diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 0228484..bd383bf 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # node-triton changelog
 
-# 2.0.0
+## 2.0.0 (not yet released)
 
 - Changed name to `triton` npm package, graciously given up by
   [suguru](https://www.npmjs.com/~suguru) from his
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@
   so we'll separate with a major version bump for *this* triton
   package.
 
-# 1.0.0
+## 1.0.0
 
 Initial release as `joyent-triton` npm package.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4a235ba..37bfe8e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2015, Joyent, Inc. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2015, Joyent, Inc.
 #
 # Makefile for node-triton
 #
@@ -32,6 +32,21 @@ test:
 test-integration:
 	NODE_NDEBUG= ./node_modules/.bin/tape test/integration/*.test.js
 
+.PHONY: clean
+clean::
+	rm -f triton-*.tgz
+
+# Ensure CHANGES.md and package.json have the same version.
+.PHONY: versioncheck
+versioncheck:
+	@echo version is: $(shell cat package.json | json version)
+	[[ `cat package.json | json version` == `grep '^## ' CHANGES.md | head -1 | awk '{print $$2}'` ]]
+
+.PHONY: cutarelease
+cutarelease: clean versioncheck
+	[[ `git status | tail -n1` == "nothing to commit, working directory clean" ]]
+	./tools/cutarelease.py -p triton -f package.json
+
 .PHONY: git-hooks
 git-hooks:
 	ln -sf ../../tools/pre-commit.sh .git/hooks/pre-commit
diff --git a/tools/cutarelease.py b/tools/cutarelease.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2cfeb98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cutarelease.py
@@ -0,0 +1,609 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright (c) 2009-2012 Trent Mick
+
+"""cutarelease -- Cut a release of your project.
+
+A script that will help cut a release for a git-based project that follows
+a few conventions. It'll update your changelog (CHANGES.md), add a git
+tag, push those changes, update your version to the next patch level release
+and create a new changelog section for that new version.
+
+Conventions:
+- XXX
+"""
+
+__version_info__ = (1, 0, 7)
+__version__ = '.'.join(map(str, __version_info__))
+
+import sys
+import os
+from os.path import join, dirname, normpath, abspath, exists, basename, splitext
+from glob import glob
+from pprint import pprint
+import re
+import codecs
+import logging
+import optparse
+import json
+
+
+
+#---- globals and config
+
+log = logging.getLogger("cutarelease")
+
+class Error(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+
+#---- main functionality
+
+def cutarelease(project_name, version_files, dry_run=False):
+    """Cut a release.
+
+    @param project_name {str}
+    @param version_files {list} List of paths to files holding the version
+        info for this project.
+
+        If none are given it attempts to guess the version file:
+        package.json or VERSION.txt or VERSION or $project_name.py
+        or lib/$project_name.py or $project_name.js or lib/$project_name.js.
+
+        The version file can be in one of the following forms:
+
+        - A .py file, in which case the file is expect to have a top-level
+          global called "__version_info__" as follows. [1]
+
+            __version_info__ = (0, 7, 6)
+
+          Note that I typically follow that with the following to get a
+          string version attribute on my modules:
+
+            __version__ = '.'.join(map(str, __version_info__))
+
+        - A .js file, in which case the file is expected to have a top-level
+          global called "VERSION" as follows:
+
+            ver VERSION = "1.2.3";
+
+        - A "package.json" file, typical of a node.js npm-using project.
+          The package.json file must have a "version" field.
+
+        - TODO: A simple version file whose only content is a "1.2.3"-style version
+          string.
+
+    [1]: This is a convention I tend to follow in my projects.
+        Granted it might not be your cup of tea. I should add support for
+        just `__version__ = "1.2.3"`. I'm open to other suggestions too.
+    """
+    dry_run_str = dry_run and " (dry-run)" or ""
+
+    if not version_files:
+        log.info("guessing version file")
+        candidates = [
+            "package.json",
+            "VERSION.txt",
+            "VERSION",
+            "%s.py" % project_name,
+            "lib/%s.py" % project_name,
+            "%s.js" % project_name,
+            "lib/%s.js" % project_name,
+        ]
+        for candidate in candidates:
+            if exists(candidate):
+                version_files = [candidate]
+                break
+        else:
+            raise Error("could not find a version file: specify its path or "
+                "add one of the following to your project: '%s'"
+                % "', '".join(candidates))
+        log.info("using '%s' as version file", version_files[0])
+
+    parsed_version_files = [_parse_version_file(f) for f in version_files]
+    version_file_type, version_info = parsed_version_files[0]
+    version = _version_from_version_info(version_info)
+
+    # Confirm
+    if not dry_run:
+        answer = query_yes_no("* * *\n"
+            "Are you sure you want cut a %s release?\n"
+            "This will involved commits and a push." % version,
+            default="no")
+        print "* * *"
+        if answer != "yes":
+            log.info("user abort")
+            return
+    log.info("cutting a %s release%s", version, dry_run_str)
+
+    # Checks: Ensure there is a section in changes for this version.
