diff --git a/.gitlint b/.gitlint
index 5999a31..577b1c9 100644
--- a/.gitlint
+++ b/.gitlint
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ words=WIP,TODO,FIXME
 
 [title-match-regex]
 # Title must match conventional commit format
-# Supports optional scope and enforces lowercase types
-regex=^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|test|chore|ci|build|perf|revert)(\([a-z0-9-]+\))?: [a-z].+
+# Supports optional scope, breaking changes (!), and enforces lowercase types
+regex=^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|test|chore|ci|build|perf|revert)(\([a-z0-9-]+\))?!?: [a-z].+
 
 [body-max-line-length]
 # Maximum line length in the body (commitlint standard)
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d8a7e84..edc6a84 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   - `DATAVERSE_AUTH_PASSWORD` - Basic authentication password
 - Environment variables take precedence over configuration file values
 - Backward compatibility maintained - config file values used when environment variables are not set
+
+### Changed
+
+- **BREAKING**: Minimum Python version requirement updated from 3.10+ to 3.12+
+- This change allows the use of modern Python 3.12+ generic syntax (e.g., `class BaseMetadataField[T]:`)
+- Users must upgrade to Python 3.12 or higher to use this version
 - Automated tag-based release workflow with GitLab CI
 - Release documentation in `docs/source/release-workflow.rst`
 - Release process documentation in `CONTRIBUTING.md`
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 089fc4e..1dde2ce 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 
 ## Installation
 
+### Requirements
+
+- Python 3.12 or higher
+
 Clone the repository from GitHub:
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 84bd858..af7c476 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -20,14 +20,12 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Information Analysis",
     "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
-    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
-    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13",
     "Operating System :: OS Independent",
 ]
 keywords = ["doi", "dataverse", "metadata", "research", "datasets"]
-requires-python = ">=3.10"
+requires-python = ">=3.12"
 dependencies = [
     "dnspython>=2.7.0,<3.0.0",
     "requests>=2.32.3,<2.33.0",
@@ -112,7 +110,7 @@ exclude_lines = [
 
 [tool.ruff]
 line-length = 88
-target-version = "py310"
+target-version = "py312"
 extend-exclude = [".venv", "build", "dist", "docs", ".pytest_cache", "htmlcov"]
 
 [tool.ruff.lint]