diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 83f3f71..4c22566 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: VERSION holds a single vX.Y.Z version
+      - name: VERSION holds a single X.Y.Z version
         run: |
-          grep -Eqx 'v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' VERSION && [ "$(grep -c "" VERSION)" -eq 1 ] || {
-            echo "::error file=VERSION::VERSION must be one line of the form vX.Y.Z"
+          grep -Eqx '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' VERSION && [ "$(grep -c "" VERSION)" -eq 1 ] || {
+            echo "::error file=VERSION::VERSION must be one line of the form X.Y.Z, without a leading v"
             exit 1
           }
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
       - id: version
-        run: echo "tag=$(tr -d "[:space:]" < VERSION)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        run: echo "tag=v$(tr -d "[:space:]" < VERSION)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       - uses: actions/github-script@3a2844b7e9c422d3c10d287c895573f7108da1b3 # v9.0.0
         env:
           TAG: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e1a82d7..7976061 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@
 * fix/devcontainer-timezone: the dev container, and CI with it, starts on hosts that have no /etc/timezone.
 * fix/bash-history-mount: shell history in the dev container persists between sessions.
 * feature/version-file: generated projects take their package version from VERSION; existing projects run `uv lock` once after updating.
+* feature/plain-version: VERSION holds a plain X.Y.Z here and in generated projects, with CI adding the v for tags; existing projects remove the v from VERSION once.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b6d0995..e3436a6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ Projects generated before the answers file moved keep it in `.copier-generic-pro
 $ git mv .copier-generic-project/.copier-py-answers.yml .copier-py-answers.yml
 ```
 
+Projects generated before 3.0.0 hold `vX.Y.Z` in `VERSION`. Remove the leading `v` once when updating, or the shared CI's version check fails:
+
+```bash
+$ sed -i 's/^v//' VERSION
+```
+
 Projects generated before v2.2.0 hold a fixed version in `uv.lock`. After the update that takes `pyproject.toml` to the version in `VERSION`, refresh the lock once and commit it, or `make build` fails on the out-of-date lock:
 
 ```bash
@@ -61,14 +67,14 @@ $ uv lock
 
 ### Versioning and CI
 
-The template's release version lives in `VERSION` as `vX.Y.Z`. Bump it in every change that should be released:
+The template's release version lives in `VERSION` as a plain `X.Y.Z`, without a leading `v`. Bump it in every change that should be released:
 * `Z` for minor fixes.
 * `Y` for minor features and chores.
 * `X` for breaking changes, such as renamed questions or moved files that affect `copier update` in existing projects.
 
 GitHub Actions (`.github/workflows/ci.yml`) runs two jobs:
-* **version:** on every pull request and push to `main`, checks that `VERSION` holds a single `vX.Y.Z` line.
-* **tag:** on push to `main`, tags the merged commit with the version in `VERSION`, so existing projects can move to it with `copier update`. If the tag already exists, nothing is tagged.
+* **version:** on every pull request and push to `main`, checks that `VERSION` holds a single `X.Y.Z` line.
+* **tag:** on push to `main`, tags the merged commit `v` plus the version in `VERSION`, such as `v1.2.3`, so existing projects can move to it with `copier update`. If the tag already exists, nothing is tagged.
 
 The workflow is read-only apart from the tag job, which needs write access to create the tag. It runs on `pull_request`, never `pull_request_target`, so code from a fork never runs with this repository's credentials. Actions are pinned to commit SHAs, and Renovate (`renovate.json`) proposes updates to them weekly.
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index a4b6ac3..4a36342 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v2.2.0
+3.0.0
diff --git a/template/.github/.copier-ci-answers.yml b/template/.github/.copier-ci-answers.yml
index 66b57a2..f77eff6 100644
--- a/template/.github/.copier-ci-answers.yml
+++ b/template/.github/.copier-ci-answers.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # .github/.copier-ci-answers.yml.jinja
 # Changes here will be overwritten by Copier; NEVER EDIT MANUALLY
-_commit: v2.0.0
+_commit: v3.0.0
 _src_path: gh:karshosphere/template-github-ci
diff --git a/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index afe7880..f6f9dbb 100644
--- a/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -30,20 +30,21 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
           # full history, so every existing release tag is available to compare against
           fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: VERSION holds a single vX.Y.Z version
+      - name: VERSION holds a single X.Y.Z version
         run: |
-          if ! grep -Eqx 'v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' VERSION || [ "$(grep -c "" VERSION)" -ne 1 ]; then
-            echo "::error file=VERSION::VERSION must be one line of the form vX.Y.Z"
+          if ! grep -Eqx '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' VERSION || [ "$(grep -c "" VERSION)" -ne 1 ]; then
+            echo "::error file=VERSION::VERSION must be one line of the form X.Y.Z, without a leading v"
             exit 1
           fi
       - name: VERSION is higher than every release tag
         run: |
-          version=$(tr -d '[:space:]' < VERSION)
+          # release tags are the version with a leading v
+          version=v$(tr -d '[:space:]' < VERSION)
           latest=$(git tag --list --sort=-v:refname | { grep -Ex 'v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' || true; } | sed -n 1p)
           if [ -n "$latest" ]; then
             highest=$(printf '%s\n' "$latest" "$version" | sort -V | tail -n 1)
             if [ "$version" = "$latest" ] || [ "$highest" != "$version" ]; then
-              echo "::error file=VERSION::VERSION is $version but $latest is already released; bump it above $latest"
+              echo "::error file=VERSION::VERSION is ${version#v} but $latest is already released; bump it above ${latest#v}"
               exit 1
             fi
           fi
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
       - id: version
-        run: echo "tag=$(tr -d "[:space:]" < VERSION)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        run: echo "tag=v$(tr -d "[:space:]" < VERSION)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@9000827ccba6bdab643e8b6fd33ac0654aef8333 # v8.0.2
         with:
           # a pattern rather than a name, so a missing artifact means no files instead of a failure
diff --git a/template/VERSION b/template/VERSION
index b82608c..6e8bf73 100644
--- a/template/VERSION
+++ b/template/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v0.1.0
+0.1.0
diff --git a/template/pyproject.toml.jinja b/template/pyproject.toml.jinja
index cbed935..9f698d1 100644
--- a/template/pyproject.toml.jinja
+++ b/template/pyproject.toml.jinja
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ dependencies = [
 [project.scripts]
 main = "{{ module_slug }}.main:main"
 
-# setuptools reads VERSION, the version CI releases, and drops the leading v
+# setuptools reads VERSION, the version CI releases
 [tool.setuptools.dynamic]
 version = { file = "VERSION" }