diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 8cf6535..59407f8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -17,8 +17,12 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
 
     steps:
+      # Lerna needs Git tags. https://stackoverflow.com/a/76181083
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 10
+          fetch-tags: true
 
       # Read version from 'package.json'; git tags are lost on a merged PR.
       - name: Read package version
@@ -58,15 +62,26 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: yarn build
 
+      # TODO: Why do both .npmrc and .yarnrc.yml need updates?
       - name: Configure yarn to publish packages
         env:
           NPM_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_CARTODB_AUTH_TOKEN }}
-        # Ignore changes to .yarnrc.yml, see https://github.com/lerna/lerna/issues/2329
         run: |
+          # Ignore changes to .yarnrc.yml, see https://github.com/lerna/lerna/issues/2329
           git update-index --assume-unchanged .yarnrc.yml
+
+          # Update .yarnrc.yml
           yarn config set npmPublishRegistry "https://registry.npmjs.org/"
           yarn config set npmAuthToken "${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}"
 
+          # Create .npmrc
+          echo "@carto:registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/" > .npmrc
+          echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}" >> .npmrc
+
+          # Check configuration
+          npm config get registry
+          npm view @carto/create-common versions
+
       - name: Publish
         env:
           DIST_TAG: ${{ steps.dist-tag.outputs.result }}
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 10cf687..a93c9c1 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -33,9 +33,12 @@ During local development, CSS styles are loaded from a shared `style.css` in the
 
 All packages are published together. To create a standard release:
 
-1. Update changelog
+1. Update changelog and commit changes
 
-2. Create a new version:
+2. Create a new version: `yarn lerna version [ major | minor | patch | prerelease ]`
 
