diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6dcb45bb8e..c585cf5123 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## Unreleased
+## 4.5.0-dev.1
 
 * chore: changed min `SDK` version to `2.14.0`.
 * chore: restrict `analyzer` version to `>=2.4.0 <2.6.0`.
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index ca0e59e879..8df5f2aadc 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ To set this up:
     ```yaml
     name: dart_code_metrics_plugin_loader
     description: This pubspec determines the version of the analyzer plugin to load.
-    version: 4.4.0
+    version: 4.5.0-dev.1
 
     environment:
       sdk: '>=2.12.0 <3.0.0'
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0327d2ab94..34918760f4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ A plugin for the Dart `analyzer` [package](https://pub.dev/packages/analyzer) pr
 
     ```yaml
     dev_dependencies:
-      dart_code_metrics: ^4.4.0
+      dart_code_metrics: ^4.5.0-dev.1
     ```
 
     and then run
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 537b52803a..6d7918c7e9 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: dart_code_metrics
-version: 4.4.0
+version: 4.5.0-dev.1
 description: Software analytics tool that helps developers analyse and improve software quality.
 homepage: https://dartcodemetrics.dev
 repository: https://github.com/dart-code-checker/dart-code-metrics
diff --git a/tools/analyzer_plugin/pubspec.yaml b/tools/analyzer_plugin/pubspec.yaml
index a8e66845f0..88a49f7637 100644
--- a/tools/analyzer_plugin/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/tools/analyzer_plugin/pubspec.yaml
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 name: dart_code_metrics_plugin_loader
 description: This pubspec determines the version of the analyzer plugin to load.
-version: 4.4.0
+version: 4.5.0-dev.1
 
 environment:
   sdk: ">=2.14.0 <3.0.0"
 
 dependencies:
-  dart_code_metrics: ^4.4.0
+  dart_code_metrics: ^4.5.0-dev.1