diff --git a/.github/workflows/java-gradle-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/java-gradle-ci.yml
index 2356bd7..d0f0f28 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/java-gradle-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/java-gradle-ci.yml
@@ -7,12 +7,6 @@ name: Java CI with Gradle for library
 on:
   push:
   workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      create_release:
-        type: boolean
-        description: Create a release when CI passes
-        default: false
-        required: true
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
@@ -57,51 +51,3 @@ jobs:
   reuse-compliance:
     name: REUSE Compliance
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reuse-compliance.yml
-
-  publish:
-    name: Publish to maven central
-    needs: [build-and-test]
-    if: github.ref_type == 'tag'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    environment: release
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # 7.0.1
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 1
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Setup runtime
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runtime
-
-      - name: Cache Gradle
-        uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9 #v6.1.0
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ~/.gradle/caches
-            ~/.gradle/wrapper
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle*', '**/settings.gradle*') }}
-
-      - name: Optimize Gradle
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p ~/.gradle
-          echo "org.gradle.caching=true" >> ~/.gradle/gradle.properties
-          echo "org.gradle.configuration-cache=true" >> ~/.gradle/gradle.properties
-
-      - name: Gradle Release Build
-        env:
-          JRELEASER_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
-          JRELEASER_GPG_PUBLIC_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PUBLIC_KEY }}
-          JRELEASER_GPG_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
-          JRELEASER_MAVENCENTRAL_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_USERNAME }}
-          JRELEASER_MAVENCENTRAL_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PASSWORD }}
-          SANITIZED_TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
-        run: |
-          echo "Performing release Gradle publish for tag: $SANITIZED_TAG"
-          
-          ./gradlew clean build publish -Pversion=$SANITIZED_TAG
-          ./gradlew jreleaserDeploy -Pversion=$SANITIZED_TAG
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d47a5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Contributors to the Power Grid Model project <powergridmodel@lfenergy.org>
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+name: Release to Maven central
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        type: string
+        description: Version tag
+        required: true
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+
+  publish:
+    name: Publish to Maven central
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    environment: release
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # 7.0.1
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 1
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Setup runtime
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runtime
+
+      - name: Cache Gradle
+        uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9 #v6.1.0
+        with:
+          path: |
+            ~/.gradle/caches
+            ~/.gradle/wrapper
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle*', '**/settings.gradle*') }}
+
+      - name: Optimize Gradle
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p ~/.gradle
+          echo "org.gradle.caching=true" >> ~/.gradle/gradle.properties
+          echo "org.gradle.configuration-cache=true" >> ~/.gradle/gradle.properties
+
+      - name: generate GitHub App token
+        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3.2.0
+        id: generate-token
+        with:
+          client-id: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_BOT_APP_ID }}
+          private-key: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_BOT_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          repositories: ${{ github.repository }}
+          permission-contents: write
+
+      - name: Create GitHub release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@efb35369e0ad2afab669f228072c1b0d510eae64 # v3.0.3
+        with:
+          tag_name: ${{ inputs.version }}
+          generate_release_notes: true
+          target_commitish: ${{ github.sha }}
+          token: ${{ steps.generate-token.outputs.token }}
+
+      - name: Gradle Release Build
+        env:
+          JRELEASER_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+          JRELEASER_GPG_PUBLIC_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PUBLIC_KEY }}
+          JRELEASER_GPG_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          JRELEASER_MAVENCENTRAL_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_USERNAME }}
+          JRELEASER_MAVENCENTRAL_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PASSWORD }}
+        run: |
+          echo "Performing release Gradle publish for tag: ${{ inputs.version }}"
+          
+          ./gradlew clean build publish -Pversion=${{ inputs.version }}
+          ./gradlew jreleaserDeploy -Pversion=${{ inputs.version }}
\ No newline at end of file