-- Release: `yarn lerna publish [ patch | minor | major ] --force-publish "*"`
-- Prerelease: `yarn lerna publish prerelease --dist-tag alpha --force-publish "*"`
+3. Push to GitHub: `yarn postversion`
+
+4. Publish
+   - If working on `main`, the previous step will automatically create and push a branch. Open a pull request, get any required approvals, and merge. Merged pull requests with commit messages beginning `chore(release)` will trigger a release automatically.
+   - If working on a branch, a commit for the release will be pushed to the branch. You'll then need to [manually run a workflow](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/managing-workflow-runs-and-deployments/managing-workflow-runs/manually-running-a-workflow), “Release”, selecting the target branch in the menu.
diff --git a/lerna.json b/lerna.json
index b3fc778..e98a63e 100644
--- a/lerna.json
+++ b/lerna.json
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 {
   "$schema": "node_modules/lerna/schemas/lerna-schema.json",
-  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.0",
-  "packages": ["packages/*"],
-  "npmClient": "yarn"
-}
+  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.7",
+  "packages": [
+    "packages/*"
+  ],
+  "npmClient": "yarn",
+  "command": {
+    "version": {
+      "message": "chore(release): %s",
+      "push": false,
+      "gitTagVersion": false
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6b3207e..63fa0ce 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -12,9 +12,12 @@
     "lint": "lerna run lint",
     "test": "lerna run test",
     "clean": "rimraf --glob 'packages/*/dist/*' 'sandbox/*'",
-    "preversion": "yarn lint",
-    "version": "yarn clean && yarn build",
-    "postversion": "git push && git push --tags"
+    "postversion": "yarn postversion:check && yarn postversion:commit && yarn postversion:push",
+    "postversion:check": "yarn lint && yarn test",
+    "postversion:commit": "node scripts/postversion-commit.js",
+    "postversion:push": "git push && git push --tags",
+    "prepublish": "yarn lint && yarn test",
+    "prepack": "yarn clean && yarn build"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/meow": "^6.0.0",
diff --git a/packages/create-angular/package.json b/packages/create-angular/package.json
index a4b6522..33173f9 100644
--- a/packages/create-angular/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-angular/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "repository": "github:CartoDB/carto-app-templates",
   "author": "Don McCurdy <donmccurdy@carto.com>",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.0",
+  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.7",
   "type": "module",
   "bin": "./scripts/create.js",
   "scripts": {
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     "@angular/router": "^18.2.5",
     "@auth0/auth0-angular": "^2.2.3",
     "@carto/api-client": "^0.2.1",
-    "@carto/create-common": "^0.1.2-alpha.0",
+    "@carto/create-common": "^0.1.2-alpha.7",
     "@deck.gl/aggregation-layers": "^9.0.24",
     "@deck.gl/carto": "^9.0.24",
     "@deck.gl/core": "^9.0.24",
diff --git a/packages/create-common/package.json b/packages/create-common/package.json
index 6af577b..f65386f 100644
--- a/packages/create-common/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-common/package.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "@carto/create-common",
   "packageManager": "yarn@4.2.2",
   "author": "Don McCurdy <donmccurdy@carto.com>",
-  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.0",
+  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.7",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
   "sideEffects": false,
diff --git a/packages/create-react/package.json b/packages/create-react/package.json
index 3d9f667..de10e10 100644
--- a/packages/create-react/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-react/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "repository": "github:CartoDB/carto-app-templates",
   "author": "Don McCurdy <donmccurdy@carto.com>",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.0",
+  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.7",
   "type": "module",
   "bin": "./scripts/create.js",
   "scripts": {
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@auth0/auth0-react": "^2.2.4",
     "@carto/api-client": "^0.2.1",
-    "@carto/create-common": "^0.1.2-alpha.0",
+    "@carto/create-common": "^0.1.2-alpha.7",
     "@deck.gl/aggregation-layers": "^9.0.24",
     "@deck.gl/carto": "^9.0.24",
     "@deck.gl/core": "^9.0.24",
diff --git a/packages/create-vue/package.json b/packages/create-vue/package.json
index fc4aa16..d92875a 100644
--- a/packages/create-vue/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-vue/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "repository": "github:CartoDB/carto-app-templates",
   "author": "Don McCurdy <donmccurdy@carto.com>",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.0",
+  "version": "0.1.2-alpha.7",
   "type": "module",
   "bin": "./scripts/create.js",
   "scripts": {
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@auth0/auth0-vue": "^2.3.3",
     "@carto/api-client": "^0.2.1",
-    "@carto/create-common": "^0.1.2-alpha.0",
+    "@carto/create-common": "^0.1.2-alpha.7",
     "@deck.gl/aggregation-layers": "^9.0.24",
     "@deck.gl/carto": "^9.0.24",
     "@deck.gl/core": "^9.0.24",
diff --git a/scripts/postversion-commit.js b/scripts/postversion-commit.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..865a623
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/postversion-commit.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { valid } from 'semver';
+
+/**
+ * Utility for committing and tagging a release commit in
+ * git, called as part of the `yarn postversion` script.
+ */
+
+// Read and validate pkg.version.
+const pkgJSON = await readFile(
+  resolve('./packages/create-react/package.json'),
+  'utf-8',
+);
+const version = 'v' + JSON.parse(pkgJSON).version;
+if (!valid(version)) {
+  throw new Error(`Invalid version, "${version}"`);
+}
+
+// Check out a branch if cutting a version from 'main'.
+const branch = execSync('git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD').toString().trim();
+if (branch === 'main') {
+  execSync(`git checkout -b 'release/${version}'`);
+}
+
+// Commit and tag.
+execSync('git add -u');
+execSync(`git commit -m 'chore(release): ${version}'`);
+execSync(`git tag -a ${version} -m ${version}`);
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 09ef7db..fb810a9 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2442,7 +2442,7 @@ __metadata:
     "@angular/router": "npm:^18.2.5"
     "@auth0/auth0-angular": "npm:^2.2.3"
     "@carto/api-client": "npm:^0.2.1"
-    "@carto/create-common": "npm:^0.1.2-alpha.0"
+    "@carto/create-common": "npm:^0.1.2-alpha.7"
     "@deck.gl/aggregation-layers": "npm:^9.0.24"
     "@deck.gl/carto": "npm:^9.0.24"
     "@deck.gl/core": "npm:^9.0.24"
@@ -2464,7 +2464,7 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: unknown
   linkType: soft
 
-"@carto/create-common@npm:^0.1.2-alpha.0, @carto/create-common@workspace:packages/create-common":
+"@carto/create-common@npm:^0.1.2-alpha.7, @carto/create-common@workspace:packages/create-common":
   version: 0.0.0-use.local
   resolution: "@carto/create-common@workspace:packages/create-common"
   dependencies:
@@ -2484,7 +2484,7 @@ __metadata:
   dependencies:
     "@auth0/auth0-react": "npm:^2.2.4"
     "@carto/api-client": "npm:^0.2.1"
-    "@carto/create-common": "npm:^0.1.2-alpha.0"
+    "@carto/create-common": "npm:^0.1.2-alpha.7"
     "@deck.gl/aggregation-layers": "npm:^9.0.24"
     "@deck.gl/carto": "npm:^9.0.24"
     "@deck.gl/core": "npm:^9.0.24"
@@ -2524,7 +2524,7 @@ __metadata:
   dependencies:
     "@auth0/auth0-vue": "npm:^2.3.3"
     "@carto/api-client": "npm:^0.2.1"
-    "@carto/create-common": "npm:^0.1.2-alpha.0"
+    "@carto/create-common": "npm:^0.1.2-alpha.7"
     "@deck.gl/aggregation-layers": "npm:^9.0.24"
     "@deck.gl/carto": "npm:^9.0.24"
     "@deck.gl/core": "npm:^9.0.24"