diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-version.yml b/.github/workflows/check-version.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51042c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-version.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+name: Check Script Version
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  check-version:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Extract SCRIPT_VERSION from sync-ssh-keys.sh
+        id: get_version
+        run: |
+          VERSION=$(awk -F'"' '/SCRIPT_VERSION/ {print $2; exit}' sync-ssh-keys.sh)
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Fetch tags
+        run: git fetch --tags
+
+      - name: Check if version tag exists
+        run: |
+          TAG="v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.version }}"
+          if git tag --list | grep -q "^$TAG$"; then
+            echo "Error: Tag $TAG already exists. Please bump SCRIPT_VERSION."
+            exit 1
+          else
+            echo "Tag $TAG does not exist. Good to merge."
+          fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32a0d24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: Create Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Extract version from script
+        id: get_version
+        run: |
+          VERSION=$(awk -F'"' '/SCRIPT_VERSION/ {print $2; exit}' sync-ssh-keys.sh)
+          if [[ ! $VERSION =~ ^[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)*$ ]]; then
+            echo "Error: Invalid version format: $VERSION" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Create tag if needed
+        run: |
+          TAG="v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.version }}"
+          if git rev-parse "$TAG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Tag $TAG already exists."
+          else
+            git config user.name "github-actions"
+            git config user.email "github-actions@github.com"
+            git tag "$TAG"
+            git push origin "$TAG"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Create release zip
+        run: |
+          zip ssh-key-sync.zip sync-ssh-keys.sh users.conf
+
+      - name: Create GitHub Release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+        with:
+          tag_name: v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.version }}
+          generate_release_notes: true
+          files: ssh-key-sync.zip
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9bd68ed..425fdd9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,14 +14,15 @@ This Bash script pulls `authorized_keys` files from remote URLs and updates SSH
 
 ## ⚙️ Configuration
 
-Edit the `USER_KEYS` associative array in `sync-ssh-keys.sh` to define users and their key sources.  
+User configuration is stored in a separate `users.conf` file in the same directory as the script.  
+Edit `users.conf` to define users and their key sources.  
 Each entry uses the format:  
 `["username"]="method:url"`
 
 - **raw:** Fetches directly from a public URL.
 - **api:** Fetches from a private GitHub repo using the GitHub API (requires `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment variable).
 
-**Example:**
+**Example `users.conf`:**
 ```bash
 declare -A USER_KEYS=(
   ["ubuntu"]="raw:https://example.com/ssh-keys/ubuntu.authorized_keys"
@@ -31,12 +32,16 @@ declare -A USER_KEYS=(
 
 ## Usage
 
-1. Edit the `USER_KEYS` array in `sync-ssh-keys.sh` to define users and their key URLs.
+1. Edit the `users.conf` file to define users and their key URLs.
 2. If using the `api` method, export your GitHub token:
    ```bash
    export GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here
    ```
-3. Add to root's crontab:
+3. Make sure the script is executable:
+   ```bash
+   chmod +x sync-ssh-keys.sh
+   ```
+4. Add to root's crontab:
 
 ```cron
 */15 * * * * /usr/local/bin/sync-ssh-keys.sh >> /var/log/ssh-key-sync.log 2>&1
@@ -44,6 +49,7 @@ declare -A USER_KEYS=(
 
 ## Implementation Notes
 
-- The script uses a helper function `fetch_key_file` to fetch keys using the appropriate method.
+- The script sources `users.conf` for configuration.
+- Uses a helper function `fetch_key_file` to fetch keys using the appropriate method.
 - Only updates a user's `authorized_keys` if the remote file has changed.
 - Logs all actions with timestamps.
diff --git a/sync-ssh-keys.sh b/sync-ssh-keys.sh
index 52a57f6..8d2c7a1 100644
--- a/sync-ssh-keys.sh
+++ b/sync-ssh-keys.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-# === Configuration: user -> remote key file URL ===
-declare -A USER_KEYS=(
-  ["ubuntu"]="raw:https://example.com/ssh-keys/ubuntu.authorized_keys"
-  ["devuser"]="api:https://api.github.com/repos/yourorg/ssh-keys/contents/keys/devuser.authorized_keys?ref=main"
-  ["admin"]="api:https://api.github.com/repos/yourorg/ssh-keys/contents/keys/admin.authorized_keys?ref=main"
-)
+SCRIPT_VERSION="0.0.3"
+
+# === Load user configuration ===
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+if [ ! -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/users.conf" ]; then
+  echo "Error: Configuration file 'users.conf' not found in $SCRIPT_DIR. Halting execution." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+if ! source "$SCRIPT_DIR/users.conf"; then
+  echo "Error: Failed to load configuration file 'users.conf'. Please check the file for syntax errors. Halting execution." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
 
 log_message() {
   local TIMESTAMP
diff --git a/users.conf b/users.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc21cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/users.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+declare -A USER_KEYS=(
+  ["ubuntu"]="raw:https://example.com/ssh-keys/ubuntu.authorized_keys"
+  ["devuser"]="api:https://api.github.com/repos/yourorg/ssh-keys/contents/keys/devuser.authorized_keys?ref=main"
+  ["admin"]="api:https://api.github.com/repos/yourorg/ssh-keys/contents/keys/admin.authorized_keys?ref=main"
+)