+
+
+
+    changes_path = "CHANGES.md"
+    changes_txt, changes, nyr = parse_changelog(changes_path)
+    #pprint(changes)
+    top_ver = changes[0]["version"]
+    if top_ver != version:
+        raise Error("changelog '%s' top section says "
+            "version %r, expected version %r: aborting"
+            % (changes_path, top_ver, version))
+    top_verline = changes[0]["verline"]
+    if not top_verline.endswith(nyr):
+        answer = query_yes_no("\n* * *\n"
+            "The changelog '%s' top section doesn't have the expected\n"
+            "'%s' marker. Has this been released already?"
+            % (changes_path, nyr), default="yes")
+        print "* * *"
+        if answer != "no":
+            log.info("abort")
+            return
+    top_body = changes[0]["body"]
+    if top_body.strip() == "(nothing yet)":
+        raise Error("top section body is `(nothing yet)': it looks like "
+            "nothing has been added to this release")
+
+    # Commits to prepare release.
+    changes_txt_before = changes_txt
+    changes_txt = changes_txt.replace(" (not yet released)", "", 1)
+    if not dry_run and changes_txt != changes_txt_before:
+        log.info("prepare `%s' for release", changes_path)
+        f = codecs.open(changes_path, 'w', 'utf-8')
+        f.write(changes_txt)
+        f.close()
+        run('git commit %s -m "prepare for %s release"'
+            % (changes_path, version))
+
+    # Tag version and push.
+    curr_tags = set(t for t in _capture_stdout(["git", "tag", "-l"]).split('\n') if t)
+    if not dry_run and version not in curr_tags:
+        log.info("tag the release")
+        run('git tag -a "%s" -m "version %s"' % (version, version))
+        run('git push --tags')
+
+    # Optionally release.
+    if exists("package.json"):
+        answer = query_yes_no("\n* * *\nPublish to npm?", default="yes")
+        print "* * *"
+        if answer == "yes":
+            if dry_run:
+                log.info("skipping npm publish (dry-run)")
+            else:
+                run('npm publish')
+    elif exists("setup.py"):
+        answer = query_yes_no("\n* * *\nPublish to pypi?", default="yes")
+        print "* * *"
+        if answer == "yes":
+            if dry_run:
+                log.info("skipping pypi publish (dry-run)")
+            else:
+                run("%spython setup.py sdist --formats zip upload"
+                    % _setup_command_prefix())
+
+    # Commits to prepare for future dev and push.
+    # - update changelog file
+    next_version_info = _get_next_version_info(version_info)
+    next_version = _version_from_version_info(next_version_info)
+    log.info("prepare for future dev (version %s)", next_version)
+    marker = "## " + changes[0]["verline"]
+    if marker.endswith(nyr):
+        marker = marker[0:-len(nyr)]
+    if marker not in changes_txt:
+        raise Error("couldn't find `%s' marker in `%s' "
+            "content: can't prep for subsequent dev" % (marker, changes_path))
+    next_verline = "%s %s%s" % (marker.rsplit(None, 1)[0], next_version, nyr)
+    changes_txt = changes_txt.replace(marker + '\n',
+        "%s\n\n(nothing yet)\n\n\n%s\n" % (next_verline, marker))
+    if not dry_run:
+        f = codecs.open(changes_path, 'w', 'utf-8')
+        f.write(changes_txt)
+        f.close()
+
+    # - update version file
+    next_version_tuple = _tuple_from_version(next_version)
+    for i, ver_file in enumerate(version_files):
+        ver_content = codecs.open(ver_file, 'r', 'utf-8').read()
+        ver_file_type, ver_info = parsed_version_files[i]
+        if ver_file_type == "json":
+            marker = '"version": "%s"' % version
+            if marker not in ver_content:
+                raise Error("couldn't find `%s' version marker in `%s' "
+                    "content: can't prep for subsequent dev" % (marker, ver_file))
+            ver_content = ver_content.replace(marker,
+                '"version": "%s"' % next_version)
+        elif ver_file_type == "javascript":
+            candidates = [
+                ("single", "var VERSION = '%s';" % version),
+                ("double", 'var VERSION = "%s";' % version),
+            ]
