diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index da29b9bc1..3740f7455 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ jobs:
       - add_ssh_keys
       - checkout
       - run: .circleci/setup_git
-      - run: .circleci/release
 
 workflows:
   version: 2
diff --git a/src/generators/app.ts b/src/generators/app.ts
index 60c48c9fa..ba5e73abf 100644
--- a/src/generators/app.ts
+++ b/src/generators/app.ts
@@ -291,9 +291,9 @@ class App extends Generator {
     this.fs.writeJSON(this.destinationPath('./package.json'), sortPjson(this.pjson))
     this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('editorconfig'), this.destinationPath('.editorconfig'), this)
     this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('scripts/greenkeeper'), this.destinationPath('.circleci/greenkeeper'), this)
-    if (this.semantic_release) {
-      this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('scripts/release'), this.destinationPath('.circleci/release'), this)
-    }
+    // if (this.semantic_release) {
+    //   this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('scripts/release'), this.destinationPath('.circleci/release'), this)
+    // }
     this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('scripts/setup_git'), this.destinationPath('.circleci/setup_git'), this)
     this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('README.md.ejs'), this.destinationPath('README.md'), this)
     this.fs.copyTpl(this.templatePath('circle.yml.ejs'), this.destinationPath('.circleci/config.yml'), this)
diff --git a/templates/circle.yml.ejs b/templates/circle.yml.ejs
index ae47d690c..c569bcb9f 100644
--- a/templates/circle.yml.ejs
+++ b/templates/circle.yml.ejs
@@ -15,48 +15,32 @@ jobs:
       - image: node:latest
     working_directory: ~/cli
     environment:
-      NYC: yarn exec nyc -- --nycrc-path node_modules/@anycli/nyc-config/.nycrc
+      DEPS: "<%- deps %>"
+      <%_ if (mocha) { _%>
+      NYC: "yarn exec nyc -- --nycrc-path node_modules/@anycli/nyc-config/.nycrc"
+      MOCHA_FILE: "reports/mocha.xml"
+      <%_ } _%>
     steps:
       - checkout
-      - restore_cache: &restore_cache
-          keys:
-            - v0-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}-{{ checksum "yarn.lock"}}
-            - v0-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}
-            - v0
+      - attach_workspace: {at: node_modules}
       - run: .circleci/setup_git
-      - run: .circleci/greenkeeper
-      - run: yarn add -D <%- deps %>
       <%_ if (mocha) { _%>
-      - run:
-          name: yarn test
-          when: always
-          environment: {MOCHA_FILE: reports/mocha.xml}
-          command: |
-            mkdir -p reports
-            $NYC yarn test --reporter mocha-junit-reporter
-      - run:
-          name: submit code coverage
-          command: |
-            $NYC report --reporter text-lcov > coverage.lcov
-            curl -s https://codecov.io/bash | bash
+      - run: |
+          mkdir -p reports
+          $NYC yarn test --reporter mocha-junit-reporter
+          $NYC report --reporter text-lcov > coverage.lcov
+          curl -s https://codecov.io/bash | bash
       <%_ } else { _%>
       - run: yarn test
       <%_ } _%>
       <%_ if (['single', 'multi', 'plugin'].includes(type)) { _%>
-      - run:
-          when: always
-          command: ./bin/run -v
+      - run: ./bin/run -v
       <%_ } _%>
       <%_ if (['single', 'multi'].includes(type)) { _%>
-      - run:
-          when: always
-          command: ./bin/run --help
+      - run: ./bin/run --help
       <%_ } _%>
       <%_ if (semantic_release) { _%>
-      - run:
-          name: check if commits match conventional-changelog spec
-          when: always
-          command: yarn exec commitlint -- -x @commitlint/config-conventional --from origin/master
+      - run: yarn exec commitlint -- -x @commitlint/config-conventional --from origin/master
       <%_ } _%>
       - store_test_results: &store_test_results
           path: ~/cli/reports
@@ -64,16 +48,30 @@ jobs:
     <<: *test
     docker:
       - image: node:8
-  cache:
+  yarn:
     <<: *test
     steps:
       - checkout
+      - restore_cache:
+          keys:
+            - v0-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}-{{ checksum "yarn.lock"}}
+            - v0-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}
+            - v0
+      - run: .circleci/greenkeeper
       - run: yarn global add greenkeeper-lockfile@1
-      - run: yarn add -D nyc@11 @anycli/nyc-config@0 mocha-junit-reporter@1<%- semantic_release ? " @commitlint/cli@6 @commitlint/config-conventional@6" : "" %>
+      - run: yarn add -D $DEPS
+      - persist_to_workspace: {root: node_modules,  paths: ["*"]}
+  cache:
+    <<: *test
+    steps:
+      - checkout
+      - restore_cache: { keys: [v001-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}-{{checksum "yarn.lock"}}] }
+      - attach_workspace: {at: node_modules}
+      - run: yarn global add greenkeeper-lockfile@1<%- semantic_release ? '@anycli/semantic-release@1 semantic-release@12' : '' %>
+      - run: yarn add -D $DEPS
       - save_cache:
-          key: v0-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}-{{checksum "yarn.lock"}}
+          key: v001-{{checksum ".circleci/config.yml"}}-{{checksum "yarn.lock"}}
           paths:
-            - ~/cli/node_modules
             - /usr/local/share/.cache/yarn
             - /usr/local/share/.config/yarn
 <%_ if (semantic_release) { _%>
@@ -82,20 +80,21 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - add_ssh_keys
       - checkout
-      - restore_cache: *restore_cache
-      - run: .circleci/setup_git
-      - run: .circleci/release
+      - attach_workspace: {at: node_modules}
+      - run: |
+          export PATH=/usr/local/share/.config/yarn/global/node_modules/.bin:$PATH
+          .circleci/setup_git
+          yarn global add @anycli/semantic-release@1 semantic-release@12
+          semantic-release -e @anycli/semantic-release
 <%_ } _%>
 
 workflows:
   version: 2
   "<%= pjson.name %>":
     jobs:
-      - node-latest
-      - node-8
-      - cache:
-          filters:
-            branches: {only: master}
+      - yarn
+      - node-latest: {requires: [yarn] }
+      - node-8: {requires: [yarn] }
 <%_ if (semantic_release) { _%>
       - release:
           context: org-global
@@ -104,4 +103,9 @@ workflows:
           requires:
             - node-latest
             - node-8
+      - cache: { requires: [release] }
+<%_ } else { _%>
+      - cache:
+          filters:
+            branches: {only: master}
 <%_ } _%>
diff --git a/templates/scripts/release b/templates/scripts/release
index 59c79759b..43ed6f618 100755
--- a/templates/scripts/release
+++ b/templates/scripts/release
@@ -5,5 +5,4 @@ set -ex
 PATH=/usr/local/share/.config/yarn/global/node_modules/.bin:$PATH
 
 yarn global add @anycli/semantic-release@1 semantic-release@12
-yarn install --frozen-lockfile
 semantic-release -e @anycli/semantic-release