diff --git a/bin/sake.js b/bin/sake.js
index b8e856d..254434c 100755
--- a/bin/sake.js
+++ b/bin/sake.js
@@ -28,4 +28,9 @@ const args = [
 ]))
 
 // fire up gulp
-spawn('node', args, { cwd: process.cwd(), stdio: 'inherit' })
+const child = spawn('node', args, { cwd: process.cwd(), stdio: 'inherit' })
+
+// we need the exit code of the child process to propagate up to the main process
+child.on('exit', function(code) {
+  process.exitCode = code
+})
diff --git a/helpers/arguments.js b/helpers/arguments.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..72e9c5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helpers/arguments.js
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import minimist from 'minimist'
+
+/**
+ * Determines if the command is being run in "non-interactive mode". If true, we should never present with prompts.
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function isNonInteractive()
+{
+  return process.argv.includes('--non-interactive');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether we already have a GitHub release for this deployment. If we don't, we'll be creating one.
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function hasGitRelease()
+{
+  return !! gitReleaseUploadUrl;
+}
+
+export const gitReleaseUploadUrl = () => {
+  const argv = minimist(process.argv.slice(2))
+
+  return argv['release-upload-url'] || null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Gets the name of the GitHub "release tag" to deploy.
+ * @returns {string|null}
+ */
+export const gitReleaseTag = () => {
+  const argv = minimist(process.argv.slice(2))
+
+  return argv['release-tag'] || null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether this is a dry run deployment. If true, the deploy will not actually happen.
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function isDryRunDeploy()
+{
+  return process.argv.includes('--dry-run');
+}
+
+/**
+ * If specified, then no changes will be made/committed to the code base during a deployment. This should be used if
+ * you're specifying an _exact_ release to deploy, rather than having Sake create the release for you. The expectation
+ * here is that prior to deployment the code has already had all the versions/min-reqs bumped.
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function withoutCodeChanges()
+{
+  return process.argv.includes('--without-code-changes');
+}
+
+export const skipLinting = () => {
+  return process.argv.includes('--skip-linting');
+}
+
+export const newPluginVersion = () => {
+  const argv = minimist(process.argv.slice(2))
+
+  return argv['new-version'] || null;
+}
diff --git a/lib/sake.js b/lib/sake.js
index bf774b9..fa1c353 100644
--- a/lib/sake.js
+++ b/lib/sake.js
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ function initializeSake(config, options) {
   }
 
   exports.getPrereleasesPath = function () {
-    return this.resolvePath(process.env.SAKE_PRE_RELEASE_PATH)
+    return process.env.SAKE_PRE_RELEASE_PATH ? this.resolvePath(process.env.SAKE_PRE_RELEASE_PATH) : null
   }
 
   exports.normalizePath = function (p) {
@@ -579,6 +579,7 @@ function initializeSake(config, options) {
    * Throws an error without the stack trace in gulp.
    */
   exports.throwError = (message) => {
+    process.exitCode = 1;
     let err = new Error(chalk.red(message))
     err.showStack = false
     throw err
@@ -591,6 +592,7 @@ function initializeSake(config, options) {
    * see https://stackoverflow.com/a/30741722
    */
   exports.throwDeferredError = (message) => {
+    process.exitCode = 1;
     setTimeout(() => {
       exports.throwError(message)
     })
diff --git a/tasks/clean.js b/tasks/clean.js
index 8988120..a503cf9 100644
--- a/tasks/clean.js
+++ b/tasks/clean.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import path from 'node:path';
 import del from 'del';
 import sake from '../lib/sake.js'
+import log from 'fancy-log';
 
 /**
  * Clean dev directory from map files
@@ -48,6 +49,11 @@ cleanWcRepoTask.displayName = 'clean:wc_repo'
  * Delete prerelease
  */
 const cleanPrereleaseTask = (done) => {
+  if (sake.getPrereleasesPath() === null) {
+    log.info('No pre-release path defined -- skipping clean')
+    return done()
+  }
+
   return del([
     sake.getPrereleasesPath() + sake.config.plugin.id + '*.zip',
     sake.getPrereleasesPath() + sake.config.plugin.id + '*.txt'
diff --git a/tasks/compile.js b/tasks/compile.js
index 1fb1de0..2214466 100644
--- a/tasks/compile.js
+++ b/tasks/compile.js
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import { lintPhpTask } from './lint.js'
 import { minifyImagesTask } from './imagemin.js'
 import { makepotTask } from './makepot.js'
 import { stylesTask } from './styles.js'
+import { skipLinting } from '../helpers/arguments.js'
 const sass = gulpSaas(dartSaas);
 
 /************************** Scripts */
@@ -152,7 +153,12 @@ compileStyles.displayName = 'compile:styles'
 // Compile all plugin assets
 const compile = (done) => {
   // default compile tasks
-  let tasks = [lintPhpTask, 'scripts', stylesTask, minifyImagesTask] // NOTE: do not import the `scripts` constant here, otherwise it creates a circular dependency
+  let tasks = ['scripts', stylesTask, minifyImagesTask] // NOTE: do not import the `scripts` constant here, otherwise it creates a circular dependency
+
+  // lint PHP unless told not to
+  if (! skipLinting()) {
+    tasks.push(lintPhpTask)
+  }
 
   // unless exclusively told not to, generate the POT file as well
   if (!sake.options.skip_pot) {
diff --git a/tasks/deploy.js b/tasks/deploy.js
index a7d8fd4..d519d8e 100644
--- a/tasks/deploy.js
+++ b/tasks/deploy.js
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ import replace from 'gulp-replace'
 import replaceTask from 'gulp-replace-task'
 import { promptDeployTask, promptTestedReleaseZipTask, promptWcUploadTask } from './prompt.js'
 import { bumpMinReqsTask, bumpTask } from './bump.js'
-import { cleanPrereleaseTask, cleanWcRepoTask, cleanWpAssetsTask, cleanWpTrunkTask } from './clean.js'
+import { cleanBuildTask, cleanPrereleaseTask, cleanWcRepoTask, cleanWpAssetsTask, cleanWpTrunkTask } from './clean.js'
 import { buildTask } from './build.js'
 import {
   gitHubCreateDocsIssueTask,
   gitHubCreateReleaseTask,
   gitHubGetReleaseIssueTask,
-  gitHubGetWcIssuesTask
+  gitHubGetWcIssuesTask, gitHubUploadZipToReleaseTask
 } from './github.js'
 import {
   shellGitEnsureCleanWorkingCopyTask,
@@ -32,7 +32,14 @@ import {
 import { zipTask } from './zip.js'
 import { validateReadmeHeadersTask } from './validate.js'
 import { lintScriptsTask, lintStylesTask } from './lint.js'
-import { copyWcRepoTask, copyWpAssetsTask, copyWpTagTask, copyWpTrunkTask } from './copy.js'
+import { copyBuildTask, copyWcRepoTask, copyWpAssetsTask, copyWpTagTask, copyWpTrunkTask } from './copy.js'
+import {
+  gitReleaseTag,
+  hasGitRelease,
+  isDryRunDeploy,
+  isNonInteractive, newPluginVersion,
+  withoutCodeChanges
+} from '../helpers/arguments.js'
 
 let validatedEnvVariables = false
 
@@ -41,10 +48,10 @@ let validatedEnvVariables = false
 function validateEnvVariables () {
   if (validatedEnvVariables) return
 
-  let variables = ['GITHUB_API_KEY', 'GITHUB_USERNAME', 'SAKE_PRE_RELEASE_PATH']
+  let variables = ['GITHUB_API_KEY']
 
   if (sake.config.deploy.type === 'wc') {
-    variables = variables.concat(['WC_CONSUMER_KEY', 'WC_CONSUMER_SECRET'])
+    variables = variables.concat(['WC_USERNAME', 'WC_APPLICATION_PASSWORD'])
   }
 
   if (sake.config.deploy.type === 'wp') {
@@ -54,13 +61,62 @@ function validateEnvVariables () {
   sake.validateEnvironmentVariables(variables)
 }
 
