diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c9d42c23..06062cf0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -104,6 +104,30 @@ docker run --rm -it --env GITHUB_TOKEN=<TOKEN> rancher/ecm-distro-tools tag_rke2
 
 See seperate [documentation](./docs/test_pad.md) for test-pad tool.
 
+## GitHub action
+
+This repository provides the "Setup ecm-distro-tools" GitHub action. 
+It downloads the assets belonging to the specified release to a temporary directory,
+and adds the directory to the `PATH`.
+
+### Usage
+
+The action can be run on ubuntu-latest runners. 
+The `version` parameter is required.
+Providing the GH_TOKEN environment variable is recommended to avoid rate limiting by the GitHub API.
+
+```yaml
+steps:
+- name: setup ecm-distro-tools
+  uses: rancher/ecm-distro-tools
+  with:
+    version: v0.23.0
+  env:
+    GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+- name: release notes
+    run: gen_release_notes -h
+```
+
 ## Contributing
 
 We welcome additions to this repo and are excited to keep expanding its functionality.
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d375d2ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+name: 'Setup ecm-distro-tools'
+description: 'Installs ecm-distro-tools scripts to the PATH.'
+inputs:
+  version:
+    description: 'The tag of the ecm-distro-tools release to install.'
+    required: true
+runs:
+  using: 'composite'
+  steps:
+  - shell: bash
+    run: |
+      TAG="${{ inputs.version }}"
+      REPO="rancher/ecm-distro-tools"
+      DOWNLOAD_DIR="$RUNNER_TEMP/ecm-distro-tools"
+      mkdir -p "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"
+      echo "$DOWNLOAD_DIR" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+
+      GH_AUTHENTICATED=$(gh auth status >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $?)
+
+      if [ "$GH_AUTHENTICATED" -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "is authenticated"
+        gh release download "$TAG" --repo "$REPO" --dir "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"
+      else
+        echo "not authenticated"
+        URLS=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO/releases/tags/$TAG" \
+          | jq -r '.assets[] | .browser_download_url')
+        echo "$URLS" | while read -r url; do
+          FILENAME=$(basename "$url")
+          curl -sS -L "$url" -o "$DOWNLOAD_DIR/$FILENAME"
+        done
+      fi
+
+      chmod +x "$DOWNLOAD_DIR/"*
+      ls -al "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"