diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 40b082f447..a5b6976ece 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -6,29 +6,30 @@ on:
       - 'v*'
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
+      publish:
+        description: 'Publish to PyPI (uncheck for dry run)'
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
       dev_release:
-        description: "Do a dev release or regular release"
-        required: true
-        default: "false"
+        description: 'Development release (DEV_RELEASE=1)'
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
-  setup:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Set publishing variables
-        run: echo "Publishing setup complete"
-
   build_documentation:
     if: github.repository == 'ml-explore/mlx'
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: ./.github/actions/build-docs
-    
+
   deploy_documentation:
+    if: inputs.publish
     needs: build_documentation
     permissions:
       pages: write
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.arch == 'x86_64' && 'ubuntu-22.04' || 'ubuntu-22.04-arm' }}
     env:
       PYPI_RELEASE: 1
-      DEV_RELEASE: ${{ github.event.inputs.dev_release == 'true' && 1 || 0 }}
+      DEV_RELEASE: ${{ inputs.dev_release && 1 || 0 }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: ./.github/actions/setup-linux
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ jobs:
           name: mlx-cpu-${{ matrix.arch }}
           path: wheelhouse/mlx_cpu-*.whl
           if-no-files-found: error
-  
+
   build_mac_release:
     if: github.repository == 'ml-explore/mlx'
     strategy:
@@ -86,8 +87,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: [self-hosted, macos]
     env:
       PYPI_RELEASE: 1
-      DEV_RELEASE: ${{ github.event.inputs.dev_release == 'true' && 1 || 0 }}
-
+      DEV_RELEASE: ${{ inputs.dev_release && 1 || 0 }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: ./.github/actions/setup-macos
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.arch == 'x86_64' && 'ubuntu-22-large' || 'ubuntu-22-large-arm' }}
     env:
       PYPI_RELEASE: 1
-      DEV_RELEASE: ${{ github.event.inputs.dev_release == 'true' && 1 || 0 }}
+      DEV_RELEASE: ${{ inputs.dev_release && 1 || 0 }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: ./.github/actions/setup-linux
@@ -162,11 +162,11 @@ jobs:
   pypi-publish:
     name: Upload release to PyPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [setup, build_linux_release, build_mac_release]
+    needs: [build_linux_release, build_mac_release]
     permissions:
       id-token: write
     environment:
-      name: pypi
+      name: ${{ inputs.publish && 'pypi' || '' }}
       url: https://pypi.org/p/mlx
     steps:
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
@@ -180,20 +180,21 @@ jobs:
           merge-multiple: true
           path: dist
       - name: Display structure of downloaded files
-        run: ls -R dist
+        run: du -ah dist
       - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
+        if: inputs.publish
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
         with:
           repository-url: https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/
-  
+
   pypi-publish-cuda:
     name: Upload CUDA release to PyPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [setup, build_cuda_release]
+    needs: [build_cuda_release]
     permissions:
       id-token: write
     environment:
-      name: pypi
+      name: ${{ inputs.publish && 'pypi' || '' }}
       url: https://pypi.org/p/mlx-cuda
     steps:
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
@@ -201,8 +202,9 @@ jobs:
           name: mlx-cuda-*
           path: dist
       - name: Display structure of downloaded files
-        run: ls -R dist
+        run: du -ah dist
       - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
+        if: inputs.publish
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
         with:
           repository-url: https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/
@@ -210,11 +212,11 @@ jobs:
   pypi-publish-cpu:
     name: Upload CPU release to PyPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [setup, build_linux_release]
+    needs: [build_linux_release]
     permissions:
       id-token: write
     environment:
-      name: pypi
+      name: ${{ inputs.publish && 'pypi' || '' }}
       url: https://pypi.org/p/mlx-cpu
     steps:
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
@@ -223,8 +225,9 @@ jobs:
           merge-multiple: true
           path: dist
       - name: Display structure of downloaded files
-        run: ls -R dist
+        run: du -ah dist
       - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
+        if: inputs.publish
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
         with:
           repository-url: https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/
@@ -232,11 +235,11 @@ jobs:
   pypi-publish-metal:
     name: Upload Metal release to PyPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [setup, build_mac_release]
+    needs: [build_mac_release]
     permissions:
       id-token: write
     environment:
-      name: pypi
+      name: ${{ inputs.publish && 'pypi' || '' }}
       url: https://pypi.org/p/mlx-metal
     steps:
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
@@ -244,8 +247,9 @@ jobs:
           name: mlx-metal
           path: dist
       - name: Display structure of downloaded files
-        run: ls -R dist
+        run: du -ah dist
       - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
+        if: inputs.publish
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
         with:
           repository-url: https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/