diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 764b2df..ab6b527 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
           TAG="${{ github.event.inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}"
           API="${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/releases"
 
-          PREV_TAG=$(git tag --sort=-version:refname | grep -v "^${TAG}$" | head -1)
+          PREV_TAG=$(git tag --sort=-version:refname | { grep -v "^${TAG}$" || true; } | head -1)
           if [ -n "$PREV_TAG" ]; then
             RANGE="${PREV_TAG}..${TAG}"
           else
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8ebfd9c..0b33838 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ APP     := pgtidy
 CMD     := ./cmd/pgtidy
 DIST    := dist
 
-.PHONY: build test lint vet fmt clean release snapshot vscode-compile vscode-package
+.PHONY: build test lint vet fmt clean release release-version snapshot vscode-compile vscode-package
 
 ## build: compile binary for the current platform
 build:
@@ -32,9 +32,22 @@ clean:
 snapshot:
 	goreleaser release --snapshot --clean
 
-## release: tag and publish a GitHub release (requires GITHUB_TOKEN + goreleaser)
+## release: auto-increment patch version, update package files, tag, and push
 release:
-	goreleaser release --clean
+	@CURRENT=$$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "v0.0.0"); \
+	MAJOR=$$(echo $$CURRENT | sed 's/v\([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\).*/\1/'); \
+	MINOR=$$(echo $$CURRENT | sed 's/v\([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\).*/\2/'); \
+	PATCH=$$(echo $$CURRENT | sed 's/v\([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\).*/\3/'); \
+	NEXT="v$$MAJOR.$$MINOR.$$((PATCH + 1))"; \
+	PKGVER="$$MAJOR.$$MINOR.$$((PATCH + 1))"; \
+	echo "Current: $$CURRENT → Next: $$NEXT"; \
+	sed -i "s/^pkgver=.*/pkgver=$$PKGVER/" linux/arch/PKGBUILD; \
+	sed -i "s/^Version:.*/Version:        $$PKGVER/" linux/centos/pgtidy.spec; \
+	git add linux/arch/PKGBUILD linux/centos/pgtidy.spec; \
+	git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to $$PKGVER"; \
+	git tag -a "$$NEXT" -m "Release $$NEXT"; \
+	git push origin HEAD "$$NEXT"; \
+	echo "Pushed $$NEXT — release workflow triggered"
 
 ## vscode-compile: compile the VSCode extension TypeScript
 vscode-compile: