diff --git a/.github/workflows/ffi-builds.yml b/.github/workflows/ffi-builds.yml
index 78547c303..5be4110ef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ffi-builds.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ffi-builds.yml
@@ -16,20 +16,53 @@ name: FFI
 on:
   push:
     branches: ["main"]
-    tags:
-      - "rust-sdks/livekit-ffi@*"
   workflow_dispatch:
-  workflow_call:
     inputs:
-      tag:
+      tag_name:
+        description: "Release tag (e.g. livekit-ffi/v0.12.49). Takes precedence over draft release lookup and creates a draft release."
         required: false
         type: string
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Dry run: build artifacts but skip release upload/publish."
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Dry run: build artifacts but skip release upload/publish."
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 env:
   CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-  TAG_NAME: ${{ inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}
 
 jobs:
+  get-tag:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: "Resolve tag"
+        run: |
+          MANUAL_TAG="${{ inputs.tag_name }}"
+          if [ -n "$MANUAL_TAG" ]; then
+            echo "Using manually provided tag: '${MANUAL_TAG}'"
+            gh release create "$MANUAL_TAG" --draft --title "$MANUAL_TAG" --generate-notes
+            echo "tag_name=${MANUAL_TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            TAG=$(gh release list --repo ${{ github.repository }} --json 'isDraft,tagName' --jq '[.[] | select(.isDraft and (.tagName | startswith("livekit-ffi/")))] | first | .tagName // empty')
+            echo "Resolved FFI draft release tag: '${TAG:-}'"
+            echo "tag_name=${TAG:-}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        id: get-tag
+    outputs:
+      tag_name: ${{ steps.get-tag.outputs.tag_name }}
+
   build:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -212,12 +245,12 @@ jobs:
           path: ${{ matrix.name }}.zip
 
   release:
-    name: Release to GH (Draft)
+    name: Upload artifacts and publish GH release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: build
+    needs: [get-tag, build]
     permissions:
       contents: write
-    if: startsWith(inputs.tag || github.ref_name, 'rust-sdks/livekit-ffi@')
+    if: needs.get-tag.outputs.tag_name != '' && inputs.dry_run != true
     env:
       GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
     steps:
@@ -230,7 +263,7 @@ jobs:
           merge-multiple: true
           path: ${{ github.workspace }}/ffi-builds
 
-      - name: Create draft release
+      - name: Upload artifacts and publish release
         run: |
-          gh release create ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} --draft --title "${{ env.TAG_NAME }}"
-          gh release upload ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} ${{ github.workspace }}/ffi-builds/*
+          gh release upload ${{ needs.get-tag.outputs.tag_name }} ${{ github.workspace }}/ffi-builds/*
+          gh release edit ${{ needs.get-tag.outputs.tag_name }} --draft=false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/node-builds.yml b/.github/workflows/node-builds.yml
index 6df37f05b..a6e29d4cb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/node-builds.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/node-builds.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,19 @@ permissions:
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Dry run: build artifacts but skip npm publish."
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
   workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Dry run: build artifacts but skip npm publish."
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 env:
   CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
@@ -46,7 +58,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           submodules: recursive
-          fetch-depth: 0
+
       - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
         with:
           package_json_file: livekit-ffi-node-bindings/package.json
@@ -123,7 +135,7 @@ jobs:
                 cd /workspace
                 cd livekit-ffi-node-bindings
                 CI=true pnpm install
-                pnpm build --target $TARGET        
+                pnpm build --target $TARGET
               "
             '
 
@@ -141,7 +153,6 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload binary artifact
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull-request'
         with:
           name: native-bindings-${{ matrix.target }}
           path: livekit-ffi-node-bindings/${{ env.APP_NAME }}.*.node
@@ -149,15 +160,15 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload JS
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        if: ${{ github.event_name != 'pull-request' && matrix.os == 'macos-15' }}
+        if: ${{ matrix.os == 'macos-15' }}
         with:
           name: js-bindings
           path: livekit-ffi-node-bindings/native.*
           if-no-files-found: error
 
-  release:
-    needs: [build]
-    name: Release
+  publish:
+    needs: build
+    name: Publish to npm
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
@@ -196,6 +207,11 @@ jobs:
         run: ls -R ./livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm
         shell: bash
 
+      - name: Echo changes
+        run: |
+          git status
+          git diff
+
       - name: Publish
         working-directory: livekit-ffi-node-bindings
-        run: pnpm publish -r
+        run: pnpm publish -r ${{ inputs.dry_run == true && '--dry-run --no-git-checks' || '' }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 25e24564f..e44f3aedc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,167 +1,50 @@
 name: Release
 
