diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 898b26fd..38c567e6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "chadscript",
-  "version": "0.2.0-beta",
+  "version": "0.3.0-beta",
   "description": "A JavaScript to native code compiler using LLVM",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/chad-node.js",
diff --git a/scripts/gen-version.js b/scripts/gen-version.js
index 08569722..19403ab7 100644
--- a/scripts/gen-version.js
+++ b/scripts/gen-version.js
@@ -1,3 +1,18 @@
 import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "fs";
+import { execSync } from "child_process";
+
 const pkg = JSON.parse(readFileSync("package.json", "utf8"));
-writeFileSync("src/version.ts", `export const VERSION = "${pkg.version}";\n`);
+
+let gitCommit = "unknown";
+try {
+  gitCommit = execSync("git rev-parse --short HEAD", { stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"] })
+    .toString()
+    .trim();
+} catch {
+  // not a git checkout (e.g., building from a release tarball)
+}
+
+const buildDate = new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 10);
+const fullVersion = `${pkg.version}-${gitCommit}-${buildDate}`;
+
+writeFileSync("src/version.ts", `export const VERSION = "${fullVersion}";\n`);