diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index e510903..bed5fe1 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ This repository publishes the open-source server, console, integration catalog,
 - Keep functions focused on one ownership boundary.
 - Propagate unexpected errors to the CLI or request boundary.
 - Keep technical claims executable through tests or generated validation.
+- Keep the mirrored Python package, distribution, and CLI version in `sdks/python/elydora/_version.py`; Setuptools metadata must read that literal dynamically.
 - Interpret Python SDK `max_retries` as retries after the initial attempt and reject negative or non-integer values.
 - Retry RFC-idempotent Python SDK requests automatically; retry non-idempotent requests only when the transport proves the request was never sent.
 - Honor valid `Retry-After` delay-seconds and HTTP-date values, and release retryable responses before sleeping.
diff --git a/sdks/python/elydora/__init__.py b/sdks/python/elydora/__init__.py
index c87e6ab..5b14e1d 100644
--- a/sdks/python/elydora/__init__.py
+++ b/sdks/python/elydora/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from .client import ElydoraClient
 from .async_client import AsyncElydoraClient
 from .errors import ElydoraError
+from ._version import __version__
 from .crypto import (
     compute_chain_hash,
     compute_payload_hash,
@@ -48,9 +49,8 @@ from .types import (
     IntegrationType,
 )
 
-__version__ = "1.0.0"
-
 __all__ = [
+    "__version__",
     "ElydoraClient",
     "AsyncElydoraClient",
     "ElydoraError",
diff --git a/sdks/python/elydora/_version.py b/sdks/python/elydora/_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b481aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdks/python/elydora/_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Canonical Elydora package version."""
+
+__version__ = "1.2.1"
diff --git a/sdks/python/elydora/cli.py b/sdks/python/elydora/cli.py
index 8b1d194..f7befaa 100644
--- a/sdks/python/elydora/cli.py
+++ b/sdks/python/elydora/cli.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import shutil
 import sys
 from typing import Dict, Type
 
+from ._version import __version__
 from .crypto import get_public_key_base64url
 from .plugins.base import AgentPlugin, InstallConfig
 from .plugins.registry import SUPPORTED_AGENTS, get_agent_names
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
         description="Elydora — tamper-evident audit trail for AI agents",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
-        "--version", action="version", version="%(prog)s 1.0.0"
+        "--version", action="version", version=f"%(prog)s {__version__}"
     )
 
     subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", help="Available commands")
diff --git a/sdks/python/pyproject.toml b/sdks/python/pyproject.toml
index 04a2a28..cdeebad 100644
--- a/sdks/python/pyproject.toml
+++ b/sdks/python/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "elydora"
-version = "1.1.0"
+dynamic = ["version"]
 description = "Python SDK for the Elydora tamper-evident audit platform"
 readme = "README.md"
 license = {text = "MIT"}
@@ -41,3 +41,6 @@ dev = [
 
 [tool.setuptools.packages.find]
 include = ["elydora*"]
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {attr = "elydora._version.__version__"}
diff --git a/sdks/python/tests/test_version_contract.py b/sdks/python/tests/test_version_contract.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4cca48c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdks/python/tests/test_version_contract.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+from importlib.metadata import version
+
+import pytest
+
+from elydora import __version__
+from elydora.cli import build_parser
+
+
+def test_runtime_version_matches_distribution_metadata() -> None:
+    assert __version__ == version("elydora")
+
+
+def test_cli_reports_the_canonical_version(capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str]) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exc_info:
+        build_parser().parse_args(["--version"])
+
+    assert exc_info.value.code == 0
+    assert capsys.readouterr().out == f"elydora {__version__}\n"