diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.lock.yml b/.github/workflows/release.lock.yml
index 8838c6b9..d681b063 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.lock.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.lock.yml
@@ -1257,19 +1257,23 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run tests
         run: make test
       - name: Build binary
-        run: make build
-      - name: Create release
+        run: |
+          RELEASE_TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          echo "Building multi-platform binaries for: $RELEASE_TAG"
+          chmod +x scripts/build-release.sh
+          ./scripts/build-release.sh "$RELEASE_TAG"
+      - name: Upload binaries to release
         run: |
           RELEASE_TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
           echo "Creating release for tag: $RELEASE_TAG"
 
-          # Create release with the binary
+          # Create release with all binaries and checksums
           gh release create "$RELEASE_TAG" \
             --title "$RELEASE_TAG" \
             --generate-notes \
-            ./awmg
+            dist/*
 
-          echo "✓ Release created with binary"
+          echo "✓ Release created with all platform binaries and checksums"
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       - name: Get release ID
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.md b/.github/workflows/release.md
index 029bcf98..19023850 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.md
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.md
@@ -60,22 +60,26 @@ jobs:
         run: make test
 
       - name: Build binary
-        run: make build
+        run: |
+          RELEASE_TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          echo "Building multi-platform binaries for: $RELEASE_TAG"
+          chmod +x scripts/build-release.sh
+          ./scripts/build-release.sh "$RELEASE_TAG"
 
-      - name: Create release
+      - name: Upload binaries to release
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           RELEASE_TAG="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
           echo "Creating release for tag: $RELEASE_TAG"
           
-          # Create release with the binary
+          # Create release with all binaries and checksums
           gh release create "$RELEASE_TAG" \
             --title "$RELEASE_TAG" \
             --generate-notes \
-            ./awmg
+            dist/*
           
-          echo "✓ Release created with binary"
+          echo "✓ Release created with all platform binaries and checksums"
 
       - name: Get release ID
         id: get_release
diff --git a/internal/cmd/root.go b/internal/cmd/root.go
index ee6a30a6..b82b95f2 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/root.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/root.go
@@ -26,11 +26,13 @@ var (
 	envFile     string
 	enableDIFC  bool
 	debugLog    = logger.New("cmd:root")
+	version     = "dev" // Default version, overridden by SetVersion
 )
 
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "awmg",
-	Short: "MCPG MCP proxy server",
+	Use:     "awmg",
+	Short:   "MCPG MCP proxy server",
+	Version: version,
 	Long: `MCPG is a proxy server for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.
 It provides routing, aggregation, and management of multiple MCP backend servers.`,
 	RunE: run,
@@ -193,3 +195,9 @@ func Execute() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }
+
+// SetVersion sets the version string for the CLI
+func SetVersion(v string) {
+	version = v
+	rootCmd.Version = v
+}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 7bb6f6a3..8a6c9101 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@ package main
 import "github.com/githubnext/gh-aw-mcpg/internal/cmd"
 
 func main() {
+	cmd.SetVersion(Version)
 	cmd.Execute()
 }
diff --git a/scripts/build-release.sh b/scripts/build-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a77be2c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Custom build script for multi-platform builds of awmg
+# This script is called during the release process to build binaries for all platforms
+set -e
+
+VERSION="$1"
+
+if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+  echo "error: VERSION argument is required" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+platforms=(
+  darwin-amd64
+  darwin-arm64
+  freebsd-386
+  freebsd-amd64
+  freebsd-arm64
+  linux-386
+  linux-amd64
+  linux-arm
+  linux-arm64
+  windows-386
+  windows-amd64
+  windows-arm64
+)
+
+echo "Building binaries with version: $VERSION"
+
+# Create dist directory if it doesn't exist
+mkdir -p dist
+
+IFS=$'\n' read -d '' -r -a supported_platforms < <(go tool dist list) || true
+
+for p in "${platforms[@]}"; do
+  goos="${p%-*}"
+  goarch="${p#*-}"
+  
+  # Check if platform is supported
+  if [[ " ${supported_platforms[*]} " != *" ${goos}/${goarch} "* ]]; then
+    echo "warning: skipping unsupported platform $p" >&2
+    continue
+  fi
+  
+  ext=""
+  if [ "$goos" = "windows" ]; then
+    ext=".exe"
+  fi
+  
+  echo "Building awmg for $p..."
+  GOOS="$goos" GOARCH="$goarch" go build \
+    -trimpath \
+    -ldflags="-s -w -X main.Version=${VERSION}" \
+    -o "dist/awmg-${p}${ext}" \
+    .
+  
+done
+
+echo "Build complete. Binaries:"
+ls -lh dist/
+
+# Generate checksums file
+echo ""
+echo "Generating checksums..."
+cd dist
+# Use sha256sum if available (Linux), otherwise use shasum (macOS)
+if command -v sha256sum &> /dev/null; then
+  sha256sum * > checksums.txt
+elif command -v shasum &> /dev/null; then
+  shasum -a 256 * > checksums.txt
+else
+  echo "error: neither sha256sum nor shasum is available" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+cd ..
+
+echo "Checksums generated:"
+cat dist/checksums.txt
diff --git a/version.go b/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..91da8bc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package main
+
+// Build-time variables set during release builds
+var (
+	// Version is the semantic version of the binary (e.g., "v1.0.0")
+	// Set via -ldflags "-X main.Version=<version>" during build
+	Version = "dev"
+)