diff --git a/.github/workflows/claude.yml b/.github/workflows/claude.yml
index 9ecda31d35..150124e6b7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/claude.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/claude.yml
@@ -14,14 +14,11 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   claude-code-action:
-    # Three guards. The actor check breaks the feedback loop: this workflow
-    # fires on pull_request_review, and Claude's own review body usually echoes
-    # the @claude mention that triggered it. The author_association check keeps
-    # the run from starting at all for a drive-by mention — this is a public
-    # repository, the action rejects anyone without write access anyway, and
-    # failing there costs a runner and leaves a red X on the pull request. And
-    # the issue_comment arm requires a pull_request payload, so a mention on a
-    # plain issue does not start a review with no diff to read.
+    # Three guards. The actor check breaks the feedback loop: Claude's own
+    # review echoes the @claude mention that triggered it. author_association
+    # is just a cheap pre-filter — real authorization is the Authorize step
+    # below. The issue_comment arm requires a pull_request payload, so a
+    # mention on a plain issue doesn't start a review.
     if: |
       (github.actor != 'claude[bot]')
       && contains(fromJSON('["OWNER", "MEMBER", "COLLABORATOR"]'), github.event.comment.author_association || github.event.review.author_association)
@@ -41,8 +38,39 @@ jobs:
       # warns and skips, and Claude cannot see whether the build passed.
       actions: read
       id-token: write
+    # Every step after Authorize must carry the authorized==true guard (or
+    # the complementary ==false path for the reject reply). A step added
+    # later without it would run for an unauthorized actor.
     steps:
+      - name: Authorize
+        id: authorize
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          ACTOR: ${{ github.event.comment.user.login || github.event.review.user.login }}
+        run: |
+          # author_association is a comment property, not access — ask GitHub.
+          # `.permission` is admin/write/read/none only (maintain maps to write).
+          permission=$(gh api "repos/$REPO/collaborators/$ACTOR/permission" --jq '.permission')
+          echo "$ACTOR has '$permission' permission on $REPO"
+          if [ "$permission" = "admin" ] || [ "$permission" = "write" ]; then
+            echo "authorized=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "authorized=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Report unauthorized
+        if: ${{ steps.authorize.outputs.authorized == 'false' }}
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number || github.event.pull_request.number }}
+        run: |
+          gh pr comment "$PR_NUMBER" --repo "$REPO" --body \
+            "Only maintainers with write access can trigger a Claude review."
+
       - name: Checkout PR head
+        if: ${{ steps.authorize.outputs.authorized == 'true' }}
         uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
         with:
           # Agent mode performs no branch setup of its own (unlike tag mode), and
@@ -56,6 +84,7 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Run Claude PR Review
+        if: ${{ steps.authorize.outputs.authorized == 'true' }}
         uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@239e3a730883eeb5c53db12b0fc9573b3024b126 # v1.0.191
         timeout-minutes: 60
         with:
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8d195af746..637c77034b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,95 @@
 # Nextflow change-log
 
+## [Version 26.08.0-edge](https://github.com/nextflow-io/nextflow/releases/tag/v26.08.0-edge) - 20 Aug 2026
+
+- Accept http requesting-protocol for https proxy CONNECT tunnel auth (#7369) [cac2e0db6]
+- Add --console=plain to gradle commands in Makefile (#7400) [ci fast] [40fc962a4]
+- Add componentName to 'module view' command output (#7385) [ci fast] [0e1bf396d]
+- Add note about AI co-authorship to CLAUDE.md [ci fast] (#7357) [d11c550d2]
+- Add seqera.executor.maxCpusPerUser option (#7367) [ci fast] [a2ef3963e]
+- Add smolvm container engine support (#7386) [ci fast] [5b23a4e97]
+- Add `singularity.resourceLimits` config option (#7352) [98e8573ed]
