diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3bac6a2..e52a1d1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,28 +1,39 @@
 name: release
+
 on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  issues: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
 jobs:
   release:
     name: release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
+      # build local version to create token
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
-          node-version: '20'
+          node-version-file: .node-version
+          cache: 'npm'
+
       - run: npm ci
       - run: npm run build
-      - run: rm .gitignore # dist/ folder is ignored by default
-      - run: |
-          git config user.name github-actions
-          git config user.email github-actions@github.com
-          git add .gitignore dist/
-          git commit -m "build"
-          git push --force https://x-access-token:${GITHUB_TOKEN}@github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git HEAD:refs/heads/v3
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - run: npx semantic-release
+      - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
+        id: app-token
+        with:
+          app-id: ${{ vars.RELEASER_APP_ID }}
+          private-key: ${{ secrets.RELEASER_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+      # install release dependencies and release
+      - run: npm install --no-save @semantic-release/git semantic-release-plugin-github-breaking-version-tag
+      - run: npx semantic-release --debug
         env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b65b494..c2658d7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-dist
-node_modules/
\ No newline at end of file
+node_modules/
diff --git a/.node-version b/.node-version
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..209e3ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.node-version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+20
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5172f27..fab36fd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -29,7 +29,25 @@
   },
   "release": {
     "branches": [
+      "+([0-9]).x",
       "main"
+    ],
+    "plugins": [
+      "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer",
+      "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator",
+      "@semantic-release/github",
+      "@semantic-release/npm",
+      "semantic-release-plugin-github-breaking-version-tag",
+      [
+        "@semantic-release/git",
+        {
+          "assets": [
+            "package.json",
+            "dist/*"
+          ],
+          "message": "build(release): ${nextRelease.version} [skip ci]\n\n${nextRelease.notes}"
+        }
+      ]
     ]
   }
 }