diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-project-version.yml b/.github/workflows/update-project-version.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc4d486
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-project-version.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+name: "update project version"
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      target_version:
+        description: 'Next Version (e.g., 1.9.7)'
+        required: true
+        default: '1.9.7'
+
+jobs:
+  create-bump-pr:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Update Project Files
+        id: update_files
+        run: |
+          VER="${{ github.event.inputs.target_version }}"
+          echo "Updating files to $VER"
+
+          # 1. CMakeLists.txt
+          sed -i "s/VERSION [0-9.]*/VERSION $VER/" CMakeLists.txt
+
+          # 2. meson.build
+          sed -i "s/version : '[0-9.]*'/version : '$VER'/" meson.build
+
+          # 3. vcpkg.json (Using jq for safety)
+          jq ".version = \"$VER\"" vcpkg.json > vcpkg.json.tmp && mv vcpkg.json.tmp vcpkg.json
+
+          # 4. include/json/version.h
+          # Parse X.Y.Z into separate variables
+          IFS='.' read -r MAJOR MINOR PATCH <<< "$VER"
+          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_STRING \"[^\"]*\"/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_STRING \"$VER\"/" include/json/version.h
+          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MAJOR [0-9]*/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MAJOR $MAJOR/" include/json/version.h
+          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MINOR [0-9]*/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MINOR $MINOR/" include/json/version.h
+          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_PATCH [0-9]*/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_PATCH $PATCH/" include/json/version.h
+
+      - name: Create Pull Request
+        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          commit-message: "chore: bump version to ${{ github.event.inputs.target_version }}"
+          branch: "bump-to-${{ github.event.inputs.target_version }}"
+          title: "chore: bump version to ${{ github.event.inputs.target_version }}"
+          body: |
+            Manual version bump to `${{ github.event.inputs.target_version }}` to start the next development cycle.
+            
+            **Files updated:**
+            - `CMakeLists.txt`
+            - `meson.build`
+            - `vcpkg.json`
+            - `include/json/version.h`
+          labels: "maintenance"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/version-bump.yml b/.github/workflows/version-bump.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index b60c7b9..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/version-bump.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-name: "Bump Project Version"
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      version_base:
-        description: 'Target Version (e.g., 1.9.7)'
-        required: true
-        default: '1.9.7'
-
-jobs:
-  bump-version:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Construct Version String
-        id: get_ver
-        run: |
-          BASE="${{ github.event.inputs.version_base }}"
-          RUN_NUM="${{ github.run_number }}"
-          FULL_VER="$BASE.$RUN_NUM"
-          
-          echo "full_version=$FULL_VER" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "base_version=$BASE" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Update Project Files
-        run: |
-          VER="${{ steps.get_ver.outputs.full_version }}"
-          echo "Bumping all files to $VER"
-
-          # 1. CMakeLists.txt (Matches 'VERSION X.Y.Z.W' or 'X.Y.Z')
-          sed -i "s/VERSION [0-9.]*/VERSION $VER/" CMakeLists.txt
-
-          # 2. meson.build
-          sed -i "s/version : '[0-9.]*'/version : '$VER'/" meson.build
-
-          # 3. vcpkg.json
-          jq ".version = \"$VER\"" vcpkg.json > vcpkg.json.tmp && mv vcpkg.json.tmp vcpkg.json
-
-          # 4. include/json/version.h
-          # We parse the base version for the numeric macros (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
-          # while the 4-part string goes into JSONCPP_VERSION_STRING.
-          IFS='.' read -r MAJOR MINOR PATCH <<< "${{ steps.get_ver.outputs.base_version }}"
-          
-          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_STRING \"[^\"]*\"/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_STRING \"$VER\"/" include/json/version.h
-          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MAJOR [0-9]*/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MAJOR $MAJOR/" include/json/version.h
-          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MINOR [0-9]*/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_MINOR $MINOR/" include/json/version.h
-          sed -i "s/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_PATCH [0-9]*/# define JSONCPP_VERSION_PATCH $PATCH/" include/json/version.h
-
-      - name: Commit and Push
-        run: |
-          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git add .
-          git commit -m "chore: bump version to ${{ steps.get_ver.outputs.full_version }} (Run #${{ github.run_number }})"
-          git push