diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index eed4e452..9114d88b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1768,9 +1768,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyo3"
-version = "0.22.6"
+version = "0.23.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f402062616ab18202ae8319da13fa4279883a2b8a9d9f83f20dbade813ce1884"
+checksum = "f54b3d09cbdd1f8c20650b28e7b09e338881482f4aa908a5f61a00c98fba2690"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "chrono",
@@ -1787,9 +1787,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyo3-async-runtimes"
-version = "0.22.0"
+version = "0.23.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "2529f0be73ffd2be0cc43c013a640796558aa12d7ca0aab5cc14f375b4733031"
+checksum = "977dc837525cfd22919ba6a831413854beb7c99a256c03bf8624ad707e45810e"
 dependencies = [
  "futures",
  "once_cell",
@@ -1800,9 +1800,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyo3-build-config"
-version = "0.22.6"
+version = "0.23.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "b14b5775b5ff446dd1056212d778012cbe8a0fbffd368029fd9e25b514479c38"
+checksum = "3015cf985888fe66cfb63ce0e321c603706cd541b7aec7ddd35c281390af45d8"
 dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "target-lexicon",
@@ -1810,9 +1810,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyo3-ffi"
-version = "0.22.6"
+version = "0.23.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9ab5bcf04a2cdcbb50c7d6105de943f543f9ed92af55818fd17b660390fc8636"
+checksum = "6fca7cd8fd809b5ac4eefb89c1f98f7a7651d3739dfb341ca6980090f554c270"
 dependencies = [
  "libc",
  "pyo3-build-config",
@@ -1820,9 +1820,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyo3-macros"
-version = "0.22.6"
+version = "0.23.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0fd24d897903a9e6d80b968368a34e1525aeb719d568dba8b3d4bfa5dc67d453"
+checksum = "34e657fa5379a79151b6ff5328d9216a84f55dc93b17b08e7c3609a969b73aa0"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "pyo3-macros-backend",
@@ -1832,9 +1832,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pyo3-macros-backend"
-version = "0.22.6"
+version = "0.23.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "36c011a03ba1e50152b4b394b479826cad97e7a21eb52df179cd91ac411cbfbe"
+checksum = "295548d5ffd95fd1981d2d3cf4458831b21d60af046b729b6fd143b0ba7aee2f"
 dependencies = [
  "heck",
  "proc-macro2",
diff --git a/Changelog.python.md b/Changelog.python.md
index bec08e35..a4c67cc7 100644
--- a/Changelog.python.md
+++ b/Changelog.python.md
@@ -1,5 +1,21 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Python Icechunk Library 0.1.0a5
+
+### Features
+
+- Sync with zarr 3.0b2. The biggest change is the `mode` param on `IcechunkStore` methods has been simplified to `read_only`.
+- Changed `IcechunkStore::distributed_commit` to `IcechunkStore::merge`, which now does *not* commit, but attempts to merge the changes from another store back into the current store.
+- Added a new `icechunk.dask.store_dask` method to write a dask array to an icechunk store. This is required for safely writing dask arrays to an icechunk store.
+- Added a new `icechunk.xarray.to_icechunk` method to write an xarray dataset to an icechunk store. This is *required* for safely writing xarray datasets with dask arrays to an icechunk store in a distributed or multi-processing context.
+
+### Fixes
+
+- The `StorageConfig` methods have been correctly typed.
+- `IcechunkStore` instances are now set to `read_only` by default after pickling.
+- When checking out a snapshot or tag, the `IcechunkStore` will be set to read-only. If you want to write to the store, you must call `IcechunkStore::set_writeable()`.
+- An error will now be raised if you try to checkout a snapshot that does not exist.
+
 ## Python Icechunk Library 0.1.0a4
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/Changelog.rust.md b/Changelog.rust.md
index 7665b8f4..b1bff2f7 100644
--- a/Changelog.rust.md
+++ b/Changelog.rust.md
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Rust Icechunk Library 0.1.0-alpha.5
+
+### Features
+
+- Added new `Store::merge` method to merge changes from another store back into the current store.
+- Added new `garbage_collect` method to remove dangling chunks from the store.
+- Added new `Repository::rebase` method to detect and optionally fix conflicts between the current changes and the tip of a branch, allowing the user to commit the changes to the branch.
+
+### Fixes
+
+- `Store` will now be set to `ReadOnly` after checking out a snapshot or tag.
+- An error will now be raised if you try to checkout a snapshot that does not exist.
+
 ## Rust Icechunk Library 0.1.0-alpha.4
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/deny.toml b/deny.toml
index 88fa8855..7a954ad8 100644
--- a/deny.toml
+++ b/deny.toml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ allow = [
   "OpenSSL",
   "Unicode-DFS-2016",
   "CC0-1.0",
+  "Unicode-3.0",
 ]
 # The confidence threshold for detecting a license from license text.
 # The higher the value, the more closely the license text must be to the
diff --git a/icechunk-python/Cargo.toml b/icechunk-python/Cargo.toml
index 04879bcb..cc5401e1 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/Cargo.toml
+++ b/icechunk-python/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@ bytes = "1.8.0"
 chrono = { version = "0.4.38" }
 futures = "0.3.31"
 icechunk = { path = "../icechunk", version = "0.1.0-alpha.4" }
-pyo3 = { version = "0.22", features = [
+pyo3 = { version = "0.23", features = [
   "chrono",
   "extension-module",
   "experimental-async",
 ] }
-pyo3-async-runtimes = { version = "0.22.0", features = ["tokio-runtime"] }
+pyo3-async-runtimes = { version = "0.23", features = ["tokio-runtime"] }
 async-stream = "0.3.6"
 thiserror = "2.0.3"
 tokio = "1.41"
diff --git a/icechunk-python/examples/smoke-test.py b/icechunk-python/examples/smoke-test.py
index 68b9eb0c..1c6de099 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/examples/smoke-test.py
+++ b/icechunk-python/examples/smoke-test.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def create_array(*, group, name, size, dtype, fill_value) -> np.ndarray:
     return array
 
