diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index fe87cd91..cc51f6f8 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.43.0"
+  ".": "0.44.0"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 647ff0d2..22b96d34 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,18 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.44.0](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/compare/v0.43.0...v0.44.0) (2026-09-04)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* **clusterprovider:** latch an AuditFactsReceived condition on the first fact per audit route ([#341](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/issues/341)) ([0e38cf4](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/commit/0e38cf4845dfdbd8357bfd058616ca3f8ec1dd37))
+
+
+### Documentation
+
+* close the API wave and placement-visibility issues, and drop three items ([#340](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/issues/340)) ([183964f](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/commit/183964f70f938c7d00c0c38a44767023dbe77114))
+
 ## [0.43.0](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/compare/v0.42.1...v0.43.0) (2026-09-03)
 
 
diff --git a/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml b/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml
index 7b55c2b6..4d579ca5 100644
--- a/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ description: >-
   A Kubernetes controller for two-way GitOps synchronization - reverse sync from
   Kubernetes to Git
 type: application
-version: 0.43.0
-appVersion: 0.43.0
+version: 0.44.0
+appVersion: 0.44.0
 keywords:
   - gitops
   - kubernetes
diff --git a/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml b/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml
index b09da093..805749c1 100644
--- a/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ deploymentStrategy:
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/configbutler/gitops-reverser
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
-  tag: 0.43.0 # x-release-please-version
+  tag: 0.44.0 # x-release-please-version
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
 nameOverride: ""