diff --git a/.goreleaser.yml b/.goreleaser.yml
index bb7465a..96543f2 100644
--- a/.goreleaser.yml
+++ b/.goreleaser.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ builds:
     ldflags:
       - -s -w
       - -X main.version={{.Version}}
-      - -X main.commit={{.ShortCommit}}
 
 archives:
   - formats:
diff --git a/cmd/esq/main.go b/cmd/esq/main.go
index faef12a..d457201 100644
--- a/cmd/esq/main.go
+++ b/cmd/esq/main.go
@@ -6,12 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/enthus-appdev/esq-cli/internal/cmd"
 )
 
-var (
-	version = "dev"
-	commit  = "none"
-)
+var version = "dev"
 
 func main() {
-	exitCode := cmd.Execute(version, commit)
+	exitCode := cmd.Execute(version)
 	os.Exit(exitCode)
 }
diff --git a/internal/cmd/root.go b/internal/cmd/root.go
index 8d41678..290ffc3 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/root.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/root.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"runtime/debug"
 	"strings"
 
 	configcmd "github.com/enthus-appdev/esq-cli/internal/cmd/config"
@@ -16,7 +17,8 @@ import (
 var envOverride string
 
 // Execute runs the root command and returns the exit code.
-func Execute(ver, commit string) int {
+func Execute(ver string) int {
+	commit, date := vcsInfo()
 	rootCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "esq",
 		Short: "Elasticsearch Query CLI",
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ func Execute(ver, commit string) int {
   esq health`,
 		SilenceUsage:  true,
 		SilenceErrors: true,
-		Version:       fmt.Sprintf("%s (commit: %s)", ver, commit),
+		Version:       fmt.Sprintf("%s\ncommit: %s\nbuilt:  %s", ver, commit, date),
 	}
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&envOverride, "env", "e", "", "Override active environment")
@@ -128,6 +130,33 @@ func joinStrings(ss []string) string {
 	return result
 }
 
+func vcsInfo() (commit, date string) {
+	commit, date = "unknown", "unknown"
+	var modified bool
+	info, ok := debug.ReadBuildInfo()
+	if !ok {
+		return
+	}
+	for _, s := range info.Settings {
+		switch s.Key {
+		case "vcs.revision":
+			if len(s.Value) > 7 {
+				commit = s.Value[:7]
+			} else {
+				commit = s.Value
+			}
+		case "vcs.time":
+			date = s.Value
+		case "vcs.modified":
+			modified = s.Value == "true"
+		}
+	}
+	if modified {
+		commit += "-dirty"
+	}
+	return
+}
+
 // --- Simple commands (kept in root.go since they're small) ---
 
 func newGetCmd() *cobra.Command {