diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4998c37..c15212d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,23 @@ All notable changes to lcode are documented here. The format follows
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.20.0] - 2026-10-06
+
+### Added
+
+- Background commands: the model starts a dev server, a watcher or another process that keeps
+  running with `bash` and `background: true`, reads its new output with `bash_output` and stops it
+  with `bash_stop`. `/jobs` lists them, and they all stop when the session ends.
+- Desktop notifications (`notify-send` on Linux, `osascript` on macOS, else the terminal bell)
+  when a request that ran longer than 30 seconds is done, or lcode waits for your answer during
+  one. Settings: `notify` and `notify_after`.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- A command that starts something with `&` no longer hangs until its timeout while that process
+  holds the output open. What it left running is stopped when it ends, and the model is told to
+  use a background command instead.
+
 ## [0.19.0] - 2026-10-06
 
 ### Added
@@ -450,7 +467,8 @@ First public release.
 - `AGENTS.md` project instructions and `/init` to generate them.
 - One-line installer for Linux and macOS.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/compare/v0.19.0...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/compare/v0.20.0...HEAD
+[0.20.0]: https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/compare/v0.19.0...v0.20.0
 [0.19.0]: https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/compare/v0.18.0...v0.19.0
 [0.18.0]: https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/compare/v0.17.0...v0.18.0
 [0.17.0]: https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/compare/v0.16.0...v0.17.0
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4e3dee0..f1dbe0e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -180,7 +180,6 @@ fills up. Details: [How it works](https://nasser1941.github.io/lcode/how-it-work
 
 See the pinned [Roadmap issue](https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/issues/10). Next up:
 
-- [Long-running work: finish notifications and background commands](https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/issues/51)
 - More models in the catalog, and test reports from your hardware ([report one](https://github.com/nasser1941/lcode/issues/new?template=model_request.yml))
 
 ## Contributing
diff --git a/docs/quickstart.md b/docs/quickstart.md
index 1432b83..b7caf1e 100644
--- a/docs/quickstart.md
+++ b/docs/quickstart.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ lcode
 
 ```text
 ╭──────────────────────────────────────────────╮
-│ lcode v0.19.0 — local coding agent           │
+│ lcode v0.20.0 — local coding agent           │
 │                                              │
 │ model    lcode-qwen3.6-35b                   │
 │ context  256K tokens                         │
diff --git a/src/lcode/__init__.py b/src/lcode/__init__.py
index 3c131bb..f79b297 100644
--- a/src/lcode/__init__.py
+++ b/src/lcode/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 From a program: `from lcode import Session` (see lcode.api).
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.19.0"
+__version__ = "0.20.0"
 
 API = ("Session", "Result", "Options", "SetupError")