diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b050618
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Build outputs
+bin/
+obj/
+artifacts/
+
+# User-specific files
+*.user
+*.rsuser
+*.suo
+*.userprefs
+
+# IDE/editor files
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# OS files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Logs and temp
+*.log
+*.tmp
+*.temp
+
+# .NET test and coverage artifacts
+TestResults/
+*.trx
+*.coverage
+*.coveragexml
+coverage/
+
+# NuGet
+packages/
+*.nupkg
+*.snupkg
+
diff --git a/manifest.json b/manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b712444
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+[
+  {
+    "guid": "cc3f7cd7-e910-4f09-bf89-e9c7ba7fca77",
+    "name": "Jellyfin New Releases",
+    "description": "Newly Released Movies based on PremiereDate.",
+    "overview": "Newly released movies based on PremiereDate.",
+    "owner": "your-username",
+    "category": "General",
+    "versions": [
+      {
+        "version": "1.0.0.0",
+        "changelog": "Initial release",
+        "targetAbi": "10.11.0.0",
+        "sourceUrl": "https://gitea.example.invalid/Jellyfin/plugins/releases/download/v1/Jellyfin.Plugin.NewReleases_1.0.0.0.zip",
+        "checksum": "a0d305168c315c0a0df28b8e1adad836",
+        "timestamp": "2026-03-23T15:24:20Z"
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+]
diff --git a/scripts/package-new-releases-plugin.sh b/scripts/package-new-releases-plugin.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..363edd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/package-new-releases-plugin.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+PLUGIN_NAME="Jellyfin.Plugin.NewReleases"
+DEFAULT_VERSION="1.0.0.0"
+DEFAULT_TARGET_ABI="10.11.0.0"
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<'EOF'
+Usage:
+  ./scripts/package-new-releases-plugin.sh [options]
+
+Options:
+  --version <x.y.z.w>       Plugin version (default: 1.0.0.0)
+  --target-abi <abi>        Jellyfin ABI (default: 10.10.0.0)
+  --owner <owner>          Owner for metadata (default: your-username)
+  --category <category>    Category for metadata (default: General)
+  --out <dir>              Output directory for the zip (default: ./artifacts)
+  --zip-name <name>        Zip file name (default: Jellyfin.Plugin.NewReleases_<version>.zip)
+  --source-url <url>       Direct URL to the zip on your host (required if --update-manifest)
+  --update-manifest        Update ./manifest.json with sourceUrl/checksum/timestamp/targetAbi/version
+
+Notes:
+  - You must host the resulting zip somewhere Jellyfin can download (Gitea release asset URL, for example).
+  - After packaging, upload the zip and set manifest.json 'sourceUrl' to the direct zip URL.
+EOF
+}
+
+VERSION="$DEFAULT_VERSION"
+TARGET_ABI="$DEFAULT_TARGET_ABI"
+OWNER="your-username"
+CATEGORY="General"
+OUT_DIR="./artifacts"
+ZIP_NAME="${PLUGIN_NAME}_${VERSION}.zip"
+UPDATE_MANIFEST="false"
+
+SOURCE_URL=""
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --version) VERSION="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --target-abi) TARGET_ABI="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --owner) OWNER="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --category) CATEGORY="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --out) OUT_DIR="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --zip-name) ZIP_NAME="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --source-url) SOURCE_URL="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+    --update-manifest) UPDATE_MANIFEST="true"; shift 1 ;;
+    -h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
+    *) echo "Unknown arg: $1"; usage; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [[ -z "$ZIP_NAME" ]]; then
+  ZIP_NAME="${PLUGIN_NAME}_${VERSION}.zip"
+fi
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}/.." && pwd)"
+
+DLL_PATH="${REPO_ROOT}/bin/Release/net8.0/${PLUGIN_NAME}.dll"
+PDB_PATH="${REPO_ROOT}/bin/Release/net8.0/${PLUGIN_NAME}.pdb"
+
+if [[ ! -f "$DLL_PATH" ]]; then
+  echo "Build output not found: $DLL_PATH"
+  echo "Run: dotnet build -c Release"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "${REPO_ROOT}/artifacts"
+if [[ "$OUT_DIR" == /* ]]; then
+  OUT_DIR_ABS="$OUT_DIR"
+else
+  OUT_DIR_ABS="${REPO_ROOT}/${OUT_DIR#./}"
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "${OUT_DIR_ABS}"
+
+TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
+cleanup() { rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"; }
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+META_JSON_PATH="${TMP_DIR}/meta.json"
+ZIP_PATH="${OUT_DIR_ABS}/${ZIP_NAME}"
+
+TIMESTAMP="$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")"
+
+cp "$DLL_PATH" "${TMP_DIR}/"
+if [[ -f "$PDB_PATH" ]]; then
+  cp "$PDB_PATH" "${TMP_DIR}/"
+fi
+
+cat > "$META_JSON_PATH" <<EOF
+{
+  "category": "${CATEGORY}",
+  "changelog": "Initial release",
+  "description": "Newly Released Movies based on PremiereDate.",
+  "guid": "cc3f7cd7-e910-4f09-bf89-e9c7ba7fca77",
+  "name": "Jellyfin New Releases",
+  "overview": "Newly released movies based on PremiereDate.",
+  "owner": "${OWNER}",
+  "targetAbi": "${TARGET_ABI}",
+  "timestamp": "${TIMESTAMP}",
+  "version": "${VERSION}"
+}
+EOF
+
+( cd "$TMP_DIR" && zip -q -r "$ZIP_PATH" . )
+
+MD5="$(md5sum "$ZIP_PATH" | awk '{print $1}')"
+
+echo "Created: $ZIP_PATH"
+echo "MD5: $MD5"
+echo ""
+echo "Next steps:"
+echo "1) Upload the zip to your Gitea so you have a direct download URL."
+echo "2) Update ./manifest.json:"
+echo "   - sourceUrl: set to the direct zip URL"
+echo "   - checksum: set to the MD5 value above"
+echo "   - targetAbi/version/timestamp (if different) to match your choices"
+
+if [[ "$UPDATE_MANIFEST" == "true" ]]; then
+  if [[ ! -f "${REPO_ROOT}/manifest.json" ]]; then
+    echo "manifest.json not found at ${REPO_ROOT}/manifest.json"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [[ -z "$SOURCE_URL" ]]; then
+    echo "Update requested but --source-url not provided."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  python3 - <<PY
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+
+manifest_path = Path("${REPO_ROOT}") / "manifest.json"
+data = json.loads(manifest_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+if not isinstance(data, list) or len(data) == 0:
+    raise SystemExit("manifest.json must be a JSON array with at least one plugin entry.")
+
+plugin = data[0]
+versions = plugin.get("versions") or []
+if not versions:
+    raise SystemExit("manifest.json plugin entry must include a non-empty 'versions' array.")
+
+v0 = versions[0]
+v0["version"] = "${VERSION}"
+v0["targetAbi"] = "${TARGET_ABI}"
+v0["sourceUrl"] = "${SOURCE_URL}"
+v0["checksum"] = "${MD5}"
+v0["timestamp"] = "${TIMESTAMP}"
+
+manifest_path.write_text(json.dumps(data, indent=2) + "\\n", encoding="utf-8")
+print("Updated manifest.json")
+PY
+fi
+