diff --git a/.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body/action.yaml b/.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body/action.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72ccd754e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body/action.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+name: 'Generate Release Notes'
+description: 'Generate release notes for a given version'
+
+inputs:
+  version:
+    description: 'The version being released'
+    required: true
+  head_ref:
+    description: 'The commit SHA or reference of the head of the release branch'
+    required: true
+  prior_ref:
+    description: 'The previous version to compare against'
+    required: true
+
+outputs:
+  pr_body_file:
+    description: 'Path to the generated PR body file'
+    value: ${{ steps.generate.outputs.pr_body_file }}
+
+runs:
+  using: 'composite'
+  steps:
+    - name: Generate release notes
+      id: generate
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+        HEAD_REF: ${{ inputs.head_ref }}
+        PRIOR_REF: ${{ inputs.prior_ref }}
+        TEMPLATE_FILE: "${{ github.action_path }}/pr_body_template.txt"
+      run: |
+        git fetch origin --tags
+
+        {
+          sed -e "s/{{VERSION}}/${VERSION}/g" \
+              -e "s/{{PRIOR_VERSION}}/${PRIOR_REF}/g" \
+              "$TEMPLATE_FILE"
+          git log --pretty=format:"- %s (%h)" --reverse ${PRIOR_REF}..${HEAD_REF}
+          echo ""
+          echo "---"
+          echo "*This release PR was generated automatically.*"
+        } > pr_body.txt
+
+        echo "pr_body_file=pr_body.txt" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
diff --git a/.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body/pr_body_template.txt b/.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body/pr_body_template.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e63e7c2041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body/pr_body_template.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Release v{{VERSION}}
+
+## How to Release
+
+Push the release tag to trigger the release:
+   ```bash
+   git fetch && git tag v{{VERSION}} origin/release/{{VERSION}}
+   git push origin v{{VERSION}}
+   ```
+This PR will auto-merge once the tag is pushed.
+
+## Important Notes
+
+- All commits in this release should have corresponding cherry-picks in `main`
+- This PR can be closed if the release is not needed.
+
+## Changes in This Release
+
+**Comparing:** `{{PRIOR_VERSION}}...v{{VERSION}}`
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-release-pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/check-release-pr.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d5462ee417
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-release-pr.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+name: Check Release PR
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types:
+      - opened
+      - synchronize
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  check-commits:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4
+      with:
+        ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+        fetch-depth: 0
+
+    - name: Check all PR commits exist in main
+      run: |
+        git fetch origin main
+
+        CHERRY_OUTPUT=$(git cherry origin/main HEAD)
+
+        if [ -z "$CHERRY_OUTPUT" ]; then
+          echo "✅ All commits already exist in main"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        echo "Cherry check results:"
+        echo "$CHERRY_OUTPUT"
+
+        MISSING_COMMITS=$(echo "$CHERRY_OUTPUT" | grep '^+' | cut -d' ' -f2)
+
+        if [ -z "$MISSING_COMMITS" ]; then
+          echo "✅ All commits exist in main"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        COMMIT_COUNT=$(echo "$MISSING_COMMITS" | wc -l)
+        FIRST_COMMIT=$(git rev-list --reverse HEAD ^origin/main | head -1)
+
+        if [ "$COMMIT_COUNT" -eq 1 ] && echo "$MISSING_COMMITS" | grep -q "$FIRST_COMMIT"; then
+          echo "✅ Only version bump commit is unique"
+          git log --oneline -1 "$FIRST_COMMIT"
+        else
+          echo "❌ Found commits that should exist in main:"
+          for commit in $MISSING_COMMITS; do
+            if [ "$commit" != "$FIRST_COMMIT" ]; then
+              git log --oneline -1 "$commit"
+            fi
+          done
+          echo "Make sure commits have equivalents in main. If you've since updated main, re-run this job"
+          exit 1
+        fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7208f4e228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+name: Release Workflow
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      bump_type:
+        description: 'Type of version bump (minor or patch)'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      target_branch:
+        description: 'Target branch for the pull request'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: 'main'
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  create-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      BUMP_TYPE: ${{ inputs.bump_type }}
+      TARGET_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.target_branch }}
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4
+      with:
+        ref: ${{ inputs.target_branch }}
+        fetch-depth: 0 # to generate complete release log
+
+    - uses: cashapp/activate-hermit@e49f5cb4dd64ff0b0b659d1d8df499595451155a # v1
+
+    - name: Validate input and set old version
+      run: |
+        if [[ "$BUMP_TYPE" != "minor" && "$BUMP_TYPE" != "patch" ]]; then
+          echo "Error: bump_type must be 'minor' or 'patch'"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+    - name: create release branch
