diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 71fa7b719..d9ee679fa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
           - "faq"
           - "storage"
           - "cli"
-    timeout-minutes: 6
+    timeout-minutes: 7
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/lamindb/__init__.py b/lamindb/__init__.py
index 8d0d8c656..161f47759 100644
--- a/lamindb/__init__.py
+++ b/lamindb/__init__.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 """
 
 # denote a release candidate for 0.1.0 with 0.1rc1, 0.1a1, 0.1b1, etc.
-__version__ = "0.75.1"
+__version__ = "0.76a1"
 
 import os as _os
 
diff --git a/lamindb/_artifact.py b/lamindb/_artifact.py
index 2df60319b..bd4b786e5 100644
--- a/lamindb/_artifact.py
+++ b/lamindb/_artifact.py
@@ -594,6 +594,7 @@ def __init__(artifact: Artifact, *args, **kwargs):
     kwargs["description"] = description
     kwargs["visibility"] = visibility
     kwargs["_accessor"] = accessor
+    kwargs["is_new_version_of"] = is_new_version_of
     # this check needs to come down here because key might be populated from an
     # existing file path during get_artifact_kwargs_from_data()
     if (
diff --git a/lamindb/_collection.py b/lamindb/_collection.py
index 33d00b0f5..ce2f17a85 100644
--- a/lamindb/_collection.py
+++ b/lamindb/_collection.py
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ def __init__(
             run=run,
             version=version,
             visibility=visibility,
+            is_new_version_of=is_new_version_of,
             **kwargs,
         )
     collection._artifacts = artifacts
diff --git a/lamindb/_query_set.py b/lamindb/_query_set.py
index 5dce4e165..ffbbd1355 100644
--- a/lamindb/_query_set.py
+++ b/lamindb/_query_set.py
@@ -243,10 +243,10 @@ def one_or_none(self) -> Record | None:
         else:
             raise MultipleResultsFound(self.all())
 
-    def latest_version(self) -> RecordsList:
+    def latest_version(self) -> QuerySet:
         """Filter every version family by latest version."""
         if issubclass(self.model, IsVersioned):
-            return filter_query_set_by_latest_version(self)
+            return self.filter(is_latest=True)
         else:
             raise ValueError("Record isn't subclass of `lamindb.core.IsVersioned`")
 
@@ -288,29 +288,6 @@ def standardize(
         return _standardize(cls=self, values=values, field=field, **kwargs)
 
 
-def filter_query_set_by_latest_version(ordered_query_set: QuerySet) -> RecordsList:
-    # evaluating length can be very costly, hence, the try-except block
-    try:
-        first_record = ordered_query_set[0]
-    except IndexError:
-        return ordered_query_set
-    records_in_view = {}
-    records_in_view[first_record.stem_uid] = first_record
-    for record in ordered_query_set:
-        # this overwrites user-provided ordering (relevant records ordered by a
-        # certain field will not show if they are not the latest version)
-        if record.stem_uid not in records_in_view:
-            records_in_view[record.stem_uid] = record
-        else:
-            if record.created_at > records_in_view[record.stem_uid].created_at:
-                # deleting the entry is needed to preserve the integrity of
-                # user-provided ordering
-                del records_in_view[record.stem_uid]
-                records_in_view[record.stem_uid] = record
-    list_records_in_view = RecordsList(records_in_view.values())
-    return list_records_in_view
-
-
 models.QuerySet.df = QuerySet.df
 models.QuerySet.list = QuerySet.list
 models.QuerySet.first = QuerySet.first
diff --git a/lamindb/_record.py b/lamindb/_record.py
index 9d1025ab6..8dbb73dd5 100644
--- a/lamindb/_record.py
+++ b/lamindb/_record.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 import dj_database_url
 import lamindb_setup as ln_setup
-from django.db import connections
+from django.db import connections, transaction
 from django.db.models import IntegerField, Manager, Q, QuerySet, Value
 from lamin_utils import logger
 from lamin_utils._lookup import Lookup
@@ -132,7 +132,10 @@ def get(cls, idlike: int | str) -> Record:
     else:
         qs = filter(cls, uid__startswith=idlike)
         if issubclass(cls, IsVersioned):
-            return qs.latest_version().one()
+            if len(idlike) <= cls._len_stem_uid:
+                return qs.latest_version().one()
+            else:
+                return qs.one()
         else:
             return qs.one()
 
@@ -526,7 +529,28 @@ def save(self, *args, **kwargs) -> Record:
     if result is not None:
         init_self_from_db(self, result)
     else:
-        super(Record, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
+        # save versioned record
+        if isinstance(self, IsVersioned) and self._is_new_version_of is not None:
+            if self._is_new_version_of.is_latest:
+                is_new_version_of = self._is_new_version_of
+            else:
+                # need one additional request
+                is_new_version_of = self.__class__.objects.get(
+                    is_latest=True, uid__startswith=self.stem_uid
+                )
+                logger.warning(
+                    f"didn't pass the latest version in `is_new_version_of`, retrieved it: {is_new_version_of}"
+                )
+            is_new_version_of.is_latest = False
+            with transaction.atomic():
+                is_new_version_of._is_new_version_of = (
+                    None  # ensure we don't start a recursion
+                )
+                is_new_version_of.save()
+                super(Record, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
+        # save unversioned record
+        else:
+            super(Record, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
     # perform transfer of many-to-many fields
     # only supported for Artifact and Collection records
     if db is not None and db != "default" and using_key is None:
@@ -551,6 +575,30 @@ def save(self, *args, **kwargs) -> Record:
     return self
 
