diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index e35f01f..dcd1b96 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ updates:
     directory: "/"
     schedule:
       interval: weekly
-      day: monday
+      day: wednesday
       time: "05:00"
       timezone: "UTC"
     assignees:
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ updates:
     directory: "/"
     schedule:
       interval: weekly
-      day: monday
+      day: wednesday
       time: "05:00"
       timezone: "UTC"
     assignees:
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ updates:
     directory: "/"
     schedule:
       interval: weekly
-      day: monday
+      day: wednesday
       time: "05:00"
       timezone: "UTC"
     assignees:
diff --git a/Taskfile.scripts.yml b/Taskfile.scripts.yml
index 78e5b2f..e32b187 100644
--- a/Taskfile.scripts.yml
+++ b/Taskfile.scripts.yml
@@ -88,12 +88,11 @@ tasks:
         fi
 
   dependency:update:
-    desc: 'No-op: no dedicated dependency updater configured for this profile'
+    desc: Update repository dependencies not covered by Dependabot
     cmds:
-      - |
-        echo "INFO: No dedicated dependency updater configured for this repository profile."
-        echo "INFO: Dependabot handles GitHub Actions and package metadata updates."
-        echo "INFO: Keep this task as a safe no-op until a repo-specific dependency updater is defined."
+      - task: alpine:update
+      - task: packages:update
+
 
   git:get-pr-template:
     desc: Get pull request template
@@ -107,6 +106,81 @@ tasks:
       - git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
       - git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
+  alpine:update:
+    desc: Update Alpine base image references and VERSION_ID test expectations
+    cmds:
+      - |
+        set -eu
+        if ! git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          echo "INFO: Not in a git repository; nothing to update"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        mkdir -p .tmp
+        tracked_files=".tmp/alpine-update-files.txt"
+        relevant_files=".tmp/alpine-update-relevant.txt"
+        git ls-files > "$tracked_files"
+        grep -E '(^|/)(Dockerfile[^/]*|[^/]+\.sh|\.github/workflows/.*\.ya?ml|tests/.*\.ya?ml)$' "$tracked_files" > "$relevant_files" || true
+
+        if [ ! -s "$relevant_files" ]; then
+          echo "INFO: No tracked Alpine-related source files found; nothing to update"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        latest_feed="$(curl -fsSL https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/x86_64/latest-releases.yaml)"
+        latest_alpine="$(printf '%s\n' "$latest_feed" | awk '/^  version:/ {print $2}' | grep -E '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | sort -V | tail -1)"
+        if [ -z "$latest_alpine" ]; then
+          echo "ERROR: Could not resolve latest Alpine release"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        escaped_alpine="$(printf '%s' "$latest_alpine" | sed 's/\./\\\\./g')"
+
+        found_refs=0
+        while IFS= read -r file; do
+          [ -n "$file" ] || continue
+          if grep -Eq 'alpine:[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+|expectedOutput:[[:space:]]*\[VERSION_ID=[0-9]+(\\?\.[0-9]+){2}\]' "$file"; then
+            found_refs=1
+            break
+          fi
+        done < "$relevant_files"
+
+        if [ "$found_refs" -eq 0 ]; then
+          echo "INFO: No Alpine version references found in tracked source files; nothing to update"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        updated=0
+        while IFS= read -r file; do
+          [ -n "$file" ] || continue
+          before_file=".tmp/alpine-update-before"
+          cp "$file" "$before_file"
+          perl -0pi -e 's/alpine:\d+\.\d+\.\d+/alpine:'"$latest_alpine"'/g' "$file"
+          if printf '%s\n' "$file" | grep -Eq '^tests/.*\.ya?ml$'; then
+            perl -0pi -e 's/expectedOutput:\s*\[VERSION_ID=\d+(?:\\?\.\d+){2}\]/expectedOutput: [VERSION_ID='"$escaped_alpine"']/g' "$file"
+          fi
+          if ! cmp -s "$file" "$before_file"; then
+            echo "UPDATE: Alpine references in $file -> $latest_alpine"
+            updated=1
+          fi
+        done < "$relevant_files"
+        rm -f .tmp/alpine-update-before
+
+        if xargs grep -En 'expectedOutput:[[:space:]]*\[VERSION_ID=[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\]' < "$relevant_files" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          echo "ERROR: Found unescaped VERSION_ID expectations after update"
+          xargs grep -En 'expectedOutput:[[:space:]]*\[VERSION_ID=[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\]' < "$relevant_files" || true
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        if xargs grep -En 'alpine:[0-9]+\\\.[0-9]+\\\.[0-9]+' < "$relevant_files" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          echo "ERROR: Found escaped Alpine image tags after update"
+          xargs grep -En 'alpine:[0-9]+\\\.[0-9]+\\\.[0-9]+' < "$relevant_files" || true
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        if [ "$updated" -eq 0 ]; then
+          echo "INFO: Alpine references already up to date"
+        fi
+
   packages:update:
     desc: Update Alpine package pins in alpine-packages.txt
     cmds:
diff --git a/alpine-packages.txt b/alpine-packages.txt
index 421e2d0..11d1f43 100644
--- a/alpine-packages.txt
+++ b/alpine-packages.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 bash~=5.3
-curl
-python3
-py3-pip
+curl~=8.21
+python3~=3.14
+py3-pip~=26.1