+/**
+ * Deploys the plugin, using a specific Git release
+ * This differs from {@see deployTask()} in that this task does NOT do any code changes to your working copy.
+ * It simply bundles up your code as-is, zips it, uploads it to the release you provided, and deploys it.
+ * It's expected that the plugin is already "fully built" at the time you run this.
+ */
+const deployFromReleaseTask = (done) => {
+  validateEnvVariables()
+
+  if (! gitReleaseTag()) {
+    sake.throwError('Missing required GitHub release tag')
+  }
+
+  // indicate that we are deploying
+  sake.options.deploy = true
+
+  let tasks = [
+    // clean the build directory
+    cleanBuildTask,
+    // copy plugin files to the build directory
+    copyBuildTask,
+    // create the zip, which will be attached to the releases
+    zipTask,
+    // upload the zip to the release,
+    gitHubUploadZipToReleaseTask
+  ]
+
+  if (isDryRunDeploy()) {
+    tasks.push(function(cb) {
+      log.info('Dry run deployment successful')
+
+      return cb()
+    })
+  } else {
+    if (sake.config.deploy.wooId && sake.config.deploy.type === 'wc') {
+      tasks.push(promptWcUploadTask)
+    }
+
+    if (sake.config.deploy.type === 'wp') {
+      tasks.push(deployToWpRepoTask)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return gulp.series(tasks)(done)
+}
+deployFromReleaseTask.displayName = 'deploy:git-release'
+
 /**
  * Deploy the plugin
  */
 const deployTask = (done) => {
   validateEnvVariables()
 
-  if (!sake.isDeployable()) {
+  // we only validate if a release hasn't been provided to us
+  // if we are provided a release then we have to assume version numbers, etc. have already been adjusted
+  if (! hasGitRelease() && ! withoutCodeChanges() && !sake.isDeployable()) {
     sake.throwError('Plugin is not deployable: \n * ' + sake.getChangelogErrors().join('\n * '))
   }
 
@@ -76,10 +132,15 @@ const deployTask = (done) => {
     // ensure version is bumped
     bumpTask,
     // fetch the latest WP/WC versions & bump the "tested up to" values
-    fetchLatestWpWcVersionsTask,
-    bumpMinReqsTask,
+    fetchAndBumpLatestWpWcVersions,
     // prompt for the version to deploy as
-    promptDeployTask,
+    function (cb) {
+      if (! isNonInteractive()) {
+        return promptDeployTask()
+      } else {
+        return cb()
+      }
+    },
     function (cb) {
       if (sake.options.version === 'skip') {
         log.error(chalk.red('Deploy skipped!'))
@@ -88,7 +149,13 @@ const deployTask = (done) => {
       cb()
     },
     // replace version number & date
-    replaceVersionTask,
+    function (cb) {
+      if (withoutCodeChanges()) {
+        return cb()
+      }
+
+      return replaceVersionTask()
+    },
     // delete prerelease, if any
     cleanPrereleaseTask,
     // build the plugin - compiles and copies to build dir
@@ -103,19 +170,33 @@ const deployTask = (done) => {
       cb()
     },
     // git commit & push
-    shellGitPushUpdateTask,
+    function (cb) {
+      if (withoutCodeChanges() || isDryRunDeploy()) {
+        return cb()
+      }
+
+      return shellGitPushUpdateTask()
+    },
     // create the zip, which will be attached to the releases
     zipTask,
-    // create releases, attaching the zip
-    deployCreateReleasesTask,
+    // create the release if it doesn't already exist, and attach the zip
+    deployCreateReleasesTask
   ]
 
-  if (sake.config.deploy.wooId && sake.config.deploy.type === 'wc') {
-    tasks.push(promptWcUploadTask)
-  }
+  if (isDryRunDeploy()) {
+    tasks.push(function(cb) {
+      log.info('Dry run deployment successful')
 
