diff --git a/.github/workflows/cmake.yml b/.github/workflows/cmake.yml
index d7f1a39a..cd9106ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cmake.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cmake.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ name: CI build
 
 on:
   pull_request:
-    branches: [ main ]
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - release-*
   workflow_dispatch:
   workflow_call:
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
index a095d8f7..806fa856 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
+      - release-1.x
 
 jobs:
   update_release_draft:
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4f4ee62b..69cec7a6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ if(NOT GIT_VERSION AND GIT_FOUND)
     message("Found Git executable \"${GIT_EXECUTABLE}\".")
     # Generate a git-describe version string from Git repository tags
     execute_process(
-        COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} describe --tags --dirty=-local --match "v*"
+        COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} describe --long --tags
         WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
         OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_VERSION
         RESULT_VARIABLE GIT_ERROR_CODE
@@ -42,7 +42,14 @@ if(NOT GIT_VERSION)
     set(PROJECT_SEMVER "${DUMMY_SEMVER}")
     message(WARNING "GIT_VERSION not set. Using dummy PROJECT_SEMVER: \"${PROJECT_SEMVER}\", GIT_VERSION: \"${GIT_VERSION}\".")
 else()
-    string(REGEX MATCH "([0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+)" PROJECT_SEMVER "${GIT_VERSION}")
+    # tag-tweak-slug
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "(.*)-([0-9]+)-(.*)" "\\1" PROJECT_TAG "${GIT_VERSION}")
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "(.*)-([0-9]+)-(.*)" "\\2" PROJECT_TWEAK "${GIT_VERSION}")
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "(.*)-([0-9]+)-(.*)" "\\3" PROJECT_SLUG "${GIT_VERSION}")
+
+    # extract semver from pre-release tags like 2.0.0-alpha
+    string(REGEX MATCH "([0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+)" PROJECT_SEMVER ${PROJECT_TAG})
+
     if(NOT PROJECT_SEMVER)
         set(PROJECT_SEMVER "${DUMMY_SEMVER}")
         message(WARNING "SEMVER could not be parsed from GIT_VERSION: ${GIT_VERSION}. Setting to PROJECT_SEMVER: ${PROJECT_SEMVER}")
@@ -64,10 +71,20 @@ if((NOT DISABLE_SEMVER_VERIFICATION) AND PROJECT_SEMVER VERSION_EQUAL "${DUMMY_S
     message(FATAL_ERROR "SEMVER Verification failed. A valid SEMVER is required for correct package version composition. To override, set DISABLE_SEMVER_VERIFICATION=ON.")
 endif()
 
+unset(GIT_VERSION CACHE)
+if (PROJECT_TWEAK STREQUAL "0")
+    set(GIT_VERSION ${PROJECT_TAG})
+else ()
+    set(GIT_VERSION "${PROJECT_TAG}.${PROJECT_TWEAK}")
+endif ()
+
 project(ziti-tunnel-sdk-c
-        VERSION "${PROJECT_SEMVER}"
+        DESCRIPTION "OpenZiti tunneler SDK"
+        HOMEPAGE_URL "https://github.com/openziti/ziti-tunneler-sdk-c"
         LANGUAGES C CXX)
 
+set(PROJECT_VERSION ${GIT_VERSION})
+
 if(NOT BUILD_DIST_PACKAGES)
     include(CPack)
     set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VENDOR "NetFoundry")