diff --git a/tools/release/01_bump_dependency_crate_versions.ts b/tools/release/01_bump_dependency_crate_versions.ts
index 61555f8310..931b7d199b 100755
--- a/tools/release/01_bump_dependency_crate_versions.ts
+++ b/tools/release/01_bump_dependency_crate_versions.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env -S deno run --allow-read --allow-write --allow-run=cargo
 // Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-import { DenoWorkspace } from "./helpers/mod.ts";
+import { DenoWorkspace } from "./deno_workspace.ts";
 
 const workspace = await DenoWorkspace.load();
 
@@ -8,4 +8,5 @@ for (const crate of workspace.getDependencyCrates()) {
   await crate.increment("minor");
 }
 
-await workspace.updateLockFile();
+// update the lock file
+await workspace.getCliCrate().cargoCheck();
diff --git a/tools/release/02_publish_dependency_crates.ts b/tools/release/02_publish_dependency_crates.ts
index 44b5fe9692..d210971a14 100755
--- a/tools/release/02_publish_dependency_crates.ts
+++ b/tools/release/02_publish_dependency_crates.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env -S deno run --allow-read --allow-write --allow-run=cargo --allow-net=crates.io
 // Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-import { DenoWorkspace, getCratesPublishOrder } from "./helpers/mod.ts";
+import { DenoWorkspace } from "./deno_workspace.ts";
+import { getCratesPublishOrder } from "./deps.ts";
 
 const workspace = await DenoWorkspace.load();
 
diff --git a/tools/release/03_bump_cli_version.ts b/tools/release/03_bump_cli_version.ts
index e2a64ede07..bd1f3d1c63 100755
--- a/tools/release/03_bump_cli_version.ts
+++ b/tools/release/03_bump_cli_version.ts
@@ -1,19 +1,17 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env -S deno run --allow-read --allow-write --allow-run=cargo,git
 // Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-import {
-  DenoWorkspace,
-  formatGitLogForMarkdown,
-  getGitLogFromTag,
-} from "./helpers/mod.ts";
+import { DenoWorkspace } from "./deno_workspace.ts";
 
 const workspace = await DenoWorkspace.load();
+const repo = workspace.repo;
 
 const cliCrate = workspace.getCliCrate();
 const originalVersion = cliCrate.version;
 
 // increment the version
-await cliCrate.increment(getVersionIncrement());
-await workspace.updateLockFile();
+await cliCrate.promptAndIncrement();
+// update the lock file
+await cliCrate.cargoCheck();
 
 // output the Releases.md markdown text
 console.log(
@@ -21,24 +19,13 @@ console.log(
 );
 console.log(await getReleasesMdText());
 
-function getVersionIncrement() {
-  if (confirm("Increment patch?")) {
-    return "patch";
-  } else if (confirm("Increment minor?")) {
-    return "minor";
-  } else if (confirm("Increment major?")) {
-    return "major";
-  } else {
-    throw new Error("No decision.");
-  }
-}
-
 async function getReleasesMdText() {
-  const gitLogOutput = await getGitLogFromTag(
-    DenoWorkspace.rootDirPath,
+  const gitLog = await repo.getGitLogFromTags(
+    "upstream",
     `v${originalVersion}`,
+    undefined,
   );
-  const formattedGitLog = formatGitLogForMarkdown(gitLogOutput);
+  const formattedGitLog = gitLog.formatForReleaseMarkdown();
   const formattedDate = getFormattedDate(new Date());
 
