diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report_template.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report_template.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b38bdf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report_template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+---
+name: Bug Report
+about: Use this template for reporting a bug
+labels: needs triage, bug report
+---
+
+### Description
+
+
+### Affected Linter Version
+
+
+### To Reproduce
+
+
+### Expected Behavior
+
+
+### Actual Behavior
+
+
+### Linter Output / Error Message
+
+```
+Paste linter output or stack trace here ...
+```
+
+### Screenshots
+
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84c4f66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+blank_issues_enabled: true
+contact_links:
+  - name: DSF Documentation
+    url: https://dsf.dev/process-development/linter-tool/linter-tool.html
+    about: Read the DSF Linter documentation.
+  - name: Getting Help
+    url: https://github.com/datasharingframework/dsf-linter/discussions
+    about: For general questions about the DSF Linter, please use GitHub Discussions.
diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request_template.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request_template.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44b0354
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request_template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+name: Feature Request
+about: Use this template if you want to request a new feature or linting rule
+labels: needs triage, enhancement
+---
+
+### Related Problem
+
+
+### Proposed Solution
+
+
+### Additional Context
+
diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84eb421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+version: 2
+updates:
+  # Java / Maven dependencies
+  - package-ecosystem: "maven"
+    directory: "/"
+    target-branch: "develop"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "sunday"
+    open-pull-requests-limit: 10
+    ignore:
+      - dependency-name: "*"
+        update-types: ["version-update:semver-major"]
+    groups:
+      fhir:
+        patterns:
+          - "hapi-fhir*"
+          - "org.hl7.fhir*"
+      slf4j:
+        patterns:
+          - "org.slf4j*"
+      testing-tools:
+        patterns:
+          - "org.junit*"
+          - "org.mockito*"
+      safe-patch-updates:
+        update-types:
+          - "patch"
+      remaining-minor-updates:
+        update-types:
+          - "minor"
+
+  # GitHub Actions
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: "/"
+    target-branch: "develop"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "sunday"
+    open-pull-requests-limit: 5
+    groups:
+      github-actions:
+        patterns:
+          - "*"
diff --git a/.github/pull_request_template.md b/.github/pull_request_template.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd90986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/pull_request_template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+Closes #issuenumber(s).
+
+### Changes
+
+
+### How Was This Patch Tested?
+
+- [ ] Unit tests
+- [ ] Manual executed tests
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..409ece2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+name: DSF Linter Build
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ "main", "develop", "release/*", "hotfix/*" ]
+    tags:
+      - v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+
+      - v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+-M[0-9]+
+      - v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+-RC[0-9]+
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ "main", "develop" ]
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '11 15 * * 0' # Sundays, 15:11
+
+permissions: {}
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.sha }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 25
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          distribution: 'zulu'
+          java-version: 25
+          cache: 'maven'
+
+      - name: Build with Maven
+        run: mvn verify --batch-mode --fail-at-end
diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..471259b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+name: CodeQL Analysis
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ "main", "develop" ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ "main", "develop" ]
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '11 15 * * 0' # Sundays, 15:11
+
+permissions: {}
+
+jobs:
+  codeql:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      security-events: write
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - language: actions
+            build-mode: none
+          - language: java-kotlin
+            build-mode: manual
+    name: 'codeql: ${{ matrix.language }}'
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 25
+        if: ${{ matrix.language == 'java-kotlin' }}
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          distribution: 'zulu'
+          java-version: 25
+          cache: 'maven'
+
+      - name: Initialize CodeQL
+        uses: github/codeql-action/init@v3
+        with:
+          languages: ${{ matrix.language }}
+          build-mode: ${{ matrix.build-mode }}
+          queries: security-extended, security-and-quality
+
+      - name: Build with Maven
+        if: ${{ matrix.language == 'java-kotlin' }}
+        run: mvn package --batch-mode --fail-at-end -DskipTests
+
+      - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
+        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v3
+        with:
+          category: '/language:${{ matrix.language }}'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/maven-publish.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bdd8bd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven-publish.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+name: DSF Linter Publish with Maven
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: closed
+    branches: [ "main" ]
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    # Only run if pull requests are merged, omit running if pull requests are closed without merging
+    if: github.event.pull_request.merged
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          distribution: 'zulu'
+          java-version: 21
+          cache: 'maven'
+
+      - name: Import GPG key
+        run: |
+          echo "${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}" | gpg --batch --import
+          gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONG
+
+      - name: Create Maven settings.xml with Sonatype credentials
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p ~/.m2
+          cat > ~/.m2/settings.xml <<EOF
+          <settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0"
+                    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+                    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0
+                                        https://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
+            <servers>
+              <server>
+                <id>central</id>
+                <username>${{ secrets.OSSRH_USERNAME }}</username>
+                <password>${{ secrets.OSSRH_TOKEN }}</password>
+              </server>
+            </servers>
+          </settings>
+          EOF
+
+      - name: Publish to Maven Central
+        env:
+          MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+        run: mvn --batch-mode --fail-at-end -P release -Dgpg.passphrase="${MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE}" clean deploy
diff --git a/linter-cli/pom.xml b/linter-cli/pom.xml
index 9c19482..beaf64f 100644
--- a/linter-cli/pom.xml
+++ b/linter-cli/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
     <parent>
-        <groupId>dev.dsf.utils.linter</groupId>
+        <groupId>dev.dsf.linter</groupId>
         <artifactId>dsf-linter</artifactId>
         <version>0.1.2</version>
     </parent>
@@ -13,14 +13,13 @@
     <artifactId>linter-cli</artifactId>
 
