diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 188bbe47..be5d7f3e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ jobs:
               run: npm config list && npm run release
               env:
                   GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+                  GH_TOKEN_RELEASE: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}
                   GA_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.PAT_USERNAME }}
                   GA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}
 
diff --git a/.releaserc b/.releaserc
deleted file mode 100644
index ca5116d6..00000000
--- a/.releaserc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "branches": ["master"],
-    "tagFormat": "${version}",
-    "plugins": [
-      "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer",
-      "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator",
-      "@semantic-release/changelog",
-      "@semantic-release/github",
-      "@semantic-release/npm",
-      [
-        "semantic-release-github-pullrequest-fixed", {
-          "assets": ["CHANGELOG.md", "package.json"],
-          "baseRef": "master"
-        }
-      ]
-    ]
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/commit-format.cjs b/commit-format.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..51624702
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commit-format.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// Shared commit message parser used by commitlint (commitlint.config.cjs) and
+// semantic-release (release.config.cjs). Accepts both the BigCommerce ticket-first
+// format enforced by @bigcommerce/validate-commits and the legacy conventional format:
+//   TRAC-123: type(scope) - subject
+//   type(scope): TRAC-123 subject
+const parserOpts = {
+    headerPattern: /^(?:[A-Z0-9]{2,}-\d+: )?(\w+)(?:\(([^)]*)\))?!?(?::| -) (.+)$/,
+    breakingHeaderPattern: /^(?:[A-Z0-9]{2,}-\d+: )?(\w+)(?:\(([^)]*)\))?!(?::| -) (.+)$/,
+    headerCorrespondence: ['type', 'scope', 'subject'],
+};
+
+// Union of @commitlint/config-conventional and @bigcommerce/validate-commits types
+const types = [
+    'build',
+    'chore',
+    'ci',
+    'docs',
+    'feat',
+    'fix',
+    'license',
+    'meta',
+    'perf',
+    'ref',
+    'refactor',
+    'revert',
+    'style',
+    'test',
+];
+
+module.exports = { parserOpts, types };
diff --git a/commitlint.config.cjs b/commitlint.config.cjs
index 1c03cd1c..39ffdede 100644
--- a/commitlint.config.cjs
+++ b/commitlint.config.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
+const { parserOpts, types } = require('./commit-format.cjs');
+
 module.exports = {
     extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
+    parserPreset: { parserOpts },
     rules: {
         'subject-case': [0, 'always', 'sentence-case'],
+        'type-enum': [2, 'always', types],
     },
 };
diff --git a/release.config.cjs b/release.config.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ff2a286
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release.config.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+const { parserOpts } = require('./commit-format.cjs');
+
+module.exports = {
+    branches: ['master'],
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-template-curly-in-string
+    tagFormat: '${version}',
+    plugins: [
+        ['@semantic-release/commit-analyzer', { parserOpts }],
+        ['@semantic-release/release-notes-generator', { parserOpts }],
+        '@semantic-release/changelog',
+        '@semantic-release/github',
+        '@semantic-release/npm',
+        [
+            'semantic-release-github-pullrequest-fixed',
+            {
+                assets: ['CHANGELOG.md', 'package.json'],
+                baseRef: 'master',
+            },
+        ],
+    ],
+};