diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2e8b807..fcdd3be 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ require (
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-version v1.6.0
 	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
 	github.com/pb33f/libopenapi v0.15.14
+	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/speakeasy-api/git-diff-parser v0.0.3
-	github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-gen-config v1.7.4
+	github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-gen-config v1.28.0
 	github.com/speakeasy-api/speakeasy-client-sdk-go/v3 v3.15.4
 	github.com/speakeasy-api/versioning-reports v0.6.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 0c20b2a..b995eeb 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ github.com/skeema/knownhosts v1.2.1 h1:SHWdIUa82uGZz+F+47k8SY4QhhI291cXCpopT1lK2
 github.com/skeema/knownhosts v1.2.1/go.mod h1:xYbVRSPxqBZFrdmDyMmsOs+uX1UZC3nTN3ThzgDxUwo=
 github.com/speakeasy-api/git-diff-parser v0.0.3 h1:LL12d+HMtSyj6O/hQqIn/lgDPYI6ci/DEhk0la/xA+0=
 github.com/speakeasy-api/git-diff-parser v0.0.3/go.mod h1:P46HmmVVmwA9P8h2wa0fDpmRM8/grbVQ+uKhWDtpkIY=
-github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-gen-config v1.7.4 h1:hk3GaKiL6zxx3SulnxdunvU2V7bUSQ4YviXtIiUmWuo=
-github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-gen-config v1.7.4/go.mod h1:4R+8FTyM6UdLHltOVAigIoR5D2UfPsGMmEFzPOP1yCs=
+github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-gen-config v1.28.0 h1:Gm3WqJCxs7ExEJcRVhMsUq2mC7S23m18zpvtFaPEuys=
+github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-gen-config v1.28.0/go.mod h1:e9PjnCRHGa4K4EFKVU+kKmihOZjJ2V4utcU+274+bnQ=
 github.com/speakeasy-api/speakeasy-client-sdk-go/v3 v3.15.4 h1:lPVNakwHrrRWRaNIdIHE6BK7RI6B/jpdwbtvI/xPEYo=
 github.com/speakeasy-api/speakeasy-client-sdk-go/v3 v3.15.4/go.mod h1:b4fiZ1Wid0JHwwiYqhaPifDwjmC15uiN7A8Cmid+9kw=
 github.com/speakeasy-api/versioning-reports v0.6.0 h1:oLokEQ7xnDXqWAQk60Sk+ifwYaRbq3BrLX2KyT8gWxE=
diff --git a/internal/actions/release.go b/internal/actions/release.go
index f582e01..ced654d 100644
--- a/internal/actions/release.go
+++ b/internal/actions/release.go
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 package actions
 
 import (
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/cli"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/configuration"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/environment"
+	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/git"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/logging"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/run"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/pkg/releases"
@@ -90,6 +93,12 @@ func Release() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if os.Getenv("SPEAKEASY_API_KEY") != "" {
+		if err = addCurrentBranchTagging(g, latestRelease.Languages); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to tag registry images")
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -146,3 +155,72 @@ func addPublishOutputs(dir string, outputs map[string]string) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func addCurrentBranchTagging(g *git.Git, latestRelease map[string]releases.LanguageReleaseInfo) error {
+	_, err := cli.Download("latest", g)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	var sources, targets []string
+	branch := strings.TrimPrefix(os.Getenv("GITHUB_REF"), "refs/heads/")
+	workflow, err := configuration.GetWorkflowAndValidateLanguages(true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// the tagging library treats targets synonymously with code samples
+	if specificTarget := environment.SpecifiedTarget(); specificTarget != "" {
+		if target, ok := workflow.Targets[specificTarget]; ok {
+			if source, ok := workflow.Sources[target.Source]; ok && source.Registry != nil {
+				sources = append(sources, target.Source)
+			}
+
+			if target.CodeSamples != nil && target.CodeSamples.Registry != nil {
+				targets = append(targets, specificTarget)
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		for name, target := range workflow.Targets {
+			if releaseInfo, ok := latestRelease[target.Target]; ok {
+				var targetIsMatched bool
+				releasePath, err := filepath.Rel(".", releaseInfo.Path)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+
+				// check for no SDK output path
+				if (releasePath == "" || releasePath == ".") && target.Output == nil {
+					targetIsMatched = true
+				}
+
+				if target.Output != nil {
+					outputPath, err := filepath.Rel(".", *target.Output)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+					outputPath = filepath.Join(environment.GetWorkingDirectory(), outputPath)
+					if outputPath == releasePath {
+						targetIsMatched = true
+					}
+				}
+
+				if targetIsMatched {
+					if source, ok := workflow.Sources[target.Source]; ok && source.Registry != nil {
+						sources = append(sources, target.Source)
+					}
+
+					if target.CodeSamples != nil && target.CodeSamples.Registry != nil {
+						targets = append(targets, name)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (len(sources) > 0 || len(targets) > 0) && branch != "" {
+		return cli.Tag([]string{branch}, sources, targets)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/actions/runWorkflow.go b/internal/actions/runWorkflow.go
index 72fef9d..7146eab 100644
--- a/internal/actions/runWorkflow.go
+++ b/internal/actions/runWorkflow.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v63/github"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action/internal/versionbumps"
 	"github.com/speakeasy-api/versioning-reports/versioning"
 
@@ -282,12 +283,13 @@ func finalize(inputs finalizeInputs) error {
 			}
 		}
 
+		inputs.Outputs["commit_hash"] = commitHash
+
 		// add merging branch registry tag
 		if err = addDirectModeBranchTagging(); err != nil {
-			logging.Debug("failed to tag registry images: %v", err)
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to tag registry images")
 		}
 
-		inputs.Outputs["commit_hash"] = commitHash
 	}
 
 	return nil
@@ -302,18 +304,29 @@ func addDirectModeBranchTagging() error {
 	branch := strings.TrimPrefix(os.Getenv("GITHUB_REF"), "refs/heads/")
 
 	var sources, targets []string
+	// the tagging library treats targets synonymously with code samples
 	if specificTarget := environment.SpecifiedTarget(); specificTarget != "" {
-		if target, ok := wf.Targets[environment.SpecifiedTarget()]; ok {
-			sources = append(sources, target.Source)
-			targets = append(targets, specificTarget)
+		if target, ok := wf.Targets[specificTarget]; ok {
+			if source, ok := wf.Sources[target.Source]; ok && source.Registry != nil {
+				sources = append(sources, target.Source)
+			}
+
+			if target.CodeSamples != nil && target.CodeSamples.Registry != nil {
+				targets = append(targets, specificTarget)
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		for name, target := range wf.Targets {
-			sources = append(sources, target.Source)
-			targets = append(targets, name)
+			if source, ok := wf.Sources[target.Source]; ok && source.Registry != nil {
+				sources = append(sources, target.Source)
+			}
+
+			if target.CodeSamples != nil && target.CodeSamples.Registry != nil {
+				targets = append(targets, name)
+			}
 		}
 	}
-	if len(sources) > 0 && len(targets) > 0 && branch != "" {
+	if (len(sources) > 0 || len(targets) > 0) && branch != "" {
 		return cli.Tag([]string{branch}, sources, targets)
 	}