diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index 3dda43b0..be6329b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ on:
 
 env:
   GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+  GO_VERSION: "1.20"
 
 jobs:
   validate:
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
           go-version-file: "./go.mod"
+          go-version: "${{ env.GO_VERSION }}"
+          cache: true
 
       - name: ${{ matrix.target }}
         run: make ${{ matrix.target }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 7d5774db..ce61cb0a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ on:
 env:
   REGISTRY: ghcr.io
   IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}
-  GO_VERSION: '1.20'
+  GO_VERSION: "1.20"
+
+permissions:
+  packages: write
+  contents: write
 
 jobs:
   image:
@@ -15,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        target: [bootsrap, controlplane]
+        target: [bootstrap, controlplane]
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
@@ -46,7 +50,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ matrix.target }}-${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
+          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}-${{ matrix.target }}
           flavor: latest=false
           tags: type=ref,event=tag
 
@@ -71,6 +75,7 @@ jobs:
           push: true
           build-args: |
             LDFLAGS=${{ env.DOCKER_BUILD_LDFLAGS }}
+            package=./${{ matrix.target }}/main.go
           tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
           labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
           platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
@@ -93,7 +98,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-      - uses: ./.github/actions/setup-go
+      - name: Set release
+        run: echo "RELEASE_TAG=${GITHUB_REF:10}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v4
+        with:
+          go-version: "${{ env.GO_VERSION }}"
+          cache: true
 
       - uses: actions/cache@v3
         with:
@@ -108,25 +119,17 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
+          images: |
+            ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}-controlplane
+            ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}-bootstrap
           flavor: latest=false
           tags: type=ref,event=tag
 
       - name: manifest
-        run: make release-${{ matrix.target }}
-        env:
-          TAG: ${{ fromJSON(steps.meta.outputs.json).labels['org.opencontainers.image.version'] }}
+        run: make release
 
-      - name: Generate Release Notes
-        run: |
-          release_notes=$(gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/generate-notes -F tag_name=${{ github.ref }} --jq .body)
-          echo 'RELEASE_NOTES<<EOF' >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "${release_notes}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo 'EOF' >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          OWNER: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
-          REPO: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
+      - name: manifest
+        run: make release-notes
 
       - name: Create Release
         id: create_release
@@ -134,7 +137,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         with:
-          files: out/release/*
-          body: ${{ env.RELEASE_NOTES }}
-          draft: false
-          prerelease: false
\ No newline at end of file
+          files: out/*
+          body_path: _releasenotes/${{ env.RELEASE_TAG }}.md
+          draft: true
+          prerelease: false
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fb2298aa..2d1dd766 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@
 # Output of the go coverage tool, specifically when used with LiteIDE
 *.out
 
-# Dependency directories (remove the comment below to include it)
-# vendor/
-
-
 bin/
-out/
\ No newline at end of file
+out/
+_releasenotes
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 6443ed30..9e415379 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,15 +1,22 @@
-# Build the manager binary
-# Run this with docker build --build-arg builder_image=<golang:x.y.z>
-ARG builder_image
+# Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
 
-# Build architecture
-ARG ARCH
+# Build the manager binary
+FROM --platform=${BUILDPLATFORM} docker.io/library/golang:1.20.7 as build
+ARG TARGETOS TARGETARCH
+ARG package
 
-# Ignore Hadolint rule "Always tag the version of an image explicitly."
-# It's an invalid finding since the image is explicitly set in the Makefile.
-# https://github.com/hadolint/hadolint/wiki/DL3006
-# hadolint ignore=DL3006
-FROM ${builder_image} as builder
 WORKDIR /workspace
 
 # Run this with docker build --build-arg goproxy=$(go env GOPROXY) to override the goproxy
@@ -34,22 +41,15 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
     go build ./bootstrap/main.go
 
-# Build
-ARG package=.
-ARG ARCH
-ARG ldflags
-
-# Do not force rebuild of up-to-date packages (do not use -a) and use the compiler cache folder
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
-    --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
-    CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GOARCH=${ARCH} \
-    go build -trimpath -ldflags "${ldflags} -extldflags '-static'" \
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg \
+    GOOS=${TARGETOS} GOARCH=${TARGETARCH} CGO_ENABLED=0 \
+    go build -ldflags "${LDFLAGS} -extldflags '-static'" \
     -o manager ${package}
 
