diff --git a/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.sh b/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.sh
index b22f71b89..31f330481 100755
--- a/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.sh
+++ b/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.sh
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ tag="$(node -p "$(cat <<EOF
 })].join('-')
 EOF
 )")";
-tag="${VERSION:-latest}-${tag}-$(echo "${os}" | tr -d :)";
+base_tag="${tag}-$(echo "${os}" | tr -d :)";
 
-echo "tag=${tag}" >&3;
+echo "base_tag=${base_tag}" >&3;
+echo "version=${VERSION:-latest}" >&3;
 
 node -e "$(cat <<EOF
 
diff --git a/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.yml b/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.yml
index d0914f8b9..bf83034c5 100644
--- a/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/devcontainer-json/action.yml
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ inputs:
     required: false
 
 outputs:
-  tag:
-    value: ${{ steps.json.outputs.tag }}
+  base_tag:
+    value: ${{ steps.json.outputs.base_tag }}
+  version:
+    value: ${{ steps.json.outputs.version }}
 
 runs:
   using: composite
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test-and-push-linux-image.yml b/.github/workflows/build-test-and-push-linux-image.yml
index 5218882bc..86246f87c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test-and-push-linux-image.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test-and-push-linux-image.yml
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       hash_amd64: ${{ steps.build.outputs.hash_amd64 }}
       hash_arm64: ${{ steps.build.outputs.hash_arm64 }}
-      tag: ${{ steps.json.outputs.tag }}
+      base_tag: ${{ steps.json.outputs.base_tag }}
+      version: ${{ steps.json.outputs.version }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout ${{ github.repository }}
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -63,13 +64,13 @@ jobs:
           password: ${{ secrets.GPUCIBOT_DOCKERHUB_TOKEN || secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       - id: build
-        name: Build ${{ steps.json.outputs.tag }}-${{ matrix.arch }}
+        name: Build ${{ steps.json.outputs.version }}-${{ steps.json.outputs.base_tag }}-${{ matrix.arch }}
         uses: ./.github/actions/build-linux-image
         with:
           arch: "${{ matrix.arch }}"
           repo: "${{ inputs.repo }}"
           push: "${{ inputs.push }}"
-          tag: "${{ steps.json.outputs.tag }}"
+          tag: "${{ steps.json.outputs.version }}-${{ steps.json.outputs.base_tag }}"
 
   push-to-dockerhub:
     if: inputs.push == 'true'
@@ -89,11 +90,15 @@ jobs:
         env:
           hash_amd64: "${{ needs.build-test-and-upload.outputs.hash_amd64 }}"
           hash_arm64: "${{ needs.build-test-and-upload.outputs.hash_arm64 }}"
-          name: "${{ inputs.repo }}:${{ needs.build-test-and-upload.outputs.tag }}"
+          repo: "${{ inputs.repo }}"
+          base_tag: "${{ needs.build-test-and-upload.outputs.base_tag }}"
+          version: "${{ needs.build-test-and-upload.outputs.version }}"
           os: "${{ inputs.os }}"
+          ref_name: "${{ github.ref_name }}"
         run: |
-          # Ensure name is lowercase
-          name="${name,,}";
+          # Ensure repo is lowercase
+          repo="${repo,,}";
+          name="${repo}:${version}-${base_tag}";
           docker manifest rm "${name}" || true;
           sleep 5;
           # Create and push the multiarch manifest
@@ -101,3 +106,10 @@ jobs:
           sleep 5;
           # Create and push the multiarch manifest without the OS in the tag
           docker buildx imagetools create --tag "${name/%-${os//:/}}" "$hash_amd64" "$hash_arm64";
+          # Create and push the multiarch manifest without RAPIDS version (main branch only)
+          if [[ "${ref_name}" == "main" ]]; then
+            sleep 5;
+            docker buildx imagetools create --tag "${repo}:latest-${base_tag}" "$hash_amd64" "$hash_arm64";
+            sleep 5;
+            docker buildx imagetools create --tag "${repo}:latest-${base_tag/%-${os//:/}}" "$hash_amd64" "$hash_arm64";
+          fi
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c33046ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+26.02.00
diff --git a/ci/release/update-version.sh b/ci/release/update-version.sh
index d32773027..2525781da 100755
--- a/ci/release/update-version.sh
+++ b/ci/release/update-version.sh
@@ -1,40 +1,97 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# Copyright (c) 2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#################################
+# devcontainers Version Updater #
+#################################
 
