diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2c75fe51..111b3c42 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,33 +1,37 @@
 name: Release
 
 on:
-  #push:
-  #  branches: [ 'main' ]
+  push:
+    branches: [ 'main', 'master' ]
   workflow_dispatch:
-    release_force:
-      # see https://python-semantic-release.readthedocs.io/en/latest/github-action.html#command-line-options
-      description: 'force release be one of: [major | minor | patch]'
-      type: choice
-      options:
-        - major
-        - minor
-        - patch
-      default: ""
-      required: false
-    prerelease_token:
-      description: 'The "prerelease identifier" to use as a prefix for the "prerelease" part of a semver. Like the rc in `1.2.0-rc.8`.'
-      type: choice
-      options:
-        - rc
-        - beta
-        - alpha
-      default: rc
-      required: false
-    prerelease:
-      description: "Is a pre-release"
-      type: boolean
-      default: false
-      required: false
+    inputs:
+      release_force:
+        # see https://python-semantic-release.readthedocs.io/en/latest/github-action.html#command-line-options
+        description: |
+          Force release be one of: [major | minor | patch]
+          Leave empty for auto-detect based on commit messages.
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - "" # auto - no force
+          - major # force major
+          - minor # force minor
+          - patch # force patch
+        default: ""
+        required: false
+      prerelease_token:
+        description: 'The "prerelease identifier" to use as a prefix for the "prerelease" part of a semver. Like the rc in `1.2.0-rc.8`.'
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - rc
+          - beta
+          - alpha
+        default: rc
+        required: false
+      prerelease:
+        description: "Is a pre-release"
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+        required: false
 
 concurrency:
   group: deploy
@@ -41,9 +45,9 @@ jobs:
   release:
     # https://github.community/t/how-do-i-specify-job-dependency-running-in-another-workflow/16482
     # limit this to being run on regular commits, not the commits that semantic-release will create
-    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release):')
+    # but also allow manual workflow dispatch
+    if: "!contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release):')"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    concurrency: release
     permissions:
       # NOTE: this enables trusted publishing.
       # See https://github.com/pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish/tree/release/v1#trusted-publishing
@@ -84,7 +88,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           force: ${{ github.event.inputs.release_force }}
-          prerelease: ${{ github.event.inputs.prerelease && "true" || "false" }}
+          prerelease: ${{ github.event.inputs.prerelease }}
           prerelease_token: ${{ github.event.inputs.prerelease_token }}
 
       - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index aa25c1e1..c209186b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["poetry-core>=1.0.0"]
+build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"
+
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "cyclonedx-python-lib"
 version = "4.0.1"
@@ -66,12 +70,18 @@ lxml = ">=4.7.0"
 tox = "^3.2.8"
 xmldiff = ">=2.4"
 
-[build-system]
-requires = ["poetry-core>=1.0.0"]
-build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"
-
 [tool.semantic_release]
-version_toml = ["pyproject.toml:tool.poetry.version"]
-branch = "main"
+# see https://python-semantic-release.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
+commit_message = "chore(release): {version}\n\nAutomatically generated by python-semantic-release"
 upload_to_vcs_release = true
 build_command = "pip install poetry && poetry build"
+version_toml = ["pyproject.toml:tool.poetry.version"]
+[tool.semantic_release.changelog]
+changelog_file = "CHANGELOG.md"
+exclude_commit_patterns = [
+  "chore\\(release\\):",
+]
+[tool.semantic_release.branches."alpha"]
+match = "(feat|fix|tests|style|docs|chore)"
+prerelease = true
+prerelease_token = "alpha"