 
-async def run(store: Store) -> None:
+def run(store: Store) -> None:
     write_start = time.time()
     group = zarr.group(store=store, overwrite=True)
     group.attrs["foo"] = "foo"
diff --git a/icechunk-python/src/errors.rs b/icechunk-python/src/errors.rs
index 4a1434f2..75fbf980 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/src/errors.rs
+++ b/icechunk-python/src/errors.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::convert::Infallible;
+
 use icechunk::{
     format::IcechunkFormatError, repository::RepositoryError, zarr::StoreError,
 };
@@ -32,6 +34,12 @@ pub(crate) enum PyIcechunkStoreError {
     UnkownError(String),
 }
 
+impl From<Infallible> for PyIcechunkStoreError {
+    fn from(_: Infallible) -> Self {
+        PyIcechunkStoreError::UnkownError("Infallible".to_string())
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<StoreError> for PyIcechunkStoreError {
     fn from(error: StoreError) -> Self {
         match error {
diff --git a/icechunk-python/src/lib.rs b/icechunk-python/src/lib.rs
index 97c010d9..32b34fca 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/src/lib.rs
+++ b/icechunk-python/src/lib.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use icechunk::{
 use pyo3::{
     exceptions::{PyKeyError, PyValueError},
     prelude::*,
-    types::{PyBytes, PyList, PyNone, PyString},
+    types::{PyNone, PyString},
 };
 use storage::{PyS3Credentials, PyStorageConfig, PyVirtualRefConfig};
 use streams::PyAsyncGenerator;
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             do_checkout_snapshot(store, snapshot_id).await?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(PyNone::get(py).to_owned())
         })
     }
 
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             do_checkout_branch(store, branch).await?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(PyNone::get(py).to_owned())
         })
     }
 
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             do_checkout_tag(store, tag).await?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(PyNone::get(py).to_owned())
         })
     }
 
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
 
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             let res = do_commit(store, message).await?;
-            Ok(PyString::new_bound(py, res.as_str()))
+            Ok(PyString::new(py, res.as_str()))
         })
     }
 
@@ -512,11 +512,11 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         })
     }
 
-    fn reset<'py>(&'py self, py: Python<'py>) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyBytes>> {
+    fn reset(&self) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<Cow<[u8]>> {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             let changes = do_reset(store).await?;
-            Ok(PyBytes::new_bound(py, &changes))
+            Ok(Cow::Owned(changes))
         })
     }
 
@@ -531,15 +531,11 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         })
     }
 
-    fn new_branch<'py>(
-        &'py self,
-        py: Python<'py>,
-        branch_name: String,
-    ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyString>> {
+    fn new_branch(&self, branch_name: String) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<String> {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             let res = do_new_branch(store, branch_name).await?;
-            Ok(PyString::new_bound(py, res.as_str()))
+            Ok(res)
         })
     }
 
@@ -554,15 +550,11 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         })
     }
 
-    fn reset_branch<'py>(
-        &'py self,
-        py: Python<'py>,
-        to_snapshot: String,
-    ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyNone>> {
+    fn reset_branch(&self, to_snapshot: String) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<()> {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             do_reset_branch(store, to_snapshot).await?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(())
         })
     }
 
@@ -581,36 +573,25 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         })
     }
 
