diff --git a/.github/workflows/create_rc.yml b/.github/workflows/create_rc.yml
index 9cf011e07e..0f75a00b11 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create_rc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create_rc.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@ on:
           - true
           - false
 
+env:
+  CACHE_REGISTRY: ghcr.io
+  CACHE_REPO: linode/apl-core
+  REPO: linode/apl-core
+  DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_LINODEBOT_TOKEN }}
+  DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_LINODEBOT_USERNAME }}
+  DEV_KUBECONFIG_64: ${{ secrets.DEV_KUBECONFIG }}
+  BOT_EMAIL: ${{ vars.BOT_EMAIL }}
+  BOT_USERNAME: ${{ vars.BOT_USERNAME }}
+
 jobs:
   create_patch_release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
@@ -27,24 +37,16 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Determine commit from where to create the RC
-        id: determine_commit
-        run: |
-          if [ -n "${{ github.event.inputs.rc_commit_sha }}" ]; then
-            commit_sha="${{ github.event.inputs.rc_commit_sha }}"
-            echo "Using provided commit sha: $commit_sha"
-            echo "commit_sha=$commit_sha" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          else
-            commit_sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
-            echo "No commit sha provided, using the latest commit on main: $commit_sha"
-            echo "commit_sha=$commit_sha" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          fi
+          # Checkout inputs.rc_commit_sha or main if not provided
+          ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.rc_commit_sha || 'main' }}
 
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: '20'
 
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
           npm install standard-version
@@ -53,17 +55,51 @@ jobs:
         id: create_release
         env:
           DRY_RUN: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run }}
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          COMMIT_SHA: ${{ env.commit_sha }}
-          BOT_EMAIL: ${{ vars.BOT_EMAIL }}
-          BOT_USERNAME: ${{ vars.BOT_USERNAME }}
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.BOT_TOKEN }}
+          COMMIT_SHA: ${{ github.event.inputs.rc_commit_sha || 'main' }}
         run: |
           ci/scripts/create_rc.sh
 
+      - name: Set environment variables
+        run: |
+          TAG=v$( jq -r '.version' package.json)
+          echo "Creating TAG: $TAG"
+          echo "TAG=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          git config --global user.email $BOT_EMAIL
+          git config --global user.name $BOT_USERNAME
+
+      - name: Login to Github Packages
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.CACHE_REGISTRY }}
+          username: ${{ env.BOT_USERNAME }}
+          password: '${{ secrets.BOT_TOKEN }}'
+
+      - name: CI tests, image build and push tag rc branch
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run == 'false' }}
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+        with:
+          push: true
+          context: .
+          tags: |
+            ${{ env.CACHE_REGISTRY }}/${{ env.CACHE_REPO }}:${{ env.TAG }}
+
+      - name: Push to docker hub
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run == 'false' }}
+        id: push-to-docker
+        run: |
+          set -u
+          docker login ghcr.io -u $BOT_USERNAME -p ${{ secrets.BOT_TOKEN }}
+          image="$CACHE_REGISTRY/$CACHE_REPO:${{ env.TAG }}"
+          docker pull $image
+          docker tag $image $REPO:${{ env.TAG }}
+          docker login -u $DOCKER_USERNAME -p $DOCKER_PASSWORD
+          docker push $REPO:${{ env.TAG }}
+
+      # - name: Deploy to staging // TODO: support staging env
+      #   run: ci/scripts/trigger_dev.sh
+
       - name: Prepare chart
-        env:
-          BOT_EMAIL: ${{ vars.BOT_EMAIL }}
-          BOT_USERNAME: ${{ vars.BOT_USERNAME }}
         id: prepare_chart
         run: |
           ci/scripts/prepare_chart_for_release.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 8aa497b2ff..b0355729c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - '**'
+      - '!rc/**'
     tags-ignore:
       - '*'
 env:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/patch_rc.yml b/.github/workflows/patch_rc.yml
index 4fd0ac7a88..bb75671020 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/patch_rc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/patch_rc.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
           git -P log --pretty=format:"%s" "${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD"
           COMMITS=$(git log --pretty=format:"%s" "${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD")
 
-          if [[ $COMMITS == *"feat:"* || $COMMITS == *"fix:"* ]]; then
+          if [[ $COMMITS == *"feat:"* || $COMMITS == *"fix:"* || $COMMITS == *"chore(versions):"*]]; then
             echo "RC_RELEASE=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           else
             echo "No feat/fix commits found. Skipping release."
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 38cbc67d1f..14aeaec4e2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -168,11 +168,6 @@
     "bootstrap-dev-with-repo": "CI=1 ENV_DIR=/tmp/otomi-bootstrap-dev binzx/otomi bootstrap",
     "bootstrap-tests-fixtures": "CI=1 ENV_DIR=$PWD/tests/fixtures binzx/otomi bootstrap"
   },
-  "standard-version": {
-    "skip": {
-      "tag": true
-    }
-  },
   "type": "commonjs",
   "version": "4.6.0"
 }