limitless-angular
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-and-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/release-and-publish.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ on:
         description: 'Version to publish (optional - will use conventional commits if not specified)'
         required: false
         default: ''
+      prerelease:
+        description: 'Infer or coerce the release as a next prerelease'
+        required: false
+        default: false
+        type: boolean
       verbose:
         description: 'Enable verbose logging'
         required: false
@@ -74,11 +79,15 @@ jobs:
           NPM_CONFIG_PROVENANCE: true
           RELEASE_VERBOSE: ${{ inputs.verbose }}
           RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+          RELEASE_PRERELEASE: ${{ inputs.prerelease }}
         run: |
           ARGS=()
           if [ -n "$RELEASE_VERSION" ]; then
             ARGS+=(--version "$RELEASE_VERSION")
           fi
+          if [ "$RELEASE_PRERELEASE" = "true" ]; then
+            ARGS+=(--prerelease)
+          fi
           if [ "$RELEASE_VERBOSE" = "true" ]; then
             ARGS+=(--verbose)
           fi
@@ -89,7 +98,9 @@ jobs:
         if: always()
         env:
           RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+          RELEASE_PRERELEASE: ${{ inputs.prerelease }}
         run: |
           echo "## Release Process Summary" > "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
           echo "- Mode: publish" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
           echo "- Version input: ${RELEASE_VERSION:-conventional commits}" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+          echo "- Prerelease: ${RELEASE_PRERELEASE}" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml b/.github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ on:
         description: 'Version to validate (optional - will use conventional commits if not specified)'
         required: false
         default: ''
+      prerelease:
+        description: 'Infer or coerce the release as a next prerelease'
+        required: false
+        default: false
+        type: boolean
       verbose:
         description: 'Enable verbose logging'
         required: false
@@ -64,11 +69,15 @@ jobs:
         env:
           RELEASE_VERBOSE: ${{ inputs.verbose }}
           RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+          RELEASE_PRERELEASE: ${{ inputs.prerelease }}
         run: |
           ARGS=()
           if [ -n "$RELEASE_VERSION" ]; then
             ARGS+=(--version "$RELEASE_VERSION")
           fi
+          if [ "$RELEASE_PRERELEASE" = "true" ]; then
+            ARGS+=(--prerelease)
+          fi
           if [ "$RELEASE_VERBOSE" = "true" ]; then
             ARGS+=(--verbose)
           fi
@@ -79,7 +88,9 @@ jobs:
         if: always()
         env:
           RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+          RELEASE_PRERELEASE: ${{ inputs.prerelease }}
         run: |
           echo "## Release Dry Run Summary" > "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
           echo "- Mode: dry-run" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
           echo "- Version input: ${RELEASE_VERSION:-conventional commits}" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+          echo "- Prerelease: ${RELEASE_PRERELEASE}" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
diff --git a/tools/release/README.md b/tools/release/README.md
@@ -11,20 +11,28 @@ Plan a release without changing files:
 ```bash
 pnpm run release:plan --version patch
 pnpm run release:plan --version 19.3.0 --json
+pnpm run release:plan --prerelease
 ```
 
 Validate a prospective release without publishing:
 
 ```bash
 pnpm run release:dry-run --version patch
+pnpm run release:dry-run --prerelease
 ```
 
 Publish a release:
 
 ```bash
 pnpm turbo run release:publish --filter=@limitless-angular/release-tools -- --version patch
+pnpm turbo run release:publish --filter=@limitless-angular/release-tools -- --prerelease
 ```
 
+Prerelease mode infers the release level from conventional commits and uses the
+`next` prerelease identifier. For example, a feature-level release from
+`19.2.0` becomes `19.3.0-next.0`; the next prerelease in that train becomes
+`19.3.0-next.1`.
+
 ## Pipeline
 
 Both dry-run and publish mode use the same release pipeline:
@@ -40,6 +48,10 @@ Both dry-run and publish mode use the same release pipeline:
 8. In publish mode only, commit, tag, publish the tarball to npm, push the
    release commit and tag, and create the GitHub release.
 
+Prerelease versions are published to npm with the `next` dist-tag and their
+GitHub releases are marked as prereleases. Stable versions use npm's `latest`
+dist-tag.
+
 Dry-run mode restores `packages/sanity/package.json` and
 `packages/sanity/CHANGELOG.md` after validation. The packed tarball remains under
 `.compat/artifacts` so maintainers can inspect the exact candidate artifact.

diff --git a/tools/release/cli.mjs b/tools/release/cli.mjs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export function runCli(args = hideBin(process.argv)) {
         }),
       (argv) => {
         const plan = createReleasePlan({
+          prerelease: argv.prerelease,
           versionSpecifier: argv.version,
         });
 