-# Production image
-FROM gcr.io/distroless/static:nonroot-${ARCH}
+FROM --platform=${BUILDPLATFORM} gcr.io/distroless/static:nonroot
 WORKDIR /
-COPY --from=builder /workspace/manager .
+COPY --from=build /workspace/manager .
 # Use uid of nonroot user (65532) because kubernetes expects numeric user when applying pod security policies
 USER 65532
-ENTRYPOINT ["/manager"]
+ENTRYPOINT ["/manager"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5f6a0aa6..67e36aef 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ SHELL:=/usr/bin/env bash
 
 .DEFAULT_GOAL:=help
 
-GO_VERSION ?= 1.20.6
+GO_VERSION ?= 1.20.7
 GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE ?= docker.io/library/golang:$(GO_VERSION)
 
 ARCH ?= $(shell go env GOARCH)
@@ -90,6 +90,32 @@ KUSTOMIZE_VER := v4.0.4
 KUSTOMIZE_BIN := kustomize
 KUSTOMIZE := $(TOOLS_BIN_DIR)/$(KUSTOMIZE_BIN)-$(KUSTOMIZE_VER)
 
+## --------------------------------------
+## Release
+## --------------------------------------
+
+##@ release:
+
+## latest git tag for the commit, e.g., v0.3.10
+RELEASE_TAG ?= $(shell git describe --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null)
+ifneq (,$(findstring -,$(RELEASE_TAG)))
+    PRE_RELEASE=true
+endif
+# the previous release tag, e.g., v0.3.9, excluding pre-release tags
+PREVIOUS_TAG ?= $(shell git tag -l | grep -E "^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$$" | sort -V | grep -B1 $(RELEASE_TAG) | head -n 1 2>/dev/null)
+## set by Prow, ref name of the base branch, e.g., main
+RELEASE_ALIAS_TAG := $(PULL_BASE_REF)
+RELEASE_DIR := out
+RELEASE_NOTES_DIR := _releasenotes
+
+.PHONY: $(RELEASE_DIR)
+$(RELEASE_DIR):
+	mkdir -p $(RELEASE_DIR)/
+
+.PHONY: $(RELEASE_NOTES_DIR)
+$(RELEASE_NOTES_DIR):
+	mkdir -p $(RELEASE_NOTES_DIR)/
+
 
 all-bootstrap: manager-bootstrap
 
@@ -122,10 +148,9 @@ deploy-bootstrap: manifests-bootstrap
 manifests-bootstrap: $(KUSTOMIZE) $(CONTROLLER_GEN)
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) rbac:roleName=manager-role crd webhook paths="./..." output:crd:artifacts:config=bootstrap/config/crd/bases output:rbac:dir=bootstrap/config/rbac
 
-release-bootstrap: manifests-bootstrap ## Release bootstrap
-	mkdir -p out
+release-bootstrap:$(RELEASE_DIR) manifests-bootstrap ## Release bootstrap
 	cd bootstrap/config/manager && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image controller=${BOOTSTRAP_IMG}
-	$(KUSTOMIZE) build bootstrap/config/default > out/bootstrap-components.yaml
+	$(KUSTOMIZE) build bootstrap/config/default > $(RELEASE_DIR)/bootstrap-components.yaml
 
 # Generate code
 generate-bootstrap: $(CONTROLLER_GEN)
@@ -133,7 +158,7 @@ generate-bootstrap: $(CONTROLLER_GEN)
 
 # Build the docker image
 docker-build-bootstrap: manager-bootstrap ## Build bootstrap
-	DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg builder_image=$(GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE) --build-arg goproxy=$(GOPROXY) --build-arg ARCH=$(ARCH) --build-arg package=./bootstrap/main.go --build-arg ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" . -t ${BOOTSTRAP_IMG}
+	DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg builder_image=$(GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE) --build-arg goproxy=$(GOPROXY) --build-arg TARGETARCH=$(ARCH) --build-arg package=./bootstrap/main.go --build-arg ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" . -t ${BOOTSTRAP_IMG}
 
 # Push the docker image
 docker-push-bootstrap: ## Push bootstrap
@@ -170,21 +195,29 @@ deploy-controlplane: manifests-controlplane
 manifests-controlplane: $(KUSTOMIZE) $(CONTROLLER_GEN)
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) rbac:roleName=manager-role webhook crd paths="./..." output:crd:artifacts:config=controlplane/config/crd/bases output:rbac:dir=controlplane/config/rbac
 
