diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-extension.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-extension.yml
index 66b6101..a5293d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-extension.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-extension.yml
@@ -1,17 +1,141 @@
+# The auto package.json version update code is adapted from: https://github.com/valeryan/vscode-phpsab/blob/v0.0.21/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+
 on:
   release:
     types: [prereleased, released]
 
+env:
+  TAG_NAME: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+  TARGET_BRANCH: ${{ github.event.release.target_commitish }}
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  actions: read
+
 name: Publish Extension to VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX Registry
 jobs:
+  validate-release-version:
+    name: Validate Release Version
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: github.event_name == 'release'
+    outputs:
+      version: ${{ steps.parse-version.outputs.version }}
+      is-valid: ${{ steps.parse-version.outputs.is-valid }}
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Parse and Validate Version
+        id: parse-version
+        run: |
+          TAG_NAME="${{ env.TAG_NAME }}"
+
+          # Remove 'v' prefix if present and validate semver format
+          if [[ $TAG_NAME =~ ^v?([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(-[a-zA-Z0-9\.-]+)?(\+[a-zA-Z0-9\.-]+)?)$ ]]; then
+            VERSION=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+            echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "is-valid=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "✅ Valid version format: $VERSION"
+          else
+            echo "is-valid=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "❌ Invalid version format: $TAG_NAME"
+            echo "Version must follow semver format (e.g., v1.0.0, 1.0.0, v1.0.0-beta.1)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+  update-version:
+    name: Update Version
+    needs: validate-release-version
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: needs.validate-release-version.outputs.is-valid == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Setup Git
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+      - name: Setup Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 20.x
+          cache: "npm"
+
+      - name: Install Dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Update Package.json Version
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ needs.validate-release-version.outputs.version }}"
+
+          # If this is a prerelease, remove any prerelease tags to get base version
+          if [ "${{ github.event.action }}" = "prereleased" ]; then
+            BASE_VERSION=$(echo "$VERSION" | sed 's/-.*$//')
+            echo "🔄 Prerelease detected: using base version $BASE_VERSION instead of $VERSION"
+            VERSION="$BASE_VERSION"
+          fi
+
+          CURRENT_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+
+          if [ "$VERSION" = "$CURRENT_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "ℹ️  Package.json already has version $VERSION, skipping update"
+          else
+            echo "📦 Updating package.json from $CURRENT_VERSION to $VERSION"
+            npm version $VERSION --no-git-tag-version
+            echo "✅ Successfully updated package version to $VERSION"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Check for Changes
+        id: git-check
+        run: |
+          # Check for any modified or untracked files
+          if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
+            echo "changes=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "📝 Changes detected:"
+            git status --porcelain
+          else
+            echo "changes=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "ℹ️  No changes to commit"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Commit and Push All Changes
+        if: steps.git-check.outputs.changes == 'true'
+        run: |
+          git add package.json package-lock.json
+          git commit -m "chore: version bump ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
+
+          - Update version to ${{ needs.validate-release-version.outputs.version }}"
+          git push origin HEAD:${{ env.TARGET_BRANCH }}
+
+      - name: Update Tag Reference
+        if: steps.git-check.outputs.changes == 'true'
+        run: |
+          # Move the existing tag to point to the new commit (preserves GitHub release relationship)
+          git tag ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} -f
+          git push origin ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} -f
+          echo "✅ Updated tag ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} to point to release commit"
+
   deploy:
+    name: Publish Extension
+    needs: [validate-release-version, update-version]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ env.TARGET_BRANCH }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: 20
-      - run: npm install
+      - run: npm ci
 
       - name: Publish to VS Code Marketplace
         uses: HaaLeo/publish-vscode-extension@v2