diff --git a/orbs/shared/jobs/pre-release.yaml b/orbs/shared/jobs/pre-release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a2fc0e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/orbs/shared/jobs/pre-release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+description: Pre-releases a new version of the application
+parameters:
+  node_client:
+    description: Build and release a Node.JS gRPC client
+    type: boolean
+    default: false
+  dryrun:
+    description: Don't actually release, just dryrun the release flow
+    type: boolean
+    default: true
+  machine:
+    description: Denotes that we're using a machine executor. Will need to set executor manually
+    type: boolean
+    default: false
+  resource_class:
+    description: The resource class to use for the release
+    type: string
+    default: "large"
+  release_failure_slack_channel:
+    description: The slack channel to notify if the release fails
+    type: string
+    default: ""
+  executor:
+    description: The executor to use for the release
+    type: executor
+    default: "testbed-docker"
+resource_class: << parameters.resource_class >>
+executor: << parameters.executor >>
+steps:
+  - setup_environment:
+      machine: << parameters.machine >>
+  - when:
+      condition: << parameters.node_client >>
+      steps:
+        - with_node_client_cache:
+            build: true
+  - with_node_cache:
+      save: true
+  - when:
+      condition: << parameters.dryrun >>
+      steps:
+        - run:
+            name: Pre-elease (dry run)
+            command: ./scripts/shell-wrapper.sh ci/release/dryrun.sh
+  - unless:
+      condition: << parameters.dryrun >>
+      steps:
+        - run:
+            name: Pre-release
+            environment:
+              RELEASE_FAILURE_SLACK_CHANNEL: << parameters.release_failure_slack_channel >>
+            command: ./scripts/shell-wrapper.sh ci/release/pre-release.sh
diff --git a/orbs/shared/jobs/release.yaml b/orbs/shared/jobs/release.yaml
index 8a8e9641..f0ef81da 100644
--- a/orbs/shared/jobs/release.yaml
+++ b/orbs/shared/jobs/release.yaml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ steps:
       condition: << parameters.dryrun >>
       steps:
         - run:
-            name: Release (Dry-run)
+            name: Release (dry run)
             command: ./scripts/shell-wrapper.sh ci/release/dryrun.sh
             no_output_timeout: << parameters.no_output_timeout >>
   - unless:
diff --git a/orbs/shared/jobs/trigger_rc_release.yaml b/orbs/shared/jobs/trigger_rc_release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f496e554
--- /dev/null
+++ b/orbs/shared/jobs/trigger_rc_release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+description: Trigger release a new RC version of the application
+parameters:
+  machine:
+    description: Denotes that we're using a machine executor. Will need to set executor manually
+    type: boolean
+    default: false
+  resource_class:
+    description: The resource class to use for the release
+    type: string
+    # This is to trigger the release job, small should be enough
+    default: "small"
+  release_failure_slack_channel:
+    description: The slack channel to notify if the release fails
+    type: string
+    default: ""
+  executor:
+    description: The executor to use for the release
+    type: executor
+    default: "testbed-docker"
+
+resource_class: << parameters.resource_class >>
+executor: << parameters.executor >>
+steps:
+  - setup_environment:
+      machine: << parameters.machine >>
+  - with_node_cache:
+      save: true
+  - checkout
+  - run:
+      name: Trigger RC Release
+      environment:
+        RELEASE_FAILURE_SLACK_CHANNEL: << parameters.release_failure_slack_channel >>
+      command: ./scripts/shell-wrapper.sh ci/release/trigger-rc-release.sh
diff --git a/shell/ci/release/dryrun.sh b/shell/ci/release/dryrun.sh
index bb8724d3..e9949fe3 100755
--- a/shell/ci/release/dryrun.sh
+++ b/shell/ci/release/dryrun.sh
@@ -36,11 +36,19 @@ git checkout "$CIRCLE_BRANCH"
 
 # Squash our branch onto the HEAD (default) branch to mimic
 # what would happen after merge.
-git merge --squash "$OLD_CIRCLE_BRANCH"
-git commit -m "$COMMIT_MESSAGE"
-
-GH_TOKEN="$(gh auth token)" yarn --frozen-lockfile semantic-release --dry-run
-
-# Handle unstable releasing for CLIs, pre-conditions for this exist
-# in the script.
-"$DIR/unstable-release.sh" --dry-run
+if ! git diff --quiet "$OLD_CIRCLE_BRANCH"; then
+  git merge --squash "$OLD_CIRCLE_BRANCH"
+  git commit -m "$COMMIT_MESSAGE"
+  GH_TOKEN="$(gh auth token)"
+  if [[ -z $GH_TOKEN ]]; then
+    echo "Failed to read Github personal access token" >&2
+  fi
+
+  GH_TOKEN="$GH_TOKEN" yarn --frozen-lockfile semantic-release --dry-run
+
+  # Handle prereleases for CLIs, pre-conditions for this exist
+  # in the script.
+  "$DIR/pre-release.sh" --dry-run
+else
+  echo "No changes to release"
+fi
diff --git a/shell/ci/release/unstable-release.sh b/shell/ci/release/pre-release.sh
similarity index 75%
rename from shell/ci/release/unstable-release.sh
rename to shell/ci/release/pre-release.sh
index b342bfd9..fb72e887 100755
--- a/shell/ci/release/unstable-release.sh
+++ b/shell/ci/release/pre-release.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+
 # This file contains the logic for releasing unstable code on CLI
 # containing repositories that have also opted to enablePrereleases
 # _and_ not release from the default branch (e.g. main).
@@ -53,24 +54,17 @@ if [[ "$(yaml_get_field ".arguments.releaseOptions.enablePrereleases" "$(get_ser
   exit 0
 fi
 
-# If our prereleasesBranch is empty, or equal to the default branch
-# skip this. This is to enable prereleases to be created from the `main`
-# branch thereby skipping the 'unstable' release process entirely.
+# Ensure we are on the prerelease branch. The default is main branch.
 prereleasesBranch="$(yaml_get_field '.arguments.releaseOptions.prereleasesBranch' "$(get_service_yaml)")"
-defaultBranch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref origin/HEAD | sed 's/^origin\///')"
-if [[ -z $prereleasesBranch ]] || [[ $prereleasesBranch == "$defaultBranch" ]]; then
-  echo "releaseOptions.prereleasesBranch is empty or equal to the default branch, skipping unstable release"
-  exit 0
-fi
 
-# If we're not on the default branch, skip. This is to prevent
+# If we're not on the prerelease branch, skip. This is to prevent
 # accidentally releasing from a branch that isn't mean to create
 # unstable releases that happened to fail releasing for whatever reason.
 #
 # Special case, skip this check if we're doing a dry-run since we will
 # short circuit before we actually create a release.
-if [[ $CIRCLE_BRANCH != "$defaultBranch" ]] && [[ $DRYRUN == "false" ]]; then
-  echo "\$CIRCLE_BRANCH ($CIRCLE_BRANCH) != \$defaultBranch ($defaultBranch), skipping unstable release"
+if [[ $CIRCLE_BRANCH != "$prereleasesBranch" ]] && [[ $DRYRUN == "false" ]]; then
+  echo "\$CIRCLE_BRANCH ($CIRCLE_BRANCH) != \$prereleaseBranch ($prereleasesBranch), skipping prerelease"
   exit 0
 fi
 
@@ -87,22 +81,39 @@ if [[ ! -e "$(get_repo_directory)/.goreleaser.yml" ]]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-app_version="v0.0.0-unstable+$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
-echo "Creating unstable release ($app_version)"
-
-make release APP_VERSION="$app_version"
-
 # If we're in dry-run mode, skip creating the release.
 if [[ $DRYRUN == "true" ]]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-# delete unstable release+tag if it exists
+# Check commit message on current branch
+# Prerelease to rc if the latest commit is chore: Release.
+COMMIT_MESSAGE=$(git log --format=%B -n 1)
+if [[ $COMMIT_MESSAGE =~ "chore: Release" ]]; then
+  # Pre-release to rc
+  echo "Creating prerelease to rc channel"
+
+  # Retrieve the GH_TOKEN
+  GH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)
+  if [[ -z $GH_TOKEN ]]; then
+    echo "Failed to read Github personal access token" >&2
+  fi
+  # Unset NPM_TOKEN to force it to use the configured ~/.npmrc
+  NPM_TOKEN='' GH_TOKEN=$GH_TOKEN \
+    yarn --frozen-lockfile semantic-release
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# publish unstable release
+app_version="v0.0.0-unstable+$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
+echo "Creating unstable release ($app_version)"
+
+make release APP_VERSION="$app_version"
+# delete unstable release and unstable tag if it exists
 gh release delete unstable -y || true
 git tag --delete unstable || true
 git push --delete origin unstable || true
-
-# create unstable release and upload assets to it
-gh release create unstable --prerelease --generate-notes ./dist/*.tar.gz ./dist/checksums.txt
+# create release and upload assets to it
+gh release create unstable --prerelease=true --generate-notes ./dist/*.tar.gz ./dist/checksums.txt
 
