diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly-publish-release-branches.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly-publish-release-branches.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d38f06a08d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly-publish-release-branches.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+name: Nightly publish release branches
+
+on:
+  schedule:
+    # Run nightly at 1 AM UTC
+    - cron: '0 1 * * *'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  actions: write
+
+jobs:
+  dispatch:
+    name: Dispatch publish workflow
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Dispatch publish-libs on release branches
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const workflowId = 'publish-libs.yml'
+            const branches = ['release53', 'release52']
+
+            core.info(`Evaluating branches for nightly publish: ${branches.join(', ')}`)
+
+            for (const ref of branches) {
+              // Get current HEAD SHA for the branch
+              const branchInfo = await github.rest.repos.getBranch({
+                owner: context.repo.owner,
+                repo: context.repo.repo,
+                branch: ref,
+              })
+              const headSha = branchInfo.data?.commit?.sha
+              if (!headSha) {
+                core.warning(`Could not determine HEAD SHA for ${ref}, dispatching anyway`)
+              }
+
+              // Find the latest publish-libs run on that branch (workflow_dispatch)
+              const runs = await github.rest.actions.listWorkflowRuns({
+                owner: context.repo.owner,
+                repo: context.repo.repo,
+                workflow_id: workflowId,
+                branch: ref,
+                event: 'workflow_dispatch',
+                per_page: 1,
+              })
+
+              const latest = runs.data?.workflow_runs?.[0]
+              const latestSha = latest?.head_sha
+              const latestConclusion = latest?.conclusion
+
+              if (headSha && latestSha === headSha && latestConclusion === 'success') {
+                core.info(`Skipping ${ref}: HEAD ${headSha.substring(0, 7)} already published successfully in last run ${latest.id}`)
+                continue
+              }
+
+              core.info(
+                `Dispatching ${ref}: HEAD=${headSha ? headSha.substring(0, 7) : 'unknown'} (last=${latestSha ? latestSha.substring(0, 7) : 'none'}, conclusion=${latestConclusion ?? 'none'})`
+              )
+
+              await github.rest.actions.createWorkflowDispatch({
+                owner: context.repo.owner,
+                repo: context.repo.repo,
+                workflow_id: workflowId,
+                ref,
+                inputs: {
+                  nightly_mode: 'true',
+                },
+              })
+            }
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-libs.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-libs.yml
index fc9e1eca8b..52aa40446f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-libs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-libs.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@ name: Publish libraries
 on:
   # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      nightly_mode:
+        description: 'Enable nightly change detection + skip publishing when no packages changed'
+        required: false
+        default: 'false'
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - 'false'
+          - 'true'
   push:
     tags:
       - "v**"
@@ -14,6 +23,7 @@ env:
   IS_UPSTREAM: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'Sofie-Automation' }}
   NPM_PACKAGE_SCOPE: ${{ vars.NPM_PACKAGE_SCOPE }} # In the form of nrkno, without the @
   NPM_PACKAGE_PREFIX: ${{ vars.NPM_PACKAGE_PREFIX }} # Set to anything to prefix the published package names with "sofie-". eg in combination with NPM_PACKAGE_SCOPE this will turn @sofie-automation/shared-lib into @nrkno/sofie-shared-lib
+  IS_NIGHTLY: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.nightly_mode == 'true') }}
 
 jobs:
   check-publish:
@@ -138,6 +148,9 @@ jobs:
 
