diff --git a/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command b/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..c6c7668c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+##  This script prepares the Vault context and required tooling
+##  for the release pipelines.
+##
+##  NOTE: *_SECRET or *_TOKEN env variables are masked, hence if you'd like to avoid any
+##        surprises please use the suffix _SECRET or _TOKEN for those values that contain
+##        any sensitive data. Buildkite can mask those values automatically
+
+set -eo pipefail
+
+echo "--- Prepare vault context :vault:"
+INTERNAL_CI_TOKEN=$(vault read -field=token secret/ci/elastic-apm-agent-php/internal-ci-token)
+export INTERNAL_CI_TOKEN
+INTERNAL_CI_JOB_URL_SECRET=$(vault read -field=job-url secret/ci/elastic-apm-agent-php/internal-ci-token)
+export INTERNAL_CI_JOB_URL_SECRET
diff --git a/.buildkite/release.yml b/.buildkite/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c18ce2822
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+agents:
+  provider: "gcp"
+
+steps:
+  - label: "Run the release"
+    key: "release"
+    commands: .ci/release.sh
+    artifact_paths: "release.txt"
+
+notify:
+  - slack:
+      channels:
+        #- "#apm-agent-php"
+        - "#on-week-oblt-productivity"
diff --git a/.ci/release.sh b/.ci/release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9e6aa31e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ci/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+##  This script runs the release given the different environment variables
+##    dry_run
+##
+##  It relies on the .buildkite/hooks/pre-command so the Vault and other tooling
+##  are prepared automatically by buildkite.
+##
+set -eo pipefail
+
+set +x
+echo "--- Sign the binaries"
+if [[ "$dry_run" == "true" ]] ; then
+  echo "run the signing job 'elastic+unified-release+master+sign-artifacts-with-gpg'" | tee -a release.txt
+else
+  echo 'TBD' | tee release.txt
+fi
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1414d4007
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+---
+name: release
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  ### TODO: listen for tags, so for now let's test whether it works in dry run mode by default
+  #create:
+  #  tags: [ "v*" ]
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        php-version:
+          - "7.2"
+          - "7.3"
+          - "7.4"
+          - "8.0"
+          - "8.1"
+          - "8.2"
+        dockerfile:
+          - "Dockerfile"
+          - "Dockerfile.alpine"
+    env:
+      PHP_VERSION: ${{ matrix.php-version }}
+      DOCKERFILE: ${{ matrix.dockerfile }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Build
+        run: make -f .ci/Makefile build
+      - name: Build parts for packages
+        run: make -f .ci/Makefile generate-for-package
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: package-parts
+          path: src/ext/modules/*.so
+  generate-packages:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs:
+      - test
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: package-parts
+          path: src/ext/modules
+      - name: package
+        run: make -C packaging package
+      - name: package info
+        run: make -C packaging info
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: package
+          path: |
+            build/packages/*
+            !build/packages/**/*.sha512
+
+  release:
+    name: Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: package
+          path: build/packages
+      - run: echo "Upload artifacts to gs://internal-ci-artifacts/apm-agent-php/<TAG>"
+
+      - id: buildkite
+        name: Run Release
+        uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/buildkite@current
+        with:
+          vaultUrl: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
+          vaultRoleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
+          vaultSecretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
+          pipeline: apm-agent-php-release
+          waitFor: true
+          printBuildLogs: true
+          buildEnvVars: |
+            dry_run=true
+
+      - run: echo "Download artifacts from  gs://internal-ci-artifacts/apm-agent-php/<TAG>/signed-artifacts"
+
+      - run: echo "Run tests"
+
+      - run: echo "here is no approval input"
+
+      - run: echo "Publish draft release"
+
+      - run: echo "Verify draft release checksum"
+
+      - run: echo "Publish release (draft -> regular)"
+
+      - if: ${{ success() }}
+        uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/slack-message@current
+        with:
+          url: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
+          roleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
+          secretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
+          #channel: "#apm-agent-php"
+          channel: "#on-week-oblt-productivity"
+          message: |
+            :runner: [${{ github.repository }}] Release *${{ github.ref_name }}* has been triggered in Buildkite: (<${{ steps.buildkite.outputs.build }}|build>)
+
+      - if: ${{ failure() }}
+        uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/slack-message@current
+        with:
+          url: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
+          roleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
+          secretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
+          #channel: "#apm-agent-php"
+          channel: "#on-week-oblt-productivity"
+          message: |
+            :ghost: [${{ github.repository }}] Release *${{ github.ref_name }}* didn't get triggered in Buildkite.
+            Build: (<${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|here>)