diff --git a/.github/action/build/action.yml b/.github/action/build/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7b0afdff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/action/build/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+name: Build
+description: Reusable action to install dependencies, build the project, and run tests.
+
+inputs:
+  node-version:
+    description: Node.js version to use
+    required: false
+    default: '20'
+
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - name: Setup Node
+      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+      with:
+        node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
+        registry-url: 'https://npm.pkg.github.com/celonis'
+        scope: '@celonis'
+
+    - name: Install Dependencies
+      shell: bash
+      run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
+
+    - name: Build
+      shell: bash
+      run: yarn build
+
+    - name: Test
+      shell: bash
+      run: yarn test
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/action/bump-npm-version/action.yml b/.github/action/bump-npm-version/action.yml
index a638888d..deb42ed3 100644
--- a/.github/action/bump-npm-version/action.yml
+++ b/.github/action/bump-npm-version/action.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 name: Bump NPM Version
 
-
 inputs:
   bump:
     description: 'Which version bump (patch, minor, major)'
@@ -12,11 +11,18 @@ inputs:
     description: 'GitHub repository to push changes to'
     required: true
 
+outputs:
+  auto_branch:
+    description: 'The created automation branch name'
+    value: ${{ steps.names.outputs.auto_branch }}
+
 runs:
   using: composite
   steps:
     - name: Checkout Code
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0
 
     - name: Setup Node.js
       uses: actions/setup-node@v4
@@ -30,10 +36,20 @@ runs:
         git config user.email 'github-celobot@celonis.com'
         git remote set-url origin https://x-access-token:${{ inputs.token }}@github.com/${{ inputs.repository }}
 