     <properties>
-        <maven.compiler.source>25</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>25</maven.compiler.target>
-        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+        <!-- linter-cli is an executable fat-JAR, not a library – skip Central publication -->
+        <maven.deploy.skip>true</maven.deploy.skip>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>dev.dsf.utils.linter</groupId>
+            <groupId>dev.dsf.linter</groupId>
             <artifactId>linter-core</artifactId>
             <version>${project.version}</version>
         </dependency>
@@ -48,7 +47,6 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.4.1</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <phase>package</phase>
diff --git a/linter-core/pom.xml b/linter-core/pom.xml
index 6186007..ed76a58 100644
--- a/linter-core/pom.xml
+++ b/linter-core/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
     <!-- Parent coordinates if needed -->
     <parent>
-        <groupId>dev.dsf.utils.linter</groupId>
+        <groupId>dev.dsf.linter</groupId>
         <artifactId>dsf-linter</artifactId>
         <version>0.1.2</version>
     </parent>
@@ -17,12 +17,6 @@
     <artifactId>linter-core</artifactId>
 
     <properties>
-        <!-- Java 25 compilation -->
-        <maven.compiler.source>25</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>25</maven.compiler.target>
-        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-
-        <!-- Byte Buddy version (check for a version that at least somewhat supports Java 21) -->
         <bytebuddy.version>1.15.8</bytebuddy.version>
     </properties>
 
@@ -79,7 +73,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
             <artifactId>jackson-core</artifactId>
-            <version>2.18.0</version>
+            <version>2.18.6</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -156,11 +150,38 @@
 
     <build>
         <plugins>
+            <!-- Attach sources JAR (required by Maven Central) -->
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>attach-sources</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>jar-no-fork</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+
+            <!-- Attach Javadoc JAR (required by Maven Central) -->
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>attach-javadocs</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>jar</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+
             <!-- Maven Shade Plugin: Creates executable JAR with all dependencies -->
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.4.1</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <phase>package</phase>
@@ -189,9 +210,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0-M9</version>
                 <configuration>
-                    <!-- If Byte Buddy complains about Java 17 not supported, set this property: -->
                     <argLine>-Dnet.bytebuddy.experimental=true</argLine>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 28787fd..d93b823 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,32 +4,155 @@
          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
-    <groupId>dev.dsf.utils.linter</groupId>
+    <groupId>dev.dsf.linter</groupId>
     <artifactId>dsf-linter</artifactId>
     <version>0.1.2</version>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
+    <name>DSF Linter</name>
+    <description>Linting tool for DSF plugins that validates BPMN, FHIR, and plugin configuration from JAR artifacts, with HTML/JSON reports.</description>
+    <url>https://dsf.dev/process-development/linter-tool/linter-tool.html</url>
+
     <licenses>
         <license>
             <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
-            <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</url>
+            <url>https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</url>
             <distribution>repo</distribution>
         </license>
     </licenses>
 