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [closed]
+    branches: [main]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Dry run: build artifacts but skip publishing/releasing."
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+
 permissions:
-  id-token: write # Required for OIDC
-  pull-requests: write
+  id-token: write
   contents: write
-  actions: write
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
 
 jobs:
-  # Release unpublished packages.
-  release-plz-release:
-    name: Release-plz release
+  publish-crates:
+    if: (github.head_ref == 'knope/release' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true) || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'livekit' }}
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-    outputs:
-      ffi_tag: ${{ steps.ffi.outputs.ffi_tag }}
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
           submodules: recursive
-      - name: Install Rust toolchain
-        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
-      - name: Install VA-API/NVIDIA drivers and other dependencies for build
-        run: |
-          sudo apt update -y
-          sudo apt install \
-            libnvidia-compute-570 \
-            libnvidia-decode-570 \
-            nvidia-cuda-dev \
-            libasound2-dev \
-            libssl-dev \
-            libx11-dev \
-            libgl1-mesa-dev \
-            libxext-dev \
-            libva-dev \
-            libdrm-dev \
-            libgbm-dev \
-            libxfixes-dev \
-            libxdamage-dev \
-            libxrandr-dev \
-            libxcomposite-dev \
-            libglib2.0-dev -y
 
-      - name: Run release-plz
-        uses: release-plz/action@v0.5
-        id: release-plz
-        with:
-          command: release
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+
+      - name: Install cargo-release
+        run: cargo install cargo-release
+
+      - name: Publish to crates.io
+        run: cargo release publish --workspace --no-confirm --no-verify ${{ inputs.dry_run != true && '--execute' || '' }}
         env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           CARGO_REGISTRY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CARGO_TOKEN }}
-      - name: Extract ffi tag
-        id: ffi
-        env:
-          RELEASES: ${{ steps.release-plz.outputs.releases }}
-        run: |
-          set -e
-          ffi_tag=$(echo "$RELEASES" | jq -r '.[].tag' | grep 'rust-sdks/livekit-ffi@' || true)
-          echo "ffi_tag=$ffi_tag"
-          echo "ffi_tag=$ffi_tag" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
   call-ffi:
     name: Call FFI Builds
-    if: ${{ needs.release-plz-release.outputs.ffi_tag != '' }}
+    if: (github.head_ref == 'knope/release' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true) || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     uses: ./.github/workflows/ffi-builds.yml
-    needs: release-plz-release
     with:
-      tag: ${{ needs.release-plz-release.outputs.ffi_tag }}
+      dry_run: ${{ inputs.dry_run || false }}
 