   return `### ${cliCrate.version} / ${formattedDate}\n\n` +
diff --git a/tools/release/deno_workspace.ts b/tools/release/deno_workspace.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..725d647df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/release/deno_workspace.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
+
+import { path, Repo } from "./deps.ts";
+
+export class DenoWorkspace {
+  #repo: Repo;
+
+  static get rootDirPath() {
+    const currentDirPath = path.dirname(path.fromFileUrl(import.meta.url));
+    return path.resolve(currentDirPath, "../../");
+  }
+
+  static async load(): Promise<DenoWorkspace> {
+    return new DenoWorkspace(
+      await Repo.load("deno", DenoWorkspace.rootDirPath),
+    );
+  }
+
+  private constructor(repo: Repo) {
+    this.#repo = repo;
+  }
+
+  get repo() {
+    return this.#repo;
+  }
+
+  get crates() {
+    return this.#repo.crates;
+  }
+
+  /** Gets the dependency crates used for the first part of the release process. */
+  getDependencyCrates() {
+    return [
+      this.getBenchUtilCrate(),
+      this.getSerdeV8Crate(),
+      this.getCoreCrate(),
+      ...this.getExtCrates(),
+      this.getRuntimeCrate(),
+    ];
+  }
+
+  getSerdeV8Crate() {
+    return this.getCrate("serde_v8");
+  }
+
+  getCliCrate() {
+    return this.getCrate("deno");
+  }
+
+  getCoreCrate() {
+    return this.getCrate("deno_core");
+  }
+
+  getRuntimeCrate() {
+    return this.getCrate("deno_runtime");
+  }
+
+  getBenchUtilCrate() {
+    return this.getCrate("deno_bench_util");
+  }
+
+  getExtCrates() {
+    const extPath = path.join(this.#repo.folderPath, "ext");
+    return this.crates.filter((c) => c.manifestPath.startsWith(extPath));
+  }
+
+  getCrate(name: string) {
+    return this.#repo.getCrate(name);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tools/release/deps.ts b/tools/release/deps.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df7a4fc605
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/release/deps.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
+
+export * from "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/denoland/automation/0.2.0/mod.ts";
diff --git a/tools/release/helpers/cargo.ts b/tools/release/helpers/cargo.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 15dd0c5b61..0000000000
--- a/tools/release/helpers/cargo.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-
-import { runCommand } from "./helpers.ts";
-
-export interface CargoMetadata {
-  packages: CargoPackageMetadata[];
-  /** Identifiers in the `packages` array of the workspace members. */
-  "workspace_members": string[];
-  /** The absolute workspace root directory path. */
-  "workspace_root": string;
-}
-
-export interface CargoPackageMetadata {
-  id: string;
-  name: string;
-  version: string;
-  dependencies: CargoDependencyMetadata[];
-  /** Path to Cargo.toml */
-  "manifest_path": string;
-}
-
-export interface CargoDependencyMetadata {
-  name: string;
-  /** Version requrement (ex. ^0.1.0) */
-  req: string;
-}
-
-export async function getMetadata(directory: string) {
-  const result = await runCommand({
-    cwd: directory,
-    cmd: ["cargo", "metadata", "--format-version", "1"],
-  });
-  return JSON.parse(result!) as CargoMetadata;
-}
-
-export function publishCrate(directory: string) {
-  return runCargoSubCommand({
-    directory,
-    args: ["publish"],
-  });
-}
-
-export function build(directory: string) {
-  return runCargoSubCommand({
-    directory,
-    args: ["build", "-vv"],
-  });
-}
-
-export function check(directory: string) {
-  return runCargoSubCommand({
-    directory,
-    args: ["check"],
-  });
-}
-
-async function runCargoSubCommand(params: {
-  args: string[];
-  directory: string;
-}) {
-  const p = Deno.run({
-    cwd: params.directory,
-    cmd: ["cargo", ...params.args],
-    stderr: "inherit",
-    stdout: "inherit",
-  });
-
-  const status = await p.status();
-  if (!status.success) {
-    throw new Error("Failed");
-  }
-}
diff --git a/tools/release/helpers/crates_io.ts b/tools/release/helpers/crates_io.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index af26f55af0..0000000000
--- a/tools/release/helpers/crates_io.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-
-export interface CratesIoMetadata {
-  crate: {
-    id: string;
-    name: string;
-  };
-  versions: {
-    crate: string;
-    num: string;
-  }[];
-}
-
-export async function getCratesIoMetadata(crateName: string) {
-  // rate limit
-  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
-
-  const response = await fetch(`https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/${crateName}`);
-  const data = await response.json();
-
-  return data as CratesIoMetadata;
-}
diff --git a/tools/release/helpers/deno_workspace.ts b/tools/release/helpers/deno_workspace.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6d7a03cb74..0000000000
