diff --git a/.changeset/pre.json b/.changeset/pre.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..88006446
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/pre.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "livekit-api": [
+    "rc-guard-a.md"
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/livekit-api/livekit/api/version.py b/livekit-api/livekit/api/version.py
index 5b601886..3491f2a3 100644
--- a/livekit-api/livekit/api/version.py
+++ b/livekit-api/livekit/api/version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "1.5.0"
+__version__ = "1.6.0.rc1"