+- Agent primitive: AI agents as first-class Nextflow tasks (#7477) [b148cfbaf]
+- Align Seqera executor maxSpotAttempts and Fusion handling (#7412) [ci fast] [22214c5ab]
+- Bound Seqera executor scheduler requests with a request timeout (#7466) [ci fast] [ed08167fa]
+- build(java): align to Java 25 toolchain, target Java 17 via --release (#7370) [9fc31ed00]
+- Bump Groovy 4.0.33 [ci fast] (#7429) [c8800d84a]
+- Bump netty and Apache HttpComponents to patched releases (#7484) [3aef1da9a]
+- Cache the task context for `exec` tasks (#7499) [9eb270c5f]
+- chore: Quick fix docs sidebar (#7431) [50561fb39]
+- chore: update anthropics/claude-code-action action to v1.0.175 (#7359) [ci fast] [050da2432]
+- chore: update anthropics/claude-code-action action to v1.0.180 (#7388) [ci fast] [4c57e54c2]
+- chore: update anthropics/claude-code-action action to v1.0.183 (#7424) [ci fast] [55d340e82]
+- chore: update anthropics/claude-code-action action to v1.0.185 (#7459) [ci fast] [0081db6e0]
+- chore: update anthropics/claude-code-action action to v1.0.191 (#7490) [ci fast] [dd355446c]
+- chore: update dependency @docusaurus/faster to v3.10.2 (#7360) [ci fast] [99e1943e2]
+- chore: update dependency ch.qos.logback:logback-classic to v1.5.38 (#7361) [ci fast] [0e4e7065f]
+- chore: update dependency ch.qos.logback:logback-core to v1.5.38 (#7362) [d9ce9e303]
+- chore: update dependency com.azure:azure-identity to v1.18.4 (#7389) [ci fast] [353567cd6]
+- chore: update dependency com.networknt:json-schema-validator to v1.5.9 (#7390) [ci fast] [5dc78a216]
+- chore: update dependency fs-extra to v11.3.6 (#7391) [ci fast] [e84fae2fb]
+- chore: update dependency io.seqera:npr-api to v0.25.1 (#7460) [ci fast] [5358bfb40]
+- chore: update dependency io.seqera:npr-client to v0.25.1 (#7461) [ci fast] [613a1f282]
+- chore: update dependency me.sunlan:antlr4 to v4.13.2.11 (#7425) [ci fast] [6f518eb7a]
+- chore: update dependency me.sunlan:antlr4 to v4.13.2.13 (#7462) [ci fast] [ba553c1bb]
+- chore: update dependency me.sunlan:antlr4 to v4.13.2.14 (#7491) [ci fast] [4877d1321]
+- chore: update dependency node to v22.23.2 (#7492) [ci fast] [c86b0cc29]
+- chore: update dependency org.jsoup:jsoup to v1.23.1 [security] (#7468) [ci fast] [76f40b463]
+- chore: update module google.golang.org/grpc to v1.82.1 [security] (#7513) [ci fast] [02ef7bb39]
+- ci(claude): turn the assistant into a reviewer that can approve (#7469) [ci skip] [1dbdef74e]
+- Detect Azure virtual directories without a trailing slash (#6428) [b4ab2e165]
+- docs: Clarify behavior of withName selectors (#7348) [eb0af8033]
+- docs: cleanup and fix inconsistencies (#7415) [2f403c8f8]
+- docs: document ConfigScope discovery rules (#7098) [89ef0c46c]
+- docs: Move channel factories and operators to stdlib reference (#7414) [5fbcc8ddd]
+- docs: Move CLI commands into separate pages (#7416) [71fce7839]
+- docs: Move config scopes into separate pages (#7417) [a00130e25]
+- docs: Move containuer runtimes into separate pages (#7439) [9332479d9]
+- docs: Move executors into separate pages (#7441) [48d236748]
+- docs: Move process directives into separate pages (#7454) [854a3247b]
+- docs: Move Static Typing pages to dedicated section (#7270) [22d83bc14]
+- docs: split stdlib docs into separate pages [13c56f411]
+- docs: type annotation syntax for functions and variable declarations (#7407) [cac380217]
+- docs: Update lineage record examples to the version/kind/spec envelope [ci skip] (#7496) [8773c3d6a]
+- Document exit logic in task wrapper script (#7290) [b61eda21e]
+- Drop transient object tags when publishing files to S3 (#7344) [f1f1e6012]
+- Fix cache invalidation for module binaries (#6914) [029e52eef]
+- Fix config rendering of nested closures (#7375) [f6684a30a]
+- Fix function call in process directive value with v2 parser (#7374) [91004f7e7]
+- Fix independently-verified findings from a security audit (#7503) [5400da660]
+- Fix lint reporting of excluded paths (#7354) [b36bb3150]
+- Fix negative duration error on short run (#7351) [6471c299f]
+- Fix parameterized type cast in process body (#7382) [aaffabc6b]
+- Fix PBS Pro server status query (#7366) [c7e02c061]
+- Fix plugin blocks incorrectly merged in v2 config parser (#7350) [795d4872b]
+- Fix publish mode override when re-publishing an existing file (#7364) [61243b0e2]
