diff --git a/.github/actions/release-pypi/action.yml b/.github/actions/release-pypi/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94e04659d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/release-pypi/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+name: "Release PyPI"
+description: "Release PyPI"
+inputs:
+  pypi-token:
+    required: true
+    description: "PyPI token"
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Release PyPI
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        export UV_PUBLISH_PASSWORD="${{ inputs.pypi-token }}"
+        export UV_PUBLISH_USERNAME="__token__"
+        uv publish --publish-url https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/
diff --git a/.github/actions/release-slack-bot/action.yml b/.github/actions/release-slack-bot/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f8338372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/release-slack-bot/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+name: "Release Slack Bot"
+description: "Release Slack Bot"
+inputs:
+  slack-token:
+    required: true
+    description: "Slack token"
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    # TODO: use python exec instead
+    - uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v2.0.0
+      with:
+        method: chat.postMessage
+        token: ${{ inputs.slack-token }}
+        payload: |
+          username: ${{ job.status == 'success' && format('Released codegen@{0}', github.ref_name) || format('Failed to release codegen@{0}', github.ref_name) }}
+          channel: "#release"
+          icon_emoji: "${{ job.status == 'success' && ':white_check_mark:' || ':x:' }}"
+          text: |
+            Actor: `${{ github.triggering_actor }}`
+            Author: `${{ github.event.head_commit.author.username }}`
+            ${{ format('Commit: <{0}/{1}/commit/{2}|{1}@{2}>', github.server_url, github.repository, github.sha) || ''}}
+            View <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GHA logs>
diff --git a/.github/actions/run_ats/action.yml b/.github/actions/run-ats/action.yml
similarity index 97%
rename from .github/actions/run_ats/action.yml
rename to .github/actions/run-ats/action.yml
index 74e04b275..f71270416 100644
--- a/.github/actions/run_ats/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/run-ats/action.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ runs:
       run: |
         uv run codecovcli create-commit -t ${{ inputs.codecov_token }}
         uv run codecovcli create-report -t ${{ inputs.codecov_token }}
-        bash .github/actions/run_ats/ats.sh
+        bash .github/actions/run-ats/ats.sh
 
     - name: Run tests
       shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/actions/run_ats/ats.sh b/.github/actions/run-ats/ats.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from .github/actions/run_ats/ats.sh
rename to .github/actions/run-ats/ats.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a4a9a077..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-release.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-name: Auto-Release
-on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - develop
-  workflow_dispatch:
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-
-jobs:
-  release:
-    if: false # TODO(CG-10755): merge this with release.yml
-    name: Release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      checks: read # to wait for required checks
-      contents: write # to be able to publish a GitHub release
-      issues: write # to be able to comment on released issues
-      pull-requests: write # to be able to comment on released pull requests
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      # TODO(CG-10743): clean-up once we remove LFS
-      - name: Remove pre-push hook
-        run: rm -f .git/hooks/pre-push
-
-      - name: Wait for required checks
-        uses: poseidon/wait-for-status-checks@v0.6.0
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          match_pattern: "(unit-tests|integration-tests)"
-
-      - uses: codfish/semantic-release-action@v3
-        id: semantic
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cache-warm-up.yml b/.github/workflows/cache-warm-up.yml
index ecb1af88e..1da4826df 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cache-warm-up.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cache-warm-up.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: develop # Ensure we're operating on the 'develop' branch
 
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
 
   warm-up-cache:
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: develop # Ensure we're operating on the 'develop' branch
 
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
 
       - name: Cache oss-repos
diff --git a/.github/workflows/mypy.yml b/.github/workflows/mypy.yml
index 3b4654ba9..469214b8e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/mypy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/mypy.yml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
 
       - name: Get changed files
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml b/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml
index 80de164c0..7db4079fc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre-commit.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
           token: ${{ secrets.REPO_SCOPED_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
 
