diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5853137b..6199c156 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
-project(cortext VERSION 1.3.2 LANGUAGES C CXX)
+project(cortext VERSION 1.3.3 LANGUAGES C CXX)
 
 set(CORTEXT_TARGET_IOS OFF)
 if(IOS OR CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "iOS" OR CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT MATCHES "iphone")
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 270fd7bd..dfde5296 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ env var — use the paths the runtime and bindings already read
 (`CORTEXT_LIBRARY_PATH`, `CORTEXT_AIST_MODEL_PATH`):
 
 ```bash
-ASSETS_VERSION=1.3.2   # or the release you want
+ASSETS_VERSION=1.3.3   # or the release you want
 ASSETS="$HOME/.cache/augmem/cortext/assets"
 curl -fsSL -o cortext-assets.tgz \
   "https://github.com/augmem/cortext.cpp/releases/download/v${ASSETS_VERSION}/cortext-assets-${ASSETS_VERSION}.tar.gz"
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
index 73aa05ed..bc381e41 100644
--- a/RELEASE.md
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
-# Cortext v1.3.2 Release Artifact
+# Cortext v1.3.3 Release Artifact
 
-This tracked artifact prepares the `v1.3.2` release metadata. It does not create
+This tracked artifact prepares the `v1.3.3` release metadata. It does not create
 the tag or publish the release.
 
 ## Release State
 
-- Version: `1.3.2`
+- Version: `1.3.3`
 - Merged feature baseline before release metadata:
-  `35629cd8e50bd32a9e85dc4a8557bc3467ec73f8` (PR #18 — final ARM
-  `sqlite-vec` NEON portability helper; includes PR #17 and PR #16's Windows
-  ARM clang-cl fix).
-- Release source: the integrated commit addressed by the annotated `v1.3.2`
+  `e0a9615c369f8438784534f469708bf8a267a372` (PR #20 — explicit clang-cl ARM
+  opt-in and fetched-ggml guard fix; includes the v1.3.2 ARM and Node baseline).
+- Release source: the integrated commit addressed by the annotated `v1.3.3`
   tag; the GitHub release and shared native assets are rebuilt from that exact
   commit.
 - Product surface: C++ facade, stable C ABI, optional N-API/`ffi/node` addon,
@@ -20,6 +19,9 @@ the tag or publish the release.
 
 ## Highlights
 
+- Adds explicit `CORTEXT_ALLOW_CLANGCL_ARM` opt-in for ARM clang-cl ggml
+  builds. When bundled ggml is fetched, the release-pinned v0.9.5 ARM compiler
+  guard is patched exactly once and fails closed if its expected source changes.
 - Includes the Windows ARM clang-cl portability fix: Clang-based ARM builds can
   embed the AIST model without being rejected by the MSVC-only embed guard.
 - Includes the ARM `sqlite-vec` NEON portability fix: signed int8 L1 absolute
@@ -45,6 +47,9 @@ the tag or publish the release.
 
 ## Verification
 
+- Pull request [#20](https://github.com/augmem/cortext.cpp/pull/20) is merged
+  at `e0a9615c369f8438784534f469708bf8a267a372`; commit `300f0104` adds the
+  explicit clang-cl ARM opt-in and exact fetched-ggml guard patch.
 - Pull request [#16](https://github.com/augmem/cortext.cpp/pull/16) is merged
   at `8ac8fbc17b910b3cf1211916bfa5e9f7cc75fe28`, allowing clang-cl for ARM GGML
   embedding.
@@ -70,11 +75,11 @@ the tag or publish the release.
 ## Packaging
 
 - Release assets remain core-owned: the GitHub Release includes
-  `cortext-assets-1.3.2.tar.gz` and its `.sha256`, built by
+  `cortext-assets-1.3.3.tar.gz` and its `.sha256`, built by
   `.github/workflows/release-assets.yml` from the tagged tree.
 - Default native libraries embed the shipping AIST q8_0 shards; the release
   asset tree also carries model shards for thin/embed-off consumers.
-- TypeScript/Node prebuilds consume this exact `v1.3.2` tag through the
+- TypeScript/Node prebuilds consume this exact `v1.3.3` tag through the
   standalone `augmem/cortext.ts` release pipeline. That pipeline configures
   CMake with `CORTEXT_BUILD_NODE_BINDINGS=ON`, builds
   `cortext_node` on its host matrix, and publishes the resulting
@@ -84,7 +89,7 @@ the tag or publish the release.
 
 ## Version Surfaces
 
-The engine release surfaces report `1.3.2`:
+The engine release surfaces report `1.3.3`:
 
 - `CMakeLists.txt` project version
 - `build.zig` `cortext_version` and library package version
@@ -95,7 +100,7 @@ Language package versions are owned by their standalone sibling repositories.
 
 ## Publish Targets
 
-- GitHub release tag: `v1.3.2` (engine + `cortext-assets-1.3.2.tar.gz`)
+- GitHub release tag: `v1.3.3` (engine + `cortext-assets-1.3.3.tar.gz`)
 - Language packages: see sibling `augmem/cortext.py`, `augmem/cortext.ts`,
   `augmem/cortext.go`, `augmem/cortext.dart`, and `augmem/cortext.wasm`
   repositories.
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 13cbb39c..16b522c7 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 
-const cortext_version = "1.3.2";
+const cortext_version = "1.3.3";
 
 const sqlite_header_template = @embedFile("third_party/sqlite/src/sqlite.h.in");
 
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .name = "cortext",
         .linkage = if (shared) .dynamic else .static,
         .root_module = mod,
-        .version = .{ .major = 1, .minor = 3, .patch = 2 },
+        .version = .{ .major = 1, .minor = 3, .patch = 3 },
     });
 
     // Keep Zig consumers on the same pinned hnswlib safety contract as the
diff --git a/build.zig.zon b/build.zig.zon
index a4ef8fa5..311eddf3 100644
--- a/build.zig.zon
+++ b/build.zig.zon
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 .{
     .name = .cortext,
-    .version = "1.3.2",
+    .version = "1.3.3",
     .fingerprint = 0x474dfffd9e64ddfb, // Changing this has security and trust implications.
     .minimum_zig_version = "0.15.2",
     .dependencies = .{
diff --git a/models/manifest.json b/models/manifest.json
index 0375a208..7b42e128 100644
--- a/models/manifest.json
+++ b/models/manifest.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "schema": "augmem.cortext.models.v1",
-  "cortext_version": "1.3.2",
+  "cortext_version": "1.3.3",
   "note": "AIST model is Git-chunked under 100 MiB so it can live in ordinary Git without LFS. Language bindings reassemble and checksum on first use; do not re-shard in binding repos \u2014 copy this tree from cortext.",
   "assets": [
     {