diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d7c6b3b..33b5727 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ archive workflow. Planning lives in `INTEGRATED_PIPELINE_CONCEPT.md` and
 
 ## Agent workflow helper
 
-Requirements: Python 3.11+, Git, and an authenticated `tea` login named `domverse`.
+Requirements: Python 3.12+, Git, and an authenticated `tea` login named `domverse`.
+`scripts/python` prefers Conda base when it satisfies this version, otherwise it uses
+an installed Python 3.12+ interpreter.
 
 ```bash
 scripts/work-item next
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1329dc6..1d6ea4a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [project]
 name = "photoanalyzer"
 version = "0.1.0"
-requires-python = ">=3.11"
+requires-python = ">=3.12"
 
 [tool.ruff]
 line-length = 100
diff --git a/scripts/python b/scripts/python
index d9bca48..6bcbf38 100755
--- a/scripts/python
+++ b/scripts/python
@@ -1,11 +1,18 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-for python in python3.13 python3.12 python3.11; do
+if command -v conda >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    conda_version=$(conda run -n base python -c 'import sys; print(f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}")' 2>/dev/null || true)
+    case "$conda_version" in
+        3.1[2-9]|3.[2-9][0-9]) exec conda run --no-capture-output -n base python "$@" ;;
+    esac
+fi
+
+for python in python3.13 python3.12; do
     if command -v "$python" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         exec "$python" "$@"
     fi
 done
 
-echo "photoanalyzer: Python 3.11 or newer is required" >&2
+echo "photoanalyzer: Python 3.12 or newer is required" >&2
 exit 2
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_e2e.py b/tests/test_cli_e2e.py
index 7db1478..466e8b1 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli_e2e.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli_e2e.py
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ class InterpreterWrapperTests(unittest.TestCase):
         )
         major, minor = eval(result.stdout.strip(), {"__builtins__": {}})
         self.assertEqual(major, 3)
-        self.assertGreaterEqual(minor, 11)
+        self.assertGreaterEqual(minor, 12)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/work_item/core.py b/work_item/core.py
index 2c7a21b..61d70b1 100644
--- a/work_item/core.py
+++ b/work_item/core.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from typing import Any, Iterable, Sequence
 
 try:
     import tomllib
-except ModuleNotFoundError:  # pragma: no cover - Python < 3.11 is unsupported
+except ModuleNotFoundError:  # pragma: no cover - Python < 3.12 is unsupported
     tomllib = None
 
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class Config:
     @classmethod
     def load(cls, path: Path) -> "Config":
         if tomllib is None:
-            raise WorkItemError("Python 3.11 or newer is required")
+            raise WorkItemError("Python 3.12 or newer is required")
         if not path.is_file():
             raise WorkItemError(f"Missing workflow configuration: {path}")
         with path.open("rb") as handle: