diff --git a/script/release/release.md.tmpl b/script/release/release.md.tmpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee97ef104
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release.md.tmpl
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+If you're a Mac or Windows user, the best way to install Compose and keep it up-to-date is **[Docker for Mac and Windows](https://www.docker.com/products/docker)**.
+
+Docker for Mac and Windows will automatically install the latest version of Docker Engine for you.
+
+Alternatively, you can use the usual commands to install or upgrade Compose:
+
+```
+curl -L https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/{{version}}/docker-compose-`uname -s`-`uname -m` -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
+chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
+```
+
+See the [install docs](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) for more install options and instructions.
+
+## Compose file format compatibility matrix
+
+| Compose file format | Docker Engine |
+| --- | --- |
+{% for engine, formats in compat_matrix.items() -%}
+| {% for format in formats %}{{format}}{% if not loop.last %}, {% endif %}{% endfor %} | {{engine}}+ |
+{% endfor -%}
+
+## Changes
+
+{{changelog}}
+
+Thanks to {% for name in contributors %}@{{name}}{% if not loop.last %}, {% endif %}{% endfor %} for contributing to this release!
+
+## Integrity check
+
+Binary name | SHA-256 sum
+| --- | --- |
+{% for filename, sha in integrity.items() -%}
+| `{{filename}}` | `{{sha[1]}}` |
+{% endfor -%}
diff --git a/script/release/release.py b/script/release/release.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..f23146288
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release.py
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import print_function
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import sys
+import time
+
+from jinja2 import Template
+from release.bintray import BintrayAPI
+from release.const import BINTRAY_ORG
+from release.const import NAME
+from release.const import REPO_ROOT
+from release.downloader import BinaryDownloader
+from release.repository import get_contributors
+from release.repository import Repository
+from release.repository import upload_assets
+from release.utils import branch_name
+from release.utils import compatibility_matrix
+from release.utils import read_release_notes_from_changelog
+from release.utils import ScriptError
+from release.utils import update_init_py_version
+from release.utils import update_run_sh_version
+
+
+def create_initial_branch(repository, release, base, bintray_user):
+    release_branch = repository.create_release_branch(release, base)
+    print('Updating version info in __init__.py and run.sh')
+    update_run_sh_version(release)
+    update_init_py_version(release)
+
+    input('Please add the release notes to the CHANGELOG.md file, then press Enter to continue.')
+    proceed = ''
+    while proceed.lower() != 'y':
+        print(repository.diff())
+        proceed = input('Are these changes ok? y/N ')
+
+    repository.create_bump_commit(release_branch, release)
+    repository.push_branch_to_remote(release_branch)
+
+    bintray_api = BintrayAPI(os.environ['BINTRAY_TOKEN'], bintray_user)
+    print('Creating data repository {} on bintray'.format(release_branch.name))
+    bintray_api.create_repository(BINTRAY_ORG, release_branch.name, 'generic')
+
+
+def monitor_pr_status(pr_data):
+    print('Waiting for CI to complete...')
+    last_commit = pr_data.get_commits().reversed[0]
+    while True:
+        status = last_commit.get_combined_status()
+        if status.state == 'pending':
+            summary = {
+                'pending': 0,
+                'success': 0,
+                'failure': 0,
+            }
+            for detail in status.statuses:
+                summary[detail.state] += 1
+            print('{pending} pending, {success} successes, {failure} failures'.format(**summary))
+            if status.total_count == 0:
+                # Mostly for testing purposes against repos with no CI setup
+                return True
+            time.sleep(30)
+        elif status.state == 'success':
+            print('{} successes: all clear!'.format(status.total_count))
+            return True
+        else:
+            raise ScriptError('CI failure detected')
+
+
+def create_release_draft(repository, version, pr_data, files):
+    print('Creating Github release draft')
+    with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'release.md.tmpl'), 'r') as f:
+        template = Template(f.read())
+    print('Rendering release notes based on template')
+    release_notes = template.render(
+        version=version,
+        compat_matrix=compatibility_matrix(),
+        integrity=files,
+        contributors=get_contributors(pr_data),
+        changelog=read_release_notes_from_changelog(),
+    )
+    gh_release = repository.create_release(
+        version, release_notes, draft=True, prerelease='-rc' in version,
+        target_commitish='release'
+    )
+    print('Release draft initialized')
+    return gh_release
+
+
+def resume(args):
+    raise NotImplementedError()
+    try:
+        repository = Repository(REPO_ROOT, args.repo or NAME)
+        br_name = branch_name(args.release)
+        if not repository.branch_exists(br_name):
+            raise ScriptError('No local branch exists for this release.')
