diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 51f4915fa..064072aa9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ GIT_TREE_STATE=$(shell if [[ -z "`git status --porcelain`" ]]; then echo "clean"
 DOCKER_PUSH?=false
 DOCKER_BUILD_ARGS?=
 IMAGE_NAMESPACE?=quay.io/numaproj
-VERSION?=latest
-BASE_VERSION:=latest
+VERSION?=v0.8.0-rc1
+BASE_VERSION:=v0.8.0-rc1
 
 override LDFLAGS += \
   -X ${PACKAGE}.version=${VERSION} \
diff --git a/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json b/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json
index 6bd4def39..83e437a36 100644
--- a/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json
+++ b/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "swagger": "2.0",
   "info": {
     "title": "Numaflow",
-    "version": "latest"
+    "version": "v0.8.0-rc1"
   },
   "paths": {},
   "definitions": {
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml
index f51cd9a5b..3bab422e2 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller-wo-crds.yaml
@@ -266,12 +266,12 @@ spec:
         - --namespaced
         env:
         - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         - name: NAMESPACE
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml
index ee66fa226..cabcf4ad1 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/namespaced-controller/kustomization.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ resources:
 
 images:
   - name: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow
-    newTag: latest
+    newTag: v0.8.0-rc1
 
 patchesStrategicMerge:
   - |-
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ patchesStrategicMerge:
             - name: controller-manager
               env:
                 - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
 
 patches:
   - patch: |-
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml
index c93507a5c..1e7223f0f 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server.yaml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
diff --git a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml
index 4f5ec6fee..df24d5adb 100644
--- a/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/advanced-install/numaflow-server/kustomization.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ namespace: numaflow-system
 
 images:
   - name: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow
-    newTag: latest
+    newTag: v0.8.0-rc1
 
 patchesStrategicMerge:
   - |-
diff --git a/config/base/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/kustomization.yaml
index bb2c98168..50519c86f 100644
--- a/config/base/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/base/kustomization.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ resources:
 
 images:
   - name: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow
-    newTag: latest
+    newTag: v0.8.0-rc1
 
 patchesStrategicMerge:
   - |-
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ patchesStrategicMerge:
             - name: controller-manager
               env:
                 - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+                  value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
   - |-
     apiVersion: apps/v1
     kind: Deployment
diff --git a/config/install.yaml b/config/install.yaml
index eb1724f4e..0cecb8b8a 100644
--- a/config/install.yaml
+++ b/config/install.yaml
@@ -12690,12 +12690,12 @@ spec:
         - controller
         env:
         - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         - name: NAMESPACE
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -12754,7 +12754,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
diff --git a/config/namespace-install.yaml b/config/namespace-install.yaml
index 8a126f03e..07f1229ca 100644
--- a/config/namespace-install.yaml
+++ b/config/namespace-install.yaml
@@ -12599,12 +12599,12 @@ spec:
         - --namespaced
         env:
         - name: NUMAFLOW_IMAGE
-          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+          value: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         - name: NAMESPACE
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -12663,7 +12663,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:latest
+        image: quay.io/numaproj/numaflow:v0.8.0-rc1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet: