diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c984eb9..701fff8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -63,16 +63,7 @@ jobs:
           SIGNING_PUB: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_PUB }}
         run: |
           eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
-          install --directory ~/.ssh --mode 700
-          base64 -d <<< '${{ secrets.SIGNING_KEY }}' > ~/.ssh/mex
-          base64 -d <<< '${{ secrets.SIGNING_PUB }}' > ~/.ssh/mex.pub
-          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*
-          ssh-add ~/.ssh/mex
-          git config --local user.email ${{ vars.MEX_BOT_EMAIL }}
-          git config --local user.name ${{ vars.MEX_BOT_USER }}
-          git config --local gpg.format ssh
-          git config --local user.signingkey ~/.ssh/mex.pub
-          git config --local commit.gpgsign true
+          pdm setup-commit-signing
 
       - name: Release new version
         id: release
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2849293..f285852 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - install mex-release from pypi rather than github
 - constrain dev-dependencies only to major/minor versions, to limit renovate noise
 - title-case readme headings for a more professional look
+- use commit-signing flow from mex-release
 
 ### Deprecated
 
diff --git a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/cookiecutter.yml b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/cookiecutter.yml
index a3baff9..b446e99 100644
--- a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/cookiecutter.yml	
+++ b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/cookiecutter.yml	
@@ -53,16 +53,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           {% raw -%}
           eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
-          install --directory ~/.ssh --mode 700
-          base64 -d <<< '${{ secrets.SIGNING_KEY }}' > ~/.ssh/mex
-          base64 -d <<< '${{ secrets.SIGNING_PUB }}' > ~/.ssh/mex.pub
-          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*
-          ssh-add ~/.ssh/mex
-          git config --local user.email ${{ vars.MEX_BOT_EMAIL }}
-          git config --local user.name ${{ vars.MEX_BOT_USER }}
-          git config --local gpg.format ssh
-          git config --local user.signingkey ~/.ssh/mex.pub
-          git config --local commit.gpgsign true
+          pdm setup-commit-signing
           {%- endraw %}
 
       - name: Update template
diff --git a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/release.yml b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/release.yml
index dcbf708..2c4f789 100644
--- a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/release.yml	
+++ b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.github/workflows/release.yml	
@@ -64,16 +64,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           {% raw -%}
           eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
-          install --directory ~/.ssh --mode 700
-          base64 -d <<< '${{ secrets.SIGNING_KEY }}' > ~/.ssh/mex
-          base64 -d <<< '${{ secrets.SIGNING_PUB }}' > ~/.ssh/mex.pub
-          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*
-          ssh-add ~/.ssh/mex
-          git config --local user.email ${{ vars.MEX_BOT_EMAIL }}
-          git config --local user.name ${{ vars.MEX_BOT_USER }}
-          git config --local gpg.format ssh
-          git config --local user.signingkey ~/.ssh/mex.pub
-          git config --local commit.gpgsign true
+          pdm setup-commit-signing
           {%- endraw %}
 
       - name: Release new version
diff --git a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index d266616..b022936 100644
--- a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml	
+++ b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml	
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ default_language_version:
   python: python3.11
 repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
-    rev: v0.6.5
+    rev: v0.7.2
     hooks:
       - id: ruff
         args: [--fix, --exit-non-zero-on-fix]
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ repos:
       - id: fix-byte-order-marker
         name: byte-order
   - repo: https://github.com/pdm-project/pdm
-    rev: 2.18.2
+    rev: 2.19.3
     hooks:
       - id: pdm-lock-check
         name: pdm
diff --git a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/pyproject.toml b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/pyproject.toml
index 885e23e..3163d90 100644
--- a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/pyproject.toml	
+++ b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/pyproject.toml	
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ optional-dependencies.dev = [
     "pytest-random-order>=1,<2",
     "pytest-xdist>=3,<4",
     "pytest>=8,<9",
-    "ruff>=0.6,<1",
+    "ruff>=0.7,<1",
     "sphinx>=8,<9",
 ]
 
diff --git a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/requirements.txt b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/requirements.txt
index 6e135e4..18bdca1 100644
--- a/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/requirements.txt	
+++ b/mex-{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/requirements.txt	
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 cruft==2.15.0
-mex-release==0.2.0
+mex-release==0.3.0
 pdm==2.19.3
 pre-commit==4.0.1
 wheel==0.44.0
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 821a8b4..de4a121 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ authors = [{ name = "MEx Team", email = "mex@rki.de" }]
 readme = { file = "README.md", content-type = "text/markdown" }
 license = { file = "LICENSE" }
 urls = { Repository = "https://github.com/robert-koch-institut/mex-template" }
-requires-python = "<3.13,>=3.11"
+requires-python = ">=3.11,<3.13"
 dependencies = []
 optional-dependencies.dev = []
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 6e135e4..18bdca1 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 cruft==2.15.0
-mex-release==0.2.0
+mex-release==0.3.0
 pdm==2.19.3
 pre-commit==4.0.1
 wheel==0.44.0