+        # release_branch = repository.checkout_branch(br_name)
+    except ScriptError as e:
+        print(e)
+        return 1
+    return 0
+
+
+def cancel(args):
+    try:
+        repository = Repository(REPO_ROOT, args.repo or NAME)
+        repository.close_release_pr(args.release)
+        repository.remove_release(args.release)
+        repository.remove_bump_branch(args.release)
+        # TODO: uncomment after testing is complete
+        # bintray_api = BintrayAPI(os.environ['BINTRAY_TOKEN'], args.bintray_user)
+        # print('Removing Bintray data repository for {}'.format(args.release))
+        # bintray_api.delete_repository(BINTRAY_ORG, branch_name(args.release))
+    except ScriptError as e:
+        print(e)
+        return 1
+    print('Release cancellation complete.')
+    return 0
+
+
+def start(args):
+    try:
+        repository = Repository(REPO_ROOT, args.repo or NAME)
+        create_initial_branch(repository, args.release, args.base, args.bintray_user)
+        pr_data = repository.create_release_pull_request(args.release)
+        monitor_pr_status(pr_data)
+        downloader = BinaryDownloader(args.destination)
+        files = downloader.download_all(args.release)
+        gh_release = create_release_draft(repository, args.release, pr_data, files)
+        upload_assets(gh_release, files)
+    except ScriptError as e:
+        print(e)
+        return 1
+
+    return 0
+
+
+def main():
+    if 'GITHUB_TOKEN' not in os.environ:
+        print('GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable must be set')
+        return 1
+
+    if 'BINTRAY_TOKEN' not in os.environ:
+        print('BINTRAY_TOKEN environment variable must be set')
+        return 1
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description='Orchestrate a new release of docker/compose. This tool assumes that you have'
+                    'obtained a Github API token and Bintray API key and set the GITHUB_TOKEN and'
+                    'BINTRAY_TOKEN environment variables accordingly.',
+        epilog='''Example uses:
+    * Start a new feature release (includes all changes currently in master)
+        release.py -b user start 1.23.0
+    * Start a new patch release
+        release.py -b user --patch 1.21.0 start 1.21.1
+    * Cancel / rollback an existing release draft
+        release.py -b user cancel 1.23.0
+    * Restart a previously aborted patch release
+        release.py -b user -p 1.21.0 resume 1.21.1
+    ''', formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter)
+    parser.add_argument(
+        'action', choices=['start', 'resume', 'cancel'],
+        help='The action to be performed for this release'
+    )
+    parser.add_argument('release', help='Release number, e.g. 1.9.0-rc1, 2.1.1')
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--patch', '-p', dest='base',
+        help='Which version is being patched by this release'
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--repo', '-r', dest='repo',
+        help='Start a release for the given repo (default: {})'.format(NAME)
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-b', dest='bintray_user', required=True, metavar='USER',
+        help='Username associated with the Bintray API key'
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--destination', '-o', metavar='DIR', default='binaries',
+        help='Directory where release binaries will be downloaded relative to the project root'
+    )
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if args.action == 'start':
+        return start(args)
+    elif args.action == 'resume':
+        return resume(args)
+    elif args.action == 'cancel':
+        return cancel(args)
+    print('Unexpected action "{}"'.format(args.action), file=sys.stderr)
+    return 1
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/script/release/release/__init__.py b/script/release/release/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/script/release/release/bintray.py b/script/release/release/bintray.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d99d372c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release/bintray.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import json
+
+import requests
+
+from .const import NAME
+
+
+class BintrayAPI(requests.Session):
+    def __init__(self, api_key, user, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(BintrayAPI, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.auth = (user, api_key)
