diff --git a/lerna.json b/lerna.json
index 329d84d7..cfdca2da 100644
--- a/lerna.json
+++ b/lerna.json
@@ -4,18 +4,5 @@
   "npmClient": "yarn",
   "packages": [
     "packages/*"
-  ],
-  "commands": {
-    "publish": {
-      "ignore": [
-        "babel-preset-joyent-portal",
-        "joyent-portal-cloudapi-gql",
-        "docker-compose-client",
-        "eslint-config-joyent-portal",
-        "joyent-portal-gql-cp-schema",
-        "joyent-portal-rdb-bootstrap",
-        "joyent-portal-ui-toolkit"
-      ]
-    }
-  }
+  ]
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 29be0a9b..335884dd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     "updt:packages": "lerna exec ncu -au",
     "updt:teardown": "run-s clean bootstrap",
     "updt": "run-s updt:*",
-    "publish": "lerna publish --conventional-commits --independent -m 'chore: publish'",
+    "publish": "./scripts/publish",
     "clean": "lerna clean --yes",
     "bootstrap": "lerna bootstrap",
     "prepare": "run-s clean bootstrap",
@@ -59,11 +59,13 @@
     "lerna": "^2.0.0-rc.5",
     "lerna-wizard": "ramitos/lerna-wizard#7bcdc11",
     "license-to-fail": "^2.2.0",
+    "listr": "^0.12.0",
     "lodash.uniq": "^4.5.0",
     "npm-check-updates": "^2.11.2",
     "npm-run-all": "^4.0.2",
     "prettier": "1.3.1",
     "quality-docs": "^3.3.0",
+    "semver": "^5.3.0",
     "staged-git-files": "0.0.4",
     "yargs": "^8.0.1"
   },
@@ -74,4 +76,4 @@
       "control-tower"
     ]
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/publish b/scripts/publish
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..47c307e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/publish
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+const pkg = require('../package.json');
+const { writeFile } = require('mz/fs');
+const execa = require('execa');
+const Listr = require('listr');
+const argv = require('yargs').argv;
+const semver = require('semver');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const incs = {
+  major: argv.production,
+  minor: argv.staging,
+  patch: argv.dev
+};
+
+const exec = (...args) => {
+  const cp = execa(...args);
+
+  cp.stdout.pipe(process.stdout);
+  cp.stderr.pipe(process.stderr);
+
+  return cp;
+};
+
+const errors = [
+  'Not on `master` branch. Use --any-branch to publish anyway.',
+  'Unclean working tree. Commit or stash changes first. Use --force to publish anyway.',
+  'Remote history differs. Please pull changes.',
+  'Use --staging/--dev/--production'
+];
+
+if (!argv.staging && !argv.dev && !argv.production) {
+  throw new Error(errors[3]);
+}
+
+// based on https://github.com/sindresorhus/np/blob/df8bb7153ecb05cd4674846f488d012f3cd252e1/lib/git.js
+const tasks = new Listr(
+  [
+    {
+      title: 'Check',
+      task: () =>
+        new Listr([
+          {
+            title: 'Check current branch',
+            task: async () => {
+              const branch = await execa.stdout('git', [
+                'symbolic-ref',
+                '--short',
+                'HEAD'
+              ]);
+
+              if (branch !== 'master' && !argv['any-branch']) {
+                throw new Error(errors[0]);
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          {
+            title: 'Check local working tree',
+            task: async () => {
+              const status = await execa.stdout('git', [
+                'status',
+                '--porcelain'
+              ]);
+
+              if (status !== '' && !argv.force) {
+                throw new Error(errors[1]);
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          {
+            title: 'Check remote history',
+            task: async () => {
+              const history = await execa.stdout('git', [
+                'rev-list',
+                '--count',
+                '--left-only',
+                '@{u}...HEAD'
+              ]);
+
+              if (history !== '0') {
+                throw new Error(errors[3]);
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        ])
+    },
+    {
+      title: 'Publish',
+      task: () =>
+        exec('lerna', [
+          'updated', // 'publish',
+          '--conventional-commits',
+          '--independent',
+          '-m',
+          'chore: publish'
+        ])
+    },
+    {
+      title: 'Version',
+      task: async () => {
+        pkg.version = Object.keys(incs)
+          .filter(k => incs[k])
+          .reduce((v, release) => semver.inc(v, release), pkg.version);
+
+        await writeFile(
+          path.join(__dirname, '../package.json'),
+          JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2),
+          'utf-8'
+        );
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      title: 'Tag',
+      task: async () => {
+        const lastTag = await execa.stdout('git', [
+          'describe',
+          '--tags',
+          '--abbrev=0'
+        ]);
+
+        const lastCommits = await execa.stdout('git', [
+          'log',
+          `${lastTag}..HEAD`,
+          '--no-merges',
+          '--format="%h %s (%aN)"'
+        ]);
+
+        const msg = lastCommits
+          .split(/\n/)
+          .map(commit => commit.replace(/^"/, '').replace(/"$/, ''))
+          .join('\n');
+
+        return exec('git', [
+          'tag',
+          '-a',
+          `${pkg.name}@${pkg.version}`,
+          '-m',
+          msg
+        ]);
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      title: 'Push',
+      task: () => exec('git', ['push', 'origin', `${pkg.name}@${pkg.version}`])
+    }
+  ],
+  {
+    renderer: 'verbose'
+  }
+);
+
+tasks.run().catch(() => process.exit(1));