diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 441e0825ce..dc3c35f19f 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.120.0"
+  ".": "0.121.0"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fb802df55b..41c69d4b09 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.121.0](https://github.com/chio-labs/sqlbuild/compare/v0.120.0...v0.121.0) (2026-09-27)
+
+
+### ⚠ BREAKING CHANGES
+
+* Projects run only in direct mode. Virtual commands, flags, configuration keys, state backends, and prepare_version hooks are removed. Concurrent microbatch event IDs changed; drop existing _sqlbuild_microbatches tables before the next concurrent run. Sequential runs never use this table.
+
+### Features
+
+* remove virtual data environments and validate models at compile time ([#852](https://github.com/chio-labs/sqlbuild/issues/852)) ([0964666](https://github.com/chio-labs/sqlbuild/commit/0964666bbcb66d2b4c55a958bf74633dd08fce59))
+
 ## [0.120.0](https://github.com/chio-labs/sqlbuild/compare/v0.119.5...v0.120.0) (2026-09-27)
 
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e9a33b13bf..595af6e491 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ checksum = "f8fadd59c855ef2080decdef8ff161eb6661b86933c9d82e5ba29dc602a55aba"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sqlbuild-rules-native"
-version = "0.120.0"
+version = "0.121.0"
 dependencies = [
  "fensu-policy",
  "globset",
diff --git a/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/Cargo.toml b/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/Cargo.toml
index b0671e324b..e9bb8e75ef 100644
--- a/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "sqlbuild-rules-native"
-version = "0.120.0"
+version = "0.121.0"
 edition.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
 publish.workspace = true
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4842b204f2..fb693115a6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ build-backend = "maturin"
 
 [project]
 name = "sqlbuild"
-version = "0.120.0"
+version = "0.121.0"
 description = "Typed, test-first SQL pipelines with local E2E testing"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.12"
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index d96e4a64b6..6e7c6161e7 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -4137,7 +4137,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sqlbuild"
-version = "0.120.0"
+version = "0.121.0"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "duckdb" },