diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..146df5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+name: "release package"
+
+on: 
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      options:
+        description: 'Additional release-it options'     
+        required: false
+        default: '--dry-run'
+
+env:
+  GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+  NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
+
+jobs:
+  release:
+    name: Release package
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Setup Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        with:
+          node-version: 18
+      - name: git config
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "${GITHUB_ACTOR}"
+          git config user.email "${GITHUB_ACTOR}@users.noreply.github.com"
+      - name: npm config
+        run: npm config set //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken $NPM_TOKEN
+      - run: npm ci
+      # the version/changelog must be already updated on main branch using "npm run release:prepare"
+      - run: npm run release --ci --no-increment --no-git.commit ${{ github.event.inputs.options }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a32465f..64a72d6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ report.json
 .idea/
 .vscode/
 build/
-# dist/
+.npmrc
diff --git a/dist/cli/index.js b/dist/cli/index.js
index ffe50a3..be2d95e 100755
--- a/dist/cli/index.js
+++ b/dist/cli/index.js
@@ -23331,7 +23331,7 @@ module.exports = axios;
 /***/ ((module) => {
 
 "use strict";
-module.exports = JSON.parse('{"name":"@lampajr/bper","version":"3.0.0","description":"BPer is a tool to execute automatic git backporting.","author":"","license":"MIT","private":false,"main":"./dist/gha/index.js","bin":{"bper":"./dist/cli/index.js"},"files":["dist/cli/index.js"],"scripts":{"prepare":"husky install","clean":"rm -rf ./build ./dist","compile":"tsc -p tsconfig.json && tsc-alias -p tsconfig.json","package":"npm run package:cli && npm run package:gha","package:cli":"ncc build ./build/src/bin/cli.js -o dist/cli","package:gha":"ncc build ./build/src/bin/gha.js -o dist/gha","build":"npm run clean && npm run compile && npm run package","test":"jest","test:report":"npm test -- --coverage --testResultsProcessor=jest-sonar-reporter","lint":"eslint . --ext .ts","lint:fix":"npm run lint -- --fix","ts-node":"ts-node","postversion":"npm run build && git add dist && rm -rf build","release":"release-it"},"repository":{"type":"git","url":"git+https://github.com/lampajr/backporting.git"},"keywords":["backporting","pull-requests","github-action","cherry-pick"],"bugs":{"url":"https://github.com/lampajr/backporting/issues"},"homepage":"https://github.com/lampajr/backporting#readme","devDependencies":{"@commitlint/cli":"^17.4.0","@commitlint/config-conventional":"^17.4.0","@gitbeaker/rest":"^39.1.0","@kie/mock-github":"^1.1.0","@release-it/conventional-changelog":"^5.1.1","@types/fs-extra":"^9.0.13","@types/jest":"^29.2.4","@types/node":"^18.11.17","@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin":"^5.47.0","@typescript-eslint/parser":"^5.47.0","@vercel/ncc":"^0.36.0","eslint":"^8.30.0","husky":"^8.0.2","jest":"^29.0.0","jest-sonar-reporter":"^2.0.0","release-it":"^15.6.0","semver":"^7.3.8","ts-jest":"^29.0.0","ts-node":"^10.8.1","tsc-alias":"^1.8.2","tsconfig-paths":"^4.1.0","typescript":"^4.9.3","@octokit/webhooks-types":"^6.8.0"},"dependencies":{"@actions/core":"^1.10.0","@octokit/rest":"^18.12.0","axios":"^1.4.0","commander":"^9.3.0","fs-extra":"^11.1.0","https":"^1.0.0","simple-git":"^3.15.1"}}');
+module.exports = JSON.parse('{"name":"@lampajr/bper","version":"3.0.0","description":"BPer is a tool to execute automatic git backporting.","author":"","license":"MIT","private":false,"main":"./dist/gha/index.js","bin":{"bper":"./dist/cli/index.js"},"files":["dist/cli/index.js"],"scripts":{"prepare":"husky install","clean":"rm -rf ./build ./dist","compile":"tsc -p tsconfig.json && tsc-alias -p tsconfig.json","package":"npm run package:cli && npm run package:gha","package:cli":"ncc build ./build/src/bin/cli.js -o dist/cli","package:gha":"ncc build ./build/src/bin/gha.js -o dist/gha","build":"npm run clean && npm run compile && npm run package","test":"jest","test:report":"npm test -- --coverage --testResultsProcessor=jest-sonar-reporter","lint":"eslint . --ext .ts","lint:fix":"npm run lint -- --fix","ts-node":"ts-node","postversion":"npm run build && git add dist && rm -rf build","release":"release-it","release:branch":"git checkout -b release/$(release-it --release-version) main","release:prepare":"npm run release:branch && release-it --ci --no-npm.publish --no-github.release --no-git.push --no-git.tag --no-git.requireUpstream"},"repository":{"type":"git","url":"git+https://github.com/lampajr/backporting.git"},"keywords":["backporting","pull-requests","github-action","cherry-pick"],"bugs":{"url":"https://github.com/lampajr/backporting/issues"},"homepage":"https://github.com/lampajr/backporting#readme","devDependencies":{"@commitlint/cli":"^17.4.0","@commitlint/config-conventional":"^17.4.0","@gitbeaker/rest":"^39.1.0","@kie/mock-github":"^1.1.0","@release-it/conventional-changelog":"^5.1.1","@types/fs-extra":"^9.0.13","@types/jest":"^29.2.4","@types/node":"^18.11.17","@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin":"^5.47.0","@typescript-eslint/parser":"^5.47.0","@vercel/ncc":"^0.36.0","eslint":"^8.30.0","husky":"^8.0.2","jest":"^29.0.0","jest-sonar-reporter":"^2.0.0","release-it":"^15.6.0","semver":"^7.3.8","ts-jest":"^29.0.0","ts-node":"^10.8.1","tsc-alias":"^1.8.2","tsconfig-paths":"^4.1.0","typescript":"^4.9.3","@octokit/webhooks-types":"^6.8.0"},"dependencies":{"@actions/core":"^1.10.0","@octokit/rest":"^18.12.0","axios":"^1.4.0","commander":"^9.3.0","fs-extra":"^11.1.0","https":"^1.0.0","simple-git":"^3.15.1"}}');
 
 /***/ }),
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3b2933b..946c82d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@
     "lint:fix": "npm run lint -- --fix",
     "ts-node": "ts-node",
     "postversion": "npm run build && git add dist && rm -rf build",
-    "release": "release-it"
+    "release": "release-it",
+    "release:branch": "git checkout -b release/$(release-it --release-version) main",
+    "release:prepare": "npm run release:branch && release-it --ci --no-npm.publish --no-github.release --no-git.push --no-git.tag --no-git.requireUpstream"
   },
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",