+        self.base_url = 'https://api.bintray.com/'
+
+    def create_repository(self, subject, repo_name, repo_type='generic'):
+        url = '{base}/repos/{subject}/{repo_name}'.format(
+            base=self.base_url, subject=subject, repo_name=repo_name,
+        )
+        data = {
+            'name': repo_name,
+            'type': repo_type,
+            'private': False,
+            'desc': 'Automated release for {}: {}'.format(NAME, repo_name),
+            'labels': ['docker-compose', 'docker', 'release-bot'],
+        }
+        return self.post_json(url, data)
+
+    def delete_repository(self, subject, repo_name):
+        url = '{base}/repos/{subject}/{repo_name}'.format(
+            base=self.base_url, subject=subject, repo_name=repo_name,
+        )
+        return self.delete(url)
+
+    def post_json(self, url, data, **kwargs):
+        if 'headers' not in kwargs:
+            kwargs['headers'] = {}
+        kwargs['headers']['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
+        return self.post(url, data=json.dumps(data), **kwargs)
diff --git a/script/release/release/const.py b/script/release/release/const.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..34f338a89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release/const.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import os
+
+
+REPO_ROOT = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', '..', '..')
+NAME = 'shin-/compose'
+BINTRAY_ORG = 'shin-compose'
diff --git a/script/release/release/downloader.py b/script/release/release/downloader.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cd43bc993
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release/downloader.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import print_function
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import hashlib
+import os
+
+import requests
+
+from .const import BINTRAY_ORG
+from .const import NAME
+from .const import REPO_ROOT
+from .utils import branch_name
+
+
+class BinaryDownloader(requests.Session):
+    base_bintray_url = 'https://dl.bintray.com/{}'.format(BINTRAY_ORG)
+    base_appveyor_url = 'https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/{}/artifacts/'.format(NAME)
+
+    def __init__(self, destination, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(BinaryDownloader, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.destination = destination
+        os.makedirs(self.destination, exist_ok=True)
+
+    def download_from_bintray(self, repo_name, filename):
+        print('Downloading {} from bintray'.format(filename))
+        url = '{base}/{repo_name}/{filename}'.format(
+            base=self.base_bintray_url, repo_name=repo_name, filename=filename
+        )
+        full_dest = os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, self.destination, filename)
+        return self._download(url, full_dest)
+
+    def download_from_appveyor(self, branch_name, filename):
+        print('Downloading {} from appveyor'.format(filename))
+        url = '{base}/dist%2F{filename}?branch={branch_name}'.format(
+            base=self.base_appveyor_url, filename=filename, branch_name=branch_name
+        )
+        full_dest = os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, self.destination, filename)
+        return self.download(url, full_dest)
+
+    def _download(self, url, full_dest):
+        m = hashlib.sha256()
+        with open(full_dest, 'wb') as f:
+            r = self.get(url, stream=True)
+            for chunk in r.iter_content(chunk_size=1024 * 600, decode_unicode=False):
+                print('.', end='', flush=True)
+                m.update(chunk)
+                f.write(chunk)
+
+        print(' download complete')
+        hex_digest = m.hexdigest()
+        with open(full_dest + '.sha256', 'w') as f:
+            f.write('{}  {}\n'.format(hex_digest, os.path.basename(full_dest)))
+        return full_dest, hex_digest
+
+    def download_all(self, version):
+        files = {
+            'docker-compose-Darwin-x86_64': None,
+            'docker-compose-Linux-x86_64': None,
+            # 'docker-compose-Windows-x86_64.exe': None,
+        }
+
+        for filename in files.keys():
+            if 'Windows' in filename:
+                files[filename] = self.download_from_appveyor(
+                    branch_name(version), filename
+                )
+            else:
+                files[filename] = self.download_from_bintray(
+                    branch_name(version), filename