 
+def delete(self) -> None:
+    """Delete the record."""
+    # note that the logic below does not fire if a record is moved to the trash
+    # the idea is that moving a record to the trash should move its entire version family
+    # to the trash, whereas permanently deleting should default to only deleting a single record
+    # of a version family
+    # we can consider making it easy to permanently delete entire version families as well,
+    # but that's for another time
+    if isinstance(self, IsVersioned) and self.is_latest:
+        new_latest = (
+            self.__class__.filter(is_latest=False, uid__startswith=self.stem_uid)
+            .order_by("-created_at")
+            .first()
+        )
+        if new_latest is not None:
+            new_latest.is_latest = True
+            with transaction.atomic():
+                new_latest.save()
+                super(Record, self).delete()
+            logger.warning(f"new latest version is {new_latest}")
+            return None
+    super(Record, self).delete()
+
+
 METHOD_NAMES = [
     "__init__",
     "filter",
@@ -559,6 +607,7 @@ def save(self, *args, **kwargs) -> Record:
     "search",
     "lookup",
     "save",
+    "delete",
     "from_values",
     "using",
 ]
diff --git a/lamindb/_transform.py b/lamindb/_transform.py
index 7f0ab99d0..4f8180468 100644
--- a/lamindb/_transform.py
+++ b/lamindb/_transform.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ def __init__(transform: Transform, *args, **kwargs):
     is_new_version_of: Transform | None = (
         kwargs.pop("is_new_version_of") if "is_new_version_of" in kwargs else None
     )
-    (kwargs.pop("initial_version_id") if "initial_version_id" in kwargs else None)
     version: str | None = kwargs.pop("version") if "version" in kwargs else None
     type: TransformType | None = kwargs.pop("type") if "type" in kwargs else "pipeline"
     reference: str | None = kwargs.pop("reference") if "reference" in kwargs else None
@@ -55,6 +54,7 @@ def __init__(transform: Transform, *args, **kwargs):
         reference=reference,
         reference_type=reference_type,
         _has_consciously_provided_uid=has_consciously_provided_uid,
+        is_new_version_of=is_new_version_of,
     )
 
 
diff --git a/lamindb/core/versioning.py b/lamindb/core/versioning.py
index 2c521427c..2edf019ef 100644
--- a/lamindb/core/versioning.py
+++ b/lamindb/core/versioning.py
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@ def set_version(version: str | None = None, previous_version: str | None = None)
     return version
 
 
-# uses `initial_version_id` to extract a stem_id that's part of id
 def init_uid(
     *,
     version: str | None = None,
diff --git a/sub/lnschema-core b/sub/lnschema-core
index 312e9b4cd..bb842ca29 160000
--- a/sub/lnschema-core
+++ b/sub/lnschema-core
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 312e9b4cdc67d7e1dbcc83c3cb1a2f74db63e19e
+Subproject commit bb842ca2903a48244c070a33c7ab29fb2cdcdafa
diff --git a/tests/test_artifact.py b/tests/test_artifact.py
index 313c20848..00f25dc5a 100644
--- a/tests/test_artifact.py
+++ b/tests/test_artifact.py
@@ -554,8 +554,7 @@ def test_create_big_file_from_remote_path():
     filepath_str = "s3://lamindb-test/human_immune.h5ad"
     artifact = ln.Artifact(filepath_str)
     assert artifact.key == "human_immune.h5ad"
-    assert artifact.hash.endswith("-2")
-    assert artifact._hash_type == "md5-n"
+    assert artifact._hash_type == "md5-2"
     ln.settings.storage = previous_storage
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_versioning.py b/tests/test_versioning.py
index 51a0fdffe..ebcccb470 100644
--- a/tests/test_versioning.py
+++ b/tests/test_versioning.py
@@ -87,15 +87,25 @@ def test_latest_version_and_get():
     # build one version family
     transform_v1 = ln.Transform(name="Introduction")
     transform_v1.save()
-    transform_v2 = ln.Transform(name="Introduction", is_new_version_of=transform_v1)
+    assert transform_v1.is_latest
+    assert transform_v1.version is None
+    # pass the latest version, also vary the name for the fun of it
+    transform_v2 = ln.Transform(name="Introduction v2", is_new_version_of=transform_v1)
     transform_v2.save()
-    transform_v3 = ln.Transform(name="Introduction", is_new_version_of=transform_v2)
+    assert not transform_v1.is_latest
+    assert transform_v2.is_latest
+    assert transform_v2.version == "2"
+    # do not pass the latest version to is_new_version_of
+    transform_v3 = ln.Transform(name="Introduction", is_new_version_of=transform_v1)
     transform_v3.save()
+    assert not ln.Transform.objects.get(name="Introduction v2", version="2").is_latest
+    assert transform_v3.is_latest
     transform_v4 = ln.Transform(name="Introduction")
     transform_v4.save()
+    assert transform_v4.is_latest
     # add another transform with the same name that's not part of this family
     # but will also be a hit for the query
-    assert len(ln.Transform.filter(name="Introduction").all()) == 4
+    assert len(ln.Transform.filter(name="Introduction").all()) == 3
     assert len(ln.Transform.filter(name="Introduction").latest_version()) == 2
     transform_v4.delete()
     with pytest.raises(MultipleResultsFound):
@@ -103,10 +113,16 @@ def test_latest_version_and_get():
     assert (
         ln.Transform.filter(name="Introduction").latest_version().one() == transform_v3
     )
+
+    # test get
     assert ln.Transform.get(transform_v3.uid) == transform_v3
     assert ln.Transform.get(transform_v3.id) == transform_v3
     assert ln.Transform.get(transform_v3.uid[:4]) == transform_v3
 
+    # test delete
+    transform_v3.delete()
+    assert transform_v2.is_latest
+
     # test empty QuerySet
     assert (
         ln.Transform.filter(name="IntroductionNotExists").latest_version().one_or_none()