-  if (sake.config.deploy.type === 'wp') {
-    tasks.push(deployToWpRepoTask)
+      return cb()
+    })
+  } else {
+    if (sake.config.deploy.wooId && sake.config.deploy.type === 'wc') {
+      tasks.push(promptWcUploadTask)
+    }
+
+    if (sake.config.deploy.type === 'wp') {
+      tasks.push(deployToWpRepoTask)
+    }
   }
 
   // finally, create a docs issue, if necessary
@@ -179,13 +260,15 @@ searchWtUpdateKeyTask.displayName = 'search:wt_update_key'
  * Internal task for replacing the version and date when deploying
  */
 const replaceVersionTask = (done) => {
-  if (!sake.getVersionBump()) {
+  const bumpVersion = newPluginVersion() || sake.getVersionBump()
+
+  if (!bumpVersion) {
     sake.throwError('No version replacement specified')
   }
 
   const versions = sake.getPrereleaseVersions(sake.getPluginVersion())
   const versionReplacements = versions.map(version => {
-    return { match: version, replacement: () => sake.getVersionBump() }
+    return { match: version, replacement: () => bumpVersion }
   })
 
   const filterChangelog = filter('**/{readme.md,readme.txt,changelog.txt}', { restore: true })
@@ -270,10 +353,19 @@ const deployCreateReleasesTask = (done) => {
       sake.options.repo = sake.config.deploy.dev.name
       sake.options.prefix_release_tag = sake.config.multiPluginRepo
       cb()
-    },
-    gitHubCreateReleaseTask
+    }
   ]
 
+  if (hasGitRelease()) {
+    tasks.push(gitHubUploadZipToReleaseTask)
+  } else if (! isDryRunDeploy()) {
+    tasks.push(gitHubCreateReleaseTask)
+  } else {
+    // if it wasn't a dry run we would have created a release
+    log.info('Dry run - skipping creation of release')
+    return done()
+  }
+
   return gulp.series(tasks)(done)
 }
 deployCreateReleasesTask.displayName = 'deploy_create_releases'
@@ -442,7 +534,11 @@ const fetchLatestWpWcVersionsTask = (done) => {
 }
 fetchLatestWpWcVersionsTask.displayName = 'fetch_latest_wp_wc_versions'
 
+const fetchAndBumpLatestWpWcVersions = gulp.series(fetchLatestWpWcVersionsTask, bumpMinReqsTask)
+fetchAndBumpLatestWpWcVersions.displayName = 'fetch_and_bump_latest_wp_wc_versions'
+
 export {
+  deployFromReleaseTask,
   deployTask,
   deployPreflightTask,
   deployValidateFrameworkVersionTask,
@@ -456,5 +552,6 @@ export {
   updateWcRepoTask,
   deployToWpRepoTask,
   copyToWpRepoTask,
-  fetchLatestWpWcVersionsTask
+  fetchLatestWpWcVersionsTask,
+  fetchAndBumpLatestWpWcVersions
 }
diff --git a/tasks/github.js b/tasks/github.js
index ca6e7a5..fd82bf1 100644
--- a/tasks/github.js
+++ b/tasks/github.js
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import dateFormat from 'dateformat'
 import log from 'fancy-log'
 import sake from '../lib/sake.js'
 import gulp from 'gulp'
+import minimist from 'minimist';
+import { gitReleaseTag, gitReleaseUploadUrl, isNonInteractive } from '../helpers/arguments.js'
 
 let githubInstances = {}
 
@@ -131,6 +133,10 @@ gitHubGetWcIssuesTask.displayName = 'github:get_wc_issues'
  * Creates a docs issue for the plugin
  */
 const gitHubCreateDocsIssueTask = (done) => {
+  if (isNonInteractive()) {
+    return done()
+  }
+
   if (! sake.config.deploy.docs) {
     log.warn(chalk.yellow('No docs repo configured for ' + sake.getPluginName() + ', skipping'))
     return done()
@@ -195,8 +201,8 @@ const gitHubCreateReleaseTask = (done) => {
   let github = getGithub(sake.options.owner === sake.config.deploy.production.owner ? 'production' : 'dev')
 
   let version = sake.getPluginVersion()
-  let zipName = `${sake.config.plugin.id}.${version}.zip`
-  let zipPath = path.join(process.cwd(), sake.config.paths.build, zipName)
+  const {zipName, zipPath} = getZipNameAndPath()
+
   let tasks = []
 
