diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 71e95ba..d353515 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.20.0"
+  ".": "0.21.0"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 128bd80..4797a2e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.21.0 (2026-01-24)
+
+Full Changelog: [v0.20.0...v0.21.0](https://github.com/perplexityai/perplexity-node/compare/v0.20.0...v0.21.0)
+
+### Features
+
+* **client:** add output_text helper function for responses ([c0d707f](https://github.com/perplexityai/perplexity-node/commit/c0d707fdf492964fd45721f171387b1528040028))
+
 ## 0.20.0 (2026-01-23)
 
 Full Changelog: [v0.19.0...v0.20.0](https://github.com/perplexityai/perplexity-node/compare/v0.19.0...v0.20.0)
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ce47820..5fd11bc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@perplexity-ai/perplexity_ai",
-  "version": "0.20.0",
+  "version": "0.21.0",
   "description": "The official TypeScript library for the Perplexity API",
   "author": "Perplexity <api@perplexity.ai>",
   "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
diff --git a/src/lib/add-output-text.ts b/src/lib/add-output-text.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b15afd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/add-output-text.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// Custom code that persists through Stainless regeneration.
+// This adds the output_text convenience property to Response objects,
+
+/**
+ * Response interface with output_text property added.
+ * This will match the ResponseCreateResponse type once generated.
+ */
+interface Response {
+  object: 'response';
+  output: Array<{
+    type: string;
+    content?: Array<{
+      type: string;
+      text?: string;
+    }>;
+  }>;
+  output_text?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Adds the output_text convenience property to a Response object.
+ * Aggregates all output_text items from the output list.
+ *
+ * If no output_text content blocks exist, then an empty string is set.
+ *
+ * This mutates the response object in place, matching OpenAI's Node SDK pattern.
+ */
+export function addOutputText(rsp: Response): void {
+  const texts: string[] = [];
+  for (const output of rsp.output) {
+    if (output.type !== 'message') {
+      continue;
+    }
+    for (const content of output.content || []) {
+      if (content.type === 'output_text' && content.text) {
+        texts.push(content.text);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  rsp.output_text = texts.join('');
+}
diff --git a/src/version.ts b/src/version.ts
index b4e51da..bc95435 100644
--- a/src/version.ts
+++ b/src/version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export const VERSION = '0.20.0'; // x-release-please-version
+export const VERSION = '0.21.0'; // x-release-please-version