diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 9a56ac2a..d86a2736 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2902,7 +2902,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyscx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "base64",
@@ -3273,7 +3273,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rscx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "extendr-api",
@@ -3441,7 +3441,7 @@ checksum = "94143f37725109f92c262ed2cf5e59bce7498c01bcc1502d7b9afe439a4e9f49"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-accel"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "criterion",
@@ -3468,7 +3468,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-cli"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "byteorder",
@@ -3500,7 +3500,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-cloud"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "async-trait",
@@ -3523,7 +3523,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-codec"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "bitpacking",
  "bytemuck",
@@ -3540,7 +3540,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-convert"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "base64",
@@ -3571,7 +3571,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-engine"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "blake3",
@@ -3591,7 +3591,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-format"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "blake3",
@@ -3609,7 +3609,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-format-io"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "blake3",
@@ -3635,7 +3635,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-gpu"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "byteorder",
  "crossbeam-channel",
@@ -3679,7 +3679,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-loader"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "blake3",
@@ -3709,7 +3709,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-mtx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "flate2",
@@ -3723,7 +3723,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-ops"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "blake3",
@@ -3750,7 +3750,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-sparse"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "criterion",
  "half",
@@ -3765,7 +3765,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "scx-testkit"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "blake3",
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5bef4363..62a1dfc9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -667,7 +667,7 @@ GitHub-Release-wheel-vs-source guidance aimed at agents, see
 ```bash
 # Last published release — see https://github.com/ArcInstitute/scx/releases
 # for whether a newer one ever shipped
-VERSION=0.19.0
+VERSION=0.20.0
 # Pick the matching target for your platform:
 #   linux x86_64 → x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
 #   linux arm64  → aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
diff --git a/pyscx/Cargo.toml b/pyscx/Cargo.toml
index 2e475528..84278b5a 100644
--- a/pyscx/Cargo.toml
+++ b/pyscx/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "pyscx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Python bindings for SCX via PyO3"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/pyscx/pyproject.toml b/pyscx/pyproject.toml
index c04d3e3a..be32939d 100644
--- a/pyscx/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyscx/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "maturin"
 
 [project]
 name = "pyscx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 description = "Python bindings for SCX (Sparse Cell eXpression System)"
 license = {text = "MIT"}
 authors = [
diff --git a/rscx/Cargo.toml b/rscx/Cargo.toml
index f188a361..b2c1e2ac 100644
--- a/rscx/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rscx/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "rscx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "R bindings for SCX via extendr"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/rscx/DESCRIPTION b/rscx/DESCRIPTION
index 0a80f84e..6399c31d 100644
--- a/rscx/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/rscx/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: rscx
 Title: SCX File Format for Single-Cell RNA-seq
-Version: 0.19.0
+Version: 0.20.0
 Authors@R:
     person("Arc Institute", role = c("aut", "cre"),
            email = "scx@arcinstitute.org")
diff --git a/scx-accel/Cargo.toml b/scx-accel/Cargo.toml
index 237aeda7..4a37cb6c 100644
--- a/scx-accel/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-accel/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-accel"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Rust-native analysis accelerators for SCX (PCA, kNN, etc.)"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-cli/Cargo.toml b/scx-cli/Cargo.toml
index d1df572c..712a0380 100644
--- a/scx-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-cli"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "CLI tool for SCX: convert, info, validate"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-cloud/Cargo.toml b/scx-cloud/Cargo.toml
index 70ddf233..43f54bcd 100644
--- a/scx-cloud/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-cloud/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-cloud"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Cloud operations for SCX: pull, push, explode, pack, cloud-optimize"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-codec/Cargo.toml b/scx-codec/Cargo.toml
index dfe6bb90..1179a7f6 100644
--- a/scx-codec/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-codec/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-codec"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Compression codecs for SCX (Rice, FOR-BP, Delta-Golomb)"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-convert/Cargo.toml b/scx-convert/Cargo.toml
index 309e83ea..d326c708 100644
--- a/scx-convert/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-convert/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-convert"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "External format <-> SCX conversion (h5ad, h5mu, MTX, 10x)"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-engine/Cargo.toml b/scx-engine/Cargo.toml
index 31c9eb1c..a7deb42f 100644
--- a/scx-engine/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-engine/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-engine"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Lazy query engine for SCX files"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-format-io/Cargo.toml b/scx-format-io/Cargo.toml
index 8d862e6b..95cdc311 100644
--- a/scx-format-io/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-format-io/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-format-io"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Runtime reader/writer, backed/streaming access, and shard codec dispatch for the SCX format"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-format/Cargo.toml b/scx-format/Cargo.toml
index 52ac7a76..1f62bcac 100644
--- a/scx-format/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-format/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-format"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "On-disk layout/spec for the SCX format: header, catalog, shard structs, modality, codec selection (pure, no I/O)"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-gpu/Cargo.toml b/scx-gpu/Cargo.toml
index ad64f3e2..13328348 100644
--- a/scx-gpu/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-gpu/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-gpu"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "GPU-accelerated codec decoding, cuSPARSE interop, and GPUDirect Storage for SCX"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-loader/Cargo.toml b/scx-loader/Cargo.toml
index 85b89969..da4cb032 100644
--- a/scx-loader/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-loader/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-loader"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "ML training data loader for SCX files"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-mtx/Cargo.toml b/scx-mtx/Cargo.toml
index 60d9eb00..e5856e8b 100644
--- a/scx-mtx/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-mtx/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-mtx"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Matrix Market (MTX) I/O for SCX: read/write Cell Ranger MTX directories"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-ops/Cargo.toml b/scx-ops/Cargo.toml
index c92e314c..62da341b 100644
--- a/scx-ops/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-ops/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-ops"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "File lifecycle operations (append, delete, compact, rollback, merge) for SCX files"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-sparse/Cargo.toml b/scx-sparse/Cargo.toml
index 2838fa96..070e7fa8 100644
--- a/scx-sparse/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-sparse/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-sparse"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "CSR sparse matrix operations for SCX"
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/scx-testkit/Cargo.toml b/scx-testkit/Cargo.toml
index 3a3e2b36..fb16e900 100644
--- a/scx-testkit/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scx-testkit/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "scx-testkit"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Test-only harness for asserting SCX output identity across refactors"
 license.workspace = true