diff --git a/qqq-dev-tools/CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION b/qqq-dev-tools/CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION
index a8f40f2b..d9df1bbc 100644
--- a/qqq-dev-tools/CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION
+++ b/qqq-dev-tools/CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<revision>0.11.0</revision>
+0.11.0
diff --git a/qqq-dev-tools/bin/end-of-sprint-release.sh b/qqq-dev-tools/bin/end-of-sprint-release.sh
index 616a4259..a719800a 100755
--- a/qqq-dev-tools/bin/end-of-sprint-release.sh
+++ b/qqq-dev-tools/bin/end-of-sprint-release.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 ############################################################################
 ## Script to run the release process on qqq at the end of a sprint.
-## It's a good idea to run it from a fresh clone, but that's not strictly needed.
 ## Uses gum for CLI UI.
 ############################################################################
 
@@ -24,9 +23,22 @@ function gumConfirmProceed
    fi
 }
 
+QQQ_RELEASE_DIR=/tmp/qqq-release
+QQQ_DEV_TOOLS_DIR=${}QQQ_RELEASE_DIR}/qqq/qqq-dev-tools
+
+mkdir -p $QQQ_RELEASE_DIR/qqq
+cd $QQQ_RELEASE_DIR/qqq || exit
 gumBanner "Making sure you have a clean git checkout"
-git status
-gumConfirmProceed "Can we Proceed, or do you need to clean up your checkout (git stash -u)?" "Proceed" "I need to clean up my checkout"
+git status 2>&1 > /dev/null 2>&1
+if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+   gumConfirmProceed "No git checkout found, create a clean checkout at [$QQQ_RELEASE_DIR]?" "Proceed" "No, please quit"
+   cd $QQQ_RELEASE_DIR || exit
+   git clone git@github.com:Kingsrook/qqq.git
+   git clone git@github.com:Kingsrook/qqq-frontend-material-dashboard.git
+   git clone git@github.com:Kingsrook/qqq-frontend-core.git
+else
+   gumConfirmProceed "Existing git checkouts found at [$QQQ_RELEASE_DIR], continue?" "Yes, use those" "I need to go delete it and start over"
+fi
 
 gumBanner "Checking for open PR's..."
 gh pr list
@@ -38,17 +50,16 @@ git checkout main && git pull && git checkout dev && git pull
 if [ ! -e "qqq-sample-project/.env" ]; then
    dir=$(realpath .)
    gumBanner "Installing .env file -- for qqq" "Tell it your qqq is at:" "$dir"
-   setup-environments.sh --qqq --quiet
+   setup-environments.sh --qqq --quiet --is-for-release
 fi
 
 ###################################
 ## go back to root qqq directory ##
 ###################################
-cd ~/git/kingsrook/qqq/
+cd $QQQ_RELEASE_DIR/qqq || exit
 
 MVN_VERIFY_LOG=/tmp/mvn-verify.log
 gumBanner "Doing clean build (logging to $MVN_VERIFY_LOG)"
-cp ~/git/kingsrook/qqq/qqq-sample-project/.env qqq-sample-project
 mvn clean verify > $MVN_VERIFY_LOG 2>&1
 tail -30 $MVN_VERIFY_LOG
 gumConfirmProceed "Can we Proceed, or are there build errors to fix?" "Proceed" "There are build errors to fix"
@@ -69,7 +80,7 @@ mvn gitflow:release-finish
 gumBanner "Updating qqq-dev-tools/CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION"
 CURRENT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION=$(grep '<revision>' pom.xml | sed 's/<.\?revision>//g;s/-SNAPSHOT//;s/ //g;')
 echo $CURRENT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION > $QQQ_DEV_TOOLS_DIR/CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION
-cd $QQQ_DEV_TOOLS_DIR
+cd $QQQ_DEV_TOOLS_DIR || exit
 git commit -m "Updating to $CURRENT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION" CURRENT-SNAPSHOT-VERSION
 git push
 
diff --git a/qqq-dev-tools/bin/setup-environments.sh b/qqq-dev-tools/bin/setup-environments.sh
index b322e442..17a3e0a7 100755
--- a/qqq-dev-tools/bin/setup-environments.sh
+++ b/qqq-dev-tools/bin/setup-environments.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 function usage()
 {
-   echo "Usage: $0 [--nf-one|--qqq] [-q|--quiet]"
+   echo "Usage: $0 [--nf-one|--qqq] [-q|--quiet] [-r|--is-for-release]"
    echo "By default, all environments are set up.  Give an option to just do nf-one or qqq."
    exit 1;
 }
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ function usage()
 DO_NF_ONE=0
 DO_QQQ=0
 QUIET=0
+IS_FOR_RELEASE=0
 
 if [ -z "$1" ]; then
    DO_NF_ONE=1
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ else
          DO_QQQ=1
       elif [ "$arg" == "-q" -o "$arg" == "--quiet" ]; then
          QUIET=1
+      elif [ "$arg" == "-r" -o "$arg" == "--is-for-release" ]; then
+         IS_FOR_RELEASE=1
       else
          usage
       fi
@@ -144,10 +147,15 @@ function setupRepoEnvironment
    repoName=$1
    isNutrifreshOneRepo=$2
 
+   repoSearchRoot=${HOME}/git
+   if [ "$IS_FOR_RELEASE" == "1" ]; then
+     repoSearchRoot="/tmp/qqq-release"
+   fi
+
    #############################################################
    ## try to automatically find the proper git repo directory ##
    #############################################################
-   repoLocation=$(find ${HOME}/git -maxdepth 5 -type d -path "*${repoName}/.git" | sed 's/\/\.git//')
+   repoLocation=$(find ${repoSearchRoot} -maxdepth 5 -type d -path "*${repoName}/.git" | sed 's/\/\.git//')
 
    if [ "$repoLocation" != "" ]; then