-    fn tag<'py>(
-        &'py self,
-        py: Python<'py>,
-        tag: String,
-        snapshot_id: String,
-    ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyNone>> {
+    fn tag(&self, tag: String, snapshot_id: String) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<()> {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             do_tag(store, tag, snapshot_id).await?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(())
         })
     }
 
-    fn ancestry<'py>(
-        &'py self,
-        py: Python<'py>,
-    ) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<Bound<'py, PyList>> {
+    fn ancestry(&self) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<Vec<PySnapshotMetadata>> {
         // TODO: this holds everything in memory
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             let store = self.store.read().await;
-            let list = store
+            let ancestry = store
                 .ancestry()
                 .await?
-                .map_ok(|parent| {
-                    let parent = Into::<PySnapshotMetadata>::into(parent);
-                    Python::with_gil(|py| parent.into_py(py))
-                })
+                .map_ok(Into::<PySnapshotMetadata>::into)
                 .try_collect::<Vec<_>>()
                 .await?;
-            Ok(PyList::new_bound(py, list))
+            Ok(ancestry)
         })
     }
 
@@ -622,6 +603,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
             })?
             .map_ok(|parent| {
                 let parent = Into::<PySnapshotMetadata>::into(parent);
+                #[allow(deprecated)]
                 Python::with_gil(|py| parent.into_py(py))
             });
         let prepared_list = Arc::new(Mutex::new(list.boxed()));
@@ -653,12 +635,12 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         })
     }
 
-    fn sync_clear<'py>(&'py self, py: Python<'py>) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyNone>> {
+    fn sync_clear(&self) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<()> {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
 
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             store.write().await.clear().await.map_err(PyIcechunkStoreError::from)?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(())
         })
     }
 
@@ -676,13 +658,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
             // We need to distinguish the "safe" case of trying to fetch an uninitialized key
             // from other types of errors, we use PyKeyError exception for that
             match data {
-                Ok(data) => {
-                    let pybytes = Python::with_gil(|py| {
-                        let bound_bytes = PyBytes::new_bound(py, &data);
-                        bound_bytes.to_object(py)
-                    });
-                    Ok(pybytes)
-                }
+                Ok(data) => Ok(Vec::from(data)),
                 Err(StoreError::NotFound(_)) => Err(PyKeyError::new_err(key)),
                 Err(err) => Err(PyIcechunkStoreError::StoreError(err).into()),
             }
@@ -708,15 +684,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
                 .into_iter()
                 // If we want to error instead of returning None we can collect into
                 // a Result<Vec<_>, _> and short circuit
-                .map(|x| {
-                    x.map(|x| {
-                        Python::with_gil(|py| {
-                            let bound_bytes = PyBytes::new_bound(py, &x);
-                            bound_bytes.to_object(py)
-                        })
-                    })
-                    .ok()
-                })
+                .map(|x| x.map(Vec::from).ok())
                 .collect::<Vec<_>>();
 
             Ok(result)
@@ -809,18 +777,17 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
         })
     }
 
-    fn set_virtual_ref<'py>(
-        &'py self,
-        py: Python<'py>,
+    fn set_virtual_ref(
+        &self,
         key: String,
         location: String,
         offset: ChunkOffset,
         length: ChunkLength,
-    ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyNone>> {
+    ) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<()> {
         let store = Arc::clone(&self.store);
         pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime().block_on(async move {
             do_set_virtual_ref(store, key, location, offset, length).await?;
-            Ok(PyNone::get_bound(py).to_owned())
+            Ok(())
         })
     }
 
@@ -890,6 +857,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
     }
 
     fn list(&self) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<PyAsyncGenerator> {
+        #[allow(deprecated)]
         let list = pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime()
             .block_on(async move {
                 let store = self.store.read().await;
@@ -902,6 +870,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
     }
 
     fn list_prefix(&self, prefix: String) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<PyAsyncGenerator> {
+        #[allow(deprecated)]
         let list = pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime()
             .block_on(async move {
                 let store = self.store.read().await;
@@ -913,6 +882,7 @@ impl PyIcechunkStore {
     }
 
     fn list_dir(&self, prefix: String) -> PyIcechunkStoreResult<PyAsyncGenerator> {
+        #[allow(deprecated)]
         let list = pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::get_runtime()
             .block_on(async move {
                 let store = self.store.read().await;
diff --git a/icechunk-python/src/streams.rs b/icechunk-python/src/streams.rs
index 13a691fb..8da99b8f 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/src/streams.rs
+++ b/icechunk-python/src/streams.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use pyo3::{exceptions::PyStopAsyncIteration, prelude::*};
 use tokio::sync::Mutex;
 
 type PyObjectStream =
-    Arc<Mutex<Pin<Box<dyn Stream<Item = Result<PyObject, StoreError>> + Send>>>>;
+    Arc<Mutex<Pin<Box<dyn Stream<Item = Result<Py<PyAny>, StoreError>> + Send>>>>;
 
