diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f5296e378d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+name: Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - 'v[0-9].[0-9].[0-9]*'
+
+jobs:
+  activate:
+    if: github.repository == 'feelpp/IfcOpenShell'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+    - run: echo ok go
+  build:
+    needs: activate
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          lfs: true
+      - 
+        name: Update ubuntu
+        run: |
+          sudo apt update
+          sudo apt-get install git cmake gcc g++ libboost1.67-all-dev python3-all-dev swig libpcre3-dev libxml2-dev
+          sudo apt-get install liboce-foundation-dev liboce-modeling-dev liboce-ocaf-dev liboce-visualization-dev liboce-ocaf-lite-dev
+      - name: Build
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          CHANGELOG_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          mkdir build && cd build
+          cmake \
+           -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PWD/install/ \
+           -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+           -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/usr \
+           -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PREFIX_PATH=/usr \
+           -DOCC_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/include/oce \
+           -DOCC_LIBRARY_DIR=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu \
+           -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE:FILEPATH=/usr/bin/python3 \
+           -DPYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=/usr/include/python3.8 \
+           -DPYTHON_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpython3.8.so \
+           -DCOLLADA_SUPPORT=Off \
+           -DLIBXML2_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/include/libxml2 \
+           -DLIBXML2_LIBRARIES=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxml2.so \
+           ../cmake
+          make -j10
+          make install
+      - name: Package
+        id: package
+        run: |
+          make package
+          echo ::set-output name=tgz::$( ls assets/*.tar.gz | head -n 1 | xargs basename )
+          echo ::set-output name=deb::$( ls assets/*.deb | head -n 1 | xargs basename )
+        working-directory: build
+        env:
+          CHANGELOG_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}          
+      - name: Release
+        id: release
+        uses: actions/create-release@v1
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          tag_name: ${{ github.ref }}
+          release_name: Release ${{ github.ref }}
+          draft: false
+          prerelease: true
+          body: |
+            Changes to this release
+              - add github actions support #1306
+              - <more changes here>
+            See more details in the documentation
+#          body_path: build/CHANGELOG.md
+      - name: Upload TGZ
+        id: upload-tgz
+        uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1
+        env:
+            GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          upload_url: ${{ steps.release.outputs.upload_url }} # This pulls from the CREATE RELEASE step above, referencing it's ID to get its outputs object, which include a `upload_url`. See this blog post for more info: https://jasonet.co/posts/new-features-of-github-actions/#passing-data-to-future-steps 
+          asset_path: build/assets/${{ steps.package.outputs.tgz }}
+          asset_name: ${{ steps.package.outputs.tgz }}
+          asset_content_type: application/x-gzip
+      - name: Upload DEB
+        id: upload-deb
+        uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1
+        env:
+            GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          upload_url: ${{ steps.release.outputs.upload_url }} # This pulls from the CREATE RELEASE step above, referencing it's ID to get its outputs object, which include a `upload_url`. See this blog post for more info: https://jasonet.co/posts/new-features-of-github-actions/#passing-data-to-future-steps 
+          asset_path: build/assets/${{ steps.package.outputs.deb }}
+          asset_name: ${{ steps.package.outputs.deb }}
+          asset_content_type: application/vnd.debian.binary-package
diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 01f5e790b8..5274042f32 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)  # not necessary, but encouraged
 
 project (IfcOpenShell VERSION 0.6.0)
 
+# use extra version to make pre-release using eg semver 
+set( EXTRA_VERSION "-alpha.1")
+
 foreach(max_year RANGE 2014 2030)
 set(max_sdk "$ENV{ADSK_3DSMAX_SDK_${max_year}}")
 if (NOT "${max_sdk}" STREQUAL "")