       - name: Setup-pre-commit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3c4a2b4b3..ecfcb3f67 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -69,17 +69,71 @@ jobs:
           name: wheels-${{ matrix.os }}-3.${{ matrix.python }}
           path: ./wheelhouse/*.whl
 
-  release:
-    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+  auto-release:
+    if: github.ref_name == 'develop'
+    environment: release
     needs: build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      checks: read # to wait for required checks
+      contents: write # to be able to publish a GitHub release
+      issues: write # to be able to comment on released issues
+      pull-requests: write # to be able to comment on released pull requests
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      # TODO(CG-10743): clean-up once we remove LFS
+      - name: Remove pre-push hook
+        run: rm -f .git/hooks/pre-push
+
+      - name: Setup environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
+
+      - name: Wait for required checks
+        uses: poseidon/wait-for-status-checks@v0.6.0
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          match_pattern: "(unit-tests|integration-tests)"
+
+      - name: Download All Artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          path: dist
+          merge-multiple: true
+          pattern: wheels-*
+
+      - name: Github semantic release
+        uses: codfish/semantic-release-action@v3
+        id: semantic
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Release PyPI
+        if: ${{ steps.semantic.outputs.new-release-published == 'true' }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/release-pypi
+        with:
+          pypi-token: ${{ secrets.PYPI_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Slack notification
+        if: ${{ steps.semantic.outputs.new-release-published == 'true' }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/release-slack-bot
+        with:
+          release-tag: ${{ steps.semantic.outputs.release-version }}
+          slack-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
+
+  manual-release:
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
     environment: release
+    needs: build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: write # grants permission to create a release on github
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
 
       - name: Download All Artifacts
@@ -90,10 +144,9 @@ jobs:
           pattern: wheels-*
 
       - name: Release PyPI
-        run: |
-          export UV_PUBLISH_PASSWORD="${{ secrets.PYPI_TOKEN }}"
-          export UV_PUBLISH_USERNAME="__token__"
-          uv publish --publish-url https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/
+        uses: ./.github/actions/release-pypi
+        with:
+          pypi-token: ${{ secrets.PYPI_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Github release
         id: github-release
@@ -103,18 +156,9 @@ jobs:
           fail_on_unmatched_files: true
           generate_release_notes: true
 
-      # TODO: use python exec instead
-      - uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v2.0.0
+      - name: Slack notification
         if: always()
+        uses: ./.github/actions/release-slack-bot
         with:
-          method: chat.postMessage
-          token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
-          payload: |
-            username: ${{ job.status == 'success' && format('Released codegen@{0}', github.ref_name) || format('Failed to release codegen@{0}', github.ref_name) }}
-            channel: "#release"
-            icon_emoji: "${{ job.status == 'success' && ':white_check_mark:' || ':x:' }}"
-            text: |
-              Actor: `${{ github.triggering_actor }}`
-              Author: `${{ github.event.head_commit.author.username }}`
-              ${{ format('Commit: <{0}/{1}/commit/{2}|{1}@{2}>', github.server_url, github.repository, github.sha) || ''}}
-              View <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GHA logs>
+          release-tag: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          slack-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
index b4a29a187..81273392a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
       - name: Run ATS and Tests
-        uses: ./.github/actions/run_ats
+        uses: ./.github/actions/run-ats
         timeout-minutes: 15
         with:
           default_tests: "tests/unit"
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ jobs:
     name: "Codemod tests ${{matrix.size}}: Sync Graph=${{matrix.sync_graph}}"
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
       - name: Cache oss-repos
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-oss-repos
       - name: Run ATS and Tests
-        uses: ./.github/actions/run_ats
+        uses: ./.github/actions/run-ats
         timeout-minutes: 15
         with:
           default_tests: "tests/integration/codemod/test_codemods.py"
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
     environment: parse-tests
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
 
       - name: Cache oss-repos
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest-16
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Setup backend
+      - name: Setup environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-environment
       - name: Test with pytest
         timeout-minutes: 5