diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 452f17e..5a88dda 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,13 +1,4 @@
 VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty=-dev | sed 's/^v//g')
-PREFIX ?= ~/bin
-
-bump: ## update version and tag commit
-	@echo "bumping to version => $(VERSION)"
-	@sed -i 's/__version__ = ".*"/__version__ = "$(VERSION)"/g' src/viv/viv.py
-	@git add src/viv/viv.py && git commit -m "chore: bump version" --no-verify
-	@git tag v$(VERSION)
-	@git tag -d latest || true
-	@git tag latest
 
 venv: ## generate environment
 	pdm install
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 03df2e1..31bdccb 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ def docs(session):
         session.run("mkdocs", "build")
 
 
+@nox.session
+def release(session):
+    session.run("./scripts/release.py", external=True)
+
+
 # @nox.session(
 #     python=["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11"]
 # )
diff --git a/scripts/bump-dev.sh b/scripts/bump-dev.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 4c25a17..0000000
--- a/scripts/bump-dev.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env sh
-TAG=$(git describe --tags --always --dirty=-dev --exclude 'latest')
-VERSION="${TAG#v}"
-sed -i "s/__version__ = \".*\"/__version__ = \"$VERSION\"/g" src/viv/viv.py
diff --git a/scripts/release.py b/scripts/release.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..233cf8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from datetime import datetime
+from pathlib import Path
+
+FILE = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "src/viv/viv.py"
+
+
+def get_version():
+    return subprocess.check_output(
+        [
+            "git",
+            "describe",
+            "--tags",
+            "--always",
+            "--dirty=-dev",
+            "--exclude",
+            "latest",
+        ],
+        text=True,
+    )
+
+
+def inc_build(build):
+    """increment build number while keeping lexicographic order
+    1001 -> 1002
+    1999 -> 22000
+    22001 -> 22002
+    """
+    next = str(int(build) + 1)
+    return next if build[0] <= next[0] else f"{int(next[0])*11}{next[1:]}"
+
+
+def release():
+    full = get_version()
+    if full.endswith("-dev"):
+        print("uncommitted changes refusing to proceed")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # remove v and git info
+    current = full[1:].split("-")[0]
+    _, build = current.split(".")
+    next = f"{datetime.now().year}.{inc_build(build)}"
+    msg = f"bump {current} -> {next}"
+    FILE.write_text(
+        re.sub(r'__version__ = "[\d\.]+"', f'__version__ = "{next}"', FILE.read_text())
+    )
+    subprocess.run(["git", "add", FILE])
+    subprocess.run(["git", "commit", "-m", msg, "--no-verify"])
+    subprocess.run(["git", "tag", f"v{next}"])
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    release()