--- a/tools/release/helpers/deno_workspace.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,228 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-
-import * as path from "https://deno.land/std@0.105.0/path/mod.ts";
-import * as semver from "https://deno.land/x/semver@v1.4.0/mod.ts";
-import * as cargo from "./cargo.ts";
-import { getCratesIoMetadata } from "./crates_io.ts";
-import { withRetries } from "./helpers.ts";
-
-export class DenoWorkspace {
-  #workspaceCrates: readonly DenoWorkspaceCrate[];
-  #workspaceRootDirPath: string;
-
-  static get rootDirPath() {
-    const currentDirPath = path.dirname(path.fromFileUrl(import.meta.url));
-    return path.resolve(currentDirPath, "../../../");
-  }
-
-  static async load(): Promise<DenoWorkspace> {
-    return new DenoWorkspace(
-      await cargo.getMetadata(DenoWorkspace.rootDirPath),
-    );
-  }
-
-  private constructor(metadata: cargo.CargoMetadata) {
-    const crates = [];
-    for (const memberId of metadata.workspace_members) {
-      const pkg = metadata.packages.find((pkg) => pkg.id === memberId);
-      if (!pkg) {
-        throw new Error(`Could not find package with id ${memberId}`);
-      }
-      crates.push(new DenoWorkspaceCrate(this, pkg));
-    }
-
-    this.#workspaceCrates = crates;
-    this.#workspaceRootDirPath = metadata.workspace_root;
-  }
-
-  get crates() {
-    return this.#workspaceCrates;
-  }
-
-  /** Gets the dependency crates used for the first part of the release process. */
-  getDependencyCrates() {
-    return [
-      this.getBenchUtilCrate(),
-      this.getSerdeV8Crate(),
-      this.getCoreCrate(),
-      ...this.getExtCrates(),
-      this.getRuntimeCrate(),
-    ];
-  }
-
-  getSerdeV8Crate() {
-    return this.getCrateByNameOrThrow("serde_v8");
-  }
-
-  getCliCrate() {
-    return this.getCrateByNameOrThrow("deno");
-  }
-
-  getCoreCrate() {
-    return this.getCrateByNameOrThrow("deno_core");
-  }
-
-  getRuntimeCrate() {
-    return this.getCrateByNameOrThrow("deno_runtime");
-  }
-
-  getBenchUtilCrate() {
-    return this.getCrateByNameOrThrow("deno_bench_util");
-  }
-
-  getExtCrates() {
-    const extPath = path.join(this.#workspaceRootDirPath, "ext");
-    return this.#workspaceCrates.filter((c) =>
-      c.manifestPath.startsWith(extPath)
-    );
-  }
-
-  getCrateByNameOrThrow(name: string) {
-    const crate = this.#workspaceCrates.find((c) => c.name === name);
-    if (!crate) {
-      throw new Error(`Could not find crate: ${name}`);
-    }
-    return crate;
-  }
-
-  build() {
-    return cargo.build(DenoWorkspace.rootDirPath);
-  }
-
-  updateLockFile() {
-    return cargo.check(DenoWorkspace.rootDirPath);
-  }
-}
-
-export class DenoWorkspaceCrate {
-  #workspace: DenoWorkspace;
-  #pkg: cargo.CargoPackageMetadata;
-  #isUpdatingManifest = false;
-
-  constructor(workspace: DenoWorkspace, pkg: cargo.CargoPackageMetadata) {
-    this.#workspace = workspace;
-    this.#pkg = pkg;
-  }
-
-  get manifestPath() {
-    return this.#pkg.manifest_path;
-  }
-
-  get directoryPath() {
-    return path.dirname(this.#pkg.manifest_path);
-  }
-
-  get name() {
-    return this.#pkg.name;
-  }
-
-  get version() {
-    return this.#pkg.version;
-  }
-
-  getDependencies() {
-    const dependencies = [];
-    for (const dependency of this.#pkg.dependencies) {
-      const crate = this.#workspace.crates.find((c) =>
-        c.name === dependency.name
-      );
-      if (crate != null) {
-        dependencies.push(crate);
-      }
-    }
-    return dependencies;
-  }
-
-  async isPublished() {
-    const cratesIoMetadata = await getCratesIoMetadata(this.name);
-    return cratesIoMetadata.versions.some((v) => v.num === this.version);
-  }
-
-  async publish() {
-    if (await this.isPublished()) {
-      console.log(`Already published ${this.name} ${this.version}`);
-      return false;
-    }
-
-    console.log(`Publishing ${this.name} ${this.version}...`);
-
-    // Sometimes a publish may fail due to the crates.io index
-    // not being updated yet. Usually it will be resolved after
-    // retrying, so try a few times before failing hard.
-    return await withRetries({
-      action: async () => {
-        await cargo.publishCrate(this.directoryPath);
-        return true;
-      },
-      retryCount: 5,
-      retryDelaySeconds: 10,
-    });
-  }
-
-  build() {
-    return cargo.build(this.directoryPath);
-  }
-
-  updateLockFile() {
-    return cargo.check(this.directoryPath);
-  }
-
-  increment(part: "major" | "minor" | "patch") {
-    const newVersion = semver.parse(this.version)!.inc(part).toString();
-    return this.setVersion(newVersion);
-  }
-
-  async setVersion(version: string) {
-    console.log(`Setting ${this.name} to ${version}...`);
-    for (const crate of this.#workspace.crates) {
-      await crate.setDependencyVersion(this.name, version);
-    }
-    await this.#updateManifestVersion(version);