-release-controlplane: manifests-controlplane ## Release control-plane
-	mkdir -p out
+release-controlplane: $(RELEASE_DIR) manifests-controlplane ## Release control-plane
 	cd controlplane/config/manager && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image controller=${CONTROLPLANE_IMG}
-	$(KUSTOMIZE) build controlplane/config/default > out/control-plane-components.yaml
+	$(KUSTOMIZE) build controlplane/config/default > $(RELEASE_DIR)/control-plane-components.yaml
 
 generate-controlplane: $(CONTROLLER_GEN)
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) object:headerFile="hack/boilerplate.go.txt" paths="$(shell pwd)/controlplane/..." 
 
 docker-build-controlplane: manager-controlplane ## Build control-plane
-	DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg builder_image=$(GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE) --build-arg goproxy=$(GOPROXY) --build-arg ARCH=$(ARCH) --build-arg package=./controlplane/main.go --build-arg ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" . -t ${CONTROLPLANE_IMG}
+	DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg builder_image=$(GO_CONTAINER_IMAGE) --build-arg goproxy=$(GOPROXY) --build-arg TARGETARCH=$(ARCH) --build-arg package=./controlplane/main.go --build-arg ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" . -t ${CONTROLPLANE_IMG}
 
 docker-push-controlplane: ## Push control-plane
 	docker push ${CONTROLPLANE_IMG}
 
