diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven.yml b/.github/workflows/maven.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..058aaed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+name: 'build test'
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ main ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ '*' ]
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        java: [ 11, 17, 21 ]
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout...
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up JDK...
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          java-version: ${{ matrix.java }}
+          distribution: 'temurin'
+          cache: 'maven'
+
+      - name: Build and test...
+        run: mvn clean verify -U
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f517d1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+name: 'create release'
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - '[0-9]+.[0-9]+*'
+
+jobs:
+  prepare-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    outputs:
+      tag: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.tag }}
+      version: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.version }}
+      upload_url:  ${{ steps.create_release.outputs.upload_url }}
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout...
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Build and test...
+        run: mvn clean verify -U
+
+      - name: Set version...
+        id: vars
+        run: |
+          RELEASE_TAG=${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/}
+          echo "tag=${RELEASE_TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "version=${RELEASE_TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Create release...
+        id: create_release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+        with:
+          tag_name: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.tag }}
+          body: JJava ${{ steps.vars.outputs.version }} release
+          draft: true
+          prerelease: false
+          files: ./target/jjava-${{ steps.vars.outputs.version }}.zip
+          fail_on_unmatched_files: true
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b2339c8..9a4baf5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,5 @@ target/
 .project
 .settings
 *.iml
+release.properties
+*.releaseBackup
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c22faaf..a1860b0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
-         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
     <groupId>org.dflib</groupId>
@@ -25,7 +23,7 @@
         <connection>scm:git:https://github.com/dflib/jjava</connection>
         <developerConnection>scm:git:ssh://git@github.com/dflib/jjava</developerConnection>
         <url>https://github.com/dflib/jjava</url>
-        <tag>HEAD</tag>
+        <tag>${project.version}</tag>
     </scm>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -133,6 +131,14 @@
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>3.0.1</version>
+                <configuration>
+                    <tagNameFormat>@{project.version}</tagNameFormat>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
 </project>