diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-plz.yaml b/.github/workflows/release-plz.yaml
index b4ce179ee..0660a7729 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-plz.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-plz.yaml
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 name: Release-plz
 
 on:
-  # Create/update release PR on main push
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
   # Create tags when release PR is merged
   pull_request:
     types:
@@ -18,7 +14,10 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   release-plz:
-    name: Release-plz
+    name: Create release tags
+    if: |
+      github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
+      contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'release')
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
@@ -30,20 +29,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Rust toolchain
         uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
 
-      - name: Run release-plz release-pr
-        if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_type == 'branch'
-        uses: release-plz/action@v0.5
-        with:
-          command: release-pr
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
       - name: Create tags on release PR merge
-        if: >-
-          github.event_name == 'pull_request' &&
-          github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
-          contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'release') &&
-          github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
         uses: release-plz/action@v0.5
         with:
           command: release
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-release.sh b/scripts/prepare-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e36c8d34e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prepare-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# prepare-release.sh - Automated release preparation script for op-rbuilder
+#
+# DESCRIPTION:
+#   This script automates the process of preparing a new stable release by:
+#   1. Creating a release branch (release/v{VERSION})
+#   2. Bumping the version in Cargo.toml
+#   3. Generating a changelog from conventional commits using release-plz
+#   4. Committing the changes
+#   5. Pushing the branch to remote
+#   6. Opening a GitHub pull request with the "release" label
+#
+# USAGE:
+#   ./scripts/prepare-release.sh <version>
+#
+#   Example:
+#     ./scripts/prepare-release.sh 0.3.4
+#
+# PREREQUISITES:
+#   - Must be run from the repository root directory
+#   - Must be on the 'main' branch with a clean working directory
+#   - GitHub CLI (gh) must be installed and authenticated
+#   - release-plz will be installed automatically if not present
+#
+# WORKFLOW:
+#   After this script completes:
+#   1. Review the auto-generated changelog in the PR
+#   2. Edit the changelog if needed (add breaking changes section, clarify items)
+#   3. Test the release candidate on testnet/devnet
+#   4. Get approval and merge the PR
+#   5. When the PR is merged, release-plz.yaml workflow will automatically:
+#      - Create a git tag (op-rbuilder/v{VERSION})
+#      - Trigger the release workflow to build binaries and Docker images
+#
+# VERSION FORMAT:
+#   Version must follow semantic versioning: X.Y.Z (e.g., 0.3.4)
+#   - Patch (0.3.2 → 0.3.3): Bug fixes, refactors, minor improvements
+#   - Minor (0.3.3 → 0.4.0): New features, everything else
+#   - Major (0.4.0 → 1.0.0): Unused, we're not at 1.0 yet
+#
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Colors for output
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+
+# Helper functions
+error() {
+    echo -e "${RED}❌ Error: $1${NC}" >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
+success() {
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ $1${NC}"
+}
+
+info() {
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}ℹ️  $1${NC}"
+}
+
+# Check if we're in the right directory
+if [[ ! -f "Cargo.toml" ]] || [[ ! -d ".git" ]]; then
+    error "Must be run from the repository root"
+fi
+
+# Check if gh CLI is installed
+if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
+    error "GitHub CLI (gh) is not installed. Install it from https://cli.github.com/"
+fi
+
+# Check if on main branch
+CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
+if [[ "$CURRENT_BRANCH" != "main" ]]; then
+    error "Must be on main branch (currently on: $CURRENT_BRANCH)"
+fi
+
+# Check for uncommitted changes
+if [[ -n $(git status --porcelain) ]]; then
+    error "Working directory has uncommitted changes. Please commit or stash them first."