 release: release-bootstrap release-controlplane
+
+.PHONY: release-notes
+release-notes: $(RELEASE_NOTES_DIR) $(RELEASE_NOTES)
+	if [ -n "${PRE_RELEASE}" ]; then \
+	echo ":rotating_light: This is a RELEASE CANDIDATE. Use it only for testing purposes. If you find any bugs, file an [issue](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api/issues/new)." > $(RELEASE_NOTES_DIR)/$(RELEASE_TAG).md; \
+	else \
+	go run ./hack/tools/release/notes.go --from=$(PREVIOUS_TAG) > $(RELEASE_NOTES_DIR)/$(RELEASE_TAG).md; \
+	fi
+
 ## --------------------------------------
 ## Help
 ## --------------------------------------
diff --git a/hack/tools/release/notes.go b/hack/tools/release/notes.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..47857121
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/tools/release/notes.go
@@ -0,0 +1,519 @@
+//go:build tools
+// +build tools
+
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// main is the main package for the release notes generator.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+/*
+This tool prints all the titles of all PRs from previous release to HEAD.
+This needs to be run *before* a tag is created.
+
+Use these as the base of your release notes.
+*/
+
+const (
+	features      = ":sparkles: New Features"
+	bugs          = ":bug: Bug Fixes"
+	documentation = ":book: Documentation"
+	proposals     = ":memo: Proposals"
+	warning       = ":warning: Breaking Changes"
+	other         = ":seedling: Others"
+	unknown       = ":question: Sort these by hand"
+)
+
+var (
+	outputOrder = []string{
+		proposals,
+		warning,
+		features,
+		bugs,
+		other,
+		documentation,
+		unknown,
+	}
+
+	repo = flag.String("repository", "kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api", "The repo to run the tool from.")
+
+	fromTag = flag.String("from", "", "The tag or commit to start from.")
+
+	since      = flag.String("since", "", "Include commits starting from and including this date. Accepts format: YYYY-MM-DD")
+	until      = flag.String("until", "", "Include commits up to and including this date. Accepts format: YYYY-MM-DD")
+	numWorkers = flag.Int("workers", 10, "Number of concurrent routines to process PR entries. If running into GitHub rate limiting, use 1.")
+
+	prefixAreaLabel = flag.Bool("prefix-area-label", true, "If enabled, will prefix the area label.")
+
+	addKubernetesVersionSupport = flag.Bool("add-kubernetes-version-support", true, "If enabled, will add the Kubernetes version support header.")
+
+	tagRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^\[release-[\w-\.]*\]`)
+
+	userFriendlyAreas = map[string]string{
+		"e2e-testing":                       "e2e",
+		"provider/control-plane-kubeadm":    "KCP",
+		"provider/infrastructure-docker":    "CAPD",
+		"dependency":                        "Dependency",
+		"devtools":                          "Devtools",
+		"machine":                           "Machine",
+		"api":                               "API",
+		"machinepool":                       "MachinePool",
+		"clustercachetracker":               "ClusterCacheTracker",
+		"clusterclass":                      "ClusterClass",
+		"testing":                           "Testing",
+		"release":                           "Release",
+		"machineset":                        "MachineSet",
+		"clusterresourceset":                "ClusterResourceSet",
+		"machinedeployment":                 "MachineDeployment",
+		"ipam":                              "IPAM",
+		"provider/bootstrap-kubeadm":        "CAPBK",
+		"provider/infrastructure-in-memory": "CAPIM",
+		"provider/core":                     "Core",
+		"runtime-sdk":                       "Runtime SDK",
+		"ci":                                "CI",
+	}
+
+	releaseBackportMarker = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^\[release-\d\.\d\]\s*`)
+)
+
+func main() {
+	flag.Parse()
+	os.Exit(run())
+}
+
+func lastTag() string {
+	if fromTag != nil && *fromTag != "" {
+		return *fromTag
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command("git", "describe", "--tags", "--abbrev=0")
+	out, err := cmd.Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		return firstCommit()
+	}
+	return string(bytes.TrimSpace(out))
+}
+
+func firstCommit() string {
+	cmd := exec.Command("git", "rev-list", "--max-parents=0", "HEAD")
+	out, err := cmd.Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "UNKNOWN"
+	}
+	return string(bytes.TrimSpace(out))
+}
+
+// Since git doesn't include the last day in rev-list we want to increase 1 day to include it in the interval.
+func increaseDateByOneDay(date string) (string, error) {
+	layout := "2006-01-02"
+	datetime, err := time.Parse(layout, date)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	datetime = datetime.Add(time.Hour * 24)
+	return datetime.Format(layout), nil
+}
+
+const (
+	missingAreaLabelPrefix   = "MISSING_AREA"
+	areaLabelPrefix          = "area/"
+	multipleAreaLabelsPrefix = "MULTIPLE_AREAS["
+	documentationAreaLabel   = "documentation"
+)
+
+type githubPullRequest struct {
+	Labels []githubLabel `json:"labels"`
+}
+
+type githubLabel struct {
+	Name string `json:"name"`
+}
+
+func getAreaLabel(merge string) (string, error) {
+	// Get pr id from merge commit
+	prID := strings.Replace(strings.TrimSpace(strings.Split(merge, " ")[3]), "#", "", -1)