+- Fix race condition calling workflow onComplete twice (#7349) [14d5f26c4]
+- Fix spurious 'Unrecognized config option' warning for wave.build.compression and wave.build.conda (#7355) [37da32c7f]
+- Fix tests failing on macOS and on hosts with NXF_REGISTRY_TOKEN [ci fast] (#7457) [ci fast] [a7a7d5350]
+- Fix variable incorrectly resolved to included function name (#7358) [e98351e01]
+- Fix workflow metadata when failOnIgnore is true (#7356) [686002287]
+- fix: prevent world-readable race window when storing local secrets (#7307) [f520534d8]
+- Guard trace log against string formatting errors (#7347) [8a0c9210c]
+- Honor COLUMNS when determining ANSI output width (#7144) [3f69dcaaf]
+- Pre-pull the integration tests container (#7432) [ci fast] [82f59c7b9]
+- Preserve comments in formatter (#7346) [0fe6ef25d]
+- Refactor HubOptions from a trait into a record (#7372) [cb222312c]
+- Remove dead SpuriousDeps.cmdCloud reflection (#7371) [aa9e8752e]
+- Report syntax error for unexpected character in gstring (#7353) [7fae3ff00]
+- Report the task directives read while the command is rendered (#7506) [1b4e75729]
+- Revert the stream swap after the redirect to .command.out and .command.err (#7300) [d97131928]
+- Separate CLI from runtime (#5971) [1dc8cf68f]
+- Split CLI config handling out of ConfigBuilder (#7373) [34ac1d14c]
+- Stop fabricating a memory request for the Seqera executor (#7488) [ci fast] [cdf425437]
+- Support authenticated forward HTTP/HTTPS proxies across the client stack (#7331) [064a03873]
+- Treat a missing `k8s` config scope as an empty one (#7452) [ci fast] [568680fd9]
+- Update CI bucket to s3://nextflow-oss-ci (#7440) [55a6932e1]
+- Update the docs site dependencies to patched releases (#7486) [e5dfe3dc1]
+- Use Platform user identity for the Seqera executor userName label [ci fast] (#7413) [1bb78e244]
+- Use registry config for plugin repos (#7180) [2856de85f]
+- Use the wiremock self-contained distribution in nf-tower (#7485) [3db6edfa2]
+- Use `command -v` instead of `which` in the launcher Java lookup (#7433) [cd03dc35b]
+
 ## [Version 26.07.0-edge](https://github.com/nextflow-io/nextflow/releases/tag/v26.07.0-edge) - 15 Jul 2026
 
 - Add docker.cpuLimits config option (#7289) [60c7ae9a6]
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 47d6296578..2b84f4c648 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-26.07.0-edge
+26.08.0-edge
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/build-info.properties b/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/build-info.properties
index 1e405a1f3c..31d94aa0b3 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/build-info.properties
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/build-info.properties
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 build=0
-version=26.07.0-edge
-timestamp=1784130477988
-commitId=6ffa1a7e3
+version=26.08.0-edge
+timestamp=1787221769641
+commitId=85be50d16
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/plugins-info.txt b/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/plugins-info.txt
index e84dc3b2ad..b749da30f3 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/plugins-info.txt
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/resources/META-INF/plugins-info.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-nf-agent-pi@0.5.0
+nf-agent-pi@0.5.1
 nf-agent@0.1.0
-nf-amazon@3.10.1
-nf-azure@1.23.1
-nf-cloudcache@0.6.0
-nf-codecommit@0.6.0
-nf-console@1.3.0
-nf-google@1.27.4
-nf-k8s@1.5.5
-nf-seqera@0.23.0
-nf-tower@1.29.1
-nf-wave@1.21.1
\ No newline at end of file
+nf-amazon@3.10.2
+nf-azure@1.23.2
+nf-cloudcache@0.6.1
+nf-codecommit@0.6.1
+nf-console@1.3.1
+nf-google@1.27.5
+nf-k8s@1.5.6
+nf-seqera@0.24.0
+nf-tower@1.29.2
+nf-wave@1.22.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nextflow b/nextflow
index de9541b2b6..ed88e5f175 100755
--- a/nextflow
+++ b/nextflow
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #
 
 [[ "$NXF_DEBUG" == 'x' ]] && set -x
-NXF_VER=${NXF_VER:-'26.07.0-edge'}
+NXF_VER=${NXF_VER:-'26.08.0-edge'}
 NXF_ORG=${NXF_ORG:-'nextflow-io'}
 NXF_HOME=${NXF_HOME:-$HOME/.nextflow}
 NXF_PROT=${NXF_PROT:-'https'}
diff --git a/nextflow.md5 b/nextflow.md5
index c9440ad2a0..483255a3d8 100644
--- a/nextflow.md5
+++ b/nextflow.md5
@@ -1 +1 @@
-ee37af1c075613cf6df5c7700913652a
