diff --git a/.github/ci/recipe.yaml b/.github/ci/recipe.yaml
index 96962b8bac..0579c19e42 100644
--- a/.github/ci/recipe.yaml
+++ b/.github/ci/recipe.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # Adapted from the conda forge recipe
 context:
   name: parcels
-  version: 4.0.0alpha2 # The last number here needs to be bumped for each new alpha release
+  version: ${{ env.get('PARCELS_ALPHA_VERSION') }}
 
 package:
   name: ${{ name|lower }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 26456e22f5..459f3faa84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - "main"
+      - "v4-dev"
       - "test-me/*"
   pull_request:
-  schedule:
-    - cron: "0 7 * * 1" # Run every Monday at 7:00 UTC
 
 concurrency:
   group: branch-${{ github.head_ref }}
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
           exit 1
 
   cache-pixi-lock:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-slim
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [should-run-ci]
     outputs:
       cache-key: ${{ steps.pixi-lock.outputs.cache-key }}
@@ -195,3 +194,36 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: Mypy report
           path: mypy-report
+  build-and-upload-nightly-parcels: # for alpha testing
+    needs: [cache-pixi-lock]
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Restore cached pixi lockfile
+        uses: Parcels-code/pixi-lock/restore@2b823a4a804631370fbde7e6088ee5db71a26c60 # TODO: Update to action in prefix-dev once available
+        with:
+          cache-key: ${{ needs.cache-pixi-lock.outputs.cache-key }}
+      - uses: prefix-dev/setup-pixi@v0.9.0
+        with:
+          pixi-version: ${{ needs.cache-pixi-lock.outputs.pixi-version }}
+          cache: true
+          cache-write: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name == 'v4-dev' }} # TODO: Update v4-dev to main when v4 is released
+      - run: pixi run get-parcels-alpha-version >> $GITHUB_ENV
+      - run: echo "PARCELS_ALPHA_VERSION is $PARCELS_ALPHA_VERSION"
+      - name: Build conda package
+        uses: prefix-dev/rattler-build-action@v0.2.34
+        with:
+          recipe-path: .github/ci/recipe.yaml
+      - if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/v4-dev'
+        run: |
+          for pkg in $(find output -type f \( -name "*.conda" -o -name "*.tar.bz2" \) ); do
+            echo "Uploading ${pkg}"
+            rattler-build upload prefix -c parcels "${pkg}"
+          done
+        env:
+          PREFIX_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.PREFIX_API_KEY }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 52d80e0050..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-name: Publish alpha version of Parcels
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-  id-token: write
-
-jobs:
-  build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
-      - name: Build conda package
-        uses: prefix-dev/rattler-build-action@v0.2.34
-        with:
-          recipe-path: .github/ci/recipe.yaml
-
-      - run: |
-          for pkg in $(find output -type f \( -name "*.conda" -o -name "*.tar.bz2" \) ); do
-            echo "Uploading ${pkg}"
-            rattler-build upload prefix -c parcels "${pkg}"
-          done
-        env:
-          PREFIX_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.PREFIX_API_KEY }}
diff --git a/pixi.toml b/pixi.toml
index 4dcbd65750..71ddfe96ed 100644
--- a/pixi.toml
+++ b/pixi.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ py-triangle = ">=20250106,<20250107"
 [dependencies]
 parcels = { path = "." }
 
+[feature.alpha-parcels.dependencies]
+git = "*"
+
+[feature.alpha-parcels.tasks]
+get-parcels-alpha-version = { cmd = "python tools/get-parcels-alpha-version.py" }
+
 [feature.minimum.dependencies]
 python = "3.11.*"
 netcdf4 = "1.6.*"
@@ -127,3 +133,4 @@ test-py313 = { features = ["test", "py313"] }
 test-notebooks = { features = ["test", "notebooks"], solve-group = "main" }
 docs = { features = ["docs", "notebooks"], solve-group = "docs" }
 typing = { features = ["typing"], solve-group = "main" }
+alpha-parcels = { features = ["alpha-parcels"] }
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ec55086064..392cd8a2c7 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ dependencies = [
   "netCDF4 >=1.7.2",
   "zarr >=2.15.0,!=2.18.0,<3",
   "tqdm >=4.50.0",
-  "pytest",
   "xarray >=2024.5.0",
   "uxarray >=2025.3.0",
   "pooch >=1.8.0",
diff --git a/tools/get-parcels-alpha-version.py b/tools/get-parcels-alpha-version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a1438f91a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/get-parcels-alpha-version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+"""Get a Parcels v4 alpha version string based on commits since the last tag.
+
+Sets the PARCELS_ALPHA_VERSION environment variable (via GITHUB_ENV in CI,
+or prints the version to stdout for local use).
+"""
+
+import subprocess
+
+
+def get_alpha_version():
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["git", "describe", "--tags", "--long"],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+    )
+    # Format: <tag>-<n>-g<hash>
+    # e.g. v3.1.2-1967-g1857d5219
+    parts = result.stdout.strip().rsplit("-", 2)
+    n_commits = parts[1]
+    return f"4.0.0alpha{n_commits}"
+
+
+def main():
+    version = get_alpha_version()
+    print(f"PARCELS_ALPHA_VERSION={version}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()