+
+	cmd := exec.Command("gh", "api", fmt.Sprintf("repos/%s/pulls/%s", *repo, prID)) //nolint:gosec
+
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%s: %v", string(out), err)
+	}
+
+	pr := &githubPullRequest{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(out, pr); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	var areaLabels []string
+	for _, label := range pr.Labels {
+		if area, ok := trimAreaLabel(label.Name); ok {
+			if userFriendlyArea, ok := userFriendlyAreas[area]; ok {
+				area = userFriendlyArea
+			}
+
+			areaLabels = append(areaLabels, area)
+		}
+	}
+
+	switch len(areaLabels) {
+	case 0:
+		return missingAreaLabelPrefix, nil
+	case 1:
+		return areaLabels[0], nil
+	default:
+		return multipleAreaLabelsPrefix + strings.Join(areaLabels, "/") + "]", nil
+	}
+}
+
+// trimAreaLabel removes the "area/" prefix from area labels and returns it.
+// If the label is an area label, the second return value is true, otherwise false.
+func trimAreaLabel(label string) (string, bool) {
+	trimmed := strings.TrimPrefix(label, areaLabelPrefix)
+	if len(trimmed) < len(label) {
+		return trimmed, true
+	}
+
+	return label, false
+}
+
+func run() int {
+	if err := ensureInstalledDependencies(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	var commitRange string
+	var cmd *exec.Cmd
+
+	if *since != "" && *until != "" {
+		commitRange = fmt.Sprintf("%s - %s", *since, *until)
+
+		lastDay, err := increaseDateByOneDay(*until)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Println(err)
+			return 1
+		}
+		cmd = exec.Command("git", "rev-list", "HEAD", "--since=\""+*since+"\"", "--until=\""+lastDay+"\"", "--merges", "--pretty=format:%B") //nolint:gosec
+	} else if *since != "" || *until != "" {
+		fmt.Println("--since and --until are required together or both unset")
+		return 1
+	} else {
+		commitRange = lastTag()
+		cmd = exec.Command("git", "rev-list", commitRange+"..HEAD", "--merges", "--pretty=format:%B") //nolint:gosec
+	}
+
+	merges := map[string][]string{
+		features:      {},
+		bugs:          {},
+		documentation: {},
+		warning:       {},
+		other:         {},
+		unknown:       {},
+	}
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println("Error")
+		fmt.Println(string(out))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	commits := []*commit{}
+	outLines := strings.Split(string(out), "\n")
+	for _, line := range outLines {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		last := len(commits) - 1
+		switch {
+		case strings.HasPrefix(line, "commit"):
+			commits = append(commits, &commit{})
+		case strings.HasPrefix(line, "Merge"):
+			commits[last].merge = line
+			continue
+		case line == "":
+		default:
+			commits[last].body = line
+		}
+	}
+
+	results := make(chan releaseNoteEntryResult)
+	commitCh := make(chan *commit)
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+
+	wg.Add(*numWorkers)
+	for i := 0; i < *numWorkers; i++ {
+		go func() {
+			for commit := range commitCh {
+				processed := releaseNoteEntryResult{}
+				processed.prEntry, processed.err = generateReleaseNoteEntry(commit)
+				results <- processed
+			}
+			wg.Done()
+		}()
+	}
+
+	go func() {
+		for _, c := range commits {
+			commitCh <- c
+		}
+		close(commitCh)
+	}()
+
+	go func() {
+		wg.Wait()
+		close(results)
+	}()
+
+	for result := range results {
+		if result.err != nil {
+			fmt.Println(result.err)
+			os.Exit(0)
+		}
+
+		if result.prEntry.title == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if result.prEntry.section == documentation {
+			merges[result.prEntry.section] = append(merges[result.prEntry.section], result.prEntry.prNumber)
+		} else {
+			merges[result.prEntry.section] = append(merges[result.prEntry.section], result.prEntry.title)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if *addKubernetesVersionSupport {
+		// TODO Turn this into a link (requires knowing the project name + organization)
+		fmt.Print(`## 👌 Kubernetes version support
+
+- Management Cluster: v1.**X**.x -> v1.**X**.x
+- Workload Cluster: v1.**X**.x -> v1.**X**.x
+
+[More information about version support can be found here](https://cluster-api.sigs.k8s.io/reference/versions.html)
+
+`)
+	}
+
+	fmt.Printf("## Changes since %v\n---\n", commitRange)
+
+	fmt.Printf("## :chart_with_upwards_trend: Overview\n")
+	if count := len(commits); count == 1 {
+		fmt.Println("- 1 new commit merged")
+	} else if count > 1 {
+		fmt.Printf("- %d new commits merged\n", count)
+	}
+	if count := len(merges[warning]); count == 1 {
+		fmt.Println("- 1 breaking change :warning:")
+	} else if count > 1 {
+		fmt.Printf("- %d breaking changes :warning:\n", count)
+	}
+	if count := len(merges[features]); count == 1 {
+		fmt.Println("- 1 feature addition ✨")
+	} else if count > 1 {
+		fmt.Printf("- %d feature additions ✨\n", count)
+	}
+	if count := len(merges[bugs]); count == 1 {
+		fmt.Println("- 1 bug fixed 🐛")
+	} else if count > 1 {
+		fmt.Printf("- %d bugs fixed 🐛\n", count)
+	}
+	fmt.Println()
+
+	for _, key := range outputOrder {
+		mergeslice := merges[key]
+		if len(mergeslice) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		switch key {
+		case documentation:
+			if len(mergeslice) == 1 {
+				fmt.Printf(
