diff --git a/scripts/make-release.sh b/scripts/make-release.sh
index 4f98b51..4943f94 100755
--- a/scripts/make-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/make-release.sh
@@ -4,27 +4,23 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-# -- Step 0: Determine bump type --
-BUMP_TYPE="${1:-patch}" # default to 'patch' if not set: patch|minor|major
+# 1. Figure out the bump type
+BUMP_TYPE="${1:-patch}" # one of: patch, minor, major
 
-# -- Step 1: Read current version from Cargo.toml --
+# 2. Get the current version from Cargo.toml
 CURRENT_VERSION="$(cargo pkgid | cut -d# -f2 | cut -d: -f2)"
 echo "Current Cargo version: $CURRENT_VERSION"
 
-# Validate version format
-if ! echo "$CURRENT_VERSION" | grep -qE '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'; then
-    echo "Error: Invalid version format in Cargo.toml. Expected format: X.Y.Z"
+# Quick format check (X.Y.Z)
+if ! [[ "$CURRENT_VERSION" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+    echo "Error: Invalid version format in Cargo.toml ($CURRENT_VERSION). Expected X.Y.Z"
     exit 1
 fi
 
-# Split into semver parts and validate
+# Split out version parts
 IFS='.' read -r MAJOR MINOR PATCH <<<"$CURRENT_VERSION"
-if ! [[ "$MAJOR" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || ! [[ "$MINOR" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || ! [[ "$PATCH" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-    echo "Error: Version components must be valid numbers"
-    exit 1
-fi
 
-# -- Step 2: Bump version accordingly --
+# 3. Increment accordingly
 case "$BUMP_TYPE" in
 major)
     MAJOR=$((MAJOR + 1))
@@ -47,32 +43,33 @@ esac
 NEW_VERSION="${MAJOR}.${MINOR}.${PATCH}"
 echo "Bumping version to: $NEW_VERSION"
 
-# -- Step 3: Update CHANGELOG.md using git-cliff --
-git-cliff --config cliff.toml --tag "v${NEW_VERSION}" --output CHANGELOG.md
+# 4. Generate/Update CHANGELOG using cargo-cliff
+#    Make sure cargo-cliff is installed (cargo install cargo-cliff)
+cargo cliff --tag "v${NEW_VERSION}" --output CHANGELOG.md
 
-# -- Step 4: Update Cargo.toml version --
+# 5. Update Cargo.toml
 sed -i.bak "s/^version *= *\"${CURRENT_VERSION}\"/version = \"${NEW_VERSION}\"/" Cargo.toml
 rm -f Cargo.toml.bak
 
-# -- Step 5: Build artifacts and compute SHA --
-make build-artifacts
+# 6. Update Cargo.lock (so that if your package references itself, it's updated)
+cargo update -p "$(cargo pkgid | sed 's|.*#||')"
 
-# -- Step 6: Stage all changes --
-git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock CHANGELOG.md .gitignore
-
-# -- Step 7: Amend the last commit with version bump changes --
-if git log -1 --pretty=%B | grep -q "^release: v"; then
-    # If the last commit is already a release commit, amend it
-    git commit --amend --no-edit
-else
-    # Create a new release commit
-    git commit -m "release: v${NEW_VERSION}"
+# 7. Commit changes
+git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock CHANGELOG.md
+if git diff --cached --quiet; then
+    echo "No changes to commit. Exiting."
+    exit 0
 fi
 
-# -- Step 8: Tag and push --
-git tag -f "v${NEW_VERSION}" # -f in case we're amending and the tag exists
-git push -f origin HEAD      # Push current branch, not necessarily main
-git push -f origin "v${NEW_VERSION}"
+git commit -m "release: v${NEW_VERSION}"
+
+# 8. Tag the commit (annotated)
+git tag -a "v${NEW_VERSION}" -m "release: v${NEW_VERSION}"
 
-echo "Done. Pushed tag v${NEW_VERSION}."
-echo "CI should trigger on that tag to build & publish a release."
+echo
+echo "Local release commit and tag v${NEW_VERSION} created."
+echo "Review your changes, then push if desired:"
+echo "  git push origin HEAD"
+echo "  git push origin v${NEW_VERSION}"
+echo
+echo "Done."