diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 64e0684..099626f 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "1.7.0"
+  ".": "1.8.0"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d787849..48c2fa8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,37 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [1.8.0](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/compare/v1.7.0...v1.8.0) (2026-03-05)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* CLI formatters + response types + debug gating ([#48](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/issues/48)) ([7a6cd7b](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/7a6cd7b61e27adb62861d6a264c2ac1feba4d96d))
+* **cli:** status formatter + CLI gallery docs ([#56](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/issues/56)) ([b7bc5cc](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/b7bc5cc078635a5f0a4f33e47d431d21cdb83ccc))
+* **impact:** persist import edge details + 2-hop impact candidates ([f296e30](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/f296e30834777770c70f9c20998576e123ea7592))
+* **impact:** persist import edge details and 2-hop candidates ([5bd84a1](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/5bd84a1c6174c2ae6a413579c471e68ccc30f377))
+* **indexing:** OpenAI embeddings + broader language coverage ([#57](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/issues/57)) ([3c1c53b](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/3c1c53b15381640e96b2e62794436ca21a545ce4))
+* **refs:** tree-sitter identifier-aware symbol references ([2aa0831](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/2aa08315103fa1b87b20d4f212ab271caeee670c))
+* **refs:** Tree-sitter identifier-aware symbol references ([c23ffec](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/c23ffecf4174a6d683d4b985a754ca2ad840cfe1))
+* **watcher:** chokidar auto-refresh with debounced incremental reindex ([59e3686](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/59e36867cd4048c858b08d2c551ca94adb6738ac))
+* **watcher:** chokidar auto-refresh with debounced incremental reindex ([f300961](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/f300961b73b1ee867bfc43f0b2925d3f7c055447))
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **cli:** formatter audit — render missing metadata fields, README callers qualifier ([d273729](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/d273729d16ffff3432b663b76db4964f5dce9822))
+* **cli:** remove unused MetadataDependency import ([3f08f0e](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/3f08f0ed2ed27c10c2fae3ecf31c81771b22cb88))
+* close v1.8 post-merge integration gaps ([#44](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/issues/44)) ([d28460c](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/d28460c38bf91e8cb40a76501a03378c2edc11b5))
+* **refs:** prevent out-of-root file reads from index ([1735e3c](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/1735e3cb51f808c3bd1c9afed4f1139bad851e8f))
+* **watcher-tests:** await ready + harden Windows cleanup ([#55](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/issues/55)) ([9929bb0](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/9929bb0cea7d9ad5a41f2719a8b1a48be1dc9909))
+* **watcher:** allow debounce 0 and harden test ([070433c](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/070433cf79dace7420c26284ceeca7fea41dc8a1))
+* **watcher:** queue refresh during indexing ([2d78110](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/2d781105f9d56e3b5644abe90ae88978e4d7b0d0))
+
+
+### Performance Improvements
+
+* **impact:** avoid per-candidate array alloc ([faf6e73](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/faf6e73101d1c76f17e755df35d8e34a1783a6fa))
+* **impact:** avoid per-candidate array allocation ([04e68eb](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/commit/04e68eb3c7d5a2a5aaa45a82ef6823e6f13ce6a9))
+
 ## [1.7.0](https://github.com/PatrickSys/codebase-context/compare/v1.6.1...v1.7.0) (2026-02-21)
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7293f2e..06a4f86 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "codebase-context",
-  "version": "1.7.0",
+  "version": "1.8.0",
   "description": "Second brain for AI agents working on your codebase - team coding patterns detection, persistent memory, edit readiness checks, and hybrid search with evidence scoring. Local-first MCP server",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "./dist/lib.js",