ describe('runtimeWheelLayout', () => {
 });
 
 describe('runtimeWheelPyproject', () => {
-  it('describes one kaelio-ktx wheel with lazy local embeddings', () => {
+  it('describes one kaelio-ktx wheel with the release-derived Python version and lazy local embeddings', () => {
     const pyproject = runtimeWheelPyproject();
 
     assert.match(pyproject, /name = "kaelio-ktx"/);
-    assert.match(pyproject, /version = "0\.1\.0"/);
+    assert.match(pyproject, /version = "0\.1\.0rc1"/);
     assert.match(pyproject, /ktx-daemon = "ktx_daemon\.__main__:main"/);
     assert.match(pyproject, /packages = \["semantic_layer", "ktx_daemon"\]/);
     assert.match(pyproject, /\[project\.optional-dependencies\]/);
@@ -110,6 +110,6 @@ describe('runtimeWheelBuildCommand', () => {
       cwd: '/repo/ktx',
     });
     assert.equal(RUNTIME_WHEEL_DISTRIBUTION_NAME, 'kaelio-ktx');
-    assert.equal(RUNTIME_WHEEL_PACKAGE_VERSION, '0.1.0');
+    assert.equal(RUNTIME_WHEEL_PACKAGE_VERSION, '0.1.0rc1');
   });
 });
diff --git a/scripts/package-artifacts.test.mjs b/scripts/package-artifacts.test.mjs
index 95eb6c0c..bbffe06c 100644
--- a/scripts/package-artifacts.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/package-artifacts.test.mjs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ async function writeUploadableArtifactFixtures(layout) {
       `${packageInfo.name}-tarball`,
     ]),
     [
-      join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'),
+      join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'),
       'kaelio-ktx-runtime-wheel',
     ],
   ]);
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ describe('packageReleaseMetadata', () => {
           ecosystem: 'python',
           packageName: 'kaelio-ktx',
           packageRoot: 'python/runtime-wheel',
-          packageVersion: '0.1.0',
+          packageVersion: '0.1.0rc1',
           private: false,
           releaseMode: 'ci-artifact-only',
         },
@@ -154,10 +154,10 @@ describe('findPythonArtifacts', () => {
   it('finds the bundled runtime wheel only', async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'ktx-artifacts-test-'));
     try {
-      await writeFile(join(root, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'), '');
+      await writeFile(join(root, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'), '');
 
       assert.deepEqual(await findPythonArtifacts(root), {
-        runtimeWheel: join(root, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'),
+        runtimeWheel: join(root, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'),
       });
     } finally {
       await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ describe('artifact manifest', () => {
             ecosystem: 'python',
             packageName: 'kaelio-ktx',
             packageRoot: 'python/runtime-wheel',
-            packageVersion: '0.1.0',
+            packageVersion: '0.1.0rc1',
             private: false,
             releaseMode: 'ci-artifact-only',
           },
@@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ describe('artifact manifest', () => {
             artifactKind: 'wheel',
             ecosystem: 'python',
             packageName: 'kaelio-ktx',
-            packageVersion: '0.1.0',
-            path: 'python/kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl',
+            packageVersion: '0.1.0rc1',
+            path: 'python/kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl',
           },
         ],
       );
@@ -362,17 +362,17 @@ describe('copyRuntimeWheelAssets', () => {
     try {
       await mkdir(layout.pythonDir, { recursive: true });
       await writeFile(
-        join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'),
+        join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'),
         'kaelio-ktx-runtime-wheel',
       );
 
       const assets = await copyRuntimeWheelAssets(layout, {
-        runtimeWheel: join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'),
+        runtimeWheel: join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'),
       });
 
       assert.equal(
         assets.wheelPath,
-        join(root, 'packages', 'cli', 'assets', 'python', 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'),
+        join(root, 'packages', 'cli', 'assets', 'python', 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'),
       );
       assert.equal(
         assets.manifestPath,
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ describe('copyRuntimeWheelAssets', () => {
         normalizedName: RUNTIME_WHEEL_NORMALIZED_NAME,
         version: RUNTIME_WHEEL_PACKAGE_VERSION,
         wheel: {
-          file: 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl',
+          file: 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl',
           sha256: createHash('sha256')
             .update('kaelio-ktx-runtime-wheel')
             .digest('hex'),
diff --git a/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.mjs b/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.mjs
index a8d4fa43..acc77c7e 100644
--- a/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.mjs
+++ b/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ export const PUBLIC_NPM_RELEASE_TAGS = new Set(['latest', 'next']);
 
