diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index da3cbca0..5944faf5 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.2.0-alpha.52"
+  ".": "0.2.0-alpha.53"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9a6e30e8..fcd87ff9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## 0.2.0-alpha.53 (2025-04-15)
+
+Full Changelog: [v0.2.0-alpha.52...v0.2.0-alpha.53](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/compare/v0.2.0-alpha.52...v0.2.0-alpha.53)
+
+### Features
+
+* fix: verify SSL by default and disable it via env var ([92f8b70](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/commit/92f8b7055c4721edc8a6ec1ab9e678ff6bf18e97))
+
+
+### Chores
+
+* **client:** minor internal fixes ([cb7cdf2](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/commit/cb7cdf29f19b6131dcfb0a47dcbfd20f1b6659b6))
+* **internal:** update pyright settings ([0e70ac7](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/commit/0e70ac7853b7c2a353da7021e7454096c0ea6524))
+
 ## 0.2.0-alpha.52 (2025-04-14)
 
 Full Changelog: [v0.2.0-alpha.51...v0.2.0-alpha.52](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/compare/v0.2.0-alpha.51...v0.2.0-alpha.52)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 81f9b604..21275674 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "openlayer"
-version = "0.2.0-alpha.52"
+version = "0.2.0-alpha.53"
 description = "The official Python library for the openlayer API"
 dynamic = ["readme"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ exclude = [
 ignore = ["src/openlayer/lib/*", "examples/*"]
 
 reportImplicitOverride = true
+reportOverlappingOverload = false
 
 reportImportCycles = false
 reportPrivateUsage = false
diff --git a/src/openlayer/_base_client.py b/src/openlayer/_base_client.py
index 38a3b467..dcc1a63e 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/_base_client.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/_base_client.py
@@ -409,7 +409,8 @@ def _build_headers(self, options: FinalRequestOptions, *, retries_taken: int = 0
 
         idempotency_header = self._idempotency_header
         if idempotency_header and options.method.lower() != "get" and idempotency_header not in headers:
-            headers[idempotency_header] = options.idempotency_key or self._idempotency_key()
+            options.idempotency_key = options.idempotency_key or self._idempotency_key()
+            headers[idempotency_header] = options.idempotency_key
 
         # Don't set these headers if they were already set or removed by the caller. We check
         # `custom_headers`, which can contain `Omit()`, instead of `headers` to account for the removal case.
@@ -943,6 +944,10 @@ def _request(
         request = self._build_request(options, retries_taken=retries_taken)
         self._prepare_request(request)
 
+        if options.idempotency_key:
+            # ensure the idempotency key is reused between requests
+            input_options.idempotency_key = options.idempotency_key
+
         kwargs: HttpxSendArgs = {}
         if self.custom_auth is not None:
             kwargs["auth"] = self.custom_auth
@@ -1475,6 +1480,10 @@ async def _request(
         request = self._build_request(options, retries_taken=retries_taken)
         await self._prepare_request(request)
 
+        if options.idempotency_key:
+            # ensure the idempotency key is reused between requests
+            input_options.idempotency_key = options.idempotency_key
+
         kwargs: HttpxSendArgs = {}
         if self.custom_auth is not None:
             kwargs["auth"] = self.custom_auth
diff --git a/src/openlayer/_version.py b/src/openlayer/_version.py
index 96631d01..c52bf153 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/_version.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/_version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # File generated from our OpenAPI spec by Stainless. See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.
 
 __title__ = "openlayer"
-__version__ = "0.2.0-alpha.52"  # x-release-please-version
+__version__ = "0.2.0-alpha.53"  # x-release-please-version
diff --git a/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py b/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py
index 4e099416..aedd9d3d 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
 TRUE_LIST = ["true", "on", "1"]
 
 _publish = utils.get_env_variable("OPENLAYER_DISABLE_PUBLISH") not in TRUE_LIST
-_verify_ssl = utils.get_env_variable("OPENLAYER_VERIFY_SSL").lower() in TRUE_LIST
+_verify_ssl = (
+    utils.get_env_variable("OPENLAYER_VERIFY_SSL", "true").lower() in TRUE_LIST
+)
 _client = None
 if _publish:
     if _verify_ssl: