diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index a4b1be560..527692b69 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -35,3 +35,11 @@ Please, note that we follow [Effective Go](https://golang.org/doc/effective_go.h
 
 2. Preserve as much history as possible.
    If you need to re-name file use `git mv` - it will preserve git history.
+
+## Commit format
+
+We use a slight variation of [Conventional commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/).
+
+We enforce the usage of `!` for breaking changes, or `_` for non-breaking. The rationale is that
+if we don't enforce one or the other, often devs will forget to add `!` to breaking changes.
+Forcing to add one or the other, will also hopefully force devs to make a decision with each commit.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eb2b6311b..6b98caa91 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -439,6 +439,12 @@ migration:
 migration-check:
 	bash _assets/scripts/migration_check.sh
 
+commit-check:
+	bash _assets/scripts/commit_check.sh
+
+tag-version:
+	bash _assets/scripts/tag_version.sh $(TARGET_COMMIT)
+
 migration-wallet: DEFAULT_WALLET_MIGRATION_PATH := walletdatabase/migrations/sql
 migration-wallet:
 	touch $(DEFAULT_WALLET_MIGRATION_PATH)/$$(date +%s)_$(D).up.sql
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 40d6e17ad..5958a4512 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -17,24 +17,34 @@ We use `0` as the MAJOR version and bump only MINOR when there are breaking chan
 
 After successful build, open it (https://ci.status.im/job/status-go/job/manual/$BUILD_ID/) in a browser. Artifacts will have a random ID, for example `status-go-android-181221-143603-5708af.aar`, means that `181221-143603-5708af` is a version you can use in [status-mobile](https://github.com/status-im/status-mobile).
 
-## Releasing a new patch (no breaking changes or a hot-fix release)
 
-TODO: create a script that can do that instead of manual work.
+## Release branch
 
-1. Checkout a release branch you want to release from (release branches have names like `release/0.X`),
-1. Cherry-pick a commit you want to include OR merge `develop` branch,
-1. Bump `Y` (`0.X.Y`) in the current version (`VERSION` file),
-1. Commit and push the change to `release/0.X` branch,
-1. Go to [Jenkins job](https://ci.status.im/job/status-go/job/manual/), select "RELEASE" and use `release/0.X` branch name.
+The release branch takes the form of `release/v0.y.x`, where `x` is hardcoded.
+For example a valid release branch name is `release/v0.177.x` or `release/v0.188.x`.
+Currently commits on this branch are not tagged and the branch name is used as a ref.
 
-## Releasing a new version (breaking changes)
+### Hotfixes
 
-TODO: create a script that can do that instead of manual work.
+If an hotfix is necessary on the release branch (that happens after the app is released, and we need to push out a patched version), we historically tagged it using the format `release/v0.177.x+hotfix.1`.
 
-1. Merge your PR to `develop` branch,
-1. Pull `develop` branch locally,
-1. Bump `X`, reset `Z` to `0` and commit to `develop` with a message "Bump version to 0.X.Y",
-1. Checkout a new branch `release/0.X`,
-1. Remove `-beta.Z` suffix from the current version (`VERSION` file),
-1. Commit and push the change,
-1. Go to [Jenkins job](https://ci.status.im/job/status-go/job/manual/), select "RELEASE" and use `release/0.X` branch.
+
+The process over release branches is still in work since we still had few coordinated release between desktop and mobile, and we are still in the exploration phase.
+
+
+## Tagging versions
+
+To tag a version, you should run the command:
+
+`make tag-version` to create a tag for `HEAD`
+
+or 
+
+`make tag-version TARGET_COMMIT={hash}` to create a tag for a specific hash
+
+You will have to then check the tag is correct, and push the tag:
+
+`git push origin {tag_created}`
+
+
+That can then be used as a stable tag.
diff --git a/_assets/ci/Jenkinsfile.tests b/_assets/ci/Jenkinsfile.tests
index 0f6a434d2..e3e1ed1bc 100644
--- a/_assets/ci/Jenkinsfile.tests
+++ b/_assets/ci/Jenkinsfile.tests
@@ -81,6 +81,16 @@ pipeline {
       } }
     }
 