 const SEMVER_PATTERN =
   /^(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)(?:-([0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*))?(?:\+[0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*)?$/;
+const SEMVER_PARTS_PATTERN =
+  /^(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)(?:-([0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*))?(\+[0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*)?$/;
 
 function scriptRootDir() {
   return resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..');
@@ -29,6 +31,30 @@ export function assertPublicNpmPackageVersion(version) {
   return version;
 }
 
+export function publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion(version) {
+  const safeVersion = assertPublicNpmPackageVersion(version);
+  const match = SEMVER_PARTS_PATTERN.exec(safeVersion);
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid public npm package version: ${version}`);
+  }
+
+  const [, major, minor, patch, prerelease, buildMetadata] = match;
+  if (buildMetadata) {
+    throw new Error(`Unsupported public npm build metadata for Python runtime version: ${safeVersion}`);
+  }
+
+  const baseVersion = `${major}.${minor}.${patch}`;
+  if (!prerelease) {
+    return baseVersion;
+  }
+
+  const rcMatch = /^rc\.([1-9]\d*|0)$/.exec(prerelease);
+  if (!rcMatch) {
+    throw new Error(`Unsupported public npm prerelease for Python runtime version: ${safeVersion}`);
+  }
+  return `${baseVersion}rc${rcMatch[1]}`;
+}
+
 export function assertPublicNpmReleaseTag(tag) {
   if (!PUBLIC_NPM_RELEASE_TAGS.has(tag)) {
     throw new Error(`Invalid public npm release tag: ${tag}`);
@@ -51,3 +77,7 @@ export function readPublicNpmReleaseMetadata(rootDir = scriptRootDir()) {
 export function publicNpmPackageVersion(rootDir = scriptRootDir()) {
   return readPublicNpmReleaseMetadata(rootDir).version;
 }
+
+export function publicPythonRuntimePackageVersion(rootDir = scriptRootDir()) {
+  return publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion(publicNpmPackageVersion(rootDir));
+}
diff --git a/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.test.mjs b/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3f102ff1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/public-npm-release-metadata.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
+
+import { publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion } from './public-npm-release-metadata.mjs';
+
+describe('publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion', () => {
+  it('keeps stable public npm versions unchanged for Python wheels', () => {
+    assert.equal(publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion('1.2.3'), '1.2.3');
+  });
+
+  it('converts semantic-release rc versions to PEP 440 rc versions', () => {
+    assert.equal(publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion('0.1.0-rc.1'), '0.1.0rc1');
+    assert.equal(publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion('2.0.0-rc.12'), '2.0.0rc12');
+  });
+
+  it('rejects unsupported prerelease and build metadata forms', () => {
+    assert.throws(
+      () => publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion('1.2.3-beta.1'),
+      /Unsupported public npm prerelease for Python runtime version/,
+    );
+    assert.throws(
+      () => publicNpmPackageVersionToPythonVersion('1.2.3+build.1'),
+      /Unsupported public npm build metadata for Python runtime version/,
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/scripts/release-readiness.test.mjs b/scripts/release-readiness.test.mjs
index 38fcfe20..84170761 100644
--- a/scripts/release-readiness.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release-readiness.test.mjs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ async function writeUploadableArtifactFixtures(layout) {
       layout.npmTarballs[packageInfo.name],
       `${packageInfo.name}-tarball`,
     ]),
-    [join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl'), 'kaelio-ktx-runtime-wheel'],
+    [join(layout.pythonDir, 'kaelio_ktx-0.1.0rc1-py3-none-any.whl'), 'kaelio-ktx-runtime-wheel'],
   ]);
 
   for (const [path, contents] of fileContents) {
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index f3ffc767..2dc8b355 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ktx-daemon"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.0.0+private"
 source = { editable = "python/ktx-daemon" }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "fastapi" },
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ dev = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ktx-sl"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.0.0+private"
 source = { editable = "python/ktx-sl" }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "pydantic" },