+            for quote_type, marker in candidates:
+                if marker in ver_content:
+                    break
+            else:
+                raise Error("couldn't find any candidate version marker in "
+                    "`%s' content: can't prep for subsequent dev: %r"
+                    % (ver_file, candidates))
+            if quote_type == "single":
+                ver_content = ver_content.replace(marker,
+                    "var VERSION = '%s';" % next_version)
+            else:
+                ver_content = ver_content.replace(marker,
+                    'var VERSION = "%s";' % next_version)
+        elif ver_file_type == "python":
+            marker = "__version_info__ = %r" % (version_info,)
+            if marker not in ver_content:
+                raise Error("couldn't find `%s' version marker in `%s' "
+                    "content: can't prep for subsequent dev" % (marker, ver_file))
+            ver_content = ver_content.replace(marker,
+                "__version_info__ = %r" % (next_version_tuple,))
+        elif ver_file_type == "version":
+            ver_content = next_version
+        else:
+            raise Error("unknown ver_file_type: %r" % ver_file_type)
+        if not dry_run:
+            log.info("update version to '%s' in '%s'", next_version, ver_file)
+            f = codecs.open(ver_file, 'w', 'utf-8')
+            f.write(ver_content)
+            f.close()
+
+    if not dry_run:
+        run('git commit %s %s -m "prep for future dev"' % (
+            changes_path, ' '.join(version_files)))
+        run('git push')
+
+
+
+#---- internal support routines
+
+def _indent(s, indent='    '):
+    return indent + indent.join(s.splitlines(True))
+
+def _tuple_from_version(version):
+    def _intify(s):
+        try:
+            return int(s)
+        except ValueError:
+            return s
+    return tuple(_intify(b) for b in version.split('.'))
+
+def _get_next_version_info(version_info):
+    next = list(version_info[:])
+    next[-1] += 1
+    return tuple(next)
+
+def _version_from_version_info(version_info):
+    v = str(version_info[0])
+    state_dot_join = True
+    for i in version_info[1:]:
+        if state_dot_join:
+            try:
+                int(i)
+            except ValueError:
+                state_dot_join = False
+            else:
+                pass
+        if state_dot_join:
+            v += "." + str(i)
+        else:
+            v += str(i)
+    return v
+
+_version_re = re.compile(r"^(\d+)\.(\d+)(?:\.(\d+)([abc](\d+)?)?)?$")
+def _version_info_from_version(version):
+    m = _version_re.match(version)
+    if not m:
+        raise Error("could not convert '%s' version to version info" % version)
+    version_info = []
+    for g in m.groups():
+        if g is None:
+            break
+        try:
+            version_info.append(int(g))
+        except ValueError:
+            version_info.append(g)
+    return tuple(version_info)
+
+def _parse_version_file(version_file):
+    """Get version info from the given file. It can be any of:
+
+    Supported version file types (i.e. types of files from which we know
+    how to parse the version string/number -- often by some convention):
+    - json: use the "version" key
+    - javascript: look for a `var VERSION = "1.2.3";` or
+      `var VERSION = '1.2.3';`
+    - python: Python script/module with `__version_info__ = (1, 2, 3)`
+    - version: a VERSION.txt or VERSION file where the whole contents are
+      the version string
+
+    @param version_file {str} Can be a path or "type:path", where "type"
+        is one of the supported types.
+    """
+    # Get version file *type*.
+    version_file_type = None
+    match = re.compile("^([a-z]+):(.*)$").search(version_file)
+    if match:
+        version_file = match.group(2)
+        version_file_type = match.group(1)
+        aliases = {
+            "js": "javascript"
+        }
+        if version_file_type in aliases:
+            version_file_type = aliases[version_file_type]
+
+    f = codecs.open(version_file, 'r', 'utf-8')
+    content = f.read()
+    f.close()
+
+    if not version_file_type:
+        # Guess the type.
