diff --git a/.github/scripts/create-release.sh b/.github/scripts/create-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9bfe8d7e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/create-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Copyright 2024 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
+
+script_dir=$(readlink -f $(dirname $0))
+current_time=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")
+
+# 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 | cut -d. -f1,2`
+MAJOR_MINOR_PATCH_VERSION=`echo ${REL_VERSION}- | cut -d- -f1 | cut -d. -f1,2,3`
+VARIANT=`echo ${REL_VERSION}- | cut -d- -f2`
+
+if [ "$VARIANT" = "SNAPSHOT" ]; then
+  echo "SNAPSHOT release detected, updating version in master branch to $REL_VERSION ..."
+  if [ "$REL_VERSION" != "${MAJOR_MINOR_PATCH_VERSION}-SNAPSHOT" ]; then
+    echo "Invalid snapshot version: $REL_VERSION"
+    exit 3
+  fi
+  branch_name="automation/update_to_next_${current_time}"
+  git checkout -b $branch_name
+  ${script_dir}/update_sdk_version.sh $REL_VERSION
+  git clean -xdf
+  git commit -s -m "Update master version to ${$REL_VERSION}" -a
+  git push origin $branch_name
+  gh pr create --repo ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY} \
+    --base master \
+    --title "Update master version to ${$REL_VERSION}" \
+    --body "Update master version to ${$REL_VERSION}"
+  echo "Done."
+  exit 0
+elif [ "$VARIANT" = "rc" ]; then
+  echo "Release-candidate version detected: $REL_VERSION"
+  RC_COUNT=`echo ${REL_VERSION}- | cut -d- -f3`
+  if ! ((10#${RC_COUNT} >= 0)) 2>/dev/null || [ "$RC_COUNT" == "" ]; then
+    echo "Invalid release-candidate count: $RC_COUNT"
+    exit 3
+  fi
+  if [ "$REL_VERSION" != "${MAJOR_MINOR_PATCH_VERSION}-rc-${RC_COUNT}" ]; then
+    echo "Invalid release-candidate version: $REL_VERSION"
+    exit 3
+  fi
+elif [ "$VARIANT" = "" ]; then
+  echo "Release version detected: $REL_VERSION"
+else
+  echo "Invalid release variant: $VARIANT"
+  exit 3
+fi
+
+echo "Passed all version format validations."
+
+RELEASE_BRANCH="release-$MAJOR_MINOR_VERSION"
+RELEASE_TAG="v$REL_VERSION"
+
+if [ `git rev-parse --verify origin/$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
+
+${script_dir}/update_sdk_version.sh $REL_VERSION
+git commit -s -m "Release $REL_VERSION" -a
+if [ "$VARIANT" = "" ]; then
+  echo "Generating docs ..."
+  ${script_dir}/update_docs.sh $REL_VERSION
+  git commit -s -m "Generate updated javadocs for $REL_VERSION" -a
+fi
+git push origin $RELEASE_BRANCH
+
+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."
+
+if [ "$VARIANT" = "" ]; then
+  git clean -xdf
+  echo "Creating pull request to update docs ..."
+  branch_name="automation/update_docs_${current_time}"
+  git reset --hard origin/master
+  git cherry-pick $RELEASE_TAG
+  git push origin $branch_name
+  gh pr create --repo ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY} \
+    --base master \
+    --title "Update master docs for ${$REL_VERSION} release" \
+    --body "Update master docs for ${$REL_VERSION} release"
+fi
+
+echo "Done."
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/update_docs.sh b/.github/scripts/update_docs.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from scripts/update_docs.sh
rename to .github/scripts/update_docs.sh
diff --git a/scripts/update_sdk_version.sh b/.github/scripts/update_sdk_version.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from scripts/update_sdk_version.sh
rename to .github/scripts/update_sdk_version.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..906ff6127
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2024 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: 1.9.0-rc-1, 1.9.1, 1.11.0-SNAPSHOT)'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  create-release:
+    name: Creates release branch and tag
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    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: ${{ secrets.DAPR_BOT_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          git config user.email "daprweb@microsoft.com"
+          git config user.name "Dapr Bot"
+          # Update origin with token
+          git remote set-url origin https://x-access-token:${GITHUB_TOKEN}@github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git
+          # Copy first to allow automation to use the latest version and not the release branch's version.
+          cp -R ./.github/scripts ${RUNNER_TEMP}/
+          ${RUNNER_TEMP}/scripts/create-release.sh ${{ inputs.rel_version }}
+  trigger:
+    name: Triggers the Dapr SDK build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: create-release
+    steps:
+      - name: Triggers the build
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DAPR_BOT_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          gh workflow run build.yml --repo ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY} --ref v$(echo '${{ inputs.rel_version }}' | sed -r 's/^[vV]?([0-9].+)$/\1/')
\ No newline at end of file