diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dcc62d268218242f60ce6bd8dbbffd91c820b5dc..8375c603d802a7fc9155b49087a7513a6602f951 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Add the following to your `.gitlab-ci.yml`:
 ```yaml
 include:
   # 1: include the component
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.8.0
     # 2: set/override component inputs
     inputs:
       image: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ Add the following to your `.gitlab-ci.yml`:
 include:
   # 1: include the template
   - project: 'to-be-continuous/python'
-    ref: '7.7.1'
+    ref: '7.8.0'
     file: '/templates/gitlab-ci-python.yml'
 
 variables:
@@ -580,9 +580,9 @@ With:
 ```yaml
 include:
   # main component
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.8.0
   # Vault variant
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-vault@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-vault@7.8.0
     inputs:
       vault-base-url: "https://vault.acme.host/v1"
       # audience claim for JWT
@@ -621,13 +621,13 @@ The variant requires the additional configuration parameters:
 
 ```yaml
 include:
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.8.0
     # 2: set/override component inputs
     inputs:
       image: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
       pytest-enabled: true
 
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-gcp@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-gcp@7.8.0
     inputs:
       # common OIDC config for non-prod envs
       gcp-oidc-provider: "projects/<gcp_nonprod_proj_id>/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/<pool_id>/providers/<provider_id>"
@@ -687,13 +687,13 @@ then set the required configuration.
 
 ```yaml
 include:
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.8.0
     # 2: set/override component inputs
     inputs:
       image: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
       pytest-enabled: true
 
-  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-aws-codeartifact@7.7.1
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-aws-codeartifact@7.8.0
     inputs:
       aws-region: "us-east-1"
       aws-codeartifact-domain: "acme"
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-python-gcp.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-python-gcp.yml
index b93ad6a4db137b134a74d07fb3d3daa5da704d1a..2ac425fbd57de08ef3956a99f54ea647ad4e239b 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-python-gcp.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-python-gcp.yml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ variables:
   image: $PYTHON_IMAGE
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "python", "7.7.1"]
+      command: ["--service", "python", "7.8.0"]
   variables:
     GCP_JWT: $GCP_JWT
   before_script:
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-python-vault.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-python-vault.yml
index 349cd49e0b53812b4d4e94f585e2cc03942e38d0..e9ec807653e98c977d562bd4247d5b8e6f43c5c7 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-python-vault.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-python-vault.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ variables:
 .python-base:
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "python", "7.7.1"]
+      command: ["--service", "python", "7.8.0"]
     - name: "$TBC_VAULT_IMAGE"
       alias: "vault-secrets-provider"
   variables:
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-python.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-python.yml
index 2ccfa2773350027f5bb06ab0cc54ce54f3b632ff..0ab9be523dacc74a092e09a7dc718cbcc54639db 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-python.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-python.yml
@@ -295,10 +295,7 @@ workflow:
     - when: on_success
 
 variables:
-  # variabilized tracking image
-  TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE: "registry.gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/tools/tracking:master"
-
-  # PYTHON_IMAGE: "registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3"
+  # Default Docker image (can be overridden)
   PYTHON_IMAGE: $[[ inputs.image ]]
   # Default Python project root directory
   PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR: $[[ inputs.project-dir ]]
@@ -1032,7 +1029,7 @@ stages:
   image: $PYTHON_IMAGE
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "python", "7.7.1"]
+      command: ["--service", "python", "7.8.0"]
   variables:
     # set local cache dir; most Python tools honour XDG specs
     XDG_CACHE_HOME: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.cache"