+cdf0d93327a65255f70dc71f3e192ee5
diff --git a/nextflow.sha1 b/nextflow.sha1
index 872d7af14c..696b45847d 100644
--- a/nextflow.sha1
+++ b/nextflow.sha1
@@ -1 +1 @@
-a6e227c499be6a8ca9bf6c271b3dd684c7699505
+a88888d5978e6351a78531991f906120c68ac29
diff --git a/nextflow.sha256 b/nextflow.sha256
index 9bc99239cf..767fbcd382 100644
--- a/nextflow.sha256
+++ b/nextflow.sha256
@@ -1 +1 @@
-d4ab3bebc55d684a1b4b0eb8456f4cdb4fd2e51817f71461ef4bb1268394a6c2
+b421c5df2d3c6500598a6718f02aa5d40ed3bb5698a05973206bd6a8c48dc027
diff --git a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/Dockerfile b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/Dockerfile
index 1b4d47ad7a..97b71fee08 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/Dockerfile
+++ b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/Dockerfile
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@
 # leg of a multi-arch build off QEMU. TARGETOS/TARGETARCH are supplied by BuildKit.
 #
 # Digest-pinned like the runtime base below, so the proxy the release publishes is built by a
-# toolchain this repo names rather than by whatever `1.23-bookworm` points at that day. This is
-# the OCI *index* digest (`docker buildx imagetools inspect golang:1.23-bookworm`), not a
+# toolchain this repo names rather than by whatever `1.25-bookworm` points at that day. This is
+# the OCI *index* digest (`docker buildx imagetools inspect golang:1.25-bookworm`), not a
 # per-architecture manifest digest: a manifest digest would pin the stage to one build host.
-FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM golang:1.23-bookworm@sha256:167053a2bb901972bf2c1611f8f52c44d5fe7e762e5cab213708d82c421614db AS agent-rpc
+FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM golang:1.25-bookworm@sha256:3b4a11519ad929d1e1d261a12cff056f0c85b735253d7d861346b9c6f8b36437 AS agent-rpc
 ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH
 
diff --git a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/VERSION b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/VERSION
index 8f0916f768..4b9fcbec10 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/VERSION
+++ b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.5.0
+0.5.1
diff --git a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/build.gradle b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/build.gradle
index 9fe0ea845d..1fda56ee36 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/build.gradle
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ nextflowPlugin {
     // by BasePlugin.start(), so it must never exceed the root VERSION or the plugin cannot load
     // from this checkout. Bumping it to the release this plugin ships in is a release-phase step,
     // as CLAUDE.md's release process requires.
-    nextflowVersion = '25.08.0-edge'
+    nextflowVersion = '26.08.0-edge'
 
     provider = "${nextflowPluginProvider}"
     description = 'Provides a Pi-backed external agent runner for Nextflow agents'
diff --git a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/changelog.txt b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/changelog.txt
index a91a639e32..6d9ba6ac48 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-agent-pi/changelog.txt
+++ b/plugins/nf-agent-pi/changelog.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 nf-agent-pi changelog
 =====================
+0.5.1 - 20 Aug 2026
+- Update google.golang.org/grpc to v1.82.1 to address a security advisory (#7513) [02ef7bb39]
+- Move the Go builder stage to golang:1.25-bookworm, which the grpc bump requires [02ef7bb39]
+
 0.5.0 - 9 Aug 2026
 - Bound the wait for the driver connection with a new `--connect-timeout` proxy flag, 30s by
   default, and fail the task naming the endpoint that was tried. The driver now INFERS its RPC
diff --git a/plugins/nf-agent/build.gradle b/plugins/nf-agent/build.gradle
index 05712f4b1d..f888e9fd36 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-agent/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/nf-agent/build.gradle
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 nextflowPlugin {
-    nextflowVersion = '25.08.0-edge'
+    nextflowVersion = '26.08.0-edge'
 
     provider = "${nextflowPluginProvider}"
     description = 'Provides a langchain4j-backed agent runner to execute Nextflow agents against an LLM'