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ export function runCli(args = hideBin(process.argv)) {
       (argv) =>
         runReleasePipeline({
           mode: argv.mode,
+          prerelease: argv.prerelease,
           verbose: argv.verbose,
           versionSpecifier: argv.version,
         }),
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ export function runCli(args = hideBin(process.argv)) {
       (argv) =>
         runReleasePipeline({
           mode: releaseModes.dryRun,
+          prerelease: argv.prerelease,
           verbose: argv.verbose,
           versionSpecifier: argv.version,
         }),
@@ -71,6 +74,7 @@ export function runCli(args = hideBin(process.argv)) {
       (argv) =>
         runReleasePipeline({
           mode: releaseModes.publish,
+          prerelease: argv.prerelease,
           verbose: argv.verbose,
           versionSpecifier: argv.version,
         }),
@@ -91,11 +95,18 @@ function addPipelineOptions(command) {
 }
 
 function addVersionOption(command) {
-  return command.option('version', {
-    describe:
-      'Explicit semver version or semver increment to release, such as 19.3.0, patch, minor, or major.',
-    type: 'string',
-  });
+  return command
+    .option('version', {
+      describe:
+        'Explicit semver version or semver increment to release, such as 19.3.0, patch, minor, or major.',
+      type: 'string',
+    })
+    .option('prerelease', {
+      default: false,
+      describe:
+        'Infer or coerce the planned version to a next prerelease, such as 19.3.0-next.0.',
+      type: 'boolean',
+    });
 }
 
 if (

diff --git a/tools/release/src/pipeline.mjs b/tools/release/src/pipeline.mjs
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ export function runReleasePipeline(options = {}) {
     capture: commandCapture,
     now: options.now,
     paths: options.paths,
+    prerelease: options.prerelease,
     versionSpecifier: options.versionSpecifier,
   });
   let snapshot;
@@ -88,7 +89,10 @@ export function runReleasePipeline(options = {}) {
     if (mode === releaseModes.publish) {
       publishSideEffectsStarted = true;
       commitRelease(plan, { run: commandRun });
-      publishTarball(artifact.tarballPath, { run: commandRun });
+      publishTarball(artifact.tarballPath, {
+        npmDistTag: plan.npmDistTag,
+        run: commandRun,
+      });
       pushRelease({ run: commandRun });
       createGitHubRelease(plan, { env: options.env, run: commandRun });
     }

diff --git a/tools/release/src/pipeline.test.mjs b/tools/release/src/pipeline.test.mjs
@@ -106,6 +106,61 @@ test('publish mode validates before starting release side effects', () => {
   }
 });
 
+test('publish mode tags npm and GitHub prereleases', () => {
+  const fixture = createReleaseFixture();
+  const commands = [];
+
+  try {
+    const result = runReleasePipeline({
+      artifact: {
+        readTarballPackageJson() {
+          return {
+            name: '@limitless-angular/sanity',
+            version: '1.1.0-next.0',
+          };
+        },
+        tarballPath: '/tmp/release.tgz',
+      },
+      capture: createCapture({
+        gitLog:
+          'abc1234\x01feat(sanity): add release validation\x01\x01Alfonso\x02',
+      }),
+      env: { GITHUB_TOKEN: 'token' },
+      mode: releaseModes.publish,
+      now: new Date('2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z'),
+      paths: fixture.paths,
+      prerelease: true,
+      run: recordCommand(commands),
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(result.published, true);
+    assert.equal(result.plan.nextVersion, '1.1.0-next.0');
+    assert.equal(result.plan.npmDistTag, 'next');
+
+    const npmPublish = commands.find(
+      ({ command, args }) => command === 'npm' && args[0] === 'publish',
+    );
+    assert.deepEqual(npmPublish?.args, [
+      'publish',
+      '/tmp/release.tgz',
+      '--access',
+      'public',
+      '--registry',
+      'https://registry.npmjs.org',
+      '--tag',
+      'next',
+    ]);
+
+    const githubRelease = commands.find(
+      ({ command, args }) =>
+        command === 'gh' && args[0] === 'release' && args[1] === 'create',
+    );
+    assert.ok(githubRelease?.args.includes('--prerelease'));
+  } finally {
+    fixture.cleanup();
+  }
+});
+
 test('artifact version mismatch fails before publish side effects', () => {
   const fixture = createReleaseFixture();
   const commands = [];
@@ -159,14 +214,14 @@ function createReleaseFixture() {
   };
 }
 
-function createCapture() {
+function createCapture({ gitLog = '' } = {}) {
   return (command, args) => {
     if (command === 'git' && args[0] === 'rev-parse') {
       return '';
     }
 
     if (command === 'git' && args[0] === 'log') {
-      return '';
+      return gitLog;
     }
 
     throw new Error(`Unexpected command: ${command} ${args.join(' ')}`);