diff --git a/.github/scripts/create-release.sh b/.github/scripts/create-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..f5e49047d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/create-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Copyright 2025 The Dapr Authors
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -ue
+
+# Thanks to https://ihateregex.io/expr/semver/
+SEMVER_REGEX='^(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)(?:-((?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*)(?:\.(?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*))*))?(?:\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?$'
+
+REL_VERSION=`echo $1 | sed -r 's/^[vV]?([0-9].+)$/\1/'`
+
+if [ `echo $REL_VERSION | pcre2grep "$SEMVER_REGEX"` ]; then
+  echo "$REL_VERSION is a valid semantic version."
+else
+  echo "$REL_VERSION is not a valid semantic version."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+MAJOR_MINOR_VERSION=`echo $REL_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2`
+RELEASE_BRANCH="release-$MAJOR_MINOR_VERSION"
+RELEASE_TAG="v$REL_VERSION"
+SUFFIX=`echo $REL_VERSION | grep \- | cut -d- -f2 | cut -d. -f1`
+if [ "$SUFFIX" == "alpha" ]; then
+  # Alpha releases come from the master branch as they are not complete for an RC yet.
+  RELEASE_BRANCH="master"
+fi
+
+if [ `git rev-parse --verify origin/$RELEASE_BRANCH 2>/dev/null` ]; then
+  echo "$RELEASE_BRANCH branch already exists, checking it out ..."
+  git checkout $RELEASE_BRANCH
+else
+  echo "$RELEASE_BRANCH does not exist, creating ..."
+  git checkout -b $RELEASE_BRANCH
+  git push origin $RELEASE_BRANCH
+fi
+echo "$RELEASE_BRANCH branch is ready."
+
+if [ `git rev-parse --verify $RELEASE_TAG 2>/dev/null` ]; then
+  echo "$RELEASE_TAG tag already exists, aborting ..."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+echo "Tagging $RELEASE_TAG ..."
+git tag $RELEASE_TAG
+echo "$RELEASE_TAG is tagged."
+
+echo "Pushing $RELEASE_TAG tag ..."
+git push origin $RELEASE_TAG
+echo "$RELEASE_TAG tag is pushed."
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ab0356d590
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2025 The Dapr Authors
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+name: Create a release
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      rel_version:
+        description: 'Release version (examples: 1.16.0-rc.1, 1.16.0)'
+        required: true 
+        type: string
+
+permissions: {}
+
+jobs:
+  create-release:
+    name: Creates release branch and tag
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Install required packages
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install pcre2-utils
+      - name: Create release branch and tag
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DAPR_BOT_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          git config user.email "daprweb@diagrid.io"
+          git config user.name "Dapr Bot"
+          # Update origin with token
+          git remote set-url origin https://x-access-token:${GITHUB_TOKEN}@github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git
+          ./.github/scripts/create-release.sh ${{ inputs.rel_version }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..00629a9c2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# Release Guide 
+
+This document describes how to release Dapr Components Contrib along with associated artifacts.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Only maintainers and the release team should run releases.
+
+## Pre-release
+
+Pre-releases use tags like `v1.11.0-rc.0`, `-rc.1`, and so on. They are created through the GitHub Actions workflow.
+
+### Steps
+
+1. Update the Dapr runtime and dashboard versions in workflows or tests if needed. Merge that change to master.
+
+2. Open GitHub Actions and click the **create-release** workflow.
+
+3. Press the **Run workflow** button.
+   The workflow will:
+
+   * create the `release-<major>.<minor>` branch
+   * create the pre-release tag
+   * build the artifacts
+
+4. Test the produced build.
+
+5. If there are issues, fix them in the release branch and trigger the workflow again by creating a new pre-release tag (for example `-rc.1`).
+
+6. Repeat until the build is good.
+
+## Stable Release
+
+Create a stable tag without the rc suffix (for example `v1.11.0`).
+CI will build and publish the release.
+
+## Patch Releases
+
+Use the existing release branch.
+Create a new pre-release tag like `v1.11.1-rc.0`, test it, and when ready tag the stable version `v1.11.1`.
+CI will build and publish it.
+
+## Project Release Guidelines
+
+See [this document](https://github.com/dapr/community/blob/master/release-process.md) for the project's release process and guidelines.
\ No newline at end of file