-  }
-
-  async setDependencyVersion(dependencyName: string, version: string) {
-    const dependency = this.#pkg.dependencies.find((d) =>
-      d.name === dependencyName
-    );
-    if (dependency != null) {
-      await this.#updateManifestFile((fileText) => {
-        // simple for now...
-        const findRegex = new RegExp(
-          `^(\\b${dependencyName}\\b\\s.*)"([=\\^])?[0-9]+[^"]+"`,
-          "gm",
-        );
-        return fileText.replace(findRegex, `$1"${version}"`);
-      });
-
-      dependency.req = `^${version}`;
-    }
-  }
-
-  async #updateManifestVersion(version: string) {
-    await this.#updateManifestFile((fileText) => {
-      const findRegex = new RegExp(
-        `^(version\\s*=\\s*)"${this.#pkg.version}"$`,
-        "m",
-      );
-      return fileText.replace(findRegex, `$1"${version}"`);
-    });
-    this.#pkg.version = version;
-  }
-
-  async #updateManifestFile(action: (fileText: string) => string) {
-    if (this.#isUpdatingManifest) {
-      throw new Error("Cannot update manifest while updating manifest.");
-    }
-    this.#isUpdatingManifest = true;
-    try {
-      const originalText = await Deno.readTextFile(this.#pkg.manifest_path);
-      const newText = action(originalText);
-      if (originalText === newText) {
-        throw new Error(`The file didn't change: ${this.manifestPath}`);
-      }
-      await Deno.writeTextFile(this.manifestPath, newText);
-    } finally {
-      this.#isUpdatingManifest = false;
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/tools/release/helpers/helpers.ts b/tools/release/helpers/helpers.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 454a663731..0000000000
--- a/tools/release/helpers/helpers.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,104 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-
-import type { DenoWorkspaceCrate } from "./deno_workspace.ts";
-
-export function getCratesPublishOrder(crates: DenoWorkspaceCrate[]) {
-  const pendingCrates = [...crates];
-  const sortedCrates = [];
-
-  while (pendingCrates.length > 0) {
-    for (let i = pendingCrates.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-      const crate = pendingCrates[i];
-      const hasPendingDependency = crate.getDependencies()
-        .some((c) => pendingCrates.includes(c));
-      if (!hasPendingDependency) {
-        sortedCrates.push(crate);
-        pendingCrates.splice(i, 1);
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  return sortedCrates;
-}
-
-export function getGitLogFromTag(directory: string, tagName: string) {
-  return runCommand({
-    cwd: directory,
-    cmd: ["git", "log", "--oneline", `${tagName}..`],
-  });
-}
-
-const IGNORED_COMMIT_PREFIX = [
-  "build",
-  "chore",
-  "ci",
-  "docs",
-  "refactor",
-  "test",
-];
-
-export function formatGitLogForMarkdown(text: string) {
-  return text.split(/\r?\n/)
-    .map((line) => line.replace(/^[a-f0-9]{9} /i, "").trim())
-    .filter((l) => {
-      return !IGNORED_COMMIT_PREFIX.some((prefix) => l.startsWith(prefix)) &&
-        l.length > 0;
-    })
-    .sort()
-    .map((line) => `- ${line}`)
-    .join("\n");
-}
-
-export async function runCommand(params: {
-  cwd: string;
-  cmd: string[];
-}) {
-  const p = Deno.run({
-    cwd: params.cwd,
-    cmd: params.cmd,
-    stderr: "piped",
-    stdout: "piped",
-  });
-
-  const [status, stdout, stderr] = await Promise.all([
-    p.status(),
-    p.output(),
-    p.stderrOutput(),
-  ]);
-  p.close();
-
-  if (!status.success) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `Error executing ${params.cmd[0]}: ${new TextDecoder().decode(stderr)}`,
-    );
-  }
-
-  return new TextDecoder().decode(stdout);
-}
-
-export async function withRetries<TReturn>(params: {
-  action: () => Promise<TReturn>;
-  retryCount: number;
-  retryDelaySeconds: number;
-}) {
-  for (let i = 0; i < params.retryCount; i++) {
-    if (i > 0) {
-      console.log(
-        `Failed. Trying again in ${params.retryDelaySeconds} seconds...`,
-      );
-      await delay(params.retryDelaySeconds * 1000);
-      console.log(`Attempt ${i + 1}/${params.retryCount}...`);
-    }
-    try {
-      return await params.action();
-    } catch (err) {
-      console.error(err);
-    }
-  }
-
-  throw new Error(`Failed after ${params.retryCount} attempts.`);
-}
-
-function delay(ms: number) {
-  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
-}
diff --git a/tools/release/helpers/mod.ts b/tools/release/helpers/mod.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 2cf00c3527..0000000000
--- a/tools/release/helpers/mod.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018-2022 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-
-export * from "./cargo.ts";
-export * from "./crates_io.ts";
-export * from "./deno_workspace.ts";
-export {
-  formatGitLogForMarkdown,
-  getCratesPublishOrder,
-  getGitLogFromTag,
-} from "./helpers.ts";