diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index b445e35b..a60045ae 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-    "selene-core": "0.2.7",
+    "selene-core": "0.2.8",
     "selene-compilers/hugr_qis": "0.2.6",
     ".": "0.2.13"
 }
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ce077d3c..95bc3191 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ checksum = "9774ba4a74de5f7b1c1451ed6cd5285a32eddb5cccb8cc655a4e50009e06477f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "delegate",
diff --git a/selene-core/CHANGELOG.md b/selene-core/CHANGELOG.md
index d483cf67..cf662143 100644
--- a/selene-core/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/selene-core/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.2.8](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/compare/selene-core-v0.2.7...selene-core-v0.2.8) (2026-04-21)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* add timing to builtin runtimes and batching options to softrz runtime ([#158](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/issues/158)) ([049e123](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/commit/049e1231ba70ced08aa6477cf9c7efb579d4f659))
+* Traces for analytics ([#160](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/issues/160)) ([24b9978](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/commit/24b997803cc91a5efc7039c91dd19509f1883e8e))
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* classify lowered qir-qis bitcode as helios ([#157](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/issues/157)) ([67fca60](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/commit/67fca60db58dd6b04de8656cfc9dbd9d62a9d92f))
+
 ## [0.2.7](https://github.com/Quantinuum/selene/compare/selene-core-v0.2.6...selene-core-v0.2.7) (2026-04-10)
 
 
diff --git a/selene-core/Cargo.toml b/selene-core/Cargo.toml
index 78e72275..656fd676 100644
--- a/selene-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/selene-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 edition = "2024"
 
 [lib]
diff --git a/selene-core/examples/error_model/Cargo.lock b/selene-core/examples/error_model/Cargo.lock
index 57fa472f..ae109668 100644
--- a/selene-core/examples/error_model/Cargo.lock
+++ b/selene-core/examples/error_model/Cargo.lock
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "delegate",
diff --git a/selene-core/examples/runtime/Cargo.lock b/selene-core/examples/runtime/Cargo.lock
index 146190d4..375d820a 100644
--- a/selene-core/examples/runtime/Cargo.lock
+++ b/selene-core/examples/runtime/Cargo.lock
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "delegate",
diff --git a/selene-core/examples/simulator/Cargo.lock b/selene-core/examples/simulator/Cargo.lock
index bcb30ed3..36197667 100644
--- a/selene-core/examples/simulator/Cargo.lock
+++ b/selene-core/examples/simulator/Cargo.lock
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "delegate",
diff --git a/selene-core/pyproject.toml b/selene-core/pyproject.toml
index d02b7745..855c8f62 100644
--- a/selene-core/pyproject.toml
+++ b/selene-core/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 description = "The core interop library for Selene python interfaces"
 readme = "python/selene_core/README.md"
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 84e517e8..8bf44973 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1391,7 +1391,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "selene-core"
-version = "0.2.7"
+version = "0.2.8"
 source = { editable = "selene-core" }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "hugr" },