diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..64d50084
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+name: NPM Release Workflow
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      ref:
+        description: "The branch or tag ref to checkout. Defaults to the default branch."
+        required: false
+        default: ${{ github.ref }}
+        type: string
+      sha:
+        description: "The commit SHA to checkout. Defaults to the SHA of the ref."
+        required: false
+        default: ${{ github.sha }}
+        type: string
+      repository:
+        description: "The repository to checkout. Defaults to the current repository."
+        required: false
+        default: ${{ github.repository }}
+        type: string
+      token:
+        description: "The token to use for authentication. Defaults to the token of the current workflow run."
+        required: false
+        default: ${{ github.token }}
+        type: string
+    secrets:
+      RELEASE_TOKEN:
+        required: true
+  repository_dispatch:
+    types: [semantic-release]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ci-${{ inputs.sha }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+permissions:
+  actions: write
+  contents: write # to be able to publish a GitHub release
+  issues: write # to be able to comment on released issues
+  pull-requests: write # to be able to comment on released pull requests
+  id-token: write # to enable use of OIDC for npm provenance
+
+jobs:
+  deploy:
+    name: Deploy NPM build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
+      SKIP_PREFLIGHT_CHECK: true
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.1
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.sha }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Install compatible Nodejs version
+        id: setup-node
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-node
+
+      - name: Configure PATH
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
+          echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "${GITHUB_PATH}"
+          echo "HOME=$HOME" >> "${GITHUB_ENV}"
+
+      - name: Configure Git
+        run: |
+          git config --global user.email "${{ github.event.pusher.email || 'stack@bitflight.io' }}"
+          git config --global user.name "${{ github.event.pusher.name || 'GitHub[bot]' }}"
+          git fetch --tags
+          git status --porcelain -u
+
+      - name: Install Deps
+        id: deps
+        run: |
+          npm ci
+
+      - name: Ensure dependencies are compatible with the version of node
+        run: npx --yes ls-engines
+
+      - name: Verify the integrity of provenance attestations and registry signatures for installed dependencies
+        run: npm audit signatures
+
+      - run: npm run build --if-present
+
+      - run: |
+          git add -f dist
+          npm run generate-docs
+          git commit -n -m 'build(release): bundle distribution files'
+
+      - name: Setup Node 24 for semantic-release
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v6.1.0
+        with:
+          node-version: "24.x"
+
+      - run: npx --yes semantic-release@latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5167c2ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+name: Tag and Release Updated NPM Package
+
+on:
+  pull_request_target:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - next
+      - beta
+      - "*.x"
+  repository_dispatch:
+    types: [semantic-release]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ci-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}${{ github.ref }}${{ github.workflow }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+permissions:
+  issues: write
+  pull-requests: write
+  statuses: write
+  checks: write
+  actions: write
+  id-token: write
+  contents: write
+
+jobs:
+  run-tests:
+    name: Run unit tests (Node ${{ matrix.node-version }})
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        node-version: ["20.0.0", "20.17.0", "24.x"]
+    env:
+      SKIP_PREFLIGHT_CHECK: true
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.1
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref }}
+
+      - name: Install compatible Nodejs version
+        id: setup-node
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-node
+        with:
+          version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
+
+      - name: Configure PATH
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
+          echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "${GITHUB_PATH}"
+          echo "HOME=$HOME" >> "${GITHUB_ENV}"
+
+      - run: npm install
+      - run: npm run test
+      - run: npm run coverage
+      - name: "Report Coverage"
+        if: always()
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: davelosert/vitest-coverage-report-action@v2.9.0
+        with:
+          json-summary-path: "./out/coverage-summary.json"
+          json-final-path: ./out/coverage-final.json
+      - run: npm run build
+      - run: npm run generate-docs
+  call-workflow-passing-data:
+    needs: run-tests
+    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' }}
+    permissions:
+      issues: write
+      pull-requests: write
+      statuses: write
+      checks: write
+      actions: write
+      id-token: write
+      contents: write
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+    with:
+      ref: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref }}
+    secrets: inherit
diff --git a/__tests__/inputs.test.ts b/__tests__/inputs.test.ts
index 81704c15..a2354c8c 100644
--- a/__tests__/inputs.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/inputs.test.ts
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ describe('inputs', () => {
       vi.stubEnv('INPUT_ACTION', 'testaction');
 
       expect(() => loadRequiredConfig(log, config)).toThrowError(
-        /Missing required keys: paths:action, paths:readme, owner, repo/,
+        /Missing required keys: owner, repo/,
       );
     });
 
