diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 754968f..7549537 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -103,3 +103,7 @@ output/
 scratch/
 
 releases/
+stroid-dist/
+stroid-universal-dist.tar.gz
+stroid-*/
+stroid-*.tar.gz
diff --git a/package_release.sh b/package_release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b1d9537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+RELEASE_DIR="releases"
+STAGING_DIR="stroid-dist"
+
+REQUIRED_BINARIES=(
+    "stroid-macos-arm64"
+    "stroid-linux-x86_64"
+    "stroid-linux-arm64"
+)
+
+for bin in "${REQUIRED_BINARIES[@]}"; do
+    if [ ! -f "$RELEASE_DIR/$bin" ]; then
+        echo "Error: Missing binary $RELEASE_DIR/$bin. Run release.sh first."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+
+chmod +x "$RELEASE_DIR/stroid-macos-arm64"
+VERSION_OUTPUT=$("$RELEASE_DIR/stroid-macos-arm64" info -v)
+VERSION=$(echo "$VERSION_OUTPUT" | awk '{print $3}')
+
+if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+    echo "Error: Could not extract version from binary output."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+TARBALL_NAME="stroid-${VERSION}.tar.gz"
+
+echo "Packaging Stroid version ${VERSION}..."
+
+rm -rf "$STAGING_DIR"
+mkdir -p "$STAGING_DIR/bin"
+
+for bin in "${REQUIRED_BINARIES[@]}"; do
+    cp "$RELEASE_DIR/$bin" "$STAGING_DIR/bin/"
+done
+
+cat << 'EOF' > "$STAGING_DIR/install.sh"
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+OS=$(uname -s)
+ARCH=$(uname -m)
+INSTALL_PATH=$1
+
+echo "Detecting system: $OS ($ARCH)"
+
+case "$OS" in
+    Darwin)
+        if [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ]; then
+            SELECTED_BIN="bin/stroid-macos-arm64"
+        else
+            echo "Error: Intel Macs (x86_64) are not supported by this package."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        ;;
+    Linux)
+        if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then
+            SELECTED_BIN="bin/stroid-linux-x86_64"
+        elif [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ] || [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ]; then
+            SELECTED_BIN="bin/stroid-linux-arm64"
+        else
+            echo "Error: Linux architecture $ARCH is not supported."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Error: Operating system $OS is not supported."
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+esac
+
+echo "Verifying binary integrity..."
+chmod +x "$SELECTED_BIN"
+if ! ./"$SELECTED_BIN" info -v > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "Error: The selected binary failed the version check. It may be incompatible with this system's libraries."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+VERSION_INFO=$(./"$SELECTED_BIN" info -v)
+echo "Verification successful: $VERSION_INFO"
+
+if [ -z "$INSTALL_PATH" ]; then
+    if [ "$EUID" -eq 0 ]; then
+        INSTALL_PATH="/usr/local/bin"
+    else
+        INSTALL_PATH="$HOME/.local/bin"
+    fi
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "$INSTALL_PATH"
+
+echo "Installing to: $INSTALL_PATH/stroid"
+cp "$SELECTED_BIN" "$INSTALL_PATH/stroid"
+chmod +x "$INSTALL_PATH/stroid"
+
+echo "Installation complete."
+if [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$INSTALL_PATH:"* ]]; then
+    echo "Note: $INSTALL_PATH is not in your PATH. Add it to your shell profile to run 'stroid' from anywhere."
+fi
+EOF
+
+chmod +x "$STAGING_DIR/install.sh"
+
+tar -czf "$TARBALL_NAME" -C "$STAGING_DIR" .
+
+echo "Distribution package created: $TARBALL_NAME"
+echo "Contents:"
+tar -tf "$TARBALL_NAME"
+
+rm -rf "$STAGING_DIR"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/release.md b/release.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7e49ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release.md
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Generating Releases
+
+> This document is likely only of interest to developers wishing to build release files. If you wish to use
+> stroid, please refer to the main readme instructions.
+
+## Building
+Release files can be built on an arm mac using the following commands:
+
+```bash
+./release.sh
+```
+
+all release files will be placed in the `releases/` folder.
+
+This will construct release files for arm mac, arm linux, and x86_64 linux. These should be
+compatible with most systems (linux more recent than 2020 and macOS more recent than 15.0)
+
+For those who wish to build from source see the main readme instructions.
+
+## Packaging
+The auto-generated release files are named according to the following convention:
+`stroid-<os>-<arch>`, these are all statically linked so they should
+just run on system. To distribute these files we want to package them into a single 
+archive file along with an installation script which will select the correct binary
+for the host system. There is a script `package_release.sh` which will do this automatically.
+
+Once the release files have been generated, run the following command:
+
+```bash
+./package_release.sh
+```
+
+## Uploading
+Once the release files have been packaged, they can be uploaded to the github releases page. This can be done manually through the github web interface, or
+automatically using the `gh` CLI tool. To upload using the CLI tool, first ensure you have it installed and authenticated with your
+github account. Then run the following command:
+
+```bash
+gh release create <tag> ./stroid-release.tar.gz
+```
+
+Alternatively, you can upload the files manually through the github web interface by navigating to the releases page of
+the repository and clicking on "Draft a new release". From there, you can upload the `stroid-release.tar.gz` file and
+publish the release.
\ No newline at end of file