+                )
+        return files
diff --git a/script/release/release/repository.py b/script/release/release/repository.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77c697a99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release/repository.py
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import os
+
+from git import GitCommandError
+from git import Repo
+from github import Github
+
+from .const import NAME
+from .const import REPO_ROOT
+from .utils import branch_name
+from .utils import read_release_notes_from_changelog
+from .utils import ScriptError
+
+
+class Repository(object):
+    def __init__(self, root=None, gh_name=None):
+        if root is None:
+            root = REPO_ROOT
+        if gh_name is None:
+            gh_name = NAME
+        self.git_repo = Repo(root)
+        self.gh_client = Github(os.environ['GITHUB_TOKEN'])
+        self.gh_repo = self.gh_client.get_repo(gh_name)
+
+    def create_release_branch(self, version, base=None):
+        print('Creating release branch {} based on {}...'.format(version, base or 'master'))
+        remote = self.find_remote(self.gh_repo.full_name)
+        remote.fetch()
+        if self.branch_exists(branch_name(version)):
+            raise ScriptError(
+                "Branch {} already exists locally. "
+                "Please remove it before running the release script.".format(branch_name(version))
+            )
+        if base is not None:
+            base = self.git_repo.tag('refs/tags/{}'.format(base))
+        else:
+            base = 'refs/remotes/{}/master'.format(remote.name)
+        release_branch = self.git_repo.create_head(branch_name(version), commit=base)
+        release_branch.checkout()
+        self.git_repo.git.merge('--strategy=ours', '--no-edit', '{}/release'.format(remote.name))
+        with release_branch.config_writer() as cfg:
+            cfg.set_value('release', version)
+        return release_branch
+
+    def find_remote(self, remote_name=None):
+        if not remote_name:
+            remote_name = self.gh_repo.full_name
+        for remote in self.git_repo.remotes:
+            for url in remote.urls:
+                if remote_name in url:
+                    return remote
+        return None
+
+    def create_bump_commit(self, bump_branch, version):
+        print('Creating bump commit...')
+        bump_branch.checkout()
+        self.git_repo.git.commit('-a', '-s', '-m "Bump {}"'.format(version), '--no-verify')
+
+    def diff(self):
+        return self.git_repo.git.diff()
+
+    def checkout_branch(self, name):
+        return self.git_repo.branches[name].checkout()
+
+    def push_branch_to_remote(self, branch, remote_name=None):
+        print('Pushing branch {} to remote...'.format(branch.name))
+        remote = self.find_remote(remote_name)
+        remote.push(refspec=branch)
+
+    def branch_exists(self, name):
+        return name in [h.name for h in self.git_repo.heads]
+
+    def create_release_pull_request(self, version):
+        return self.gh_repo.create_pull(
+            title='Bump {}'.format(version),
+            body='Automated release for docker-compose {}\n\n{}'.format(
+                version, read_release_notes_from_changelog()
+            ),
+            base='release',
+            head=branch_name(version),
+        )
+
+    def create_release(self, version, release_notes, **kwargs):
+        return self.gh_repo.create_git_release(
+            tag=version, name=version, message=release_notes, **kwargs
+        )
+
+    def remove_release(self, version):
+        print('Removing release draft for {}'.format(version))
+        releases = self.gh_repo.get_releases()
+        for release in releases:
+            if release.tag_name == version and release.title == version:
+                if not release.draft:
+                    print(
+                        'The release at {} is no longer a draft. If you TRULY intend '
+                        'to remove it, please do so manually.'
+                    )
+                    continue
+                release.delete_release()
+
+    def remove_bump_branch(self, version, remote_name=None):
+        name = branch_name(version)
+        if not self.branch_exists(name):
+            return False
+        print('Removing local branch "{}"'.format(name))
+        if self.git_repo.active_branch.name == name:
+            print('Active branch is about to be deleted. Checking out to master...')