+					":book: Additionally, there has been 1 contribution to our documentation and book. (%s) \n\n",
+					mergeslice[0],
+				)
+			} else {
+				fmt.Printf(
+					":book: Additionally, there have been %d contributions to our documentation and book. (%s) \n\n",
+					len(mergeslice),
+					strings.Join(mergeslice, ", "),
+				)
+			}
+		default:
+			fmt.Println("## " + key)
+			sort.Slice(mergeslice, func(i int, j int) bool {
+				str1 := strings.ToLower(mergeslice[i])
+				str2 := strings.ToLower(mergeslice[j])
+				return str1 < str2
+			})
+
+			for _, merge := range mergeslice {
+				fmt.Println(merge)
+			}
+			fmt.Println()
+		}
+	}
+
+	fmt.Println("")
+	fmt.Println("_Thanks to all our contributors!_ 😊")
+
+	return 0
+}
+
+func trimTitle(title string) string {
+	// Remove a tag prefix if found.
+	title = tagRegex.ReplaceAllString(title, "")
+
+	return strings.TrimSpace(title)
+}
+
+type commit struct {
+	merge string
+	body  string
+}
+
+func formatMerge(line, prNumber string) string {
+	if prNumber == "" {
+		return line
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", line, prNumber)
+}
+
+func ensureInstalledDependencies() error {
+	if !commandExists("git") {
+		return errors.New("git not available. Git is required to be present in the PATH")
+	}
+
+	if !commandExists("gh") {
+		return errors.New("gh GitHub CLI not available. GitHub CLI is required to be present in the PATH. Refer to https://cli.github.com/ for installation")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func commandExists(cmd string) bool {
+	_, err := exec.LookPath(cmd)
+	return err == nil
+}
+
+// releaseNoteEntryResult is the result of processing a PR to create a release note item.
+// Used to aggregate the line item and error when processing concurrently.
+type releaseNoteEntryResult struct {
+	prEntry *releaseNoteEntry
+	err     error
+}
+
+// releaseNoteEntry represents a line item in the release notes.
+type releaseNoteEntry struct {
+	title    string
+	section  string
+	prNumber string
+}
+
+func modifyEntryTitle(title string, prefixes []string) string {
+	entryWithoutTag := title
+	for _, prefix := range prefixes {
+		entryWithoutTag = strings.TrimLeft(strings.TrimPrefix(entryWithoutTag, prefix), " ")
+	}
+
+	return strings.ToUpper(string(entryWithoutTag[0])) + entryWithoutTag[1:]
+}
+
+// generateReleaseNoteEntry processes a commit into a PR line item for the release notes.
+func generateReleaseNoteEntry(c *commit) (*releaseNoteEntry, error) {
+	entry := &releaseNoteEntry{}
+	if c.body == "" {
+		c.body = "ERROR: BODY MISSING. FIX MANUALLY"
+	}
+	entry.title = trimTitle(c.body)
+	var fork string
+
+	var area string
+	if *prefixAreaLabel {
+		var err error
+		area, err = getAreaLabel(c.merge)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	switch {
+	case strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, ":sparkles:"), strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, "✨"):
+		entry.section = features
+		entry.title = modifyEntryTitle(entry.title, []string{":sparkles:", "✨"})
+	case strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, ":bug:"), strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, "🐛"):
+		entry.section = bugs
+		entry.title = modifyEntryTitle(entry.title, []string{":bug:", "🐛"})
+	case strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, ":book:"), strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, "📖"):
+		entry.section = documentation
+		entry.title = modifyEntryTitle(entry.title, []string{":book:", "📖"})
+		if strings.Contains(entry.title, "CAEP") || strings.Contains(entry.title, "proposal") {
+			entry.section = proposals
+		}
+	case strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, ":seedling:"), strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, "🌱"):
+		entry.section = other
+		entry.title = modifyEntryTitle(entry.title, []string{":seedling:", "🌱"})
+	case strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, ":warning:"), strings.HasPrefix(entry.title, "⚠️"):
+		entry.section = warning
+		entry.title = modifyEntryTitle(entry.title, []string{":warning:", "⚠️"})
+	default:
+		entry.section = unknown
+	}
+
+	// If the area label indicates documentation, use documentation as the section
+	// no matter what was the emoji used. This takes into account that the area label
+	// tends to be more accurate than the emoji (data point observed by the release team).
+	// We handle this after the switch statement to make sure we remove all emoji prefixes.
+	if area == documentationAreaLabel {
+		entry.section = documentation
+	}
+
+	entry.title = strings.TrimSpace(entry.title)
+	entry.title = trimReleaseBackportMarker(entry.title)
+
+	if entry.title == "" {
+		return entry, nil
+	}
+
+	if *prefixAreaLabel {
+		entry.title = fmt.Sprintf("- %s: %s", area, entry.title)
+	} else {
+		entry.title = fmt.Sprintf("- %s", entry.title)
+	}
+
+	_, _ = fmt.Sscanf(c.merge, "Merge pull request %s from %s", &entry.prNumber, &fork)
+	entry.title = formatMerge(entry.title, entry.prNumber)
+
+	return entry, nil
+}
+
+// trimReleaseBackportMarker removes the `[release-x.x]` prefix from a PR title if present.
+// These are mostly used for back-ported PRs in release branches.
+func trimReleaseBackportMarker(title string) string {
+	return releaseBackportMarker.ReplaceAllString(title, "${1}")
+}