diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 47a8720..5b3de5b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@ All notable changes to this project are documented here.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.3.0a1] - 2026-09-10
+
+- Mark the workspace-capable feature milestone: provider-neutral persistent
+  workspaces, verified Sprite lifecycle recovery, supervised retention, and
+  offline destination cost comparison. Includes all 0.2.0a2 capabilities below.
+- Publish as an explicitly approved alpha prerelease with independent-user
+  onboarding and release-matched public lifecycle evidence still outstanding.
+  Publication does not certify beta maturity; see `docs/RELEASE_0.3.md`.
+
 - Add offline, provider-neutral `elsewhere compare` for caller-supplied utilization,
   total job cost, eligibility, deadline and budget estimates. Recommendations
   remain advisory and do not authorize execution.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2a69098..8cd55e3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 </p>
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> Elsewhere v0.2 is a public alpha. Jobs can move from macOS or Linux to approved cloud compute and continue while your laptop sleeps. For now, the device that started the job is also the only place that can check its status, recover results, or confirm cleanup. Cross-device control is not yet supported. See [Project status](#project-status) for the exact boundary.
+> Elsewhere v0.3 is a public alpha. Jobs can move from macOS or Linux to approved cloud compute and continue while your laptop sleeps. For now, the device that started the job is also the only place that can check its status, recover results, or confirm cleanup. Cross-device control is not yet supported. See [Project status](#project-status) for the exact boundary.
 
 ## Your laptop is a starting point, not a limit
 
@@ -80,12 +80,16 @@ No mystery cloud. No surprise machine left running for the weekend.
 
 ## Quick start
 
+The current prerelease is [0.3.0a1](https://github.com/talvinder/elsewhere/releases/tag/v0.3.0a1),
+combining persistent Sprite workspaces and offline cost comparison. See the
+[release status and evidence gaps](docs/RELEASE_0.3.md) before adopting this alpha.
+
 Elsewhere requires Python 3.11 or newer. With [`uv`](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)
 installed, inspect your machine and run one harmless local command under Elsewhere's
 placement decision:
 
 ```sh
-uv tool install git+https://github.com/talvinder/elsewhere.git
+uv tool install git+https://github.com/talvinder/elsewhere.git@v0.3.0a1
 elsewhere status --human
 elsewhere route \
   --workload light \
@@ -400,7 +404,7 @@ bring their own infrastructure.
 
 ## Project status
 
-Elsewhere v0.2 is an alpha. Local placement, Fly and Azure dispatch, source transport,
+Elsewhere v0.3 is an alpha. Local placement, Fly and Azure dispatch, source transport,
 regional retry, a same-device durable job lifecycle, verified result return,
 idempotent cleanup, persistent Sprite workspaces, and the Codex/Claude integration
 work today. Offline cost comparison uses caller-supplied estimates and does not
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 4f692ab..098db4a 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.2.0a2
+0.3.0a1
diff --git a/docs/RELEASE_0.3.md b/docs/RELEASE_0.3.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..480a933
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/RELEASE_0.3.md
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# 0.3.0a1 prerelease
+
+This minor-version milestone combines persistent workspace execution and offline
+destination cost comparison. It retains alpha status. The package, CLI and Codex
+plugin share the same version.
+
+## Publication status
+
+This version is published as an explicitly approved alpha prerelease with the
+following evidence gaps disclosed. Publication does not certify the existing
+`--release` or `--maturity` evidence gates, which remain unchanged. This exception
+applies to 0.3.0a1 only; it does not authorize beta or stable release claims.
+The September 10 evidence audit returned 17/25 on `--maturity`:
+
+- The public evidence file contains one maintainer run on macOS, rather than the
+  required 25 runs from three participants across macOS and Linux.
+- It contains one compute provider and no qualifying intentional failures.
+- Its older run lacks current runtime and capture provenance.
+- There is no captured independent-user install-to-cleanup journey.
+- There is no complete release-matched Fly/Tigris runtime proof.
+
+These are gaps in qualifying evidence, not a claim that no other runs occurred.
+The separate [Sprite validation](WORKSPACE_VALIDATION.md) remains valid for its
+recorded candidate and must not be relabeled as a 0.3 run.
+
+The narrower public-release gate requires the independent-user journey and
+release-matched lifecycle evidence. Beta consideration additionally requires the
+broader operational maturity evidence. Use the existing
+[capture workflow](../evidence/README.md) to collect real records; do not replace
+them with manually asserted completion or synthetic participant identities.
diff --git a/plugins/elsewhere/.codex-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/elsewhere/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
index 84cfc40..1198774 100644
--- a/plugins/elsewhere/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/elsewhere/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "elsewhere",
-  "version": "0.2.0a2",
+  "version": "0.3.0a1",
   "description": "Trust-aware workload routing and queue control for Codex.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Talvinder Singh",
diff --git a/src/agent_capacity/version.py b/src/agent_capacity/version.py
index 7009d96..19ece60 100644
--- a/src/agent_capacity/version.py
+++ b/src/agent_capacity/version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """Authoritative Elsewhere release version."""
 
-__version__ = "0.2.0a2"
+__version__ = "0.3.0a1"