+        base = basename(version_file)
+        ext = splitext(base)[1]
+        if ext == ".json":
+            version_file_type = "json"
+        elif ext == ".py":
+            version_file_type = "python"
+        elif ext == ".js":
+            version_file_type = "javascript"
+        elif content.startswith("#!"):
+            shebang = content.splitlines(False)[0]
+            shebang_bits = re.split(r'[/ \t]', shebang)
+            for name, typ in {"python": "python", "node": "javascript"}.items():
+                if name in shebang_bits:
+                    version_file_type = typ
+                    break
+        elif base in ("VERSION", "VERSION.txt"):
+            version_file_type = "version"
+    if not version_file_type:
+        raise RuntimeError("can't extract version from '%s': no idea "
+            "what type of file it it" % version_file)
+
+    if version_file_type == "json":
+        obj = json.loads(content)
+        version_info = _version_info_from_version(obj["version"])
+    elif version_file_type == "python":
+        m = re.search(r'^__version_info__ = (.*?)$', content, re.M)
+        version_info = eval(m.group(1))
+    elif version_file_type == "javascript":
+        m = re.search(r'^var VERSION = (\'|")(.*?)\1;$', content, re.M)
+        version_info = _version_info_from_version(m.group(2))
+    elif version_file_type == "version":
+        version_info = _version_info_from_version(content.strip())
+    else:
+        raise RuntimeError("unexpected version_file_type: %r"
+            % version_file_type)
+    return version_file_type, version_info
+
+
+def parse_changelog(changes_path):
+    """Parse the given changelog path and return `(content, parsed, nyr)`
+    where `nyr` is the ' (not yet released)' marker and `parsed` looks like:
+
+        [{'body': u'\n(nothing yet)\n\n',
+          'verline': u'restify 1.0.1 (not yet released)',
+          'version': u'1.0.1'},    # version is parsed out for top section only
+         {'body': u'...',
+          'verline': u'1.0.0'},
+         {'body': u'...',
+          'verline': u'1.0.0-rc2'},
+         {'body': u'...',
+          'verline': u'1.0.0-rc1'}]
+
+    A changelog (CHANGES.md) is expected to look like this:
+
+        # $project Changelog
+
+        ## $next_version (not yet released)
+
+        ...
+
+        ## $version1
+
+        ...
+
+        ## $version2
+
+        ... and so on
+
+    The version lines are enforced as follows:
+
+    - The top entry should have a " (not yet released)" suffix. "Should"
+      because recovery from half-cutarelease failures is supported.
+    - A version string must be extractable from there, but it tries to
+      be loose (though strict "X.Y.Z" versioning is preferred). Allowed
+
+            ## 1.0.0
+            ## my project 1.0.1
+            ## foo 1.2.3-rc2
+
+      Basically, (a) the " (not yet released)" is stripped, (b) the
+      last token is the version, and (c) that version must start with
+      a digit (sanity check).
+    """
+    if not exists(changes_path):
+        raise Error("changelog file '%s' not found" % changes_path)
+    content = codecs.open(changes_path, 'r', 'utf-8').read()
+
+    parser = re.compile(
+        r'^##\s*(?P<verline>[^\n]*?)\s*$(?P<body>.*?)(?=^##|\Z)',
+        re.M | re.S)
+    sections = parser.findall(content)
+
+    # Sanity checks on changelog format.
+    if not sections:
+        template = "## 1.0.0 (not yet released)\n\n(nothing yet)\n"
+        raise Error("changelog '%s' must have at least one section, "
+            "suggestion:\n\n%s" % (changes_path, _indent(template)))
+    first_section_verline = sections[0][0]
+    nyr = ' (not yet released)'
+    #if not first_section_verline.endswith(nyr):
+    #    eg = "## %s%s" % (first_section_verline, nyr)
+    #    raise Error("changelog '%s' top section must end with %r, "
+    #        "naive e.g.: '%s'" % (changes_path, nyr, eg))
+
+    items = []
+    for i, section in enumerate(sections):
+        item = {
+            "verline": section[0],
+            "body": section[1]
+        }
+        if i == 0:
+            # We only bother to pull out 'version' for the top section.
+            verline = section[0]
+            if verline.endswith(nyr):
+                verline = verline[0:-len(nyr)]
+            version = verline.split()[-1]
+            try:
+                int(version[0])
+            except ValueError:
+                msg = ''
+                if version.endswith(')'):
+                    msg = " (cutarelease is picky about the trailing %r " \
+                        "on the top version line. Perhaps you misspelled " \
+                        "that?)" % nyr
+                raise Error("changelog '%s' top section version '%s' is "
+                    "invalid: first char isn't a number%s"
+                    % (changes_path, version, msg))
+            item["version"] = version
+        items.append(item)
+
+    return content, items, nyr
+
+## {{{ http://code.activestate.com/recipes/577058/ (r2)
+def query_yes_no(question, default="yes"):
+    """Ask a yes/no question via raw_input() and return their answer.
+
+    "question" is a string that is presented to the user.
+    "default" is the presumed answer if the user just hits <Enter>.
+        It must be "yes" (the default), "no" or None (meaning
+        an answer is required of the user).
+
+    The "answer" return value is one of "yes" or "no".