   // prepare a zip if it doesn't already exist
@@ -218,17 +224,9 @@ const gitHubCreateReleaseTask = (done) => {
 
       sake.options.release_url = result.data.html_url
 
-      github.repos.uploadReleaseAsset({
-        url: result.data.upload_url,
-        name: zipName,
-        data: fs.readFileSync(zipPath),
-        headers: {
-          'content-type': 'application/zip',
-          'content-length': fs.statSync(zipPath).size
-        }
-      }).then(() => {
-        log('Plugin zip uploaded')
-        cb()
+      uploadZipToRelease(zipPath, zipName, result.data.upload_url).then(() => {
+          log('Plugin zip uploaded')
+          cb()
       }).catch((err) => {
         sake.throwError('Uploading release ZIP failed: ' + err.toString())
       })
@@ -241,6 +239,96 @@ const gitHubCreateReleaseTask = (done) => {
 }
 gitHubCreateReleaseTask.displayName = 'github:create_release'
 
+const gitHubUploadZipToReleaseTask = (done) => {
+  if (! gitReleaseTag()) {
+    sake.throwError('No --release-tag provided.')
+  }
+
+  // why do we have to do this? lol
+  sake.options.owner = sake.config.deploy.dev.owner
+  sake.options.repo = sake.config.deploy.dev.name
+
+  getGitHubReleaseFromTagName(gitReleaseTag())
+    .then(response => {
+      const releaseUploadUrl = response.data.upload_url
+
+      const {zipName, zipPath} = getZipNameAndPath()
+
+      log(`Uploading zip ${zipName} to release ${releaseUploadUrl}`)
+
+      let tasks = []
+
+      // prepare a zip if it doesn't already exist
+      if (! fs.existsSync(zipPath)) {
+        tasks.push(sake.options.deploy ? 'compress' : 'zip')
+      }
+
+      tasks.push(function (cb) {
+        uploadZipToRelease(zipPath, zipName, releaseUploadUrl).then(() => {
+          log('Plugin zip uploaded')
+          cb()
+        }).catch((err) => {
+          sake.throwError('Uploading release ZIP failed: ' + err.toString())
+        })
+      })
+
+      gulp.series(tasks)(done)
+    })
+    .catch((err) => {
+      sake.throwError('Failed to upload zip to release: '.err.toString())
+    })
+}
+gitHubUploadZipToReleaseTask.displayName = 'github:upload_zip_to_release'
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @param {string} tagName
+ * @returns {Promise}
+ */
+function getGitHubReleaseFromTagName(tagName)
+{
+  let github = getGithub(sake.options.owner === sake.config.deploy.production.owner ? 'production' : 'dev')
+  const owner = sake.options.owner
+  const repo = sake.options.repo || sake.config.plugin.id
+
+  if (! owner || ! repo) {
+    sake.throwError(chalk.yellow('The owner or the slug of the repo for ' + sake.getPluginName() + ' are missing.'))
+  }
+
+  return github.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/tags/{tag}', {
+    owner: owner,
+    repo: repo,
+    tag: tagName
+  })
+}
+
+function getZipNameAndPath()
+{
+  let version = sake.getPluginVersion()
+  let zipName = `${sake.config.plugin.id}.${version}.zip`
+  let zipPath = path.join(process.cwd(), sake.config.paths.build, zipName)
+
+  return {
+    zipName: zipName,
+    zipPath: zipPath
+  }
+}
+
+function uploadZipToRelease(zipPath, zipName, releaseUrl)
+{
+  let github = getGithub(sake.options.owner === sake.config.deploy.production.owner ? 'production' : 'dev')
+
+  return github.repos.uploadReleaseAsset({
+    url: releaseUrl,
+    name: zipName,
+    data: fs.readFileSync(zipPath),
+    headers: {
+      'content-type': 'application/zip',
+      'content-length': fs.statSync(zipPath).size
+    }
+  })
+}
+
 /**
  * Create release milestones for each Tuesday
  */
@@ -337,6 +425,7 @@ export {
   gitHubGetWcIssuesTask,
   gitHubCreateDocsIssueTask,
   gitHubCreateReleaseTask,
+  gitHubUploadZipToReleaseTask,
   gitHubCreateReleaseMilestonesTask,
   gitHubCreateMonthMilestonesTask
 }
diff --git a/tasks/prompt.js b/tasks/prompt.js
index 94f4392..fef571a 100644
--- a/tasks/prompt.js
+++ b/tasks/prompt.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import _ from 'lodash'
 import sake from '../lib/sake.js'
 import gulp from 'gulp'
 import { wcDeployTask } from './wc.js'
+import { isNonInteractive } from '../helpers/arguments.js'
 