+      run: |
+        PRIOR_VERSION=$(just get-tag-version)
+        if [[ "$BUMP_TYPE" == "minor" ]]; then
+          VERSION=$(just get-next-minor-version)
+        else
+          VERSION=$(just get-next-patch-version)
+        fi
+
+        echo "prior_ref=v$PRIOR_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "Version: $VERSION"
+
+        git config --local user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+        git config --local user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+
+        just prepare-release $VERSION
+        BRANCH_NAME=$(git branch --show-current)
+        echo "branch_name=$BRANCH_NAME" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "Branch: $BRANCH_NAME"
+
+    - name: push release branch
+      run: |
+        git push origin "${{ env.branch_name }}"
+
+    - name: Generate release notes
+      uses: ./.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body
+      with:
+        version: ${{ env.version }}
+        head_ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.sha }}
+        prior_ref: ${{ env.prior_ref }}
+
+    - name: Create Pull Request
+      run: |
+        gh pr create \
+          -B "$TARGET_BRANCH" \
+          -H "${{ env.branch_name }}" \
+          --title "chore(release): release version ${{ env.version }} ($BUMP_TYPE)" \
+          --body-file pr_body.txt
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/merge-release-pr-on-tag.yaml b/.github/workflows/merge-release-pr-on-tag.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cbf122f7c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/merge-release-pr-on-tag.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+name: Merge release PR on tag push
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - 'v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+'
+
+permissions:
+  actions: write
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+  checks: read
+
+jobs:
+  trigger-patch-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4
+
+    - name: Extract version from tag
+      id: version
+      env:
+        TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+      run: |
+        VERSION=${TAG#v}
+        BRANCH="release/${VERSION}"
+
+        echo "tag=${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "version=${VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "branch=${BRANCH}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+        echo "Tag: ${TAG}"
+        echo "Version: ${VERSION}"
+        echo "Expected branch: ${BRANCH}"
+
+    - name: Find matching PR
+      id: find_pr
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        BRANCH: ${{ steps.version.outputs.branch }}
+      run: |
+        PR_NUMBER=$(gh pr list --head "$BRANCH" --state open --json number --jq '.[0].number // empty')
+
+        if [ -z "$PR_NUMBER" ]; then
+          echo "❌ No open PR found for branch: $BRANCH"
+          echo "pr_found=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          exit 1
+        else
+          echo "✅ Found PR #$PR_NUMBER for branch: $BRANCH"
+          echo "pr_found=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "pr_number=$PR_NUMBER" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        fi
+
+    - name: Get PR details and check status
+      if: steps.find_pr.outputs.pr_found == 'true'
+      id: pr_status
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        PR_NUMBER: ${{ steps.find_pr.outputs.pr_number }}
+      run: |
+        PR_DATA=$(gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --json title,headRefName,baseRefName,mergeable,statusCheckRollup)
+
+        TITLE=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.title')
+        HEAD_BRANCH=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.headRefName')
+        BASE_BRANCH=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.baseRefName')
+        MERGEABLE=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.mergeable')
+
+        echo "PR Title: $TITLE"
+        echo "Head Branch: $HEAD_BRANCH"
+        echo "Base Branch: $BASE_BRANCH"
+        echo "Mergeable: $MERGEABLE"
+
+        if [ "$MERGEABLE" != "MERGEABLE" ]; then
+          echo "❌ PR is not in a mergeable state: $MERGEABLE"
+          echo "can_merge=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "merge_reason=PR is not mergeable (state: $MERGEABLE)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        STATUS_CHECKS=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.statusCheckRollup[]? | select(.conclusion != null) | "\(.context): \(.conclusion)"')
+        FAILED_CHECKS=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.statusCheckRollup[]? | select(.conclusion == "FAILURE" or .conclusion == "CANCELLED" or .conclusion == "TIMED_OUT") | .context')
+        PENDING_CHECKS=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | jq -r '.statusCheckRollup[]? | select(.conclusion == null) | .context')
+
+        echo "Status checks:"
+        if [ -n "$STATUS_CHECKS" ]; then
+          echo "$STATUS_CHECKS"
+        else
+          echo "No status checks found"
+        fi
+
+        if [ -n "$FAILED_CHECKS" ]; then
+          echo "❌ Failed checks found:"
+          echo "$FAILED_CHECKS"
+          echo "can_merge=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "merge_reason=Some checks are failing" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        if [ -n "$PENDING_CHECKS" ]; then
+          echo "⏳ Pending checks found:"
+          echo "$PENDING_CHECKS"
+          echo "can_merge=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "merge_reason=Some checks are still pending" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        echo "✅ All checks are passing and PR is ready to merge"
