diff --git a/apps/dashboard/src/components/agents/agent-code-setup-section.tsx b/apps/dashboard/src/components/agents/agent-code-setup-section.tsx
index 0729ac925a8..9c5fdccd2ae 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/src/components/agents/agent-code-setup-section.tsx
+++ b/apps/dashboard/src/components/agents/agent-code-setup-section.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ import { deriveStepStatus } from './setup-guide-step-utils';
 const CLI_DEFAULT_API_URL = 'https://api.novu.co';
 const BRIDGE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 2000;
 
+// TODO: change to 'latest' when agents are GA and IS_CONVERSATIONAL_AGENTS_ENABLED flag is removed
+const CLI_PACKAGE_TAG = 'rc';
+
 function maskSecretKey(key: string): string {
   return `nv-${'•'.repeat(16)}${key.slice(-4)}`;
 }
@@ -31,7 +34,7 @@ function buildInitCommand({
   masked: boolean;
 }): string {
   const key = masked ? maskSecretKey(secretKey) : secretKey;
-  const parts = [`npx novu@latest init -t agent`, `--agent-identifier ${agentIdentifier}`, `-s ${key}`];
+  const parts = [`npx novu@${CLI_PACKAGE_TAG} init -t agent`, `--agent-identifier ${agentIdentifier}`, `-s ${key}`];
 
   if (apiUrl) {
     parts.push(`-a ${apiUrl}`);
@@ -49,7 +52,7 @@ function buildInitCopyCommand({
   secretKey: string;
   apiUrl: string | null;
 }): string {
-  const parts = [`npx novu@latest init -t agent`, `--agent-identifier ${agentIdentifier}`, `-s ${secretKey}`];
+  const parts = [`npx novu@${CLI_PACKAGE_TAG} init -t agent`, `--agent-identifier ${agentIdentifier}`, `-s ${secretKey}`];
 
   if (apiUrl) {
     parts.push(`-a ${apiUrl}`);
@@ -262,8 +265,8 @@ export function AgentCodeSetupSection({ agent, stepOffset, isProviderComplete }:
         }
         rightContent={
           <TerminalBlock
-            displayCommand="npx novu@latest dev -p 4000 --no-studio"
-            copyCommand="npx novu@latest dev -p 4000 --no-studio"
+            displayCommand={`npx novu@${CLI_PACKAGE_TAG} dev -p 4000 --no-studio`}
+            copyCommand={`npx novu@${CLI_PACKAGE_TAG} dev -p 4000 --no-studio`}
           />
         }
       />
diff --git a/packages/framework/package.json b/packages/framework/package.json
index ab51fd9fd22..ad33479c85b 100644
--- a/packages/framework/package.json
+++ b/packages/framework/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@novu/framework",
-  "version": "2.10.0",
+  "version": "2.10.1-alpha.1",
   "description": "The Code-First Notifications Workflow SDK.",
   "main": "./dist/cjs/index.cjs",
   "types": "./dist/cjs/index.d.cts",
diff --git a/packages/novu/package.json b/packages/novu/package.json
index 31a2da98398..97a2788a6d1 100644
--- a/packages/novu/package.json
+++ b/packages/novu/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "novu",
-  "version": "2.8.0",
+  "version": "2.8.1-rc.2",
   "description": "Novu CLI. Run Novu Studio and sync workflows with Novu Cloud",
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "publishConfig": {
diff --git a/packages/novu/src/commands/init/templates/index.ts b/packages/novu/src/commands/init/templates/index.ts
index 8218b89d7ff..45c15d87318 100644
--- a/packages/novu/src/commands/init/templates/index.ts
+++ b/packages/novu/src/commands/init/templates/index.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Sema } from 'async-sema';
 import { async as glob } from 'fast-glob';
+import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
 import fs from 'fs/promises';
 import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
@@ -8,6 +9,22 @@ import { copy } from '../helpers/copy';
 import { install } from '../helpers/install';
 
 import { GetTemplateFileArgs, InstallTemplateArgs, TemplateTypeEnum } from './types';
+
+function resolveFrameworkVersion(): string {
+  const distIndex = __dirname.lastIndexOf(`${path.sep}dist${path.sep}`);
+  if (distIndex === -1) return 'latest';
+
+  const pkgRoot = __dirname.slice(0, distIndex);
+  try {
+    const pkg = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path.join(pkgRoot, 'package.json'), 'utf8'));
+    const ver = pkg.dependencies?.['@novu/framework'];
+    if (!ver || ver.startsWith('workspace:')) return 'latest';
+
+    return ver;
+  } catch {
+    return 'latest';
+  }
+}
 /**
  * Get the file path for a given file in a template, e.g. "next.config.js".
  */
@@ -194,7 +211,7 @@ export const installTemplate = async ({
     react: '^19',
     'react-dom': '^19',
     next: version,
-    '@novu/framework': 'latest',
+    '@novu/framework': resolveFrameworkVersion(),
   };
 
   if (!isAgentTemplate) {