diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3e7dd427..1b85dd91 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
 .sass-cache
 CNAME
 test-site/
-vendor/
\ No newline at end of file
+vendor/
+tmp/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b772c7e2..4187339b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -113,6 +113,18 @@ See [all releases](https://github.com/github/pages-gem/releases).
 
 To release a new version of this gem, run `script/release` from the `master` branch.
 
+This will create and tag the release.
+
+It will also create prs in the relevant repos and assign them to you. It is your responsibility to
+
+1. update the version of the gem in those repos
+2. deploy those services as needed
+
+The relevant repos are: 
+1. [github-pages](https://github.com/github/pages)
+2. [jekyll-build-pages](https://github.com/actions/jekyll-build-pages/blob/main/Gemfile)
+3. [pages.github.com](https://github.com/github/pages.github.com)
+
 ## License
 
 Distributed under the [MIT License](LICENSE).
diff --git a/script/release b/script/release
index a67084b9..2384d768 100755
--- a/script/release
+++ b/script/release
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+
+# check that gh is installed and logged in 
+
+gh auth status -h github.com
+
 # Tag and push a release.
 
 set -e
@@ -39,4 +44,50 @@ git fetch -t origin
 # Tag it and bag it.
 
 gem push github-pages-*.gem && git tag "$tag" &&
-  git push origin master && git push origin "$tag"
+git push origin master && git push origin "$tag"
+
+# create a new release on github
+gh release create "$tag" --notes "Automated release for $tag"
+
+
+# create a tmp folder
+mkdir -p tmp
+
+#for each dependent repo, create a new branch an a blank pr. 
+# first get the sha of main for each repo 
+
+gh_pages_sha = gh api repos/github/pages/git/refs/heads/master | jq '. | .object.sha'
+jekyll_sha = gh api repos/actions/jekyll-build-pages/git/refs/heads/main | jq '. | .object.sha'
+
+# then create the branches 
+
+gh api repos/github/pages/git/refs -F "sha"="$gh_pages_sha" -F "ref"="refs/heads/pages-gem-release-$tag"
+gh api repos/github/pages/git/refs -F "sha"="$jekyll_sha" -F "ref"="refs/heads/pages-gem-release-$tag"
+
+#then we need the tree object so we can create a commit using the api
+
+gh_pages_tree = gh api repos/github/pages/git/commits/$gh_pages_sha | jq '. | .tree.sha'
+jekyll_tree = gh api repos/github/actions/jekyll-build-pages/commits/$jekyll_sha | jq '. | .tree.sha'
+
+# create the input file for the commit. We have to do this because the F flag doesn't support arrays
+
+echo "{\"tree\": \"$gh_pages_tree\", \"parents\": [\"$gh_pages_sha\"], \"message\": \"automated commit for pr creation\"}" > tmp/h_pages_commit_input.json
+echo "{\"tree\": \"$jekyll_tree\", \"parents\": [\"$jekyll_sha\"], \"message\": \"automated commit for pr creation\"}" > tmp/jekyll_commit_input.json
+
+# create the commit
+
+new_gh_pages_sha = gh api repos/github/pages/git/commits --input tmp/gh_pages_commit_input.json | jq '. | .sha' 
+new_jekyll_sha = gh api repos/actions/jekyll-build-pages/git/commits --input tmp/jekyll_commit_input.json | jq '. | .sha' 
+
+# associate the commit with the branch
+
+gh api repos/github/pages/git/refs/heads/pages-gem-release-$tag -F "sha"="$new_gh_pages_sha" -F "ref"="refs/heads/pages-gem-release-$tag" -F "force"="true"
+gh api repos/actions/jekyll-build-pages/git/refs/heads/pages-gem-release-$tag -F "sha"="$new_jekyll_sha" -F "ref"="refs/heads/pages-gem-release-$tag" -F "force"="true"
+
+# create pull requests in downstream repos
+gh pr create --base "master" --head "pages-gem-release-$tag" --title "Bump pages-gem version to $tag" --assignee "@me" --body "Bump pages-gem version to $tag. You must manually make those changes and commit to this branch" --repo "github/pages" 
+gh pr create --base "main"  --head "pages-gem-release-$tag" --title "Bump pages-gem version to $tag" --assignee "@me" --body "Bump pages-gem version to $tag. You must manually make those changes and commit to this branch" --repo "actions/jekyll-build-pages"
+
+# clean up the input file for the commit
+
+rm tmp/*
\ No newline at end of file