diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 7c43095..ca0f5a8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -70,14 +70,14 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: get base version from repo defaults
       run: |
-        # Read default version from Dockerfile (e.g., v2.43.0-12.8 -> 2.43)
+        # Read default version from Dockerfile (e.g., v2.50.0-13 -> 2.50)
         DEFAULT_VERSION=$(sed -n 's/.*GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=v\([0-9]*\.[0-9]*\).*/\1/p' src/docker/Dockerfile | head -1)
 
         # Find latest tag for that major.minor
         LATEST_TAG=$(git tag -l "${DEFAULT_VERSION}.*" --sort=-v:refname | head -1)
 
         echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${LATEST_TAG}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "Using base image: v${LATEST_TAG}-12.8"
+        echo "Using base image: v${LATEST_TAG}-13"
 
     - name: Free Disk Space
       env:
@@ -229,6 +229,6 @@ jobs:
       env:
           COMPOSE_DOCKER_CLI_BUILD: 1
           DOCKER_BUILDKIT: 1
-          GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION: v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}-12.8
+          GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION: v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}-13
       run: |
         cd src/docker && ./${{ matrix.flavor }} build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dockerhubpublish.yml b/.github/workflows/dockerhubpublish.yml
index 0962b72..2885285 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dockerhubpublish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dockerhubpublish.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ on:
       cuda_versions:
         description: 'JSON array of CUDA versions'
         required: false
-        default: '["12.8", "11.8"]'
+        default: '["13", "12"]'
 
   workflow_call:
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest-4-cores
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        CUDA_SHORT_VERSION: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.cuda_versions || '["12.8", "11.8"]') }}
+        CUDA_SHORT_VERSION: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.cuda_versions || '["13", "12"]') }}
       fail-fast: true
 
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scan.yml b/.github/workflows/scan.yml
index 5f78e34..e0828c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/scan.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/scan.yml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
       DOCKER_BUILDKIT: 1
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        CUDA_SHORT_VERSION: ['12.8']
+        CUDA_SHORT_VERSION: ['13']
     steps:
 
       - name: checkout
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ jobs:
       DOCKER_BUILDKIT: 1
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        CUDA_SHORT_VERSION: ['12.8']
+        CUDA_SHORT_VERSION: ['13']
     steps:
 
       - name: checkout
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index adc9cb4..9c374f2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,17 +21,21 @@ Extensions:
 
 See [projects page](https://github.com/graphistry/graph-app-kit/projects) and [open pull requests](https://github.com/graphistry/graph-app-kit/pulls)
 
+## [2.50.0 - 2025.11.25]
+
 ### Infra
 
 * Add configurable `cuda_versions` input parameter to DockerHub publish workflow for flexible CI builds
 * CUDA versions can now be passed as a JSON array (e.g., `'["12.8", "11.8"]'`) when triggering workflow manually or from other workflows
+* Upgrade to CUDA 13.0 base images (v2.50.0-13.0): Use RAPIDS 25.10 (from 25.02)
+* Update CI/CD to build CUDA 13.0 (from 12.8) and 12.9 (from 11.8) versions
+* Change conda environment activation from rapids to base
 
 ### Fixes
 
 * Change conda environment activation from `rapids` to `base` for compatibility with newer RAPIDS versions
 * Fix `AttributeError` when `LOG_LEVEL=TRACE` by mapping unsupported log levels (TRACE, VERBOSE) to DEBUG with stderr warning
 
-
 ## [2.43.6 - 2025.08.21]
 
 ### Infra
diff --git a/src/docker/Dockerfile b/src/docker/Dockerfile
index cfd4084..d8385f6 100644
--- a/src/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # Default to big image, but allow thin cpu override
 ARG DOCKER_TAG=latest
-ARG GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=v2.43.0-12.8
+ARG GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=v2.50.0-13
 ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.10
 ARG BASE_IMAGE=graphistry/graphistry-forge-base:${GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION}
 FROM python:$PYTHON_VERSION as cpu_base
 
 ARG DOCKER_TAG=latest
-ARG GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=v2.43.0-12.8
+ARG GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=v2.50.0-13
 ARG BASE_IMAGE=graphistry/graphistry-forge-base:${GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION}
 FROM $BASE_IMAGE
 
diff --git a/src/docker/docker-compose.yml b/src/docker/docker-compose.yml
index 4868879..808a8f5 100644
--- a/src/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/src/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ x-build-kwargs:
   args:
     - DOCKER_TAG=${DOCKER_TAG:-latest}
     - BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1
-    - GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=${GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION:-v2.43.0-12.8}
+    - GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=${GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION:-v2.50.0-13}
 
 ############################################################
 ##
@@ -70,14 +70,14 @@ services:
     environment:
       PYTHONPATH: "/opt/py_env"
       PIP_TARGET: "/opt/py_env"
-    image: graphistry/graph-app-kit-st:${DOCKER_TAG:-latest}-${CUDA_SHORT_VERSION:-12.8}
+    image: graphistry/graph-app-kit-st:${DOCKER_TAG:-latest}-${CUDA_SHORT_VERSION:-13}
     command: --server.baseUrlPath="$BASE_PATH" /apps/entrypoint.py
     build:
       <<: *build_kwargs
       context: ..
       dockerfile: ./docker/Dockerfile
       cache_from:
-        - graphistry/graph-app-kit-st:${DOCKER_TAG:-latest}-${CUDA_SHORT_VERSION:-12.8}
+        - graphistry/graph-app-kit-st:${DOCKER_TAG:-latest}-${CUDA_SHORT_VERSION:-13}
     ports:
       - "${ST_PUBLIC_PORT:-8501}:8501"
     volumes:
diff --git a/src/docker/override/docker-compose.override.yml b/src/docker/override/docker-compose.override.yml
index f3164c2..997ab74 100644
--- a/src/docker/override/docker-compose.override.yml
+++ b/src/docker/override/docker-compose.override.yml
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ services:
       args:
         - DOCKER_TAG=${DOCKER_TAG:-latest}
         - BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1
-        - GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=${GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION:-v2.43.0-12.8}
+        - GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION=${GRAPHISTRY_FORGE_BASE_VERSION:-v2.50.0-13}
       context: ..
       dockerfile: ./docker/Dockerfile
       cache_from: