diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7fa38a56..7f9d708c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.
 
+### [7.3.1](https://github.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy/compare/v7.3.0...v7.3.1) (2026-01-16)
+
+- fix: clear() now properly resets VFS and COW state (79ae349)
+
+
 ### [7.3.0](https://github.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy/compare/v7.2.2...v7.3.0) (2026-01-07)
 
 - feat: progressive init and readiness API for cloud storage (d938a6b)
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 66acd768..7efb8e75 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-  "version": "7.3.0",
+  "version": "7.3.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-      "version": "7.3.0",
+      "version": "7.3.1",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@aws-sdk/client-s3": "^3.540.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0e1bd81f..3604485f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-  "version": "7.3.0",
+  "version": "7.3.1",
   "description": "Universal Knowledge Protocol™ - World's first Triple Intelligence database unifying vector, graph, and document search in one API. Stage 3 CANONICAL: 42 nouns × 127 verbs covering 96-97% of all human knowledge.",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "module": "dist/index.js",