 ## Usage
-# bash update-version.sh <new_version>
+# Primary interface:   bash update-version.sh <new_version> [--run-context=main|release]
+# Fallback interface:  [RAPIDS_RUN_CONTEXT=main|release] bash update-version.sh <new_version>
+# CLI arguments take precedence over environment variables
+# Defaults to main when no run-context is specified
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
+# Parse command line arguments
+CLI_RUN_CONTEXT=""
+VERSION_ARG=""
+
+for arg in "$@"; do
+    case $arg in
+        --run-context=*)
+            CLI_RUN_CONTEXT="${arg#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        *)
+            if [[ -z "$VERSION_ARG" ]]; then
+                VERSION_ARG="$arg"
+            fi
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
 # Format is YY.MM.PP - no leading 'v' or trailing 'a'
-NEXT_FULL_TAG=$1
+NEXT_FULL_TAG="$VERSION_ARG"
+
+# Determine RUN_CONTEXT with CLI precedence over environment variable, defaulting to main
+if [[ -n "$CLI_RUN_CONTEXT" ]]; then
+    RUN_CONTEXT="$CLI_RUN_CONTEXT"
+    echo "Using run-context from CLI: $RUN_CONTEXT"
+elif [[ -n "${RAPIDS_RUN_CONTEXT:-}" ]]; then
+    RUN_CONTEXT="$RAPIDS_RUN_CONTEXT"
+    echo "Using run-context from environment: $RUN_CONTEXT"
+else
+    RUN_CONTEXT="main"
+    echo "No run-context provided, defaulting to: $RUN_CONTEXT"
+fi
+
+# Validate RUN_CONTEXT value
+if [[ "${RUN_CONTEXT}" != "main" && "${RUN_CONTEXT}" != "release" ]]; then
+    echo "Error: Invalid run-context value '${RUN_CONTEXT}'"
+    echo "Valid values: main, release"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Validate version argument
+if [[ -z "$NEXT_FULL_TAG" ]]; then
+    echo "Error: Version argument is required"
+    echo "Usage: $0 <new_version> [--run-context=<context>]"
+    echo "   or: [RAPIDS_RUN_CONTEXT=<context>] $0 <new_version>"
+    echo "Note: Defaults to main when run-context is not specified"
+    exit 1
+fi
 
 # Get current version
 CURRENT_TAG=$(git tag --merged HEAD | grep -xE '^v.*' | sort --version-sort | tail -n 1 | tr -d 'v')
-CURRENT_MAJOR=$(echo $CURRENT_TAG | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[1]}')
-CURRENT_MINOR=$(echo $CURRENT_TAG | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[2]}')
-CURRENT_PATCH=$(echo $CURRENT_TAG | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[3]}')
+CURRENT_MAJOR=$(echo "$CURRENT_TAG" | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[1]}')
+CURRENT_MINOR=$(echo "$CURRENT_TAG" | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[2]}')
 CURRENT_SHORT_TAG=${CURRENT_MAJOR}.${CURRENT_MINOR}
 
 # Get <major>.<minor> for next version
-NEXT_MAJOR=$(echo $NEXT_FULL_TAG | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[1]}')
-NEXT_MINOR=$(echo $NEXT_FULL_TAG | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[2]}')
-NEXT_PATCH=$(echo $NEXT_FULL_TAG | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[3]}')
+NEXT_MAJOR=$(echo "$NEXT_FULL_TAG" | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[1]}')
+NEXT_MINOR=$(echo "$NEXT_FULL_TAG" | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[2]}')
+NEXT_PATCH=$(echo "$NEXT_FULL_TAG" | awk '{split($0, a, "."); print a[3]}')
 NEXT_SHORT_TAG=${NEXT_MAJOR}.${NEXT_MINOR}
 NEXT_FULL_TAG=${NEXT_MAJOR}.${NEXT_MINOR}.${NEXT_PATCH}
-NEXT_UCXX_SHORT_TAG="$(curl -sL https://version.gpuci.io/rapids/${NEXT_SHORT_TAG})"
 
 # Need to distutils-normalize the versions for some use cases
-CURRENT_SHORT_TAG_PEP440=$(python -c "from packaging.version import Version; print(Version('${CURRENT_SHORT_TAG}'))")
 NEXT_SHORT_TAG_PEP440=$(python -c "from packaging.version import Version; print(Version('${NEXT_SHORT_TAG}'))")
 NEXT_FULL_TAG_PEP440=$(python -c "from packaging.version import Version; print(Version('${NEXT_FULL_TAG}'))")
-echo "current is ${CURRENT_SHORT_TAG_PEP440}, next is ${NEXT_SHORT_TAG_PEP440}"
 
-echo "Preparing release $CURRENT_TAG => $NEXT_FULL_TAG"
+# Log update context
+if [[ "${RUN_CONTEXT}" == "main" ]]; then
+    echo "Preparing development branch update $CURRENT_TAG => $NEXT_FULL_TAG (targeting main branch)"
+elif [[ "${RUN_CONTEXT}" == "release" ]]; then
+    echo "Preparing release branch update $CURRENT_TAG => $NEXT_FULL_TAG (targeting release/${NEXT_SHORT_TAG} branch)"
+fi
+
+# Centralized version file update
+echo "${NEXT_FULL_TAG}" > VERSION
 
 # Inplace sed replace; workaround for Linux and Mac
 function sed_runner() {
-    sed -i.bak ''"$1"'' $2 && rm -f ${2}.bak
+    sed -i.bak ''"$1"'' "$2" && rm -f "${2}".bak
 }
 
 sed_runner "s/devcontainers:.*-cpp/devcontainers:${NEXT_SHORT_TAG}-cpp/g" USAGE.md