diff --git a/packages/playground/vite.config.smallNodeApp.js b/packages/playground/vite.config.smallNodeApp.js
index 13e40f6b..95aa4e9e 100644
--- a/packages/playground/vite.config.smallNodeApp.js
+++ b/packages/playground/vite.config.smallNodeApp.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
       project: "hackweek-node-sample-app",
       debug: true,
       debugLogging: true,
-      release: "0.0.1",
+      release: "0.0.6",
       include: "out/vite-smallNodeApp",
       cleanArtifacts: true,
     }),
diff --git a/packages/unplugin/package.json b/packages/unplugin/package.json
index ca0057ef..a50e9517 100644
--- a/packages/unplugin/package.json
+++ b/packages/unplugin/package.json
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@sentry/cli": "1.74.5",
+    "axios": "^0.27.2",
     "magic-string": "0.26.2",
     "unplugin": "0.9.4"
   },
diff --git a/packages/unplugin/src/index.ts b/packages/unplugin/src/index.ts
index 95e8237d..a52f811b 100644
--- a/packages/unplugin/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/unplugin/src/index.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { createUnplugin } from "unplugin";
 import MagicString from "magic-string";
 import { getReleaseName } from "./getReleaseName";
 import { Options } from "./types";
-import { makeSentryFacade } from "./facade";
+import { makeSentryFacade } from "./sentry/facade";
 
 const defaultOptions: Omit<Options, "include"> = {
   //TODO: add default options here as we port over options from the webpack plugin
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const defaultOptions: Omit<Options, "include"> = {
   debug: false,
   cleanArtifacts: false,
   finalize: true,
+  url: "https://sentry.io",
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/api.ts b/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/api.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..02577bc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/api.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-empty-function */
+
+import axios from "axios";
+import { AxiosError } from "axios";
+import { Options } from "../types";
+
+const API_PATH = "api/0";
+
+type SentryRequestOptions = Pick<Options, "authToken" | "url"> & {
+  method: string;
+  endpoint: string;
+  payload: unknown;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Generic function to call to make the actual request.
+ * Currently takes care of adding headers.
+ * Happy to change this to something more sophisticated.
+ */
+async function makeRequest(requestOptions: SentryRequestOptions) {
+  const { authToken, url, endpoint, method, payload } = requestOptions;
+
+  if (!authToken || !url || !endpoint) {
+    return Promise.reject();
+  }
+
+  const response = await axios({
+    method,
+    url: `${url}/${API_PATH}/${endpoint}`,
+    data: payload,
+    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${authToken}`, "User-Agent": "sentry-unplugin" },
+  }).catch((error: AxiosError) => {
+    const msg = `Error: ${error.message}`;
+    throw new Error(msg);
+  });
+
+  return response;
+}
+
+/* Just a wrapper to make POST requests */
+async function makePostRequest(requestOptions: Omit<SentryRequestOptions, "method">) {
+  return makeRequest({ ...requestOptions, method: "POST" });
+}
+
+export async function makeNewReleaseRequest(release: string, options: Options): Promise<string> {
+  const releasePayload = {
+    version: release,
+    projects: [options.project],
+    dateStarted: new Date(),
+    dateReleased: new Date(), //TODO: figure out if these dates are set correctly
+  };
+
+  const orgSlug = options.org || "";
+  const projectSlug = options.project || "";
+
+  // using the legacy endpoint here because the sentry webpack plugin only associates one project
+  // with the release. If we ever wanna support multiple projects in the unplugin,
+  // take a look at how sentry/cli calls the new endpoint:
+  // https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-cli/blob/4fa813549cd249e77ae6ba974d76e606a19f48de/src/api.rs#L769-L773
+  const response = await makePostRequest({
+    authToken: options.authToken,
+    url: options.url,
+    endpoint: `projects/${orgSlug}/${projectSlug}/releases/`,
+    payload: releasePayload,
+  });
+
+  return response.status.toString();
+}
diff --git a/packages/unplugin/src/cli.ts b/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/cli.ts
similarity index 98%
rename from packages/unplugin/src/cli.ts
rename to packages/unplugin/src/sentry/cli.ts
index 153c1479..480adb78 100644
--- a/packages/unplugin/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/cli.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import SentryCli from "@sentry/cli";
-import { Options } from "./types";
+import { Options } from "../types";
 
