diff --git a/.github/workflows/release_from_version.yml b/.github/workflows/release_from_version.yml
index c882db4..788124f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release_from_version.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release_from_version.yml
@@ -2,17 +2,13 @@ name: Release from Version Branch Pipeline
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      source_branch:
-        description: "Source dev branch. Example dev/03.06.00"
-        required: true
 
 permissions:
   contents: write
 
 jobs:
-  rename_branch:
-    name: 01 Promote dev to version
+  guard:
+    name: 00 Guard – enforce dev version branch
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     outputs:
@@ -20,38 +16,45 @@ jobs:
       version_branch: ${{ steps.extract.outputs.version_branch }}
 
     steps:
-      - name: Extract Version from Branch Name
+      - name: Validate calling branch and extract version
         id: extract
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
-          SRC="${{ inputs.source_branch }}"
+          BRANCH="${GITHUB_REF_NAME}"
+          echo "Invoked from branch: $BRANCH"
 
-          echo "$SRC" | grep -E '^dev/[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'
+          echo "$BRANCH" | grep -E '^dev/[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'
 
-          VERSION="${SRC#dev/}"
+          VERSION="${BRANCH#dev/}"
           VERSION_BRANCH="version/$VERSION"
 
           echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "version_branch=$VERSION_BRANCH" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
-      - name: Checkout Source Branch
+  promote_branch:
+    name: 01 Promote dev to version
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: guard
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout dev branch
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          ref: ${{ inputs.source_branch }}
+          ref: dev/${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Configure Git Identity
+      - name: Configure Git identity
         run: |
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
-      - name: Promote dev branch to version branch
+      - name: Promote branch
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
-          SRC="${{ inputs.source_branch }}"
-          DST="${{ steps.extract.outputs.version_branch }}"
+          SRC="dev/${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}"
+          DST="${{ needs.guard.outputs.version_branch }}"
 
           git fetch origin
 
@@ -63,3 +66,127 @@ jobs:
           git checkout -B "$DST" "origin/$SRC"
           git push origin "$DST"
           git push origin --delete "$SRC"
+
+  update_dates:
+    name: 02 Normalize release dates
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: promote_branch
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout version branch
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ needs.guard.outputs.version_branch }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Configure Git identity
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+      - name: Update release dates
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+
+          TODAY="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)"
+          VERSION="${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}"
+
+          if [ -f scripts/update_dates.sh ]; then
+            chmod +x scripts/update_dates.sh
+            scripts/update_dates.sh "$TODAY" "$VERSION"
+          else
+            find . -type f -name "*.xml" \
+              -not -path "./.git/*" \
+              -exec sed -i "s#<date>[^<]*</date>#<date>${TODAY}</date>#g" {} \;
+
+            if [ -f CHANGELOG.md ]; then
+              sed -i -E "s#^(## \\[${VERSION}\\]) [0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}#\\1 ${TODAY}#g" CHANGELOG.md
+            fi
+          fi
+
+      - name: Commit date updates
+        run: |
+          if git diff --quiet; then
+            echo "No date changes detected."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          git add -A
+          git commit -m "chore(release): normalize release dates"
+          git push origin HEAD
+
+  build_zip:
+    name: 03 Build ZIP
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: update_dates
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout version branch
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ needs.guard.outputs.version_branch }}
+
+      - name: Build ZIP from src
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+
+          VERSION="${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}"
+          REPO="${{ github.event.repository.name }}"
+          ZIP="${REPO}-${VERSION}.zip"
+
+          if [ ! -d src ]; then
+            echo "ERROR: src directory missing."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          mkdir -p dist
+          cd src
+          zip -r "../dist/$ZIP" .
+          cd ..
+
+      - name: Upload ZIP artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: release-zip
+          path: dist/*.zip
+          retention-days: 7
+
+  prerelease:
+    name: 04 Create prerelease
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: build_zip
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout version branch
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ needs.guard.outputs.version_branch }}
+
+      - name: Download ZIP artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: release-zip
+          path: dist
+
+      - name: Generate release notes
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+
+          VERSION="${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}"
+
+          if [ -f CHANGELOG.md ]; then
+            awk "/^## \\[$VERSION\\]/{flag=1;next}/^## \\[/{flag=0}flag" CHANGELOG.md > RELEASE_NOTES.md || true
+          fi
+
+          if [ ! -s RELEASE_NOTES.md ]; then
+            echo "Prerelease $VERSION" > RELEASE_NOTES.md
+          fi
+
+      - name: Create GitHub prerelease
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+        with:
+          tag_name: ${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}
+          name: Prerelease ${{ needs.guard.outputs.version }}
+          prerelease: true
+          body_path: RELEASE_NOTES.md
+          files: dist/*.zip