diff --git a/.github/release-issue-template.md b/.github/release-issue-template.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a6cc7f4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/release-issue-template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+### Prepare
+
+- [ ] Make sure all important PRs have been merged
+- [ ] Check that the [latest build](https://app.circleci.com/pipelines/github/lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk) successfully finished
+- [ ] Make sure a version of the proxy that supports the protocol version the SDK expects has been deployed to production
+
+You can see the proxy version on prod [on grafana](https://lightbendcloud.grafana.net/d/ebzw4ARnz/prod-akka-serverless-operations-dashboard?orgId=1) or using [various other methods](https://github.com/lightbend/akkaserverless/wiki/Versioning-and-how-to-determine-what-version-is-running).
+
+### Cutting the release
+
+- [ ] Edit the [draft release notes](https://github.com/lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk/releases) and create the appropriate tag
+    - CircleCI will automatically publish the [@lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk) to the npm registry based on the tag
+    - CI will update the docs/current branch
+
+### Check availability
+
+- [ ] Check that [`docs/current`](https://github.com/lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk/commits/docs/current) has been updated
+- [ ] Check the release in the [npm registry](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk)
+
+### Fix and publish docs
+
+- [ ] Update the [supported version in the main docs](https://github.com/lightbend/akkaserverless-docs/blob/master/docs/modules/ROOT/partials/include.adoc#L20) if relevant (affects [Supported Versions](https://developer.lightbend.com/docs/akka-serverless/setting-up/index.html#_supported_languages))
+- [ ] Add an item to the [Release Notes](https://github.com/lightbend/akkaserverless-docs/blob/master/docs/modules/release-notes/pages/index.adoc) in the documentation
+- [ ] Release the Akka Serverless documentation to get the SDK docs updates published
+
+### Update to the latest version
+
+- [ ] Run `samples/bin/update.sh` to update the samples to the latest released versions.
+
+### Check docs update
+
+- [ ] After quite a while TechHub shows [updated docs](https://developer.lightbend.com/docs/akka-serverless/index.html) (see the timestamp on the bottom of the page)
+
+### Announcements
+
+- [ ] Announce in [the forum](https://discuss.lightbend.com/c/akka-serverless/40)
+    - tag with Akka Serverless, releases and announcement
+- [ ] Inform Lightbend marketing and engineering if it's a noteworthy release
+- [ ] Close this issue
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 93dbbbe4..891163c2 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 # Releasing Akka Serverless JavaScript SDK
 
-1. Create a `vX.Y.Z` tag and [new release](https://github.com/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk/releases/new) for the new version.
-2. CircleCI will automatically publish the [@lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@lightbend/akkaserverless-javascript-sdk) to npm based on the tag.
-3. Run `samples/bin/update.sh` to update the samples to the latest released versions.
+Create a release issue (using the [GitHub CLI](https://cli.github.com/))
+
+```
+gh issue create --title 'Release Akka Serverless JavaScript SDK' --label as-framework --body-file .github/release-issue-template.md -w
+````
+
+and follow the instructions.
 
 
 ## Publishing documentation hotfixes