-    - name: Run npm version
+    - name: Compute automation branch name
+      id: names
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        ts=$(date +"%Y%m%d-%H%M%S")
+        auto_branch="automation/release-bump-${ts}"
+        echo "auto_branch=${auto_branch}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "Creating automation branch: ${auto_branch}"
+        git checkout -b "${auto_branch}"
+
+    - name: Run npm version bump
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        npm version ${{ inputs.bump }} -m "chore: bump version to %s"
+        npm version ${{ inputs.bump }} -m "[Release] Bump version to %s"
         npm install
         git push origin HEAD
-        git push origin --tags
+        git push origin --tags
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-publish-automatic.yml b/.github/workflows/build-and-publish-automatic.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 181cf3a9..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-publish-automatic.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-name: Build and Publish Workflow
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ master ]
-    paths-ignore:
-      - '.github/**'
-
-jobs:
-  build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Npm install and npm build
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-
-      - name: Setup Node with Github Registry
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
-        with:
-          node-version: '20'
-          registry-url: https://npm.pkg.github.com/celonis
-          scope: '@celonis'
-
-      - name: Yarn Install
-        run: yarn install
-
-      - name: Yarn Build
-        run: yarn build
-
-      - name: Yarn Test
-        run: yarn test
-
-      - name: Move files to build
-        run: |
-          cp README.md dist/README.md
-          cp LICENSE dist/LICENSE
-
-      - name: Publish to Github Registry
-        env:
-          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        run: cd dist/ && npm publish
-
-      - name: Setup publish to Npm Registry
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
-        with:
-          node-version: '16'
-          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
-          scope: '@celonis'
-
-      - name: Publish to Npm Registry
-        env:
-          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
-        run: cd dist/ && npm publish --access public
-
-      - uses: actions/checkout@master
-        name: Checkout Master
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: '0'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 49c89084..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-name: Build and Publish Workflow
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      bump:
-        description: 'Which version bump (patch, minor, major)'
-        required: true
-        default: 'patch'
-        type: choice
-        options:
-          - patch
-          - minor
-          - major
-
-jobs:
-  version-bump:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Bump NPM version
-        uses: ./.github/action/bump-npm-version
-        with:
-          bump: ${{ inputs.bump }}
-          token: ${{ secrets.GIT_CLI_ADMIN_TOKEN }}
-          repository: ${{ github.repository }}
-
-  build:
-    needs: version-bump
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Npm install and npm build
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-
-      - name: Setup Node with Github Registry
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
-        with:
-          node-version: '20'
-          registry-url: https://npm.pkg.github.com/celonis
-          scope: '@celonis'
-
-      - name: Yarn Install
-        run: yarn install
-
-      - name: Yarn Build
-        run: yarn build
-
-      - name: Yarn Test
-        run: yarn test
-
-      - name: Move files to build
-        run: |
-          cp README.md dist/README.md
-          cp LICENSE dist/LICENSE
-
-      - name: Publish to Github Registry
-        env:
-          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        run: cd dist/ && npm publish
-
-      - name: Setup publish to Npm Registry
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
-        with:
-          node-version: '16'
-          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
-          scope: '@celonis'
-
-      - name: Publish to Npm Registry
-        env:
-          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
-        run: cd dist/ && npm publish --access public
-
-      - uses: actions/checkout@master
-        name: Checkout Master
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: '0'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-or-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/build-or-publish.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e2e157b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-or-publish.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+name: Build / Publish Workflow
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - 'master'
+      - 'release/*'
+    paths-ignore:
+      - '.github/**'
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+
+jobs:
+  detect-bump:
+    name: Detect Version Bump
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      is_bump: ${{ steps.check.outputs.is_bump }}
+      commit_sha: ${{ steps.sha.outputs.sha }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 2
+
+      - id: sha
+        run: echo "sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - id: check
+        run: |
+          last_commit_message=$(git log -1 --pretty=%B)
+          echo "Last commit message: $last_commit_message"
+          if [[ "$last_commit_message" =~ "\[Release\] Bump version" ]]; then
+            echo "is_bump=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            echo "is_bump=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+
+  build-only:
+    name: Build (no publish)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: detect-bump
+    if: needs.detect-bump.outputs.is_bump != 'true'
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Build and Test
+        uses: ./.github/action/build
+
+      - name: Done
+        run: echo "Regular commit detected — build and test completed."
+
+  create-release-branch-and-publish:
+    name: Create release branch (CalVer) and Publish
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: detect-bump
+    if: needs.detect-bump.outputs.is_bump == 'true' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/master'
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Setup Git user
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "celobot"
+          git config user.email "github-celobot@celonis.com"
+
+      - name: Compute unique CalVer release branch name
+        id: calver
+        run: |
+          base_name=$(date +"%Y%m%d-%H%M%S")
+
+          git fetch origin "+refs/heads/release/*:refs/remotes/origin/release/*" || true
+
+          rc_index=0
+          candidate="${base_name}_RC$(printf '%02d' $rc_index)"
+          while git branch -r | grep -q "origin/release/${candidate}"; do
+            rc_index=$((rc_index + 1))
+            candidate="${base_name}_RC$(printf '%02d' $rc_index)"
+          done
+          release_branch="release/${candidate}"
+          echo "release_branch=${release_branch}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "Selected release branch: ${release_branch}"
+
+      - name: Create and push release branch from current master commit
+        env:
+          GIT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          branch="${{ steps.calver.outputs.release_branch }}"
+          git checkout -b "$branch"
+          git push https://x-access-token:${GIT_TOKEN}@github.com/${{ github.repository }} "HEAD:refs/heads/${branch}"
+
+      - name: Build and Test
+        uses: ./.github/action/build
+
+      - name: Prepare dist
+        run: |
+          cp README.md dist/README.md
+          cp LICENSE dist/LICENSE
+
+      - name: Publish to GitHub Registry
+        env:
+          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          cd dist/
+          npm publish
+
+      - name: Setup Node for NPM Registry
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '20'
+          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
+          scope: '@celonis'
+
+      - name: Publish to NPM Registry
+        env:
+          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          cd dist/
+          npm publish --access public
+
+      - name: Tag release version
+        env:
+          GIT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          version=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+          tag="v${version}"
+          git tag "${tag}"
+          git push https://x-access-token:${GIT_TOKEN}@github.com/${{ github.repository }} "${tag}"
+
+      - name: Post-publish note
+        run: echo "Release branch ${{ steps.calver.outputs.release_branch }} created, published, and tagged with version."
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 5b554afe..53cb3b80 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-name: Build Workflow
+name: Build Pull Request
 
