diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index d162756b..7b2316bb 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ commands:
           # TODO: remove when chromedriver downloads are fixed
           chrome-version: 116.0.5845.96
       - node/install:
-          node-version: '16.13'
+          node-version: "16.13"
       - run: gem install bundler # setup bundler
       - run: rake bootstrap # bootstrap packages
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - checkout
       - node/install:
-          node-version: '16.13'
+          node-version: "16.13"
       - bootstrap
       - run: bash .circleci/print_license.sh
 
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ workflows:
             branches:
               only:
                 - develop
+                - release
       - production_release:
           requires:
             - test
diff --git a/.github/scripts/prepare_release.sh b/.github/scripts/prepare_release.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 594f5e21..5bcd2103
--- a/.github/scripts/prepare_release.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/prepare_release.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,15 @@ set -e
 releaseLevel="$1"
 
 oldVersion="$(node -pe 'require("./package.json").version')"
-npx standard-version --release-as "$releaseLevel" --skip.commit=true --skip.tag=true
+
+# If no release level is specified, let commit-and-tag-version handle versioning
+if [ -z "$releaseLevel" ] 
+then
+  npx commit-and-tag-version --skip.commit=true --skip.tag=true
+else
+  npx commit-and-tag-version --release-as "$releaseLevel" --skip.commit=true --skip.tag=true
+fi
+
 newVersion="$(node -pe 'require("./package.json").version')"
 
 sed -i -e "s/  VERSION\\s*=\\s*\"$oldVersion\"/  VERSION = \"$newVersion\"/" version.rb
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-assign-issues.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-assign-issues.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 832601f0..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-assign-issues.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-name: Auto assign axe-core integration issues to Axe API team project board
-
-on:
-  issues:
-    types: [opened]
-env:
-  MY_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MY_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-jobs:
-  assign_one_project:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Auto assign axe-core integration issues to Axe API team project board
-    steps:
-      - name: Auto assign axe-core integration issues to Axe API team project board
-        uses: srggrs/assign-one-project-github-action@1.2.1
-        with:
-          project: https://github.com/orgs/dequelabs/projects/53
-          column_name: 'Ungroomed'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-patch-release.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-patch-release.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index ec752eb6..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-patch-release.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-name: Automatically create patch release every 2 weeks
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-jobs:
-  create_patch_release:
-    name: Create release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Determine if we skip cancel checks
-        id: skip-checks
-        shell: bash
-        # Skip checks if we are not a scheduled run
-        run: echo value=$(test ${{ github.event_name }} != schedule && echo true || echo false) >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-
-      - name: Create release
-        uses: dequelabs/axe-api-team-public/.github/actions/auto-patch-release-v1@main
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          skip_checks: ${{ steps.skip-checks.outputs.value }}
-          project_token: ${{ secrets.GH_PROJECT_TOKEN }}
-          slack_webhook: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
-          odd_release: 'true'
-          release-command: bash .github/scripts/prepare_release.sh
-          release-branch: master
-          default-branch: develop
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release-candidate.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release-candidate.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6321f034
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release-candidate.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+name: Create release candidate
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version-locked:
+        type: boolean
+        description: Prevent this action from creating a minor or major release
+        default: true
+
+jobs:
+  create-release-candidate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    steps:
+      - uses: dequelabs/axe-api-team-public/.github/actions/create-release-candidate-v1@main
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          base: "master"
+          head: "develop"
+          release-script-path: "./.github/scripts/prepare_release.sh"
+          version-locked: ${{ inputs.version-locked }}
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_PROJECT_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 9eb225af..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-name: Create release candidate
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      releaseLevel:
-        description: 'Release level: major, minor, or patch.'
-        required: true
-        default: 'patch'
-
-jobs:
-  create_release:
-    name: Create release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout repo
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Cache node_modules
-        uses: actions/cache@v3
-        with:
-          path: ./node_modules
-          key: npm-cache-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('./package-lock.json') }}
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
-        with:
-          node-version: 16
-        # There is no `package-lock.json` file
-      - run: npm install
-      - name: Configure git
-        run: |
-          git config user.name "API Team CI User"
-          git config user.email "aciattestteamci@deque.com"
-      - id: release
-        name: Release
-        run: |
-          npx standard-version --release-as="${{ github.event.inputs.releaseLevel }}"
-          Version=$(jq -r .version package.json)
-          echo "::set-output name=Version::$Version"
-      - name: Create pull request
-        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v3
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          branch: release
-          branch-suffix: timestamp
-          title: 'chore: release v${{ steps.release.outputs.Version }}'
-          # If there are any changes not already committed, they will be added to
-          # a commit with this as the message.
-          # If there are no changes no commit will be created.
-          commit-message: 'chore: applying release changes'
-          # Our default branch is `develop` but we want to create a PR into `master`
-          base: master
diff --git a/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-footer.yml b/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-footer.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d5e35af0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-footer.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+name: Semantic PR footer
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types:
+      - opened
+      - reopened
+      - edited
+      - synchronize
+
+jobs:
+  semantic-pr-footer:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 1
+    steps:
+      - uses: dequelabs/axe-api-team-public/.github/actions/semantic-pr-footer-v1@main
diff --git a/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml b/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml
index 181cd239..99eeeaf9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml
@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@ on:
 jobs:
   semantic-pr-title:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 1
     steps:
       - uses: dequelabs/semantic-pr-title@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-master-develop.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-master-develop.yml
index a02f8f37..e15ff080 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-master-develop.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync-master-develop.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   create_sync_pull_request:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 2
     steps:
       - uses: dequelabs/action-sync-branches@v1
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-axe-core.yml b/.github/workflows/update-axe-core.yml
index 6f89a483..c278d1f6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-axe-core.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-axe-core.yml
@@ -1,38 +1,20 @@
 name: Update axe-core
 
