diff --git a/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml
index d124183..ca61061 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml
@@ -2,17 +2,22 @@
 name: Release Prefect Operator Helm Chart
 
 "on":
-  workflow_dispatch: {}
-  workflow_call: {}
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      mode:
+        description: which CI/CD mode?
+        type: string
+        required: true
 
 permissions: {}
 
 jobs:
   release:
+    name: Release Helm Chart
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       # GitHub considers creating releases and uploading assets as writing contents.
       contents: write
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       releaseVersion: ${{ steps.output_versions.outputs.releaseVersion }}
       operatorVersion: ${{ steps.output_versions.outputs.operatorVersion }}
@@ -29,15 +34,28 @@ jobs:
       - name: Get the version tags
         id: get_version
         run: |
-          # Enable pipefail so git command failures do not result in null versions downstream
-          set -x
-          echo "RELEASE_VERSION=$(date +'%Y.%-m.%-d%H%M%S')" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          # Exit if any commands fail, so git command failures do not result in null versions downstream
+          set -e
+          if [ "${{ inputs.mode }}" == "main-merge" ]; then
+            # append "-dev" to the version so that it's clear that this is a development release
+            echo "RELEASE_VERSION=$(date +'%Y.%-m.%-d%H%M%S')-dev" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+            # get the short sha of the latest commit for the operator image
+            short_sha="$(git rev-parse --short=7 HEAD)"
+            echo "SHORT_SHA=$short_sha" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+          elif [[ "${{ inputs.mode }}" == "release" ]]; then
+            echo "RELEASE_VERSION=$(date +'%Y.%-m.%-d%H%M%S')" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-          # This ensures that the latest tag we grab will be of the operator image, and not the helm chart
-          echo "OPERATOR_VERSION=$(\
-          git ls-remote --tags --refs --sort="v:refname" \
-          origin 'v[0-9].[0-9].[0-9]' | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*\///'
-          )" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+            # This ensures that the latest tag we grab will be of the operator image, and not the helm chart
+            echo "OPERATOR_VERSION=$(\
+            git ls-remote --tags --refs --sort="v:refname" \
+            origin 'v[0-9].[0-9].[0-9]' | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*\///'
+            )" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          else
+            echo "Invalid mode: ${{ inputs.mode }}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
 
       - name: Output versions as GitHub Outputs
         id: output_versions
@@ -63,11 +81,11 @@ jobs:
           passphrase_file="$gpg_dir/passphrase"
           # store passphrase in a file
           echo "$GPG_PASSPHRASE" > "$passphrase_file"
-          echo "SIGN_PASSPHRASE_FILE=$passphrase_file" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "SIGN_KEYRING=$keyring" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "SIGN_PASSPHRASE_FILE=$passphrase_file" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "SIGN_KEYRING=$keyring" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         env:
-          GPG_KEYRING_BASE64: "${{ secrets.GPG_KEYRING_BASE64 }}"
-          GPG_PASSPHRASE: "${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}"
+          GPG_KEYRING_BASE64: ${{ secrets.GPG_KEYRING_BASE64 }}
+          GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
 
       - name: Add dependency chart repos
         run: |
@@ -119,11 +137,12 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Run workflow
         run: |
-          gh workflow run update-prefect-operator-versions.yaml \
+          gh workflow run update-operator-versions.yaml \
             --repo prefecthq/cloud2-cluster-deployment \
             --ref main \
             -f image_version=${{ needs.release.outputs.operatorVersion }} \
             -f chart_version=${{ needs.release.outputs.releaseVersion }} \
-            -f mode=release
+            -f mode=${{ inputs.mode }} \
+            -f operator=prefect-operator
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CLOUD2_CLUSTER_DEPLOYMENT_ACTIONS_RW }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/helm-unittest.yaml b/.github/workflows/helm-unittest.yaml
index 09cfb11..5451b93 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/helm-unittest.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/helm-unittest.yaml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ permissions: {}
 
 jobs:
   unittest:
+    name: Run Helm Unit Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       # required to read from the repo
diff --git a/.github/workflows/images-main.yaml b/.github/workflows/images-main.yaml
index 9ab2fea..ab83684 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/images-main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/images-main.yaml
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
 name: Build and Push Images on Merge to Main
 
 "on":
+  workflow_dispatch: {}
   push:
     branches:
       - main
     paths:
       - api/**
       - cmd/**
+      - deploy/charts/**
       - internal/**
       - Dockerfile
 
@@ -29,29 +31,14 @@ jobs:
     # this is required so that the workflow can read secrets rom the environment
     secrets: inherit
 
-  update_image_version_downstream:
-    name: Update dev/stg image versions in `cloud2-cluster-deployment`
+  create_helm_release:
     needs: build_and_push_image_for_main
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml
     permissions:
-      contents: read
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Get image version
-        run: |
-          short_sha="$(git rev-parse --short=7 HEAD)"
-          echo "SHORT_SHA=$short_sha" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
-      - name: Run workflow
-        run: |
-          gh workflow run update-prefect-operator-versions.yaml \
-            --repo prefecthq/cloud2-cluster-deployment \
-            --ref main \
-            -f image_version=$SHORT_SHA \
-            -f mode=main-merge
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CLOUD2_CLUSTER_DEPLOYMENT_ACTIONS_RW }}
+      # required by downstream jobs
+      contents: write
+    with:
+      mode: main-merge
+    # this is required so that the workflow can read secrets
+    # from the environment
+    secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/images-tags.yaml b/.github/workflows/images-tags.yaml
index 9b8df5e..cf16ca7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/images-tags.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/images-tags.yaml
@@ -67,5 +67,8 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       # required by downstream jobs
       contents: write
-    # this is required so that the workflow can read secrets rom the environment
+    with:
+      mode: release
+    # this is required so that the workflow can read secrets
+    # from the environment
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/labeler.yaml b/.github/workflows/labeler.yaml
index e99cc2b..01948d1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/labeler.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/labeler.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ name: Labeler
 
 jobs:
   apply_label:
+    name: Apply prefect-operator label to all issues
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Apply prefect-operator label to all issues
diff --git a/.github/workflows/operator-lint-and-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/operator-lint-and-test.yaml
index dc09143..f988335 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/operator-lint-and-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/operator-lint-and-test.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ jobs:
           - "1.28.0"
           - "1.29.0"
       fail-fast: false
-
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/.github/workflows/updatecli.yaml b/.github/workflows/updatecli.yaml
index 2d8cdbe..af68b59 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/updatecli.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/updatecli.yaml
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ name: Updatecli Dependency Updates
 permissions: {}
 
 jobs:
-  updatecli_minor:
+  updatecli:
+    name: Updatecli Dependency Updates
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       # required to write to the repo
diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-updatecli-config.yaml b/.github/workflows/validate-updatecli-config.yaml
index de6fa2c..fd1895d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/validate-updatecli-config.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-updatecli-config.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ permissions: {}
 
 jobs:
   validate_updatecli_configs:
+    name: Validate Updatecli Configs
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       # required to read from the repo