diff --git a/tl/src/tl/events.cljs b/tl/src/tl/events.cljs
index a89b177..283b8b0 100644
--- a/tl/src/tl/events.cljs
+++ b/tl/src/tl/events.cljs
@@ -368,7 +368,8 @@
                        ;; fresh annotation would reuse a prior gid and clobber it on merge.
                        (assoc-in [:scene :groups (keyword (str "ann-" (random-uuid)))]
                                  {:type :annotation :parent (peek (get-in db [:view :stack]))
-                                  :draft :new :name "" :color "#4e8fc2" :marks []})
+                                  :draft :new :name "" :color "#4e8fc2" :marks []
+                                  :v scene/schema-version})
                        (assoc-in [:view :pt] :new))))
 
 (rf/reg-event-db ::edit-draft  (fn [db [_ gid]] (-> db (assoc-in [:scene :groups gid :draft] :edit)
@@ -399,7 +400,8 @@
 (rf/reg-event-fx
  ::save-group
  (fn [{:keys [db]} [_ gid g orig]]
-   (let [g     (editable-group g)
+   (let [g     (cond-> (editable-group g)
+                 (= :annotation (:type g)) (assoc :v scene/schema-version))
          patch (group-patch orig g)
          root? (nil? (:parent g))                ; the root timeline persists whole
          id    (get-in db [:project :id])]        ; (no diff: it'd lose :type/:marks)
diff --git a/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs b/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs
index e4fb4b8..a5107f5 100644
--- a/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs
+++ b/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs
@@ -257,16 +257,37 @@
     (get-in m [:end :ref])   (update-in [:end :ref] keyword)
     (:track m)               (update :track keyword)))
 
+;; --- schema versioning ----------------------------------------------------
+;; Every stored annotation carries :v, its schema version. When the data model
+;; changes, bump schema-version and add a transformer that upgrades the previous
+;; version's shape to the new one; old annotations migrate forward on load.
+
+(def schema-version 1)   ; current annotation schema — bump on any model change
+
+;; transformers[n] upgrades a schema-v(n) annotation to v(n+1) (and must set
+;; :v (n+1)). Empty at v1; e.g. {1 (fn [g] (-> g (rename-key …) (assoc :v 2)))}.
+(def ^:private transformers {})
+
+(defn migrate
+  "Upgrade annotation `g` to the current schema-version by chaining transformers.
+   Pre-versioned data (no :v) is treated as the original v1."
+  [g]
+  (loop [g (update g :v #(or % 1))]
+    (if (>= (:v g) schema-version)
+      (assoc g :v schema-version)
+      (recur ((transformers (:v g)) g)))))
+
 (defn restore-annotations
-  "Re-keywordize the fields that lose their keyword-ness through JSON: a saved
-   annotation round-trips with string :type/:parent and string mark :refs, so
-   put them back before merging into the (keyword-keyed) scene."
+  "Re-keywordize the fields that lose their keyword-ness through JSON (string
+   :type/:parent and mark :refs), then migrate each annotation to the current
+   schema version, before merging into the (keyword-keyed) scene."
   [anns]
   (into {} (map (fn [[gid g]]
                   [gid (-> g
                            (update :type keyword)
                            (update :parent keyword)
-                           (update :marks #(mapv restore-mark (or % []))))]))
+                           (update :marks #(mapv restore-mark (or % [])))
+                           migrate)]))
         anns))
 
 (defn marks->rows
diff --git a/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs b/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs
index d16c843..e9dd323 100644
--- a/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs
+++ b/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs
@@ -256,9 +256,9 @@
 (deftest annotations-survive-json-roundtrip
   (testing "restore-annotations is the exact inverse of the JSON wire trip — guards
             against any keyword-valued field (id/ref/type/parent/track) being missed"
-    (let [anns {:ann-p {:type :annotation :parent :root :name "p" :color "#abc" :content "hi"
+    (let [anns {:ann-p {:v 1 :type :annotation :parent :root :name "p" :color "#abc" :content "hi"
                         :marks [{:id :m-1 :start {:ref :clip-a :at 0} :end {:ref :clip-a :at -1} :track :t0}]}
-                :ann-c {:type :annotation :parent :ann-p :name "c"
+                :ann-c {:v 1 :type :annotation :parent :ann-p :name "c"
                         :marks [{:id :m-2 :start {:ref :m-1 :at 0} :end {:ref :m-1 :at 5}}]}}]
       (is (= anns (s/restore-annotations (json-roundtrip anns)))))))
 
@@ -363,6 +363,15 @@
         (is (contains? gids :b))
         (is (not (contains? gids :orphan)))))))
 
+(deftest schema-migration
+  (testing "pre-versioned annotations are treated as v1 (the current schema)"
+    (is (= s/schema-version (:v (s/migrate {:type :annotation :name "x"})))))
+  (testing "migrate is idempotent at the current version"
+    (is (= s/schema-version (:v (s/migrate {:v s/schema-version :name "x"})))))
+  (testing "restore-annotations stamps :v on every annotation"
+    (is (= s/schema-version
+           (:v (get (s/restore-annotations {"a" {:type "annotation" :name "x"}}) "a"))))))
+
 (deftest seg-point-and-link-local-round-trip
   (testing "a clip-scoped point resolves back to the same ctx-local frame"
     (let [seg (some #(when (= :clip-b (:mark %)) %) (s/content-segments base :root))