diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 4fb42af5..89067c30 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
         "lodash": "^4.17.21",
         "prettier": "^3.5.3",
         "react-devtools-core": "^4.28.5",
-        "typescript-eslint": "^8.30.1"
+        "typescript-eslint": "^8.30.1",
+        "yargs": "^17.7.2"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@alcalzone/ansi-tokenize": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a769e010..99379921 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
     "format": "prettier --write .",
     "preflight": "npm run format --workspaces --if-present && npm run lint --workspaces --if-present && npm run test --workspaces --if-present",
     "auth": "npx google-artifactregistry-auth",
-    "stage": "npm run stage:version --workspaces && npm run stage:deps --workspaces"
+    "prerelease:dev": "npm run prerelease:version --workspaces && npm run prerelease:deps --workspaces"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "eslint": "^9.24.0",
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
     "lodash": "^4.17.21",
     "prettier": "^3.5.3",
     "react-devtools-core": "^4.28.5",
-    "typescript-eslint": "^8.30.1"
+    "typescript-eslint": "^8.30.1",
+    "yargs": "^17.7.2"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index a89de0e8..3cbb97a1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
     "lint": "eslint . --ext .ts,.tsx",
     "format": "prettier --write .",
     "test": "vitest run",
-    "stage:version": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_version.js",
-    "stage:deps": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_dependencies.js",
+    "prerelease:version": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_version.js",
+    "prerelease:deps": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_dependencies.js",
     "prepack": "npm run build"
   },
   "files": [
diff --git a/packages/server/package.json b/packages/server/package.json
index 2de0f698..b1f862cf 100644
--- a/packages/server/package.json
+++ b/packages/server/package.json
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
     "lint": "eslint . --ext .ts,.tsx",
     "format": "prettier --write .",
     "test": "vitest run",
-    "stage:version": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_version.js",
-    "stage:deps": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_dependencies.js",
+    "prerelease:version": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_version.js",
+    "prerelease:deps": "node ../../scripts/bind_package_dependencies.js",
     "prepack": "npm run build"
   },
   "files": [
diff --git a/scripts/bind_package_version.js b/scripts/bind_package_version.js
index 51df72ce..b0e56f2f 100644
--- a/scripts/bind_package_version.js
+++ b/scripts/bind_package_version.js
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import yargs from 'yargs';
+import { hideBin } from 'yargs/helpers';
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
 
 // Assuming script is run from a package directory (e.g., packages/cli)
 const packageDir = process.cwd();
@@ -17,16 +20,32 @@ function getBaseVersion() {
   const rootPackage = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(rootPackageJsonPath, 'utf8'));
   let baseVersion = rootPackage.version;
 
-  // Append nightly suffix
-  const today = new Date();
-  const yyyy = today.getFullYear();
-  const mm = String(today.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, '0'); // Months are 0-indexed
-  const dd = String(today.getDate()).padStart(2, '0');
-  const nightlySuffix = `-nightly-${yyyy}${mm}${dd}`;
-  return `${baseVersion}${nightlySuffix}`;
+  // Get latest commit hash
+  const commitHash = execSync('git rev-parse --short HEAD', {
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+  }).trim();
+
+  // Append dev suffix with commit hash
+  const devSuffix = `-dev-${commitHash}.0`;
+  return `${baseVersion}${devSuffix}`;
+}
+
+const argv = yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
+  .option('pkg-version', {
+    type: 'string',
+    description: 'Set the package version',
+  })
+  .parse();
+
+const newVersion = argv['pkg-version'] ?? getBaseVersion();
+if (argv['pkg-version']) {
+  console.log(`Using provided package version (--pkg-version): ${newVersion}`);
+} else {
+  console.log(
+    `Using base version with dev suffix and commit hash: ${newVersion}`,
+  );
 }
 
-const newVersion = getBaseVersion();
 console.log(`Setting package version to: ${newVersion}`);
 
 const packageJsonPath = path.join(packageDir, 'package.json');