+    stage('Commit') {
+      when { // https://github.com/status-im/status-go/issues/4993#issuecomment-2022685544
+        expression { !isTestNightlyJob() }
+      }
+      steps { script {
+        nix.shell('make commit-check', pure: false)
+      } }
+    }
+
+
     stage('Lint') {
       steps { script {
         nix.shell('make lint', pure: true)
diff --git a/_assets/hooks/pre-merge-commit b/_assets/hooks/pre-merge-commit
deleted file mode 120000
index 0a7a928c5..000000000
--- a/_assets/hooks/pre-merge-commit
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../scripts/migration_check.sh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_assets/hooks/pre-merge-commit b/_assets/hooks/pre-merge-commit
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..179011c6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_assets/hooks/pre-merge-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+set -o pipefail
+
+CHECK_MIGRATIONS="_assets/scripts/migration_check.sh"
+CHECK_COMMITS="_assets/scripts/commit_check.sh"
+
+"${CHECK_MIGRATIONS}" "$@"
+"${CHECK_COMMITS}" "$@"
diff --git a/_assets/scripts/commit_check.sh b/_assets/scripts/commit_check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e2bbc0f96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_assets/scripts/commit_check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+parse_commits() {
+    start_commit=${1:-origin/develop}
+    end_commit=${2:-HEAD}
+    is_breaking_change=false
+
+    echo "checking commits between: $start_commit $end_commit" >&2
+    # Run the loop in the current shell using process substitution
+    while IFS= read -r message || [ -n "$message" ]; do
+        # Check if commit message follows conventional commits format
+        if [[ $message =~ ^(build|chore|ci|docs|feat|fix|perf|refactor|revert|style|test)(\(.*\))?(\_|!):.*$ ]]; then
+            # Check for breaking changes
+            if [[ ${BASH_REMATCH[3]} == *'!'* ]]; then
+                is_breaking_change=true
+                break
+            fi
+        else
+            echo "Commit message \"$message\" is not well-formed. Aborting merge. We use https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/ but with _ for non-breaking changes"
+            # Uncomment the line below if you want to exit on an invalid commit message
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    done < <(git log --format=%B "$start_commit".."$end_commit" | sed '/^\s*$/d')
+
+    echo "$is_breaking_change"
+}
+
+parse_commits
diff --git a/_assets/scripts/tag_version.sh b/_assets/scripts/tag_version.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b3025b2a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_assets/scripts/tag_version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source _assets/scripts/commit_check.sh
+
+get_latest_tag() {
+    # Get the latest tag on develop
+    latest_tag=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 develop)
+    echo "$latest_tag"
+}
+
+bump_version() {
+    local tag=$1
+    local is_breaking_change=$2
+    IFS='.' read -r major minor patch <<< "$tag"
+
+    # Bump the version based on the type of change
+    if [[ "$is_breaking_change" = true ]]; then
+        ((minor++))
+    else
+        ((patch++))
+    fi
+
+    new_version="$major.$minor.$patch"
+    echo "$new_version"
+}
+
+calculate_new_version() {
+    # Get the latest tag
+    latest_tag=$(get_latest_tag)
+
+    echo "calculating new tag from $latest_tag and $1" >&2
+
+    # Parse commits to determine if there are breaking changes
+    is_breaking_change=$(parse_commits "$latest_tag" "$1")
+
+    # Bump version accordingly
+    echo "$(bump_version "$latest_tag" "$is_breaking_change")"
+  }
+
+
+main() {
+    target_commit=${1:-HEAD}
+    new_version=$(calculate_new_version "$target_commit")
+    echo "calculated new version: $new_version" >&2
+
+    git tag -a "$new_version" "$target_commit" -m "release $target_commit"
+}
+
+main "$1"