+        echo "can_merge=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+    - name: Get branch SHA before merge
+      if: steps.find_pr.outputs.pr_found == 'true' && steps.pr_status.outputs.can_merge == 'true'
+      id: branch_info
+      env:
+        BRANCH: ${{ steps.version.outputs.branch }}
+      run: |
+        git fetch origin
+
+        BRANCH_SHA=$(git rev-parse "origin/$BRANCH")
+        echo "branch_sha=$BRANCH_SHA" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "Branch SHA: $BRANCH_SHA"
+
+    - name: Merge PR
+      if: steps.find_pr.outputs.pr_found == 'true' && steps.pr_status.outputs.can_merge == 'true'
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        PR_NUMBER: ${{ steps.find_pr.outputs.pr_number }}
+        VERSION: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
+        TAG: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
+      run: |
+        gh pr merge $PR_NUMBER --squash --delete-branch --subject "Release $VERSION" --body "Auto-merged release PR after tag $TAG was pushed"
+
+    - name: Restore branch
+      if: steps.find_pr.outputs.pr_found == 'true' && steps.pr_status.outputs.can_merge == 'true'
+      env:
+        BRANCH: ${{ steps.version.outputs.branch }}
+        BRANCH_SHA: ${{ steps.branch_info.outputs.branch_sha }}
+      run: |
+        git checkout -b "$BRANCH" "$BRANCH_SHA"
+        git push origin "$BRANCH"
+
+    - name: Trigger patch release
+      env:
+        BRANCH: ${{ steps.version.outputs.branch }}
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+      run: |
+        gh workflow run patch-release.yaml \
+          --field target_branch=$BRANCH
diff --git a/.github/workflows/minor-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/minor-release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..99ce40a439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/minor-release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+name: Create Minor Release PR
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '0 0 * * 2'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  release:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
+    with:
+      bump_type: "minor"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/patch-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/patch-release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..29ed3c0760
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/patch-release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+name: Create Patch Release PR
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      target_branch:
+        description: 'Target branch for hotfix'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  hotfix:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
+    with:
+      bump_type: "patch"
+      target_branch: ${{ inputs.target_branch }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-release-pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-release-pr.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..83a962212d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-release-pr.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+name: Update Release Notes
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types:
+      - synchronize
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - release/**
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  update-release-notes:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: startsWith(github.event.pull_request.head.ref, 'release/') && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0 # to generate complete release log
+
+    - uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4
+      with:
+        ref: ${{ github.base_ref }}
+        path: './prior-version'
+
+    - uses: cashapp/activate-hermit@e49f5cb4dd64ff0b0b659d1d8df499595451155a # v1
+
+    - name: Extract version from branch name
+      env:
+        REF_NAME: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+      run: |
+        BRANCH_NAME="$REF_NAME"
+        VERSION=$(echo "$BRANCH_NAME" | sed 's/release\///')
+        echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "Version: $VERSION"
+
+    - name: Get prior version
+      working-directory: './prior-version'
+      run: |
+        PRIOR_VERSION=$(just get-tag-version)
+        echo "prior_ref=v$PRIOR_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Generate release notes
+      uses: ./.github/actions/generate-release-pr-body
+      with:
+        version: ${{ env.version }}
+        head_ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+        prior_ref: ${{ env.prior_ref }}
+
+    - name: Update Pull Request
+      env:
+        REF_NAME: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      run: |
+        PR_NUMBER=$(gh pr list --head "$REF_NAME" --json number --jq '.[0].number')
+
+        if [[ -z "$PR_NUMBER" || "$PR_NUMBER" == "null" ]]; then
+          echo "No PR found for branch $REF_NAME"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        gh pr edit "$PR_NUMBER" --body-file pr_body.txt
diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index ca22e0cd6f..515b9b847a 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -268,6 +268,12 @@ validate version:
       exit 1
     fi
 
+get-next-minor-version:
+    @python -c "import sys; v=sys.argv[1].split('.'); print(f'{v[0]}.{int(v[1])+1}.0')" $(just get-tag-version)
+
+get-next-patch-version:
+    @python -c "import sys; v=sys.argv[1].split('.'); print(f'{v[0]}.{v[1]}.{int(v[2])+1}')" $(just get-tag-version)
+
 # set cargo and app versions, must be semver
 prepare-release version:
     @just validate {{ version }} || exit 1