 /// An async generator that yields strings from a rust stream of strings
 ///
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ impl PyAsyncGenerator {
     fn __anext__<'py>(
         slf: PyRefMut<'py, Self>,
         py: Python<'py>,
-    ) -> PyResult<Option<PyObject>> {
+    ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyAny>> {
         // Arc::clone is cheap, so we can clone the Arc here because we move into the
         // future block
         let stream = slf.stream.clone();
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ impl PyAsyncGenerator {
 
         // TODO: Can we convert this is an async function or a coroutine in the next versions
         // of pyo3?
-        let result = pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::future_into_py(py, future)?;
-        Ok(Some(result.to_object(py)))
+        pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::future_into_py(py, future)
     }
 }
diff --git a/icechunk-python/tests/test_config.py b/icechunk-python/tests/test_config.py
index 29c74f91..ef237232 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/icechunk-python/tests/test_config.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
-async def tmp_store(tmpdir):
+def tmp_store(tmpdir):
     store_path = f"{tmpdir}"
     store = icechunk.IcechunkStore.open_or_create(
         storage=icechunk.StorageConfig.filesystem(store_path),
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ async def tmp_store(tmpdir):
     store.close()
 
 
-async def test_no_inline_chunks(tmp_store):
+def test_no_inline_chunks(tmp_store):
     store = tmp_store[0]
     store_path = tmp_store[1]
     array = zarr.open_array(
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ async def test_no_inline_chunks(tmp_store):
     assert len(os.listdir(f"{store_path}/chunks")) == 10
 
 
-async def test_inline_chunks(tmp_store):
+def test_inline_chunks(tmp_store):
     store = tmp_store[0]
     store_path = tmp_store[1]
 
diff --git a/icechunk-python/tests/test_pickle.py b/icechunk-python/tests/test_pickle.py
index 774576fb..c8f561de 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/tests/test_pickle.py
+++ b/icechunk-python/tests/test_pickle.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
-async def tmp_store(tmpdir):
+def tmp_store(tmpdir):
     store_path = f"{tmpdir}"
     store = icechunk.IcechunkStore.open_or_create(
         storage=icechunk.StorageConfig.filesystem(store_path),
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ async def tmp_store(tmpdir):
     store.close()
 
 
-async def test_pickle_read_only(tmp_store):
+def test_pickle_read_only(tmp_store):
     assert tmp_store._read_only is False
 
     roundtripped = pickle.loads(pickle.dumps(tmp_store))
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ async def test_pickle_read_only(tmp_store):
     assert tmp_store._read_only is False
 
 
-async def test_pickle(tmp_store):
+def test_pickle(tmp_store):
     root = zarr.group(store=tmp_store)
     array = root.ones(name="ones", shape=(10, 10), chunks=(5, 5), dtype="float32")
     array[:] = 20
diff --git a/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_api.py b/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_api.py
index 9749768a..b5446bed 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_api.py
+++ b/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_api.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
-async def memory_store() -> IcechunkStore:
+def memory_store() -> IcechunkStore:
     return parse_store("memory", "")
 
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def test_open_normalized_path(
     assert node.path == normalize_path(path)
 
 
-async def test_open_array(memory_store: IcechunkStore) -> None:
+def test_open_array(memory_store: IcechunkStore) -> None:
     store = memory_store
 
     # open array, create if doesn't exist
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ async def test_open_array(memory_store: IcechunkStore) -> None:
         open(store="doesnotexist", mode="r")
 
 
-async def test_open_group(memory_store: IcechunkStore) -> None:
+def test_open_group(memory_store: IcechunkStore) -> None:
     store = memory_store
 
     # open group, create if doesn't exist
diff --git a/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_group.py b/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_group.py
index 15b49648..50bd549a 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_group.py
+++ b/icechunk-python/tests/test_zarr/test_group.py
@@ -985,9 +985,7 @@ def test_info(self, store: IcechunkStore) -> None:
         assert result == expected
 
 
-async def test_delitem_removes_children(
-    store: IcechunkStore, zarr_format: ZarrFormat
-) -> None:
+def test_delitem_removes_children(store: IcechunkStore, zarr_format: ZarrFormat) -> None:
     # https://github.com/zarr-developers/zarr-python/issues/2191
     g1 = zarr.group(store=store, zarr_format=zarr_format)
     g1.create_group("0")