diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e755806..968d0d9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 > Upgrading from a Luerl-based `0.x` release? See
-> [Upgrading from 0.x](#upgrading-from-0x-luerl-based-versions) below.
+> [Upgrading from 0.x](#upgrading-from-0x-luerl-based-versions) below, or the
+> full [Migrating to 1.0](guides/migrating-to-1.0.md) guide for step-by-step
+> before/after code.
 
 ## Upgrading from 0.x (Luerl-based versions)
 
@@ -45,7 +47,12 @@ Everything else — the default sandbox, `_G`/`_ENV` semantics, metatables, and
 the standard-library surface — is compatible. The full breaking-change list
 is in the [`1.0.0-rc.0`](#100-rc0---2026-05-26) entry below.
 
-## [Unreleased]
+## [1.0.0] - 2026-07-15
+
+The first stable release on the Elixir-native Lua 5.3 VM, culminating the
+`1.0.0-rc.0` through `rc.3` series. Upgrading from the last public release,
+`0.4.0`? See [Migrating to 1.0](guides/migrating-to-1.0.md) for the full
+walkthrough. The changes below are those since `rc.3`.
 
 ### Changed
 - Elixir callbacks now receive the public `Lua.t` (`%Lua{}`) as their state
@@ -605,7 +612,7 @@ API is intended to be stable. Please report any regressions before final.
 - Upgrade to Luerl 1.4.1
 - Tables must now be explicitly decoded when receiving as arguments `deflua` and other Elixir callbacks
 
-[unreleased]: https://github.com/tv-labs/lua/compare/v1.0.0-rc.3...HEAD
+[1.0.0]: https://github.com/tv-labs/lua/compare/v0.4.0...v1.0.0
 [1.0.0-rc.3]: https://github.com/tv-labs/lua/compare/v1.0.0-rc.2...v1.0.0-rc.3
 [1.0.0-rc.2]: https://github.com/tv-labs/lua/compare/v1.0.0-rc.1...v1.0.0-rc.2
 [1.0.0-rc.1]: https://github.com/tv-labs/lua/compare/v1.0.0-rc.0...v1.0.0-rc.1
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 66a635f..526f313 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,11 +31,14 @@ Add `lua` to your dependencies in `mix.exs`:
 ```elixir
 def deps do
   [
-    {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc"}
+    {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
   ]
 end
 ```
 
+Upgrading from `0.4.0` or earlier? See the
+[Migrating to 1.0](guides/migrating-to-1.0.md) guide.
+
 ## Quickstart
 
 Evaluate Lua with `Lua.eval!/2`. It returns `{results, lua}` where `results`
diff --git a/guides/examples/chunks.livemd b/guides/examples/chunks.livemd
index 9df6775..da30360 100644
--- a/guides/examples/chunks.livemd
+++ b/guides/examples/chunks.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.0"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/guides/examples/custom_stdlib.livemd b/guides/examples/custom_stdlib.livemd
index d8b5391..cb8820c 100644
--- a/guides/examples/custom_stdlib.livemd
+++ b/guides/examples/custom_stdlib.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.0"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/guides/examples/error_handling.livemd b/guides/examples/error_handling.livemd
index 0e19b92..d4a9b7e 100644
--- a/guides/examples/error_handling.livemd
+++ b/guides/examples/error_handling.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.0"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/guides/examples/quickstart.livemd b/guides/examples/quickstart.livemd
index 0f5d304..fda880b 100644
--- a/guides/examples/quickstart.livemd
+++ b/guides/examples/quickstart.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.0"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/guides/examples/sandboxing.livemd b/guides/examples/sandboxing.livemd
index b55572d..4690f23 100644
--- a/guides/examples/sandboxing.livemd
+++ b/guides/examples/sandboxing.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.0"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/guides/examples/userdata.livemd b/guides/examples/userdata.livemd
index 7a5fe43..922d278 100644
--- a/guides/examples/userdata.livemd
+++ b/guides/examples/userdata.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.0"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/guides/migrating-to-1.0.md b/guides/migrating-to-1.0.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2c728b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guides/migrating-to-1.0.md
@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+# Migrating to 1.0
+
+`1.0.0` is the first stable release of `Lua` on its own Elixir-native Lua
+5.3 virtual machine. The Luerl backend is gone — Luerl is no longer a
+runtime dependency — and the public API is now frozen.
+
+This guide is written for the jump straight from `0.4.0` (the last public
+release) to `1.0.0`. If you tracked the release candidates, you have
+already absorbed most of this; the per-rc detail lives in the
+[CHANGELOG](CHANGELOG.md).
+
+The good news first: **most code built on the high-level `Lua` API keeps
+working unchanged.** `Lua.new/1`, `Lua.eval!/2`, `Lua.set!/3`, `deflua`,
+and `Lua.load_api/2` behave the same. The default sandbox, `_G`/`_ENV`
+semantics, metatables, and the standard-library surface are all
+compatible. The breaking changes are concentrated at two boundaries: how
+values are **encoded**, and how errors are **surfaced**.
+
+## Bump the dependency
+
+```elixir
+# mix.exs
+def deps do
+  [
+    # was: {:lua, "~> 0.4"}
+    {:lua, "~> 1.0"}
+  ]
+end
+```
+
+Luerl was a transitive runtime dependency in `0.x`. It no longer is — if
+you depended on `:luerl` directly (or called into it), you now need to
+declare it yourself, but in almost all cases you should not need it at all.
+
+## Encoded value tags changed
+
+Encoded Lua values used to carry Luerl's internal tags. The new VM uses its
+own representation:
+
+| Value               | `0.4.0` (Luerl)      | `1.0.0`                  |
+| ------------------- | -------------------- | ------------------------ |
+| Table reference     | `:luerl.tref()`      | `{:tref, integer()}`     |
+| Userdata reference  | `:luerl.usdref()`    | `{:udref, integer()}`    |
+| Elixir callable     | `:luerl.erl_func()`  | `{:native_func, fun}`    |
+| Compiled Lua func   | —                    | `{:lua_closure, _, _}`   |
+
+If you pattern-matched the old tuples, update the patterns. **Better: stop
+matching the internal shape at all.** Treat encoded references as opaque
+and round-trip them through `Lua.decode!/2` to get plain Elixir data:
+
+```elixir
+# Fragile — matches an internal representation that can change:
+case value do
+  {:tref, _} -> handle_table(value)
+end
+
+# Durable — decode to plain Elixir and match that:
+case Lua.decode!(lua, value) do
+  map when is_map(map) -> handle_table(map)
+end
+```
+
+The corresponding guards (`is_table/1`, `is_userdata/1`, `is_lua_func/1`)
+are still available in `deflua` callbacks.
+
+## MFA callback encoding was removed
+
+`Lua.encode!/2` no longer accepts the `{module, function, args}` MFA tuple
+form, and the `is_mfa/1` guard has been removed from `Lua.API` (it was a
+Luerl-era shim that always returned `false`).
+
+```elixir
+# 0.4.0 — MFA tuple:
+Lua.set!(lua, [:add], {MyModule, :add, []})
+
+# 1.0.0 — a function literal:
+Lua.set!(lua, [:add], fn args -> [MyModule.add(args)] end)
+
+# …or a deflua callback in a use Lua.API module:
+defmodule MyAPI do
+  use Lua.API
+
+  deflua add(a, b), do: a + b
+end
+```
+
+Remove any `when is_mfa(value)` clauses — they never matched anything on
+`1.0.0` and now reference an undefined guard.
+
+## Bare struct encoding now raises
+
+Encoding a bare Elixir struct used to silently succeed: `Lua.encode!/2`
+(and `Lua.set!/3`) matched the struct as a plain map and produced a Lua
+table carrying a `"__struct__"` key — a lossy, accidental conversion. That
