diff --git a/eng/versioning/version_client.txt b/eng/versioning/version_client.txt
index 38baf76e96b1..12a1224422d8 100644
--- a/eng/versioning/version_client.txt
+++ b/eng/versioning/version_client.txt
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ com.azure.cosmos.spark:azure-cosmos-spark-account-data-resolver-sample;1.0.0-bet
 com.azure.cosmos.spark:fabric-cosmos-spark-auth_3;1.0.0-beta.1;1.0.0-beta.1
 com.azure:azure-cosmos-test;1.0.0-beta.13;1.0.0-beta.14
 com.azure:azure-cosmos-tests;1.0.0-beta.1;1.0.0-beta.1
-com.azure.cosmos.kafka:azure-cosmos-kafka-connect;2.4.0;2.5.0
+com.azure.cosmos.kafka:azure-cosmos-kafka-connect;2.5.0;2.6.0-beta.1
 com.azure:azure-data-appconfiguration;1.8.1;1.9.0-beta.1
 com.azure:azure-data-appconfiguration-perf;1.0.0-beta.1;1.0.0-beta.1
 com.azure:azure-data-schemaregistry;1.5.5;1.6.0-beta.1
diff --git a/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/CHANGELOG.md b/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/CHANGELOG.md
index ee516d891e25..b1ab372fc1ac 100644
--- a/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 ## Release History
 
+### 2.6.0-beta.1 (Unreleased)
+
+#### Features Added
+
+#### Breaking Changes
+
+#### Bugs Fixed
+
+#### Other Changes
+
 ### 2.5.0 (2025-07-31)
 
 #### Other Changes
diff --git a/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/pom.xml b/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/pom.xml
index f27f7cf38ce5..b377f7ab7ffd 100644
--- a/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/pom.xml
+++ b/sdk/cosmos/azure-cosmos-kafka-connect/pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Licensed under the MIT License.
 
   <groupId>com.azure.cosmos.kafka</groupId>
   <artifactId>azure-cosmos-kafka-connect</artifactId>
-  <version>2.5.0</version> <!-- {x-version-update;com.azure.cosmos.kafka:azure-cosmos-kafka-connect;current} -->
+  <version>2.6.0-beta.1</version> <!-- {x-version-update;com.azure.cosmos.kafka:azure-cosmos-kafka-connect;current} -->
   <name>Apache Kafka Connect connector for Azure Cosmos DB</name>
   <description>This Package contains an Apache Kafka Connect source and sink connector for Azure Cosmos DB</description>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>