   call-node-ffi:
-    name: Call node FFI Builds
-    if: ${{ needs.release-plz-release.outputs.ffi_tag != '' }}
+    name: Call Node FFI Builds
+    if: (github.head_ref == 'knope/release' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true) || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     uses: ./.github/workflows/node-builds.yml
-    needs: release-plz-release
-
-  # Create a PR with the new versions and changelog, preparing the next release.
-  release-plz-pr:
-    name: Release-plz PR
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    concurrency:
-      group: release-plz-${{ github.ref }}
-      cancel-in-progress: false
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-          submodules: recursive
-      - name: Install Rust toolchain
-        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
-      - name: Install VA-API/NVIDIA drivers and other dependencies for build
-        run: |
-          sudo apt update -y
-          sudo apt install \
-            libnvidia-compute-570 \
-            libnvidia-decode-570 \
-            nvidia-cuda-dev \
-            libasound2-dev \
-            libssl-dev \
-            libx11-dev \
-            libgl1-mesa-dev \
-            libxext-dev \
-            libva-dev \
-            libdrm-dev \
-            libgbm-dev \
-            libxfixes-dev \
-            libxdamage-dev \
-            libxrandr-dev \
-            libxcomposite-dev \
-            libglib2.0-dev -y
-      - name: Run release-plz
-        uses: release-plz/action@v0.5
-        id: release-plz
-        with:
-          command: release-pr
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          CARGO_REGISTRY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CARGO_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Sync node package.json versions to livekit-ffi
-        env:
-          PR: ${{ steps.release-plz.outputs.pr }}
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
-
-          HEAD_BRANCH=$(echo "$PR" | jq -r '.head_branch // empty')
-          if [ -z "$HEAD_BRANCH" ]; then
-            echo "No release PR, skipping"
-            exit 0
-          fi
-
-          git fetch origin "$HEAD_BRANCH"
-          git checkout "$HEAD_BRANCH"
-
-          # Read version from Cargo.toml on the PR branch
-          FFI_VERSION=$(grep '^version = ' livekit-ffi/Cargo.toml | head -1 | sed 's/version = "\(.*\)"/\1/')
-          CURRENT_VERSION=$(jq -r '.version' livekit-ffi-node-bindings/package.json)
-
-          if [ "$FFI_VERSION" = "$CURRENT_VERSION" ]; then
-            echo "Versions already in sync ($FFI_VERSION)"
-            exit 0
-          fi
-
-          echo "Updating node packages: $CURRENT_VERSION -> $FFI_VERSION"
-
-          for pkg in livekit-ffi-node-bindings/package.json livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/*/package.json; do
-            jq --arg v "$FFI_VERSION" '.version = $v' "$pkg" > tmp.json && mv tmp.json "$pkg"
-          done
-
-          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git add livekit-ffi-node-bindings/package.json livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/*/package.json
-          git commit -m "sync node package.json versions to $FFI_VERSION"
-          git push origin "$HEAD_BRANCH"
+    with:
+      dry_run: ${{ inputs.dry_run || false }}
diff --git a/knope.toml b/knope.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2675868e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/knope.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+[github]
+owner = "livekit"
+repo = "rust-sdks"
+
+[changes]
+ignore_conventional_commits = true
+
+[bot.checks]
+skip_labels = ["internal"]
+
+[bot.releases]
+enabled = true
+
+# --- Package configuration ---
+
+[packages.soxr-sys]
+versioned_files = ["soxr-sys/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "soxr-sys/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["soxr-sys", "soxr"]
+
+[packages.yuv-sys]
+versioned_files = ["yuv-sys/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "yuv-sys/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["yuv-sys", "yuv"]
+
+[packages.imgproc]
+versioned_files = ["imgproc/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "imgproc/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["imgproc"]
+
+[packages.webrtc-sys-build]
+versioned_files = ["webrtc-sys/build/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "webrtc-sys/build/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["webrtc-sys-build"]
+
+[packages.webrtc-sys]
+versioned_files = ["webrtc-sys/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "webrtc-sys/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["webrtc-sys"]
+
+[packages.livekit-protocol]
+versioned_files = ["livekit-protocol/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "livekit-protocol/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["livekit-protocol", "protocol"]
+
+[packages.livekit-api]
+versioned_files = ["livekit-api/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "livekit-api/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["livekit-api"]
+
+[packages.libwebrtc]
+versioned_files = ["libwebrtc/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "libwebrtc/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["libwebrtc"]
+
+[packages.livekit]
+versioned_files = ["livekit/Cargo.toml"]
+changelog = "livekit/CHANGELOG.md"
+scopes = ["livekit"]
+
+[packages.livekit-ffi]
+versioned_files = [
+  "livekit-ffi/Cargo.toml",
+  "livekit-ffi-node-bindings/package.json",
+  "livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/darwin-arm64/package.json",
+  "livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/darwin-x64/package.json",
+  "livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/linux-arm64-gnu/package.json",
+  "livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/linux-x64-gnu/package.json",
+  "livekit-ffi-node-bindings/npm/win32-x64-msvc/package.json",
+]
+changelog = "livekit-ffi/CHANGELOG.md"
+# Assets makes knope create a draft release; CI uploads the actual binaries and publishes.
+assets = "marker"
+scopes = [
+  "ffi",
+  "livekit-ffi",
+  # Aggregated from deps (mirrors release-plz changelog_include):
+  "livekit",
+  "soxr-sys",
+  "soxr",
+  "imgproc",
+  "livekit-protocol",
+  "protocol",
+  "webrtc-sys-build",
+]
diff --git a/livekit-ffi/Cargo.toml b/livekit-ffi/Cargo.toml
index 6581dba5d..996ee97e2 100644
--- a/livekit-ffi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/livekit-ffi/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ license.workspace = true
 description = "FFI interface for bindings in other languages"
 repository.workspace = true
 readme = "README.md"
+publish = false
 
 [features]
 default = ["rustls-tls-native-roots"]
diff --git a/release-plz.toml b/release-plz.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index f6365e082..000000000
--- a/release-plz.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,97 +0,0 @@
-[workspace]
-publish = false
-release = false
-git_tag_name = "rust-sdks/{{ package }}@{{ version }}"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "imgproc"
-changelog_path = "imgproc/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "libwebrtc"
-changelog_path = "libwebrtc/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "livekit-api"
-changelog_path = "livekit-api/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "livekit-protocol"
-changelog_path = "livekit-protocol/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-# [[package]]
-# name = "livekit-runtime"
-# changelog_path = "livekit-runtime/CHANGELOG.md"
-# publish = true
-# release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "livekit"
-changelog_path = "livekit/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "webrtc-sys"
-changelog_path = "webrtc-sys/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-publish_no_verify = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "webrtc-sys-build"
-changelog_path = "webrtc-sys/build/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "yuv-sys"
-changelog_path = "yuv-sys/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-publish_no_verify = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "soxr-sys"
-changelog_path = "soxr-sys/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = true
-release = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "livekit-ffi"
-changelog_path = "livekit-ffi/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = false
-publish_no_verify = true
-release = true
-git_only = true
-git_release_enable = false # existing CI manages GitHub release
-changelog_include = [
-  "livekit",
-  "soxr-sys",
-  "imgproc",
-  "livekit-protocol",
-  "webrtc-sys-build",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "livekit-uniffi"
-changelog_path = "livekit-uniffi/CHANGELOG.md"
-publish = false
-publish_no_verify = true
-release = false
-git_only = true
-
-[[package]]
-name = "rtc-node-ffi-bindings"
-publish = false
-publish_no_verify = true
-release = false
-git_only = true
\ No newline at end of file