diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-sdk.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish-sdk.yaml
index ee3d0bfdf..957eca52b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-sdk.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-sdk.yaml
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ jobs:
           ./scripts/update-version.sh @sentio/action ${{ steps.semantic.outputs.new_release_version }}
           pnpm publish --filter "@sentio/action" --no-git-checks --tag ${{ steps.npm.outputs.dist_tag }}
       - name: Clean Github Release for RC
-        if: ${{ contains(steps.semantic.outputs.new_release_version, '-') == false }}
+        if: ${{ steps.semantic.outputs.new_release_published == 'true' && contains(steps.semantic.outputs.new_release_version, '-') == false }}
         run:  ./scripts/clean-rc-releases.sh
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ACCESS_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/packages/action/release.config.cjs b/packages/action/release.config.cjs
index 845636e51..6ff299ffb 100644
--- a/packages/action/release.config.cjs
+++ b/packages/action/release.config.cjs
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@ module.exports = {
     [
       '@semantic-release/commit-analyzer',
       {
-        preset: 'angular',
+        preset: 'conventionalcommits',
         releaseRules: [
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'major',  release: 'major' },
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'minor',  release: 'minor' },
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'patch',  release: 'patch' },
+          // '!'/BREAKING CHANGE markers are capped at minor: major releases are
+          // only ever cut explicitly via a release(major) commit.
+          { breaking: true, release: 'minor' },
           { type: 'chore', release: 'patch' },
           { type: 'refactor', release: 'patch' },
         ],
diff --git a/packages/cli/release.config.cjs b/packages/cli/release.config.cjs
index 845636e51..6ff299ffb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/release.config.cjs
+++ b/packages/cli/release.config.cjs
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@ module.exports = {
     [
       '@semantic-release/commit-analyzer',
       {
-        preset: 'angular',
+        preset: 'conventionalcommits',
         releaseRules: [
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'major',  release: 'major' },
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'minor',  release: 'minor' },
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'patch',  release: 'patch' },
+          // '!'/BREAKING CHANGE markers are capped at minor: major releases are
+          // only ever cut explicitly via a release(major) commit.
+          { breaking: true, release: 'minor' },
           { type: 'chore', release: 'patch' },
           { type: 'refactor', release: 'patch' },
         ],
diff --git a/release.config.js b/release.config.js
index 32128f525..597969f6e 100644
--- a/release.config.js
+++ b/release.config.js
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@ export default {
     [
       '@semantic-release/commit-analyzer',
       {
-        preset: 'angular',
+        preset: 'conventionalcommits',
         releaseRules: [
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'major',  release: 'major' },
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'minor',  release: 'minor' },
           { type: 'release', "scope": 'patch',  release: 'patch' },
+          // '!'/BREAKING CHANGE markers are capped at minor: major releases are
+          // only ever cut explicitly via a release(major) commit.
+          { breaking: true, release: 'minor' },
           { type: 'chore', release: 'patch' },
           { type: 'refactor', release: 'patch' },
         ],
diff --git a/scripts/clean-rc-releases.sh b/scripts/clean-rc-releases.sh
index 4749cc821..6b75b44b5 100755
--- a/scripts/clean-rc-releases.sh
+++ b/scripts/clean-rc-releases.sh
@@ -1 +1,7 @@
-gh release list | grep Pre-release | awk '{print $1;}' | xargs -L1 gh release delete
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Delete pre-release GitHub releases (keeps their git tags, which semantic-release relies on).
+gh release list --limit 1000 --json tagName,isPrerelease \
+  --jq '.[] | select(.isPrerelease) | .tagName' |
+  xargs -r -L1 gh release delete --yes