 run_unstable_include
diff --git a/shell/ci/release/release.sh b/shell/ci/release/release.sh
index 9a845f59..f9154789 100755
--- a/shell/ci/release/release.sh
+++ b/shell/ci/release/release.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ set -e
 DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
 LIB_DIR="${DIR}/../../lib"
 
-# Read the GH_TOKEN from the file
-GH_TOKEN="$(cat "$HOME/.outreach/github.token")"
+# Retrieve the GH_TOKEN
+GH_TOKEN="$(gh auth token)"
 if [[ -z $GH_TOKEN ]]; then
   echo "Failed to read Github personal access token" >&2
 fi
@@ -40,23 +40,6 @@ unset CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST
 unset CI_PULL_REQUEST
 unset CI_PULL_REQUESTS
 
-ORIGINAL_VERSION=$(git describe --match 'v[0-9]*' --tags --always HEAD)
-
 # Unset NPM_TOKEN to force it to use the configured ~/.npmrc
 NPM_TOKEN='' GH_TOKEN=$GH_TOKEN \
   yarn --frozen-lockfile semantic-release || send_failure_notification
-
-NEW_VERSION=$(git describe --match 'v[0-9]*' --tags --always HEAD)
-
-# Determine if we updated by checking the original version from git
-# vs the new version (potentially) after we ran semantic-release.
-UPDATED=false
-if [[ $ORIGINAL_VERSION != "$NEW_VERSION" ]]; then
-  UPDATED=true
-fi
-
-# If we didn't update, assume we're on a prerelease branch
-# and run the unstable-release code.
-if [[ $UPDATED == "false" ]]; then
-  exec "$DIR/unstable-release.sh"
-fi
diff --git a/shell/ci/release/trigger-rc-release.sh b/shell/ci/release/trigger-rc-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a8c48f46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/ci/release/trigger-rc-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# This script is to add chore: Release comit to the default pre-release
+# branch to trigger pre-release.
+set -eo pipefail
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
+
+# shellcheck source=./../../lib/yaml.sh
+source "$DIR/../../lib/yaml.sh"
+# shellcheck source=./../../lib/bootstrap.sh
+source "$DIR/../../lib/bootstrap.sh"
+# shellcheck source=./../../lib/box.sh
+source "$DIR/../../lib/box.sh"
+
+if [[ "$(yaml_get_field ".arguments.releaseOptions.enablePrereleases" "$(get_service_yaml)")" != "true" ]]; then
+  echo "releaseOptions.enablePrereleases is not true, skipping rc release"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# Default it to use main branch, should this be configurable?
+prereleaseBranch="main"
+
+if [[ -n "$(yaml_get_field ".arguments.releaseOptions.releaseUser" "$(get_service_yaml)")" ]]; then
+  releaseUsername="$(yaml_get_field ".arguments.releaseOptions.releaseUser.name" "$(get_service_yaml)")"
+  releaseUseremail="$(yaml_get_field ".arguments.releaseOptions.releaseUser.email" "$(get_service_yaml)")"
+else
+  releaseUsername=$(get_box_field 'ci.circleci.releaseUser.name')
+  releaseUseremail=$(get_box_field 'ci.circleci.releaseUser.email')
+fi
+
+git config --global user.name "$releaseUsername"
+git config --global user.email "$releaseUseremail"
+git checkout $prereleaseBranch
+
+# Dryrun the semantic-release on prereleaseBranch to check if there is changes to release.
+# If not skip the release.
+GH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)
+releaseOutput=$(NPM_TOKEN='' GH_TOKEN=$GH_TOKEN yarn --frozen-lockfile semantic-release -d)
+echo "$releaseOutput"
+
+if [[ $releaseOutput != *"Published release"* ]]; then
+  echo "No release will be created, skipping..."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+git commit -m "chore: Release" --allow-empty
+git push origin $prereleaseBranch