@@ -242,22 +242,28 @@ describe('inputs', () => {
     test('Inputs stringify', async ({ task }) => {
       const log = new LogTask(task.name);
       const { default: Action } = await import('../src/Action.js');
+
+      // Clear beforeEach env vars and set test-specific ones
+      vi.unstubAllEnvs();
       vi.stubEnv('DEBUG', 'true');
-      const action = new Action(actTestYmlPath);
-      const sections = ['usage'] as ReadmeSection[];
       vi.stubEnv('INPUT_OWNER', 'stringowner');
       vi.stubEnv('INPUT_REPO', 'stringrepo');
       vi.stubEnv('INPUT_README', 'stringreadme');
       vi.stubEnv('INPUT_ACTION', 'stringaction');
+      vi.stubEnv('GITHUB_REPOSITORY', ''); // Prevent fallback
+      vi.stubEnv('GITHUB_EVENT_PATH', ''); // Prevent payload file read
+
+      const action = new Action(actTestYmlPath);
+      const sections = ['usage'] as ReadmeSection[];
       const providedInputContext: InputContext = {
         action,
         sections,
+        configPath: '/tmp/nonexistent.json', // Prevent loading .ghadocs.json
       };
 
       const inputs = new Inputs(providedInputContext, log);
       const result = inputs.stringify();
       expect(typeof result).toBe('string');
-
       expect(result).toMatch(/owner: stringowner/);
       expect(result).toMatch(/repo: stringrepo/);
       expect(result).toMatch(/sections:\n {2}- usage/);
diff --git a/src/inputs.ts b/src/inputs.ts
index 5ed1ad47..b802e0fd 100644
--- a/src/inputs.ts
+++ b/src/inputs.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 
 import * as core from '@actions/core';
 import { Context } from '@actions/github/lib/context.js';
-import { IOptions, Provider } from 'nconf';
+import nconf from 'nconf';
 import YAML from 'yaml';
 
 import Action, { Input } from './Action.js';
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ import { configFileName, ConfigKeys, README_SECTIONS, ReadmeSection } from './co
 import { repositoryFinder } from './helpers.js';
 import LogTask from './logtask/index.js';
 import ReadmeEditor from './readme-editor.js';
-// import workingDirectory from './working-directory.js';
+
+const { Provider } = nconf;
+type IOptions = nconf.IOptions;
 
 /**
  * Get the filename from the import.meta.url
@@ -302,10 +304,6 @@ export function transformGitHubInputsToArgv(
     log.debug(`Parsing input: ${obj.key} with ith value: ${obj.value}`);
     const keyParsed = obj.key.replace(/^(INPUT|input)_/, '').toLocaleLowerCase();
     const key = ConfigKeysInputsMap[keyParsed] || keyParsed;
-    // eslint-disable-next-line no-param-reassign
-    obj.key = key;
-    // TODO: This is a hack to get around the fact that nconf doesn't support just returning the new value like its documentation says.
-    config.set(key, obj.value);
 
     log.debug(`New input is ${key} with the value ${obj.value}`);
     return { key, value: obj.value };
@@ -356,6 +354,9 @@ export function collectAllDefaultValuesFromAction(
   } = {},
 ): IOptions {
   log.debug('Collecting default values from action.yml');
+  // This loads the defaults from THIS action's own action.yml file (github-action-readme-generator's action.yml)
+  // NOT the user's action.yml file (which is loaded separately via the 'action' input parameter)
+  // Therefore, we use __dirname to find this package's action.yml regardless of where it's installed
   const thisActionPath = path.join(__dirname, providedMetaActionPath ?? metaActionPath);
   try {
     const defaultValues = {} as IOptions;
@@ -373,7 +374,12 @@ export function collectAllDefaultValuesFromAction(
     log.debug(JSON.stringify(defaultValues, null, 2));
     return defaultValues;
   } catch (error) {
-    throw new Error(`failed to load defaults from this action's action.yml: ${error}`);
+    // When running as a CLI tool (e.g., via npx or yarn dlx), the tool's own action.yml
+    // may not be present in the node_modules. This is expected behavior, as the tool
+    // should still work to generate documentation for other actions.
+    log.debug(`Could not load defaults from this tool's action.yml at ${thisActionPath}: ${error}`);
+    log.debug('Continuing without default values from action.yml');
+    return {} as IOptions;
   }
 }
 
@@ -400,16 +406,17 @@ export function loadConfig(
       log.debug(`Config file not found: ${configFilePath}`);
     }
   }
+
   config
     .env({
       lowerCase: true,
       parseValues: true,
-      match: /^(INPUT|input)_[A-Z_a-z]\w*$/,
       transform: (obj: KVPairType): undefined | KVPairType => {
         return transformGitHubInputsToArgv(log, config, obj);
       },
     })
     .argv(argvOptions);
+
   return config;
 }
 
@@ -427,10 +434,14 @@ export function loadDefaultConfig(
   log.debug('Loading default config');
   const defaultValues = collectAllDefaultValuesFromAction(log);
   const context = providedContext ?? new Context();
-  const repositoryDetail = repositoryFinder(
-    `${process.env.INPUT_OWNER ?? ''}/${process.env.INPUT_REPO ?? ''}`,
-    context,
-  );
+
+  // Get owner/repo from config (which includes CLI args), falling back to env vars for GitHub Actions
+  const ownerFromConfig = config.get('owner') as string | undefined;
+  const repoFromConfig = config.get('repo') as string | undefined;
+  const ownerInput = ownerFromConfig ?? process.env.INPUT_OWNER ?? '';
+  const repoInput = repoFromConfig ?? process.env.INPUT_REPO ?? '';
+
+  const repositoryDetail = repositoryFinder(`${ownerInput}/${repoInput}`, context);
   log.debug(`repositoryDetail: ${repositoryDetail}`);
   // Apply the default values from the action.yml file
   return config.defaults({