+            try:
+                self.checkout_branch('master')
+            except GitCommandError:
+                raise ScriptError(
+                    'Unable to checkout master. Try stashing local changes before proceeding.'
+                )
+        self.git_repo.branches[name].delete(self.git_repo, name, force=True)
+        print('Removing remote branch "{}"'.format(name))
+        remote = self.find_remote(remote_name)
+        try:
+            remote.push(name, delete=True)
+        except GitCommandError as e:
+            if 'remote ref does not exist' in str(e):
+                return False
+            raise ScriptError(
+                'Error trying to remove remote branch: {}'.format(e)
+            )
+        return True
+
+    def close_release_pr(self, version):
+        print('Retrieving and closing release PR for {}'.format(version))
+        name = branch_name(version)
+        open_prs = self.gh_repo.get_pulls(state='open')
+        count = 0
+        for pr in open_prs:
+            if pr.head.ref == name:
+                print('Found matching PR #{}'.format(pr.number))
+                pr.edit(state='closed')
+                count += 1
+        if count == 0:
+            print('No open PR for this release branch.')
+        return count
+
+
+def get_contributors(pr_data):
+    commits = pr_data.get_commits()
+    authors = {}
+    for commit in commits:
+        author = commit.author.login
+        authors[author] = authors.get(author, 0) + 1
+    return [x[0] for x in sorted(list(authors.items()), key=lambda x: x[1])]
+
+
+def upload_assets(gh_release, files):
+    print('Uploading binaries and hash sums')
+    for filename, filedata in files.items():
+        print('Uploading {}...'.format(filename))
+        gh_release.upload_asset(filedata[0], content_type='application/octet-stream')
+        gh_release.upload_asset('{}.sha256'.format(filedata[0]), content_type='text/plain')
+    gh_release.upload_asset(
+        os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, 'script', 'run', 'run.sh'), content_type='text/plain'
+    )
diff --git a/script/release/release/utils.py b/script/release/release/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b0e1f6a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/release/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import os
+import re
+
+from .const import REPO_ROOT
+from compose import const as compose_const
+
+section_header_re = re.compile(r'^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ \([0-9]{4}-[01][0-9]-[0-3][0-9]\)$')
+
+
+class ScriptError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+def branch_name(version):
+    return 'bump-{}'.format(version)
+
+
+def read_release_notes_from_changelog():
+    with open(os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, 'CHANGELOG.md'), 'r') as f:
+        lines = f.readlines()
+    i = 0
+    while i < len(lines):
+        if section_header_re.match(lines[i]):
+            break
+        i += 1
+
+    j = i + 1
+    while j < len(lines):
+        if section_header_re.match(lines[j]):
+            break
+        j += 1
+
+    return ''.join(lines[i + 2:j - 1])
+
+
+def update_init_py_version(version):
+    path = os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, 'compose', '__init__.py')
+    with open(path, 'r') as f:
+        contents = f.read()
+    contents = re.sub(r"__version__ = '[0-9a-z.-]+'", "__version__ = '{}'".format(version), contents)
+    with open(path, 'w') as f:
+        f.write(contents)
+
+
+def update_run_sh_version(version):
+    path = os.path.join(REPO_ROOT, 'script', 'run', 'run.sh')
+    with open(path, 'r') as f:
+        contents = f.read()
+    contents = re.sub(r'VERSION="[0-9a-z.-]+"', 'VERSION="{}"'.format(version), contents)
+    with open(path, 'w') as f:
+        f.write(contents)
+
+
+def compatibility_matrix():
+    result = {}
+    for engine_version in compose_const.API_VERSION_TO_ENGINE_VERSION.values():
+        result[engine_version] = []
+    for fmt, api_version in compose_const.API_VERSIONS.items():
+        result[compose_const.API_VERSION_TO_ENGINE_VERSION[api_version]].append(fmt.vstring)
+    return result