diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index f7ce493d..a1aed825 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 * Allow multiple flags to be passed as a list in the OCs `enable`, `disable` and `configure`.
 * Apply the `buildInputs` OC to `pkgs` when it is a function, as documented.
 * Apply package-set and env OCs separately when reading pregenerated overrides.
+* Add OC `github` as a convenience wrapper of `source`.
 
 ### Environments and toolchain
 
diff --git a/lib/deps/api.nix b/lib/deps/api.nix
index 00cebaf6..90487497 100644
--- a/lib/deps/api.nix
+++ b/lib/deps/api.nix
@@ -108,13 +108,18 @@ let
   else c2n.hackageAt conf.location
   ;
 
+
+  github = {owner, repo, rev, hash, path ? null}: let
+    src = config.pkgs.fetchFromGitHub { inherit owner repo rev hash; };
+  in if path == null then c2n.source.root src else c2n.source.sub src path;
+
 in transformers // {
   inherit (c2n) hackageAt source;
   inherit self super pkgs;
   final = self;
   prev = super;
   inherit reset transform transform_ noHpack cabalOverrides cabal2nixOverrides cabal2nixArgs revision drv;
-  inherit hackageConfGen hackageConf hackage;
+  inherit hackageConfGen hackageConf hackage github;
   inherit (spec) option;
   hsLib = pkgs.haskell.lib;
   inherit hsLibC;
diff --git a/lib/release.nix b/lib/release.nix
index 09f4afe4..52556884 100644
--- a/lib/release.nix
+++ b/lib/release.nix
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@
   sed -i 's/ref=[^"#]\+/ref='"$version/" readme.md examples/*/flake.nix
   sed -ri 's/~[[:digit:]]+\.[[:digit:]]+\.tar/~'"''${version%.*}.tar/" readme.md
   sed -i 's/hixVersion = ".*"/hixVersion = "'"$version"'"/' modules/basic.nix packages/hix/lib/Hix.hs
+  sed -i 's/hixRelease = false/hixRelease = true/' modules/basic.nix
   sed -i "s/Unreleased/$version/" changelog.md
   sed -i '/cliReleaseOverride/ s/false/true/' modules/hix-test.nix
   sed -i "s/@since unreleased/@since $version/" packages/**/*.hs
@@ -145,6 +146,9 @@
   ask_abort 'Ready to commit. Continue?'
   ${git} commit --allow-empty -m "Release $version"
   ${git} tag -m "Release $version" "$version"
+  sed -i 's/hixRelease = true/hixRelease = false/' modules/basic.nix
+  ${git} add modules/basic.nix
+  ${git} commit --allow-empty -m "Reset release option"
   '';
 
   grepDevCli = "${grep} --files-with-matches 'hixCli\.dev = true'";
diff --git a/local.nix b/local.nix
index bb6b8abd..1b4c2162 100644
--- a/local.nix
+++ b/local.nix
@@ -271,11 +271,6 @@ in {
 
   internal.cabal-extra.default-extensions = ["StrictData"];
 
-  internal.hixCli = {
-    commit = "d14e85f7aee0878665484663e9f95347b7beb80d";
-    sha256 = "0disvvvvv9wwckvg6ybvjas72vg6p4nhcbcswdpddikxhs1xy9xj";
-  };
-
   outputs = let
 
     # The test runner does not copy `./test` to the temporary directory.
diff --git a/modules/basic.nix b/modules/basic.nix
index d1a06e9a..99d47e65 100644
--- a/modules/basic.nix
+++ b/modules/basic.nix
@@ -289,6 +289,12 @@ in {
         readOnly = true;
       };
 
+      hixRelease = mkOption {
+        description = "Whether this project uses a release version of Hix.";
+        type = bool;
+        default = true;
+      };
+
       hixUrl = mkOption {
         description = "The URL to the Hix release tag used by this project.";
         type = str;
@@ -352,6 +358,8 @@ in {
 
       hixVersion = "0.9.1";
 