+    """
+    valid = {"yes":"yes",   "y":"yes",  "ye":"yes",
+             "no":"no",     "n":"no"}
+    if default == None:
+        prompt = " [y/n] "
+    elif default == "yes":
+        prompt = " [Y/n] "
+    elif default == "no":
+        prompt = " [y/N] "
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("invalid default answer: '%s'" % default)
+
+    while 1:
+        sys.stdout.write(question + prompt)
+        choice = raw_input().lower()
+        if default is not None and choice == '':
+            return default
+        elif choice in valid.keys():
+            return valid[choice]
+        else:
+            sys.stdout.write("Please respond with 'yes' or 'no' "\
+                             "(or 'y' or 'n').\n")
+## end of http://code.activestate.com/recipes/577058/ }}}
+
+def _capture_stdout(argv):
+    import subprocess
+    p = subprocess.Popen(argv, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+    return p.communicate()[0]
+
+class _NoReflowFormatter(optparse.IndentedHelpFormatter):
+    """An optparse formatter that does NOT reflow the description."""
+    def format_description(self, description):
+        return description or ""
+
+def run(cmd):
+    """Run the given command.
+
+    Raises OSError is the command returns a non-zero exit status.
+    """
+    log.debug("running '%s'", cmd)
+    fixed_cmd = cmd
+    if sys.platform == "win32" and cmd.count('"') > 2:
+        fixed_cmd = '"' + cmd + '"'
+    retval = os.system(fixed_cmd)
+    if hasattr(os, "WEXITSTATUS"):
+        status = os.WEXITSTATUS(retval)
+    else:
+        status = retval
+    if status:
+        raise OSError(status, "error running '%s'" % cmd)
+
+def _setup_command_prefix():
+    prefix = ""
+    if sys.platform == "darwin":
+        # http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-43243.html
+        # This is an Apple customization to `tar` to avoid creating
+        # '._foo' files for extended-attributes for archived files.
+        prefix = "COPY_EXTENDED_ATTRIBUTES_DISABLE=1 "
+    return prefix
+
+
+#---- mainline
+
+def main(argv):
+    logging.basicConfig(format="%(name)s: %(levelname)s: %(message)s")
+    log.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+
+    # Parse options.
+    parser = optparse.OptionParser(prog="cutarelease", usage='',
+        version="%prog " + __version__, description=__doc__,
+        formatter=_NoReflowFormatter())
+    parser.add_option("-v", "--verbose", dest="log_level",
+        action="store_const", const=logging.DEBUG,
+        help="more verbose output")
+    parser.add_option("-q", "--quiet", dest="log_level",
+        action="store_const", const=logging.WARNING,
+        help="quieter output (just warnings and errors)")
+    parser.set_default("log_level", logging.INFO)
+    parser.add_option("--test", action="store_true",
+        help="run self-test and exit (use 'eol.py -v --test' for verbose test output)")
+    parser.add_option("-p", "--project-name", metavar="NAME",
+        help='the name of this project (default is the base dir name)',
+        default=basename(os.getcwd()))
+    parser.add_option("-f", "--version-file", metavar="[TYPE:]PATH",
+        action='append', dest="version_files",
+        help='The path to the project file holding the version info. Can be '
+             'specified multiple times if more than one file should be updated '
+             'with new version info. If excluded, it will be guessed.')
+    parser.add_option("-n", "--dry-run", action="store_true",
+        help='Do a dry-run', default=False)
+    opts, args = parser.parse_args()
+    log.setLevel(opts.log_level)
+
+    cutarelease(opts.project_name, opts.version_files, dry_run=opts.dry_run)
+
+
+## {{{ http://code.activestate.com/recipes/577258/ (r5+)
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:
+        retval = main(sys.argv)
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        sys.exit(1)
+    except SystemExit:
+        raise
+    except:
+        import traceback, logging
+        if not log.handlers and not logging.root.handlers:
+            logging.basicConfig()
+        skip_it = False
+        exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+        if hasattr(exc_info[0], "__name__"):
+            exc_class, exc, tb = exc_info
+            if isinstance(exc, IOError) and exc.args[0] == 32:
+                # Skip 'IOError: [Errno 32] Broken pipe': often a cancelling of `less`.
+                skip_it = True
+            if not skip_it:
+                tb_path, tb_lineno, tb_func = traceback.extract_tb(tb)[-1][:3]
+                log.error("%s (%s:%s in %s)", exc_info[1], tb_path,
+                    tb_lineno, tb_func)
+        else:  # string exception
+            log.error(exc_info[0])
+        if not skip_it:
+            if log.isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG):
+                traceback.print_exception(*exc_info)
+            sys.exit(1)
+    else:
+        sys.exit(retval)
+## end of http://code.activestate.com/recipes/577258/ }}}