 on:
+  schedule:
+    # Run every night at midnight
+    - cron: '0 0 * * *'
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 1
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
         with:
           node-version: 16
-      - id: update
-        uses: dequelabs/update-axe-core@v1
-      - id: type
-        run: |
-          CommitType=""
-          if [ "${{ steps.update.outputs.patch_version_updated }}" == "true" ]; then
-            CommitType="fix"
-          elif [ "${{ steps.update.outputs.minor_version_updated }}" == "true" ]; then
-            CommitType="feat"
-          elif [ "${{ steps.update.outputs.major_version_updated }}" == "true" ]; then
-            CommitType="feat"
-          fi
-          echo "type=$CommitType" >>"$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-      - name: Open PR
-        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v4
+      - uses: dequelabs/axe-api-team-public/.github/actions/create-update-axe-core-pull-request-v1@main
         with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
-          commit-message: '${{ steps.type.outputs.type }}: Update axe-core to v${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}'
-          branch: auto-update-axe-core
-          base: develop
-          title: '${{ steps.type.outputs.type }}: Update axe-core to v${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}'
-          body: |
-            This patch updates version of [`axe-core`](https://npmjs.org/axe-core) to v${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}.
-
-            This PR was opened by a robot :robot: :tada:.
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9e803cef..43b360fc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 # Changelog
 
-All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [commit-and-tag-version](https://github.com/absolute-version/commit-and-tag-version) for commit guidelines.
+
+## [4.8.1](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core-gems/compare/v4.8.0...v4.8.1) (2024-01-15)
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* Update axe-core to v4.8.2 ([#332](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core-gems/issues/332)) ([b3789c4](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core-gems/commit/b3789c44e433c82743a84029d2bac7c529d32047))
+* Update axe-core to v4.8.3 ([#360](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core-gems/issues/360)) ([cb6338c](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core-gems/commit/cb6338c222a55825f4ec9f04699c775d76508a26))
+
 
 ## [4.8.0](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core-gems/compare/v4.6.1...v4.8.0) (2023-09-27)
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9086d6f5..20d1673a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "axe-core-gems",
-  "version": "4.8.0",
+  "version": "4.8.1",
   "license": "MPL-2.0",
   "private": true,
   "repository": {
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "axe-test-fixtures": "github:dequelabs/axe-test-fixtures",
-    "conventional-changelog-cli": "^2.2.2",
-    "standard-version": "^9.5.0"
+    "commit-and-tag-version": "^11.2.4",
+    "conventional-changelog-cli": "^2.2.2"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/axe-core-api/package-lock.json b/packages/axe-core-api/package-lock.json
index 6689409a..3d2222d8 100644
--- a/packages/axe-core-api/package-lock.json
+++ b/packages/axe-core-api/package-lock.json
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@
       "name": "axe-core-api",
       "license": "MPL-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
-        "axe-core": "4.8.2"
+        "axe-core": "^4.8.3"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/axe-core": {
-      "version": "4.8.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/axe-core/-/axe-core-4.8.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-/dlp0fxyM3R8YW7MFzaHWXrf4zzbr0vaYb23VBFCl83R7nWNPg/yaQw2Dc8jzCMmDVLhSdzH8MjrsuIUuvX+6g==",
+      "version": "4.8.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/axe-core/-/axe-core-4.8.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-d5ZQHPSPkF9Tw+yfyDcRoUOc4g/8UloJJe5J8m4L5+c7AtDdjDLRxew/knnI4CxvtdxEUVgWz4x3OIQUIFiMfw==",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=4"
       }
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "axe-core": {
-      "version": "4.8.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/axe-core/-/axe-core-4.8.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-/dlp0fxyM3R8YW7MFzaHWXrf4zzbr0vaYb23VBFCl83R7nWNPg/yaQw2Dc8jzCMmDVLhSdzH8MjrsuIUuvX+6g=="
+      "version": "4.8.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/axe-core/-/axe-core-4.8.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-d5ZQHPSPkF9Tw+yfyDcRoUOc4g/8UloJJe5J8m4L5+c7AtDdjDLRxew/knnI4CxvtdxEUVgWz4x3OIQUIFiMfw=="
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/axe-core-api/package.json b/packages/axe-core-api/package.json
index 89af9a8c..29f70b45 100644
--- a/packages/axe-core-api/package.json
+++ b/packages/axe-core-api/package.json
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
   "name": "axe-core-api",
   "license": "MPL-2.0",
   "dependencies": {
-    "axe-core": "4.8.2"
+    "axe-core": "^4.8.3"
   }
 }
diff --git a/version.rb b/version.rb
index 6812ec3d..dd0a8a2f 100644
--- a/version.rb
+++ b/version.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # this version is used by all the packages
 
 module AxeCoreGems
-  VERSION = "4.8.0"
+  VERSION = "4.8.1"
 end