diff --git a/scripts/release_prep.sh b/scripts/release_prep.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..caeb12cd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release_prep.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -x
+
+# pre-requisites: install github CLI
+# - github documentation: https://github.com/cli/cli#installation
+# - github is remote 'origin'
+# - PRs should use a test section by convention starting with "## Test" (captures "Tests" "Testing")
+# - PRs should use a deploy notes section by convention starting with "## Deploy Notes"
+# - ALL build and release PRs start with "build: "
+#
+# To run, from root of project:
+# bash scripts/release_prep.sh
+
+has_local_changes=$(git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no --ignored=no)
+if [[ ${has_local_changes} ]]; then
+  set +x
+  echo ==========
+  echo "ABORT: You have local modifications. Please stash or commit changes and run again."
+  echo ==========
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+git fetch --tags --force
+git fetch --all
+git reset --hard
+git pull
+git checkout develop
+git reset --hard origin/develop
+
+short_hash=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+current_version=v$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+temp_release_branch=temp_${short_hash}
+
+git checkout -b ${temp_release_branch}
+
+release_version=$(npm --no-git-tag-version version minor | grep -E '^v\d')
+release_branch=release_${release_version}
+may_force_push=
+
+if [[ "$1" == "--recut" ]]; then
+  git tag -d ${release_version}
+  git push --delete origin ${release_version}
+  git branch -D ${release_branch}
+  may_force_push=-f
+fi
+
+git commit -a -n -m "chore: bump version to ${release_version}"
+git tag ${release_version}
+git checkout -b ${release_branch}
+git branch -D ${temp_release_branch}
+
+git push origin ${may_force_push} HEAD:${release_branch}
+git push -f origin HEAD:staging
+git push origin ${release_version}
+
+# Prep temp files to hold extracted content
+pr_body_file=.pr_body_${release_version}
+pr_body_file_grouped=.pr_body_${release_version}_grouped
+pr_body_file_tests=.pr_body_${release_version}_tests
+pr_body_file_notes=.pr_body_${release_version}_notes
+
+# Extract the changelog for the release version specifically, and discard irrelevant lines (empty or not starting with a dash)
+# Line items from the changelog (generated by the command `npm version minor` above) are of the form:
+# - <pr title> [`#<pr_id>`](pr_github_link)
+# Thanks to this deterministic format, we can extract PR ids, and load their data with github API below
+awk "/^#### \[${release_version}\]/{flag=1;next}/####/{flag=0}flag" CHANGELOG.md | sed -E '/^([^-]|[[:space:]]*$)/d' > ${pr_body_file}
+
+# Show new items
+echo "## New" > ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+grep -v -E -- '- [a-z]+\(deps(-dev)?\)' ${pr_body_file} >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+
+# Show dependency upgrades
+deps=$(grep -E -- '- [a-z]+\(deps\)' ${pr_body_file})
+if [[ ${deps} =~ [^[:space:]] ]]; then
+  echo "## Dependencies" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+  echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+  echo "${deps}" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+  echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+fi
+
+# Show dev-dependency upgrades
+devdeps=$(grep -E -- '- [a-z]+\(deps-dev\)' ${pr_body_file})
+if [[ ${devdeps} =~ [^[:space:]] ]]; then
+  echo "## Dev-Dependencies" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+  echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+  echo "${devdeps}" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+  echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+fi
+
+# Login to github to be able to query PR info
+if ! gh auth status >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    gh auth login
+fi
+
+repo_url=$(gh repo view --json url --jq '.url')
+
+# Extract tests and deploy notes from each feature PR
+echo "## Tests" > ${pr_body_file_tests}
+echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_tests}
+
+echo "## Deploy Notes" > ${pr_body_file_notes}
+echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_notes}
+
+# Find relevant line items (feature PRs; not auto dep upgrades or release prs)
+grep -v -E -- '- [a-z]+\(deps(-dev)?\)' ${pr_body_file} | grep -v -E -- '- (release|backport) v' | grep -v -E -- '- \d+\.\d+\.\d+ ' | while read line_item; do
+  pr_id=$(echo ${line_item} | grep -o -E '\[`#\d+`\]' | grep -o -E '\d+')
+  pr_content=$(gh pr view ${pr_id})
+
+  tests=$(echo "$pr_content" | awk "/^## Test/{flag=1;next}/^## /{flag=0}flag" | sed -E "s/\[[Xx]\]/[ ]/" | sed -E "s/^(###+) /\1## /")
+  if [[ ${tests} =~ [^[:space:]] ]]; then
+    echo "${line_item}" | sed "s/^- /### /" >> ${pr_body_file_tests}
+    echo "${tests}" >> ${pr_body_file_tests}
+    echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_tests}
+  fi
+
+  notes=$(echo "$pr_content" | awk "/^## Deploy Notes/{flag=1;next}/^## /{flag=0}flag" | sed -E "s/\[[Xx]\]/[ ]/" | sed -E "s/^(###+) /\1## /")
+  if [[ ${notes} =~ [^[:space:]] ]]; then
+    echo "${line_item}" | sed "s/^- /### /" >> ${pr_body_file_notes}
+    echo "${notes}" >> ${pr_body_file_notes}
+    echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_notes}
+  fi
+done
+
+cat ${pr_body_file_tests} >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+cat ${pr_body_file_notes} >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+
+echo "" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+
+echo "**Full Changelog**: ${repo_url}/compare/${current_version}..${release_version}" >> ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+
+
+# release pr
+release_pr_url=$(gh pr create \
+  -H ${release_branch} \
+  -B master \
+  -t "release ${release_version}" \
+  -F ${pr_body_file_grouped})
+
+# backport pr
+gh pr create \
+  -H ${release_branch} \
+  -B develop \
+  -t "backport ${release_version}" \
+  -b "Details in ${release_pr_url}"
+
+# prep draft release
+gh release create \
+  --draft \
+  --title "${release_version}" \
+  --generate-notes \
+  --notes-start-tag "${current_version}" \
+  --verify-tag \
+  "${release_version}"
+
+# cleanup
+rm ${pr_body_file}
+rm ${pr_body_file_grouped}
+rm ${pr_body_file_tests}
+rm ${pr_body_file_notes}
+git checkout develop
+git branch -D ${release_branch}