 on:
   pull_request:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f2777913
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+name: Create Release
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      bump:
+        description: 'Which version bump (patch, minor, major)'
+        required: true
+        default: 'patch'
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - patch
+          - minor
+          - major
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  create-bump-pr:
+    name: Create bump PR
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Validate base branch and bump type
+        id: validate
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          BASE="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          BUMP="${{ inputs.bump }}"
+          echo "Validating base branch: $BASE"
+          echo "Requested bump type: $BUMP"
+
+          # Restrict workflow execution to master or release/*
+          if [[ ! "$BASE" =~ ^master$ ]] && [[ ! "$BASE" =~ ^release\/.+$ ]]; then
+            echo "ERROR: workflow may only be dispatched from 'master' or a 'release/*' branch. Selected: $BASE"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # Restrict bump types on release branches
+          if [[ "$BASE" =~ ^release\/.+$ ]] && [[ "$BUMP" != "patch" ]]; then
+            echo "ERROR: Only 'patch' bumps are allowed on release branches (attempted '$BUMP')."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "Validation passed for $BASE with bump '$BUMP'"
+          echo "ok=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Run bump version and create automation branch
+        id: bump
+        uses: ./.github/action/bump-npm-version
+        with:
+          bump: ${{ inputs.bump }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          repository: ${{ github.repository }}
+
+      - name: Open PR from automation branch
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          gh pr create \
+            --repo "${{ github.repository }}" \
+            --head "${{ steps.bump.outputs.auto_branch }}" \
+            --base "${{ github.ref_name }}" \
+            --title "[Release] Bump version - automated" \
+            --body "Automated version bump (created by Create Release workflow). Please review and merge."
diff --git a/docs/how-to-release.md b/docs/how-to-release.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..052c69f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/how-to-release.md
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+# Content CLI – Release Management Guide
+
+This guide describes how the **Content CLI** release lifecycle works — including feature development, release creation, and hotfixing.
+
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+The Content CLI uses a **trunk-based workflow** with **semantic version bumps** and **CalVer release branches**.
+
+| **Branch Type** | **Purpose**                                                                        |
+|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `master` | Main development branch; represents the development environment.                   |
+| `release/*` | Release branches named using CalVer format (e.g., `release/20251009-091337_RC00`). |
+
+Publishing happens **only** when a version bump PR is merged.
+
+---
+
+## Developing a New Feature
+
+1. Create a feature branch from `master`.
+2. Implement and test your feature.
+    - Testing should be done locally. Check this guide for [testing your local build of master](https://github.com/celonis/content-cli/blob/master/README.md#building-and-using-the-project-locally).
+3. Open a PR targeting `master`.
+4. After approval, merge your PR into `master`.
+    - Merging to `master` **does not** publish anything — it only updates the development state of the CLI.
+
+---
+
+## Creating a Release
+
+When the `master` branch is stable and ready for deployment, use the **Create Release** workflow.
+
+### Steps
+
+1. Go to **Actions → Create Release → Run workflow**.
+2. Choose the bump type (`patch`, `minor`, or `major`).
+3. The workflow will:
+    - Validate that it’s running from `master` or a `release/*` branch.
+    - Create an automation branch (`automation/release-bump-<timestamp>`).
+    - Bump the version and push a commit like `[Release] Bump version to x.x.x`.
+    - Open a **PR to the same branch** from which it was triggered (to master or release branch).
+
+4. When the PR is approved and merged:
+    - The **Build / Publish** workflow detects the version bump commit.
+    - It builds and tests the CLI.
+    - Creates a new **CalVer release branch** (e.g., `release/20251009-091337_RC00`).
+    - Publishes the package to both:
+        - GitHub Registry (`@celonis/content-cli`)
+        - npm Registry (`@celonis/content-cli`)
+    - Tags the release branch with the new semantic version (e.g., `v1.3.0`).
+
+---
+
+## Hotfixing a Version
+
+When a bug is discovered in an existing published version:
+
+1. Identify the release branch from the version tag (e.g., `release/20251009-091337_RC00` tagged with `v1.3.0`).
+2. Create a hotfix branch from that release branch.
+3. Implement and test the fix.
+4. Open a PR targeting the same release branch.
+5. Once merged, re-run the **Create Release** workflow from that release branch to bump the patch version and publish (e.g., from `v1.3.0` → `v1.3.1`).
+
+---
+
+## Workflows
+
+| **Workflow** | **Trigger** | **Purpose** |
+|---------------|-------------|--------------|
+| **Build Pull Request** | On PR to `master` | Builds and tests changes before merging. |
+| **Create Release** | Manual trigger (`workflow_dispatch`) | Creates a PR with a version bump on the current branch. |
+| **Build / Publish** | On merge to `master` or `release/*` | Detects version bumps → builds, tags, and publishes. |
+