diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 38561adcd..ab83df579 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ on:
 jobs:
   release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+
     steps:
       - name: Validate version input
         run: |
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0  # fetch all branches so we can checkout main and merge dev
+          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_GIT_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Set up JFrog CLI
         uses: jfrog/setup-jfrog-cli@v4