 function filterIncrement (value) {
   if (value[1] === 'custom') {
@@ -102,13 +103,18 @@ promptDeployTask.displayName = 'prompt:deploy'
  * Internal task for prompting whether to upload the plugin to WooCommerce
  */
 const promptWcUploadTask = (done) => {
+  const uploadSeries = gulp.series(wcDeployTask)
+  if (isNonInteractive()) {
+    return uploadSeries(done)
+  }
+
   inquirer.prompt([{
     type: 'confirm',
     name: 'upload_to_wc',
     message: 'Upload plugin to WooCommerce.com?'
   }]).then((answers) => {
     if (answers.upload_to_wc) {
-      gulp.series(wcDeployTask)(done)
+      uploadSeries(done)
     } else {
       log.error(chalk.red('Skipped uploading to WooCommerce.com'))
       done()
@@ -121,6 +127,10 @@ promptWcUploadTask.displayName = 'prompt:wc_upload'
  * Internal task for prompting whether the release has been tested
  */
 const promptTestedReleaseZipTask = (done) => {
+  if (isNonInteractive()) {
+    return done()
+  }
+
   inquirer.prompt([{
     type: 'confirm',
     name: 'tested_release_zip',
diff --git a/tasks/scripts.js b/tasks/scripts.js
index dab4199..7e8ad2e 100644
--- a/tasks/scripts.js
+++ b/tasks/scripts.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import gulp from 'gulp'
 import { lintCoffeeTask, lintJsTask, lintScriptsTask } from './lint.js'
 import { compileBlocksTask, compileCoffeeTask, compileJsTask, compileScripts } from './compile.js'
 import sake from '../lib/sake.js'
+import { skipLinting } from '../helpers/arguments.js'
 
 /**
  * The main task
@@ -9,8 +10,8 @@ import sake from '../lib/sake.js'
 const scriptsTask = (done) => {
   let tasks = [lintScriptsTask, compileScripts]
 
-  // don't lint styles if they have already been linted, unless we're watching
-  if (! sake.isWatching && gulp.lastRun(lintScriptsTask)) {
+  // don't lint scripts if they have already been linted, unless we're watching
+  if ((! sake.isWatching && gulp.lastRun(lintScriptsTask)) || skipLinting()) {
     tasks.shift()
   }
 
diff --git a/tasks/styles.js b/tasks/styles.js
index 14a3af3..7206dda 100644
--- a/tasks/styles.js
+++ b/tasks/styles.js
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@ import gulp from 'gulp'
 import sake from '../lib/sake.js'
 import { lintStylesTask } from './lint.js'
 import { compileStyles } from './compile.js'
+import { skipLinting } from '../helpers/arguments.js'
 
 const stylesTask = (done) => {
   let tasks = [lintStylesTask, compileStyles]
 
   // don't lint styles if they have already been linted, unless we're watching
-  if (!sake.isWatching && gulp.lastRun(lintStylesTask)) {
+  if ((!sake.isWatching && gulp.lastRun(lintStylesTask)) || skipLinting()) {
     tasks.shift()
   }