+      hixRelease = false;
+
     };
   };
 }
diff --git a/modules/cli.nix b/modules/cli.nix
index e5e907f9..01ec4483 100644
--- a/modules/cli.nix
+++ b/modules/cli.nix
@@ -3,11 +3,6 @@ let
   inherit (lib) types;
   inherit (util) build;
 
-  cliNixpkgs = config.pkgs.fetchzip {
-    url = "https://github.com/nixos/nixpkgs/archive/a7fc11be66bdfb5cdde611ee5ce381c183da8386.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "0h3gvjbrlkvxhbxpy01n603ixv0pjy19n9kf73rdkchdvqcn70j2";
-  };
-
   package-set = build.package-sets config.internal.hixCli.ghc;
 
 in {
@@ -40,7 +35,7 @@ in {
         default = null;
       };
 
-      sha256 = lib.mkOption {
+      hash = lib.mkOption {
         description = ''
         If `commit` is configured, this is the corresponding source hash.
         Initially the empty string, you can add the value after the first build attempt by copying it from the error
@@ -75,32 +70,44 @@ in {
 
   config.internal.hixCli = {
 
-    overrides = {hackage, source, minimal, jailbreak, super, ...}: let
+    commit = lib.mkIf (!config.internal.hixRelease) (lib.mkDefault "b79cf30e9275ade0b0303fce3dbb772bb1cb59b0");
+
+    hash = "sha256-xht1kRRnFOslSiDPgahg0AuXjL84bZINYrXCcVaZjtI=";
+
+    overrides = {hackage, source, github, minimal, jailbreak, ...}: let
 
       conf = config.internal.hixCli;
 
-      githubSrc = builtins.fetchTarball {
-        url = "https://github.com/tek/hix/archive/${conf.commit}.tar.gz";
-        inherit (conf) sha256;
+      githubArgs = {
+        owner = "tek";
+        repo = "hix";
+        rev = conf.commit;
+        inherit (conf) hash;
+        path =  "packages/hix";
       };
 
-      devHix = source.package (if conf.commit == null then ../. else githubSrc) "hix";
-
       prodHix = let
         meta = import ../ops/cli-dep.nix;
-      in jailbreak (hackage meta.version meta.sha256);
-
-      useDev = conf.commit != null || conf.dev;
+      in hackage meta.version meta.sha256;
 
-      hix = if useDev then devHix else prodHix;
+      hix =
+        if conf.dev
+        then source.package ../. "hix"
+        else if conf.commit != null
+        then github githubArgs
+        else prodHix
+        ;
 
-    in { hix = minimal hix; };
+    in { hix = jailbreak (minimal hix); };
 
     ghc = {
       name = "hix";
       compiler = {
         nixpkgs = {
-          source = cliNixpkgs;
+          source = {
+            rev = "a7fc11be66bdfb5cdde611ee5ce381c183da8386";
+            hash = "sha256:0h3gvjbrlkvxhbxpy01n603ixv0pjy19n9kf73rdkchdvqcn70j2";
+          };
           extends = null;
         };
         source = "ghc912";
diff --git a/packages/hix/lib/Hix/Managed/Data/ReleaseConfig.hs b/packages/hix/lib/Hix/Managed/Data/ReleaseConfig.hs
index efdbf275..05a8812e 100644
--- a/packages/hix/lib/Hix/Managed/Data/ReleaseConfig.hs
+++ b/packages/hix/lib/Hix/Managed/Data/ReleaseConfig.hs
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ data ReleaseConfig =
     -- | Run Nix flake checks before uploading. Defaults to False; must be explicitly enabled with --check.
     check :: Bool,
     -- | Merge the release branch back into the initial branch after successful uploads.
-    --   A temporary release branch is always created. Use --merge to merge it back.
     merge :: Bool,
     -- | Use the global Cabal configuration file instead of hermetic @/dev/null@.
     --   This allows using credentials configured in @~\/.cabal\/config@ but sacrifices reproducibility.