diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 45c13caf..70a5955b 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.16.2"
+  ".": "0.16.3"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index be628e84..f2f605b2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,18 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - **BREAKING**: Renamed the `[model]` section in `config.toml` to `[inference]` and reshaped it from a single `ollama_url` string into the providers schema described above. There is no backward-compatibility shim for the section name: if you had a custom `[model]` section, rename it to `[inference]` after upgrading; a flat `ollama_url` inside `[inference]` is migrated automatically.
 - Active model selection is now strictly Option-typed end to end: when nothing is installed and nothing is persisted, Thuki refuses to dispatch requests and surfaces a "Pick a model" prompt instead of falling back to a hardcoded slug. The previous `DEFAULT_MODEL_NAME` constant has been removed.
 
+## [0.16.3](https://github.com/quiet-node/thuki/compare/v0.16.2...v0.16.3) (2026-08-11)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* allow empty submit when selected context is attached ([#366](https://github.com/quiet-node/thuki/issues/366)) ([ecf06bf](https://github.com/quiet-node/thuki/commit/ecf06bf9df90f442a24181f58bd182cfe14db55f))
+
+
+### Miscellaneous Chores
+
+* force patch release 0.16.3 ([5d181a1](https://github.com/quiet-node/thuki/commit/5d181a14cdf8aa8be0a6b7563d4835378fdeb34c))
+
 ## [0.16.2](https://github.com/quiet-node/thuki/compare/v0.16.1...v0.16.2) (2026-07-21)
 
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 66b9ba4d..798a474f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "thuki",
-  "version": "0.16.2",
+  "version": "0.16.3",
   "description": "A floating AI secretary for macOS with its own local AI engine",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index dd5804c8..e3c97193 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -4583,7 +4583,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "thuki"
-version = "0.16.2"
+version = "0.16.3"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "base64 0.23.0",
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index 72b6f828..b0a17777 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "thuki"
-version = "0.16.2"
+version = "0.16.3"
 description = "Thuki: The context-aware floating secretary"
 authors = ["Logan Nguyen"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index 426c5346..6ec3b36b 100644
--- a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
   "productName": "Thuki",
-  "version": "0.16.2",
+  "version": "0.16.3",
   "identifier": "com.quietnode.thuki",
   "build": {
     "beforeDevCommand": "bun run frontend:dev",