diff --git a/.github/agents/test-developer.md b/.github/agents/test-developer.md
index 02a40c9..e90725f 100644
--- a/.github/agents/test-developer.md
+++ b/.github/agents/test-developer.md
@@ -123,6 +123,15 @@ Common anti-patterns to avoid (not exhaustive):
    // ✅ Good: Assert.HasCount(3, collection);
    ```
 
+5. **Avoid Assert.IsTrue for string prefix checks** - Use `Assert.StartsWith` instead of wrapping
+   `string.StartsWith` in `Assert.IsTrue`, as it produces clearer failure messages that show the expected prefix
+   and actual value:
+
+   ```csharp
+   // ❌ Bad: Assert.IsTrue(value.StartsWith("prefix"));
+   // ✅ Good: Assert.StartsWith("prefix", value);
+   ```
+
 ## Defer To
 
 - **Requirements Agent**: For test strategy and coverage requirements
diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 623d004..85c3d96 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -20,3 +20,7 @@ updates:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "monday"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
+    groups:
+      github-actions-dependencies:
+        patterns:
+          - "*"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index cc89e2f..3a57173 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -122,13 +122,13 @@ jobs:
           --property:PackageVersion=${{ inputs.version }}
 
       - name: Upload Test Results
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: test-results-${{ matrix.os }}
           path: test-results/*.trx
 
       - name: Upload Artifacts
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: artifacts-${{ matrix.os }}
           path: |
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ jobs:
           upload: false
 
       - name: Upload CodeQL SARIF
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: codeql-sarif
           path: sarif-results/csharp.sarif
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Download package
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           name: artifacts-${{ matrix.os }}
           path: packages
@@ -269,13 +269,13 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload validation test results
         if: always()
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: validation-test-results-${{ matrix.os }}-dotnet${{ matrix.dotnet-version }}
           path: validation-${{ matrix.os }}-dotnet${{ matrix.dotnet-version }}.trx
 
       - name: Upload version capture
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: version-capture-${{ matrix.os }}-dotnet${{ matrix.dotnet-version }}
           path: versionmark-int-*.json
@@ -299,26 +299,26 @@ jobs:
           node-version: 'lts/*'
 
       - name: Download all test results
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           path: test-results
           pattern: '*test-results*'
         continue-on-error: true
 
       - name: Download VersionMark package
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           name: artifacts-windows-latest
           path: packages
 
       - name: Download CodeQL SARIF
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           name: codeql-sarif
           path: codeql-results
 
       - name: Download all version captures
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           path: version-captures
           pattern: 'version-capture-*'
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ jobs:
           "docs/VersionMark Trace Matrix.pdf"
 
       - name: Upload documentation
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: documents
           path: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index bf33269..821a753 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -52,13 +52,13 @@ jobs:
             10.x
 
       - name: Download package artifacts
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           name: artifacts-ubuntu-latest
           path: artifacts
 
       - name: Download documents artifact
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           name: documents
           path: artifacts
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 332337c..a8e0a51 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -204,6 +204,8 @@ Generated documentation includes:
 
 Copyright (c) DEMA Consulting. Licensed under the MIT License. See [LICENSE][link-license] for details.
 
+By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.
+
 <!-- Badge References -->
 [badge-forks]: https://img.shields.io/github/forks/demaconsulting/VersionMark?style=plastic
 [badge-stars]: https://img.shields.io/github/stars/demaconsulting/VersionMark?style=plastic
diff --git a/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Context.cs b/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Context.cs
index 414c1de..70d1405 100644
--- a/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Context.cs
+++ b/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Context.cs
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ private Context()
     /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">Thrown when arguments are invalid.</exception>
     public static Context Create(string[] args)
     {
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(args);
         var parser = new ArgumentParser();
         parser.ParseArguments(args);
 
@@ -249,6 +250,7 @@ private sealed class ArgumentParser
         /// <param name="args">Command-line arguments.</param>
         public void ParseArguments(string[] args)
         {
+            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(args);
             int i = 0;
             while (i < args.Length)
             {
diff --git a/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.csproj b/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.csproj
index a6cbcda..b44b2ee 100644
--- a/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.csproj
+++ b/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.csproj
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <TargetFrameworks>net8.0;net9.0;net10.0</TargetFrameworks>
-    <LangVersion>12</LangVersion>
+    <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 
     <!-- Code Quality Configuration -->
     <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
-    <GenerateDocumentationFile>True</GenerateDocumentationFile>
+    <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
     <EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>true</EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>
     <EnableNETAnalyzers>true</EnableNETAnalyzers>
     <AnalysisLevel>latest</AnalysisLevel>
@@ -49,13 +49,25 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="DemaConsulting.TestResults" Version="1.5.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.FileSystemGlobbing" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <!-- PrivateAssets="All" prevents these build-time-only packages from becoming transitive dependencies -->
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Sbom.Targets" Version="4.1.5" PrivateAssets="All" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SourceLink.GitHub" Version="10.0.103" PrivateAssets="All" />
+    <!--
+      Analyzer and source-only packages require both PrivateAssets and IncludeAssets:
+        PrivateAssets="all"   - prevents these build-time assets from flowing to consumers
+        IncludeAssets         - explicitly enables contentfiles (source injection) and
+                                analyzers/buildtransitive (Roslyn analyzers at compile time)
+    -->
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.NetAnalyzers" Version="10.0.103">
       <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
       <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
     </PackageReference>
-    <PackageReference Include="SonarAnalyzer.CSharp" Version="10.19.0.132793">
+    <PackageReference Include="SonarAnalyzer.CSharp" Version="10.20.0.135146">
+      <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
+      <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
+    </PackageReference>
+    <!-- Polyfill is a source-only package; contentfiles delivers the polyfill source into this project -->
+    <PackageReference Include="Polyfill" Version="9.12.0">
       <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
       <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
     </PackageReference>
diff --git a/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Validation.cs b/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Validation.cs
index 63f54eb..0e4f226 100644
--- a/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Validation.cs
+++ b/src/DemaConsulting.VersionMark/Validation.cs
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ internal static class Validation
     /// <param name="context">The context containing command line arguments and program state.</param>
     public static void Run(Context context)
     {
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(context);
+
         // Print validation header
         PrintValidationHeader(context);
 
diff --git a/test/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests.csproj b/test/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests.csproj
index f664f86..d2b960a 100644
--- a/test/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests.csproj
+++ b/test/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests/DemaConsulting.VersionMark.Tests.csproj
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
   <PropertyGroup>
     <TargetFrameworks>net8.0;net9.0;net10.0</TargetFrameworks>
-    <LangVersion>12</LangVersion>
+    <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
     <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
     <IsTestProject>true</IsTestProject>
-    <GenerateDocumentationFile>True</GenerateDocumentationFile>
+    <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@
       <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
       <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
     </PackageReference>
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="18.0.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="18.3.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="MSTest.TestAdapter" Version="4.1.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="MSTest.TestFramework" Version="4.1.0" />
-    <PackageReference Include="SonarAnalyzer.CSharp" Version="10.19.0.132793">
+    <PackageReference Include="SonarAnalyzer.CSharp" Version="10.20.0.135146">
       <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
       <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
     </PackageReference>