+fi
+
+# Get version argument
+if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
+    echo "Usage: $0 <version>"
+    echo "Example: $0 0.3.4"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+VERSION="$1"
+
+# Validate version format
+if ! [[ "$VERSION" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+    error "Invalid version format: $VERSION (expected: X.Y.Z, e.g., 0.3.4)"
+fi
+
+# Check if version tag already exists
+if git tag -l | grep -q "^op-rbuilder/v${VERSION}$"; then
+    error "Tag op-rbuilder/v${VERSION} already exists"
+fi
+
+# Get current version
+CURRENT_VERSION=$(grep '^version = ' Cargo.toml | head -1 | sed 's/version = "\(.*\)"/\1/')
+info "Current version: ${CURRENT_VERSION}"
+info "New version: ${VERSION}"
+
+# Confirm with user
+echo ""
+read -p "Create release branch for v${VERSION}? (y/N) " -n 1 -r
+echo ""
+if [[ ! $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+    echo "Aborted."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Update from remote
+info "Fetching latest changes from remote..."
+git fetch origin main
+git pull origin main
+
+# Create release branch
+BRANCH="release/v${VERSION}"
+info "Creating branch: ${BRANCH}"
+git checkout -b "${BRANCH}"
+success "Branch created"
+
+# Update version in Cargo.toml
+info "Updating version in Cargo.toml..."
+if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
+    # macOS
+    sed -i '' "s/^version = \".*\"/version = \"${VERSION}\"/" Cargo.toml
+else
+    # Linux
+    sed -i "s/^version = \".*\"/version = \"${VERSION}\"/" Cargo.toml
+fi
+
+# Verify change
+NEW_VERSION=$(grep '^version = ' Cargo.toml | head -1 | sed 's/version = "\(.*\)"/\1/')
+if [[ "$NEW_VERSION" != "$VERSION" ]]; then
+    error "Failed to update version in Cargo.toml"
+fi
+success "Version updated to ${VERSION}"
+
+# Commit version bump
+git add Cargo.toml
+git commit -m "chore: bump version to ${VERSION}"
+success "Version bump committed"
+
+# Check if release-plz is installed
+if ! command -v release-plz &> /dev/null; then
+    info "Installing release-plz..."
+    cargo install release-plz --locked
+fi
+
+# Generate changelog
+info "Generating changelog with release-plz..."
+if release-plz update; then
+    success "Changelog generated"
+
+    # Commit changelog if changed
+    if [[ -n $(git status --porcelain) ]]; then
+        git add -A
+        git commit -m "chore: update CHANGELOG for v${VERSION}"
+        success "Changelog committed"
+    else
+        info "No changelog changes"
+    fi
+else
+    error "Failed to generate changelog"
+fi
+
+# Push branch
+info "Pushing branch to remote..."
+git push -u origin "${BRANCH}"
+success "Branch pushed"
+
+# Create PR
+info "Creating pull request..."
+PR_URL=$(gh pr create \
+    --title "Release v${VERSION}" \
+    --label "release" \
+    --body "## Release v${VERSION}
+
+### Pre-merge Checklist
+- [ ] Changelog reviewed and edited for clarity
+- [ ] Breaking changes documented (if any)
+- [ ] Tested on testnet/devnet
+- [ ] All CI checks passing
+
+### What happens on merge?
+- Tag \`op-rbuilder/v${VERSION}\` will be automatically created
+- Release workflow will build binaries and Docker images
+- GitHub release will be published
+
+### Notes
+Add any breaking changes or migration notes here.
+
+---
+*Generated by scripts/prepare-release.sh*")
+
+success "Pull request created: ${PR_URL}"
+
+echo ""
+echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
+echo -e "${GREEN}🎉 Release PR ready!${NC}"
+echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
+echo ""
+echo "Next steps:"
+echo "1. Review the auto-generated changelog"
+echo "2. Edit CHANGELOG.md if needed (add breaking changes, clarify items)"
+echo "3. Test on testnet/devnet"
+echo "4. Get approval and merge"
+echo "5. Release will be automatically published!"
+echo ""
+echo "PR: ${PR_URL}"