diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 17d9bb6..0e73b54 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ All notable changes to pot-cli will be documented in this file.
 
 ## [0.8.12] - Unreleased
 
+### Changed
+- Require Node.js >=22. `better-sqlite3` prebuilt binaries are only published for Node >=22, and Node 20 is EOL.
+
 ### Fixed
 - Pin `@pot-sdk2/bridge` to the tested `1.2.0`. Fresh npm installs of
   `0.8.11` selected `1.3.0`, which removed `checkAuthorVerifierSeparation`
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index e37f827..aaaec78 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
         "@types/node": "^20.11.0",
         "tsup": "^8.0.1",
         "typescript": "^5.3.3"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=22"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@esbuild/aix-ppc64": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9744469..004ac65 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 {
   "name": "pot-cli",
   "version": "0.8.12",
+  "engines": {
+    "node": ">=22"
+  },
   "description": "Multi-model AI verification with adversarial critique. No AI can verify itself — so they verify each other.",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "bin": {