diff --git a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 02ed296281..a798bf7aa2 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "hyperframes",
   "description": "HyperFrames by HeyGen. Write HTML, render video. Compositions, GSAP and runtime adapter animations, captions, voiceovers, audio-reactive visuals, and website capture for HyperFrames.",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "author": {
     "name": "HeyGen",
     "email": "hyperframes@heygen.com",
diff --git a/.codex-plugin/plugin.json b/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
index 0af9b27efc..f513c56df5 100644
--- a/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "hyperframes",
   "description": "Write HTML, render video. Compositions, Tailwind v4 styles, GSAP and runtime adapter animations, captions, voiceovers, audio-reactive visuals, and website capture for HyperFrames.",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "author": {
     "name": "HeyGen",
     "email": "hyperframes@heygen.com",
diff --git a/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json b/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json
index b88bc5e8fe..77c8980cea 100644
--- a/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "name": "hyperframes",
   "displayName": "HyperFrames by HeyGen",
   "description": "Write HTML, render video. Compositions, Tailwind v4 styles, GSAP and runtime adapter animations, captions, voiceovers, audio-reactive visuals, and website capture for HyperFrames.",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "author": {
     "name": "HeyGen",
     "email": "hyperframes@heygen.com"
diff --git a/docs/changelog.mdx b/docs/changelog.mdx
index e75c237044..9bb3edf0e8 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.mdx
+++ b/docs/changelog.mdx
@@ -8,6 +8,25 @@ Recent HyperFrames releases, including user-facing features, fixes, and migratio
 
 {/* New release entries are prepended by `bun run changelog:draft <version> --write`. */}
 
+<Update
+  label="HyperFrames v0.8.56"
+  description="Released - 2026-09-20"
+  tags={["Release", "Studio"]}
+>
+Host apps can now make the Studio preview read-only and restyle the timeline through CSS tokens. A host that embeds Studio no longer needs its own colour overrides or a second guard against edits.
+
+## Features
+
+- **Studio:** A host can make the preview read-only ([84e653166](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/commit/84e65316683c5636e83720d7d4a8cd612275df9d), [#4200](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/pull/4200)).
+- **Studio:** Theme timeline colours with CSS tokens ([9bd6da848](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/commit/9bd6da848fb39513ed4e21911c574315aab477e5), [#4211](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/pull/4211)).
+
+## Internal
+
+- **Studio:** Make timeline rows use manifest elements ([41b7202bc](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/commit/41b7202bca7e3d50eb698c1722ed76c9aeaca98d), [#4213](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/pull/4213)).
+
+[View the full commit range](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/compare/v0.8.55...v0.8.56).
+</Update>
+
 <Update
   label="HyperFrames v0.8.55"
   description="Released - 2026-09-20"
diff --git a/packages/aws-lambda/package.json b/packages/aws-lambda/package.json
index f03ca7af69..24c270d40f 100644
--- a/packages/aws-lambda/package.json
+++ b/packages/aws-lambda/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/aws-lambda",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "AWS Lambda adapter for HyperFrames distributed rendering — handler, client-side SDK, and CDK construct.",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 8c00526d12..6fe9311044 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/cli",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "HyperFrames CLI — create, preview, and render HTML video compositions",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/packages/core/package.json b/packages/core/package.json
index df400b3ae9..def644a583 100644
--- a/packages/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/core/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/core",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/engine/package.json b/packages/engine/package.json
index 074963708f..54cf04e790 100644
--- a/packages/engine/package.json
+++ b/packages/engine/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/engine",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "Seekable web page to video rendering engine (Puppeteer + FFmpeg)",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/gcp-cloud-run/package.json b/packages/gcp-cloud-run/package.json
index dd2f773fe3..6901d80501 100644
--- a/packages/gcp-cloud-run/package.json
+++ b/packages/gcp-cloud-run/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/gcp-cloud-run",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "Google Cloud Run + Workflows adapter for HyperFrames distributed rendering — request handler, client-side SDK, and Terraform module.",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/lint/package.json b/packages/lint/package.json
index 04569bb69f..30701c0177 100644
--- a/packages/lint/package.json
+++ b/packages/lint/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/lint",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes",
diff --git a/packages/parsers/package.json b/packages/parsers/package.json
index dca1d51afa..1538e7b253 100644
--- a/packages/parsers/package.json
+++ b/packages/parsers/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/parsers",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes",
diff --git a/packages/player/package.json b/packages/player/package.json
index a5515f0071..e783d17a66 100644
--- a/packages/player/package.json
+++ b/packages/player/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/player",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "Embeddable web component for HyperFrames compositions",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/producer/package.json b/packages/producer/package.json
index ab0cbe566a..167bb8a2c4 100644
--- a/packages/producer/package.json
+++ b/packages/producer/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/producer",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "HTML-to-video rendering engine using Chrome's BeginFrame API",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/sdk/package.json b/packages/sdk/package.json
index ed81c985ff..5fc18bf2b9 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/package.json
+++ b/packages/sdk/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/sdk",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "Headless, framework-neutral HyperFrames composition editing engine",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/shader-transitions/package.json b/packages/shader-transitions/package.json
index 5758c641eb..f24a09a9e5 100644
--- a/packages/shader-transitions/package.json
+++ b/packages/shader-transitions/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/shader-transitions",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "WebGL shader transitions for HyperFrames compositions",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/studio-server/package.json b/packages/studio-server/package.json
index b75f156592..7573323f01 100644
--- a/packages/studio-server/package.json
+++ b/packages/studio-server/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/studio-server",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes",
diff --git a/packages/studio/package.json b/packages/studio/package.json
index 3cfde49c81..55d744e0ad 100644
--- a/packages/studio/package.json
+++ b/packages/studio/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hyperframes/studio",
-  "version": "0.8.55",
+  "version": "0.8.56",
   "description": "",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/releases/v0.8.56.md b/releases/v0.8.56.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f291ac8651
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releases/v0.8.56.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# HyperFrames v0.8.56
+
+Released on 2026-09-20.
+
+Host apps can now make the Studio preview read-only and restyle the timeline through CSS tokens. A host that embeds Studio no longer needs its own colour overrides or a second guard against edits.
+
+## Features
+
+- **Studio:** A host can make the preview read-only ([84e653166](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/commit/84e65316683c5636e83720d7d4a8cd612275df9d), [#4200](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/pull/4200)).
+- **Studio:** Theme timeline colours with CSS tokens ([9bd6da848](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/commit/9bd6da848fb39513ed4e21911c574315aab477e5), [#4211](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/pull/4211)).
+
+## Internal
+
+- **Studio:** Make timeline rows use manifest elements ([41b7202bc](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/commit/41b7202bca7e3d50eb698c1722ed76c9aeaca98d), [#4213](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/pull/4213)).
+
+## Full changelog
+
+https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/compare/v0.8.55...v0.8.56