+now raises. Convert the struct explicitly first, selecting the fields Lua
+needs:
+
+```elixir
+# 0.4.0 — silently encoded {..., "__struct__" => "Elixir.User"}:
+Lua.set!(lua, [:user], %User{name: "Ada", age: 36})
+
+# 1.0.0 — convert first:
+Lua.set!(lua, [:user], Map.from_struct(%User{name: "Ada", age: 36}))
+# or pick fields: %{name: user.name, age: user.age}
+```
+
+## Errors are now exception structs, not strings
+
+This is the largest behavioural change for host code that inspects errors.
+
+The public runtime exception is now solely `Lua.RuntimeException`. The
+internal VM error structs (`Lua.VM.RuntimeError`, `Lua.VM.TypeError`,
+`Lua.VM.ArgumentError`, `Lua.VM.AssertionError`, `Lua.VM.InternalError`)
+are wrapped into `Lua.RuntimeException` before crossing any API boundary.
+To discriminate a failure, read the wrapper's `:kind` field
+(`:error | :type | :argument | :assertion | :internal`); the underlying VM
+struct is on `:original`.
+
+The `{:error, _}`-returning APIs now hand back the exception struct itself
+rather than a pre-rendered message string, so the caller owns rendering:
+
+```elixir
+# 0.4.0 — reason was a formatted string:
+case Lua.call_function(lua, [:boom], []) do
+  {:error, reason, _lua} when is_binary(reason) -> Logger.error(reason)
+end
+
+# 1.0.0 — reason is a Lua.RuntimeException; render it yourself:
+case Lua.call_function(lua, [:boom], []) do
+  {:error, %Lua.RuntimeException{} = ex, _lua} ->
+    Logger.error(Exception.message(ex))
+end
+```
+
+`Lua.call_function/3` returns `{:error, exception, lua}` where the raised
+Lua value (`error(42)`, a table, `nil`, `false`) is preserved on the
+exception's `:value` field, matching what `pcall` hands back inside Lua.
+`Lua.parse_chunk/1` now returns `{:error, %Lua.CompilerException{}}`
+instead of `{:error, [String.t()]}`; its `:errors` field carries the bare,
+ANSI-free messages for programmatic inspection.
+
+Render messages through `Exception.message/1`, **not** the `:message`
+struct field — messages render lazily, so `:message` may be `nil` on the
+struct:
+
+```elixir
+# Prefer this:
+Exception.message(exception)
+
+# Not this — the field may be nil:
+exception.message
+```
+
+## Parser error messages have a new format
+
+The native parser no longer produces Luerl's
+`"Line 1: syntax error before: ';'"` wording. Messages now read like
+`"Expected expression"`. If you have test assertions that string-match the
+old wording, update them. For tooling that needs to render parse errors,
+use the structured API instead of matching strings:
+
+```elixir
+case Lua.Parser.parse_structured(source) do
+  {:ok, chunk} -> chunk
+  {:error, errors} -> Enum.map(errors, &Lua.Parser.Error.to_map/1)
+end
+```
+
+## 64-bit integers wrap on overflow
+
+Arithmetic and bitwise operations now follow Lua 5.3 §3.4.1: integers are
+64-bit and wrap around at 2^63 instead of widening to arbitrary-precision
+bignums as Luerl did. Code that relied on Luerl returning bignum results
+for large integer math will now see wrapped values.
+
+## Chunks are self-contained
+
+`Lua.Chunk` now holds a compiled prototype and is reusable across
+`Lua.eval!/2` calls; there is no separate load step. If you cached a loaded
+chunk in `0.x`, you can pass the compiled `Lua.Chunk` directly to
+`Lua.eval!/2` and reuse it.
+
+## What did *not* change
+
+- The high-level API: `Lua.new/1`, `Lua.eval!/2`, `Lua.set!/3`,
+  `Lua.get!/2`, `deflua`, `Lua.load_api/2`.
+- The default sandbox and its allow-list.
+- `_G` / `_ENV` global-access semantics.
+- Metatables and metamethod dispatch.
+- The standard-library surface (`string`, `table`, `math`, `os`, `io`
+  stubs, `package`/`require`).
+
+If your code only touches those, the dependency bump is likely the only
+change you need.
diff --git a/guides/working-with-lua.livemd b/guides/working-with-lua.livemd
index 294be58..df0562d 100644
--- a/guides/working-with-lua.livemd
+++ b/guides/working-with-lua.livemd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 ```elixir
 Mix.install([
-  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0-rc.3"}
+  {:lua, "~> 1.0.0"}
 ])
 ```
 
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 3482138..2de1fb1 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ defmodule Lua.MixProject do
   alias Mix.Tasks.Lua.Eval
 
   @url "https://github.com/tv-labs/lua"
-  @version "1.0.0-rc.3"
+  @version "1.0.0"
 
   # The curated public API surface rendered on HexDocs. Everything else is an
   # implementation detail: its @moduledoc stays intact for source readers and
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ defmodule Lua.MixProject do
         ],
         extras: [
           "guides/working-with-lua.livemd": [title: "Working with Lua"],
+          "guides/migrating-to-1.0.md": [title: "Migrating to 1.0"],
           "guides/sandboxing.md": [title: "Security & Sandboxing"],
           "guides/mix_tasks.md": [title: "Mix Tasks & the ~LUA sigil"],
           "guides/examples/quickstart.livemd": [title: "Quickstart"],
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ defmodule Lua.MixProject do
         groups_for_extras: [
           Guides: [
             "guides/working-with-lua.livemd",
+            "guides/migrating-to-1.0.md",
             "guides/sandboxing.md",
             "guides/mix_tasks.md"
           ],