 /** Creates a new Sentry CLI instance. */
 export function makeSentryCli(options: Options) {
diff --git a/packages/unplugin/src/facade.ts b/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/facade.ts
similarity index 91%
rename from packages/unplugin/src/facade.ts
rename to packages/unplugin/src/sentry/facade.ts
index 896a7b80..ef0f27f7 100644
--- a/packages/unplugin/src/facade.ts
+++ b/packages/unplugin/src/sentry/facade.ts
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@
 //           - unnecessary functionality
 
 import { makeSentryCli } from "./cli";
-import { Options } from "./types";
+import { Options } from "../types";
 import SentryCli from "@sentry/cli";
+import { makeNewReleaseRequest } from "./api";
 
 export type SentryFacade = {
   createNewRelease: () => Promise<string>;
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ export function makeSentryFacade(release: string, options: Options): SentryFacad
   const cli = makeSentryCli(options);
 
   return {
-    createNewRelease: () => createNewRelease(cli, release),
+    createNewRelease: () => createNewRelease(release, options),
     cleanArtifacts: () => cleanArtifacts(cli, release, options),
     uploadSourceMaps: () => uploadSourceMaps(cli, release, options),
     setCommits: () => setCommits(/* release */),
@@ -36,8 +37,8 @@ export function makeSentryFacade(release: string, options: Options): SentryFacad
   };
 }
 
-async function createNewRelease(cli: SentryCli, release: string): Promise<string> {
-  return cli.releases.new(release);
+async function createNewRelease(release: string, options: Options): Promise<string> {
+  return makeNewReleaseRequest(release, options);
 }
 
 async function uploadSourceMaps(
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 075ab4bd..8d276baf 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3250,6 +3250,14 @@ aws4@^1.8.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/aws4/-/aws4-1.11.0.tgz#d61f46d83b2519250e2784daf5b09479a8b41c59"
   integrity sha512-xh1Rl34h6Fi1DC2WWKfxUTVqRsNnr6LsKz2+hfwDxQJWmrx8+c7ylaqBMcHfl1U1r2dsifOvKX3LQuLNZ+XSvA==
 
+axios@^0.27.2:
+  version "0.27.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/axios/-/axios-0.27.2.tgz#207658cc8621606e586c85db4b41a750e756d972"
+  integrity sha512-t+yRIyySRTp/wua5xEr+z1q60QmLq8ABsS5O9Me1AsE5dfKqgnCFzwiCZZ/cGNd1lq4/7akDWMxdhVlucjmnOQ==
+  dependencies:
+    follow-redirects "^1.14.9"
+    form-data "^4.0.0"
+
 babel-jest@^28.1.3:
   version "28.1.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/babel-jest/-/babel-jest-28.1.3.tgz#c1187258197c099072156a0a121c11ee1e3917d5"
@@ -3935,7 +3943,7 @@ columnify@^1.5.4:
     strip-ansi "^6.0.1"
     wcwidth "^1.0.0"
 
-combined-stream@^1.0.6, combined-stream@~1.0.6:
+combined-stream@^1.0.6, combined-stream@^1.0.8, combined-stream@~1.0.6:
   version "1.0.8"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/combined-stream/-/combined-stream-1.0.8.tgz#c3d45a8b34fd730631a110a8a2520682b31d5a7f"
   integrity sha512-FQN4MRfuJeHf7cBbBMJFXhKSDq+2kAArBlmRBvcvFE5BB1HZKXtSFASDhdlz9zOYwxh8lDdnvmMOe/+5cdoEdg==
@@ -5393,6 +5401,11 @@ flush-write-stream@^1.0.0:
     inherits "^2.0.3"
     readable-stream "^2.3.6"
 
+follow-redirects@^1.14.9:
+  version "1.15.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/follow-redirects/-/follow-redirects-1.15.1.tgz#0ca6a452306c9b276e4d3127483e29575e207ad5"
+  integrity sha512-yLAMQs+k0b2m7cVxpS1VKJVvoz7SS9Td1zss3XRwXj+ZDH00RJgnuLx7E44wx02kQLrdM3aOOy+FpzS7+8OizA==
+
 for-in@^1.0.2:
   version "1.0.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/for-in/-/for-in-1.0.2.tgz#81068d295a8142ec0ac726c6e2200c30fb6d5e80"
@@ -5403,6 +5416,15 @@ forever-agent@~0.6.1:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/forever-agent/-/forever-agent-0.6.1.tgz#fbc71f0c41adeb37f96c577ad1ed42d8fdacca91"
   integrity sha512-j0KLYPhm6zeac4lz3oJ3o65qvgQCcPubiyotZrXqEaG4hNagNYO8qdlUrX5vwqv9ohqeT/Z3j6+yW067yWWdUw==
 
+form-data@^4.0.0:
+  version "4.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/form-data/-/form-data-4.0.0.tgz#93919daeaf361ee529584b9b31664dc12c9fa452"
+  integrity sha512-ETEklSGi5t0QMZuiXoA/Q6vcnxcLQP5vdugSpuAyi6SVGi2clPPp+xgEhuMaHC+zGgn31Kd235W35f7Hykkaww==
+  dependencies:
+    asynckit "^0.4.0"
+    combined-stream "^1.0.8"
+    mime-types "^2.1.12"
+
 form-data@~2.3.2:
   version "2.3.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/form-data/-/form-data-2.3.3.tgz#dcce52c05f644f298c6a7ab936bd724ceffbf3a6"