diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..312e040
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+name: publish
+
+on:
+    workflow_dispatch:
+        inputs:
+            VERSION:
+                description: "The version to release (e.g. 1.0.0)"
+                required: true
+
+jobs:
+    release:
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        env:
+            VERSION: ${{ inputs.VERSION }}
+            GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+            SSH_AUTH_SOCK: /tmp/ssh_agent.sock
+        permissions:
+            contents: write
+        steps:
+            - name: configure git with the bot credentials
+              run: |
+                  mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+                  ssh-keyscan github.com >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+                  ssh-agent -a $SSH_AUTH_SOCK > /dev/null
+                  ssh-add - <<< "${{ secrets.BOT_SSH_KEY }}"
+
+                  echo "${{ secrets.BOT_SIGNING_KEY }}" > ~/.ssh/signing.key
+                  chmod 600 ~/.ssh/signing.key
+
+                  git config --global user.name "Merschbotmann"
+                  git config --global user.email "bot.merschformann@gmail.com"
+                  git config --global gpg.format ssh
+                  git config --global user.signingkey ~/.ssh/signing.key
+
+                  git clone git@github.com:merschformann/sardine-can.git
+
+                  cd sardine-can
+                  git checkout ${{ github.ref_name }}
+
+                  git rev-parse --short HEAD
+
+            - name: bump version in project
+              run: |
+                  python Material/Scripts/release.py --version $VERSION
+              working-directory: ./sardine-can
+
+            - name: commit version bump
+              run: |
+                  git commit -am "Bumping version to $VERSION"
+                  git push origin ${{ github.ref_name }}
+              working-directory: ./sardine-can
+
+            - name: push release tag
+              run: |
+                  git tag $VERSION
+                  git push origin $VERSION
+              working-directory: ./sardine-can
+
+            - name: create release
+              run: |
+                  gh release create $VERSION \
+                  --verify-tag \
+                  --generate-notes \
+                  --title $VERSION
+              working-directory: ./sardine-can
+
+    docker-image:
+        runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+        needs: release
+
+        steps:
+            - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+              with:
+                  ref: ${{ inputs.VERSION }}
+
+            - name: Set up QEMU
+              uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
+
+            - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+              uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+            - name: Get version
+              run: |
+                  echo "VERSION=$(cat VERSION.txt)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+            - name: Build the SardineCan Docker image
+              run: |
+                  echo "Building SardineCan docker in ${{ env.VERSION }}"
+                  echo ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} | docker login ghcr.io -u ${{ github.actor }} --password-stdin
+                  export LATEST_TAG="ghcr.io/merschformann/sardinecan:latest"
+                  export VERSION_TAG="ghcr.io/merschformann/sardinecan:${{ env.VERSION }}"
+                  docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 --push -t $LATEST_TAG -t $VERSION_TAG -f Dockerfile ..
+              working-directory: ./SC.Service
diff --git a/Material/Scripts/release.py b/Material/Scripts/release.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e222c26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Material/Scripts/release.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+import argparse
+import glob
+import os
+import re
+import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
+
+VERSION_FILE = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "..", "VERSION.txt")
+
+
+def parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
+    """
+    Parse command line arguments.
+    """
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Bump the version of the project.")
+    parser.add_argument("--version", required=True, help="The version to bump to.")
+    return parser.parse_args()
+
+
+def check_version(version: str) -> bool:
+    """
+    Check whether a given version is in expected format and actually newer than the
+    current version.
+    """
+    if not re.match(r"^\d+\.\d+\.\d+$", version):
+        raise Exception(f"Version {version} is not in the format x.y.z")
+
+    with open(VERSION_FILE, "r") as f:
+        current_version = f.read().strip()
+
+    version = version.strip("v")
+    current_version = current_version.strip("v")
+
+    def parse_version(version: str):
+        return tuple(map(int, version.split(".")))
+
+    if parse_version(version) <= parse_version(current_version):
+        raise Exception(
+            f"New version {version} is not newer than current version {current_version}"
+        )
+
+
+def bump_version_csproj(csproj_file: str, version: str) -> None:
+    """
+    Bump the version of a csproj file.
+    """
+    try:
+        tree = ET.parse(csproj_file)
+        root = tree.getroot()
+
+        bumped = False
+        for elem in root.iter():
+            if elem.tag.endswith("Version"):
+                elem.text = version
+                bumped = True
+
+        if not bumped:
+            raise Exception("No version element found")
+
+        tree.write(csproj_file)
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Error bumping version in {csproj_file}: {e}")
+
+
+def bump_version_main(version: str) -> None:
+    """
+    Bump the main version file.
+    """
+    with open(VERSION_FILE, "w") as f:
+        f.write(version)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    args = parse_args()
+    version = args.version
+
+    check_version(version)
+
+    csproj_files = glob.glob(
+        os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "..", "**", "*.csproj"),
+        recursive=True,
+    )
+    for csproj_file in csproj_files:
+        bump_version_csproj(csproj_file, version)
+    bump_version_main(version)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/Material/Scripts/validate-version-consistency.sh b/Material/Scripts/validate-version-consistency.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index d00e0a6..0000000
--- a/Material/Scripts/validate-version-consistency.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-version_file="../../VERSION.txt"
-projects=$( find ../../ -name "*.csproj" )
-
-for project in $projects
-do
-	echo "Checking ${project} ..."
-	case `grep -f ${version_file} ${project} >/dev/null; echo $?` in
-		0)
-			# code if found
-			echo "Versions are consistent - SUCCESS"
-			;;
-		1)
-			# code if not found
-			echo "Version in ${project} does not match the one in ${version_file} - ERROR"
-			exit 1
-			;;
-		*)
-			# code if an error occurred
-			echo "Error occurred while validating version consistency - ERROR"
-			exit -1
-			;;
-	esac
-done
-
-
-