     <organization>
-        <name>Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences</name>
+        <name>GECKO Institute, Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences</name>
+        <url>https://www.hs-heilbronn.de</url>
     </organization>
 
+    <developers>
+        <developer>
+            <name>Khalil Malla</name>
+            <email>dsf-gecko@hs-heilbronn.de</email>
+            <organization>GECKO Institute, Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences</organization>
+            <organizationUrl>https://www.hs-heilbronn.de</organizationUrl>
+        </developer>
+    </developers>
+
+    <scm>
+        <connection>scm:git:git://github.com/datasharingframework/dsf-linter.git</connection>
+        <developerConnection>scm:git:ssh://github.com/datasharingframework/dsf-linter.git</developerConnection>
+        <url>https://github.com/datasharingframework/dsf-linter/tree/main</url>
+    </scm>
+
     <modules>
         <module>linter-core</module>
         <module>linter-cli</module>
     </modules>
 
     <properties>
-        <maven.compiler.source>25</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>25</maven.compiler.target>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     </properties>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+    <build>
+        <pluginManagement>
+            <plugins>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>3.15.0</version>
+                    <configuration>
+                        <release>25</release>
+                    </configuration>
+                </plugin>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>3.4.0</version>
+                </plugin>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>3.12.0</version>
+                    <configuration>
+                        <doclint>none</doclint>
+                        <quiet>true</quiet>
+                    </configuration>
+                </plugin>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>3.5.4</version>
+                </plugin>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>3.6.1</version>
+                </plugin>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>maven-gpg-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>3.2.8</version>
+                </plugin>
+                <plugin>
+                    <groupId>org.sonatype.central</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>central-publishing-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+                    <version>0.10.0</version>
+                </plugin>
+            </plugins>
+        </pluginManagement>
+    </build>
+
+    <distributionManagement>
+        <repository>
+            <id>central</id>
+            <name>Maven Central</name>
+            <url>https://central.sonatype.com/api/v1/publisher</url>
+        </repository>
+        <snapshotRepository>
+            <id>github</id>
+            <name>GitHub Packages</name>
+            <url>https://maven.pkg.github.com/datasharingframework/dsf-linter</url>
+        </snapshotRepository>
+    </distributionManagement>
+
+    <profiles>
+        <profile>
+            <id>release</id>
+            <build>
+                <plugins>
+                    <!-- Sign all artifacts with GPG -->
+                    <plugin>
+                        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>maven-gpg-plugin</artifactId>
+                        <executions>
+                            <execution>
+                                <id>sign-artifacts</id>
+                                <phase>verify</phase>
+                                <goals>
+                                    <goal>sign</goal>
+                                </goals>
+                                <configuration>
+                                    <gpgArguments>
+                                        <arg>--pinentry-mode</arg>
+                                        <arg>loopback</arg>
+                                    </gpgArguments>
+                                </configuration>
+                            </execution>
+                        </executions>
+                    </plugin>
+                    <!-- Publish to Maven Central via Sonatype Central Portal -->
+                    <plugin>
+                        <groupId>org.sonatype.central</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>central-publishing-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+                        <extensions>true</extensions>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <!-- Matches <server id="central"> in ~/.m2/settings.xml -->
+                            <publishingServerId>central</publishingServerId>
+                            <!-- Set to true to publish automatically; false = manual review in Central Portal -->
+                            <autoPublish>false</autoPublish>
+                            <waitUntil>validated</waitUntil>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </plugin>
+                </plugins>
+            </build>
+        </profile>
+    </profiles>
+
+</project>