A version badge shows the release a change landed in, as `v0.3`. It is a leaf directive, so it has no body and takes the version from `version`.

The icon and the sentence a screen reader hears both come from the variant, so the three variants do not depend on color alone.

## Syntax

```markdown
::version-badge{version=0.3}
```

## Options

| Name | Type | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `version` | string | none | The version shown after `v`, such as `0.3`. Missing or blank renders nothing. |
| `variant` | `added`, `changed`, or `removed` | `added` | The icon and the screen-reader sentence. Matching trims spaces and ignores case. An omitted or blank value is `added`; any other value is the neutral `unknown` state. |
| `block` | bare word | inline | Its presence puts the badge on its own line instead of inline. |

The screen reader hears "Added in version 0.3" (or the matching sentence) in the page's language. A badge with an unrecognized variant has no such sentence: it shows a muted `?` and `v0.3`, and a screen reader hears `v0.3`, so the version stays available without claiming a change.

## Example

::version-badge{version=0.3}

::version-badge{version=0.3 variant=changed}

::version-badge{version=0.3 variant=removed}

::version-badge{version=0.4 variant=added block}

::version-badge{version=0.3 variant=purple}

```markdown
::version-badge{version=0.3}

::version-badge{version=0.3 variant=changed}

::version-badge{version=0.3 variant=removed}

::version-badge{version=0.4 variant=added block}

::version-badge{version=0.3 variant=purple}
```

## Notes

- The directive is block-level in Markdown: put it on its own line, with a blank line before and after. It renders inline; add `block` for its own line.
- Write the version without the `v`; the badge adds it.
- Use an unrecognized variant (such as the `purple` example) only to show that the badge does not invent a change. The root still carries `data-version` and `data-variant="unknown"` for tools and agents.
- A version badge is a label, not a link. Link to the release notes in the sentence around it.