diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_and_release.yml b/.github/workflows/build_and_release.yml
index bc3e8b284..ef9a43fac 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_and_release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_and_release.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ jobs:
       name: pypi
     permissions:
       id-token: write  # IMPORTANT: mandatory for trusted publishing
+      contents: write
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Set up Python 3.9
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.9"
       - name: Install dependencies
-        run: python3 -m pip install setuptools wheel twine semver packaging
+        run: python3 -m pip install --upgrade setuptools wheel twine semver packaging
       - name: Get correct version for TestPyPI release  
         id: check_version  
         run: |  
@@ -41,11 +42,11 @@ jobs:
           echo "Version to be used for TestPyPI release: $NEW_VERSION"  
           echo "::set-output name=version::$NEW_VERSION"  
       - name: Update version in setup.py
-        run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/version="[^"]*"/version="${{ steps.check_version.outputs.version }}"/;}' setup.py
+        run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/__version__="[^"]*"/__version__="${{ steps.check_version.outputs.version }}"/;}' ./dspy/__metadata__.py
       - name: Update version in pyproject.toml
         run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/version="[^"]*"/version="${{ steps.check_version.outputs.version }}"/;}' pyproject.toml        
       - name: Update package name in setup.py
-        run: sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/name="[^"]*"/name="dspy-ai-test"/;}' setup.py 
+        run: sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/__name__="[^"]*"/__name__="dspy-ai-test"/;}' ./dspy/__metadata__.py
       - name: Update package name in pyproject.toml
         run: sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/name="[^"]*"/name="dspy-ai-test"/;}' pyproject.toml  
       - name: Build a binary wheel
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ jobs:
       name: pypi
     permissions:
       id-token: write  # IMPORTANT: mandatory for trusted publishing
+      contents: write
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Set up Python 3.9
@@ -69,34 +71,59 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.9"
       - name: Install dependencies
-        run: python3 -m pip install setuptools wheel twine
+        run: python3 -m pip install --upgrade setuptools wheel twine
       - name: Update version in setup.py (dspy)
-        run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/version="[^"]*"/version="${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}"/;}' setup.py
+        run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/__version__="[^"]*"/__version__="${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}"/;}' ./dspy/__metadata__.py
       - name: Update version in pyproject.toml
         run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/version="[^"]*"/version="${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}"/;}' pyproject.toml
       # Publish to dspy
       - name: Update package name in setup.py  
         run: |
-          sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/name="[^"]*"/name="dspy"/;}' setup.py
+          sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/__name__="[^"]*"/__name__="dspy"/;}' ./dspy/__metadata__.py
       - name: Update package name in pyproject.toml
         run: sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/name="[^"]*"/name="dspy"/;}' pyproject.toml
+      # Remove pyproject.toml temporarily to avoid conflicts
+      - name: Temporarily remove pyproject.toml  
+        run: mv pyproject.toml pyproject.toml.bak 
       - name: Build a binary wheel
         run: python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - name: Publish distribution 📦 to PyPI (dspy)
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1 # This requires a trusted publisher to be setup in pypi
         with: 
           attestations: false
-        # Publish to dspy-ai
+      # Publish to dspy-ai
       - name: Update version in setup.py (dspy-ai)
         run: sed -i '/#replace_package_version_marker/{n;s/version="[^"]*"/version="${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}"/;}' ./dspy/.internal_dspyai/setup.py
       - name: Update package name in setup.py  
         run: sed -i '/#replace_package_name_marker/{n;s/name="[^"]*"/name="dspy-ai"/;}' ./dspy/.internal_dspyai/setup.py
       - name: Update dspy dependency version in setup.py  
         run: |
-          sed -i '/#replace_dspy_version_marker/{n;s/dspy==[^"]*/dspy>=${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}/;}' ./dspy/.internal_dspyai/setup.py  
+          sed -i '/#replace_dspy_version_marker/{n;s/dspy>=[^"]*/dspy>=${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}/;}' ./dspy/.internal_dspyai/setup.py  
       - name: Build a binary wheel
         run: python3 ./dspy/.internal_dspyai/setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - name: Publish distribution 📦 to PyPI (dspy-ai)
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1 # This requires a trusted publisher to be setup in pypi
         with: 
-          attestations: false
\ No newline at end of file
+          attestations: false
+      # Restore pyproject.toml
+      - name: Restore pyproject.toml  
+        run: mv pyproject.toml.bak pyproject.toml 
+      - uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v5 # auto commit changes to main
+        with:
+          commit_message: Update versions
+          create_branch: true
+          branch: release-${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}
+      - name: Checkout main branch  
+        run: |  
+          git fetch origin  
+          git checkout main  
+      - name: Configure git user
+        run: | 
+          git config --global user.email "actions@github.com"
+          git config --global user.name "Github Actions"
+      - name: Merge release branch into main  
+        run: |  
+          git merge --no-ff release-${{ needs.extract-tag.outputs.version }}          
+      - name: Push changes to main
+        run: |  
+          git push origin main  
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.prettierignore b/.prettierignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6d2eaaa41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.prettierignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+.github/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dspy/__init__.py b/dspy/__init__.py
index fea48caca..49fb5f944 100644
--- a/dspy/__init__.py
+++ b/dspy/__init__.py
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@
 configure = settings.configure
 context = settings.context
 
+from .__metadata__ import (
+    __name__,
+    __version__,
+    __description__,
+    __url__,
+    __author__,
+    __author_email__
+)
 
 import dspy.teleprompt
 
diff --git a/dspy/__metadata__.py b/dspy/__metadata__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..93793d44d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dspy/__metadata__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#replace_package_name_marker
+__name__="dspy"
+#replace_package_version_marker
+__version__="2.5.43"
+__description__="DSPy"
+__url__="https://github.com/stanfordnlp/dspy"
+__author__="Omar Khattab"
+__author_email__="okhattab@stanford.edu"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 40359586b..28fbcb7c6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@ requires = ["setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
+# Do not add spaces around the '=' sign for any of the fields 
+# preceeded by a marker comment as it affects the publish workflow. 
 #replace_package_name_marker
-name = "dspy"
+name="dspy"
 #replace_package_version_marker
-version = "2.5.43"
+version="2.5.43"
 description = "DSPy"
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [{ name = "Omar Khattab", email = "okhattab@stanford.edu" }]
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index dace8c814..c2a993194 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from setuptools import find_packages, setup
+import os
 
 # Read the content of the README file
 with open("README.md", encoding="utf-8") as f:
@@ -8,20 +9,25 @@
 with open("requirements.txt", encoding="utf-8") as f:
     requirements = f.read().splitlines()
 
+metadata = {}
+here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+with open(os.path.join(here, "dspy", "__metadata__.py"), "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+    exec(f.read(), metadata)
+f.close()
+
+
 setup(	
-    #replace_package_name_marker
-    name="dspy",
-    #replace_package_version_marker
-    version="2.5.43", 	
-    description="DSPy",	
+    name=metadata["__name__"],
+    version=metadata["__version__"],
+    description=metadata["__description__"],
+    url=metadata["__url__"],
+    author=metadata["__author__"],
+    author_email=metadata["__author_email__"],
     long_description=long_description,	
     long_description_content_type="text/markdown",	
-    url="https://github.com/stanfordnlp/dspy",	
-    author="Omar Khattab",	
-    author_email="okhattab@stanford.edu",	
     license="MIT License",	
     packages=find_packages(include=["dspy.*", "dspy"]),	
-    python_requires=">=3.9",	
+    python_requires=">=3.9",
     install_requires=requirements,	
 
     extras_require={