     if: ${{ needs.check-publish.outputs.can-publish == '1' }}
 
+    outputs:
+      should_publish: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.should_publish }}
+
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
@@ -154,8 +167,86 @@ jobs:
           yarn install
         env:
           CI: true
-      - name: Bump version
-        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' }}
+      - name: Build
+        run: |
+          cd packages
+          yarn build
+        env:
+          CI: true
+      - name: Decide whether to publish (scheduled builds may skip)
+        id: detect
+        run: |
+          cd packages
+
+          # Default: publish for non-nightly events
+          if [ "${{ env.IS_NIGHTLY }}" != "true" ]; then
+            echo "should_publish=1" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          
+          # Check each package for changes
+          PACKAGES="blueprints-integration server-core-integration shared-lib live-status-gateway-api openapi"
+          HAS_ANY_CHANGES=0
+
+          echo "## Package Change Detection" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+
+          for PKG in $PACKAGES; do
+            # Get current package name
+            if [ "${{ env.IS_UPSTREAM }}" = "true" ]; then
+              PACKAGE_NAME="@sofie-automation/$PKG"
+            else
+              PACKAGE_NAME="@${{ env.NPM_PACKAGE_SCOPE }}/${{ env.NPM_PACKAGE_PREFIX }}$PKG"
+            fi
+
+            # Get latest nightly version from npm
+            LATEST_NIGHTLY=$(npm view $PACKAGE_NAME dist-tags.nightly 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+            if [ -z "$LATEST_NIGHTLY" ]; then
+              echo "📦 **$PKG**: No nightly found, will publish" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+              HAS_ANY_CHANGES=1
+              continue
+            fi
+
+            # Extract dist hash from version (format: X.Y.Z-nightly-branch-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-githash-disthash)
+            LAST_DIST_HASH=$(echo "$LATEST_NIGHTLY" | grep -oP '[0-9a-f]{8}$' || echo "")
+
+            if [ -z "$LAST_DIST_HASH" ]; then
+              echo "📦 **$PKG**: Old version format ($LATEST_NIGHTLY), will publish" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+              HAS_ANY_CHANGES=1
+              continue
+            fi
+
+            # Compute current dist hash for this package
+            if [ -d "$PKG/dist" ]; then
+              CURRENT_DIST_HASH=$(find "$PKG/dist" -type f -print0 | sort -z | xargs -0 cat | sha256sum | cut -c1-8)
+            else
+              echo "❌ **$PKG**: No dist folder after build" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+              echo "Build did not produce $PKG/dist; failing." >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            if [ "$LAST_DIST_HASH" = "$CURRENT_DIST_HASH" ]; then
+              echo "✅ **$PKG**: No changes ($CURRENT_DIST_HASH)" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            else
+              echo "📦 **$PKG**: Changed ($LAST_DIST_HASH → $CURRENT_DIST_HASH)" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+              HAS_ANY_CHANGES=1
+            fi
+          done
+
+          echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          if [ $HAS_ANY_CHANGES -eq 0 ]; then
+            echo "**Result**: No packages changed, skipping publish" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo "should_publish=0" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          
+          echo "**Result**: Will publish changed packages" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          echo "should_publish=1" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        env:
+          CI: true
+      - name: Bump version with per-package dist hashes
+        if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || github.event_name == 'schedule') && steps.detect.outputs.should_publish == '1' }}
         run: |
           cd packages
           COMMIT_TIMESTAMP=$(git log -1 --pretty=format:%ct HEAD)
@@ -166,23 +257,62 @@ jobs:
           git config --global user.email "info@superfly.tv"
           git config --global user.name "superflytvab"
 
-          yarn set-version-and-commit prerelease --preid $PRERELEASE_TAG-$COMMIT_DATE-$GIT_HASH
-        env:
-          CI: true
-      - name: Build
-        run: |
-          cd packages
-          yarn build
+          # Update each package version with its own dist hash
+          for PKG_DIR in blueprints-integration server-core-integration shared-lib live-status-gateway-api openapi; do
+            if [ -d "$PKG_DIR/dist" ]; then
+              # Compute dist hash for this specific package
+              DIST_HASH=$(find "$PKG_DIR/dist" -type f -print0 | sort -z | xargs -0 cat | sha256sum | cut -c1-8)
+
+              # Get current version from package.json
+              CURRENT_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./$PKG_DIR/package.json').version")
+
+              # Compute new prerelease version
+              NEW_VERSION=$(node -e "
+                const semver = require('semver');
+                const current = '$CURRENT_VERSION';
+                const parsed = semver.parse(current);
+                const newVersion = \`\${parsed.major}.\${parsed.minor}.\${parsed.patch}-$PRERELEASE_TAG-$COMMIT_DATE-$GIT_HASH-$DIST_HASH\`;
+                console.log(newVersion);
+              ")
+
+              # Update package.json
+              node -e "
+                const fs = require('fs');
+                const path = './$PKG_DIR/package.json';
+                const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path, 'utf8'));
+                pkg.version = '$NEW_VERSION';
+                fs.writeFileSync(path, JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2) + '\n');
+              "
+
+              echo "Updated $PKG_DIR to $NEW_VERSION"
+            else
+              echo "Missing $PKG_DIR/dist after build; failing." >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          done
+
+          # Also update lerna.json with a representative version (use blueprints-integration)
+          if [ -f "blueprints-integration/package.json" ]; then
+            LERNA_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./blueprints-integration/package.json').version")
+            node -e "
+              const fs = require('fs');
+              const lerna = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./lerna.json', 'utf8'));
+              lerna.version = '$LERNA_VERSION';
+              fs.writeFileSync('./lerna.json', JSON.stringify(lerna, null, 2) + '\n');
+            "
+          fi
         env:
           CI: true
 
       - name: Build OpenAPI client library
+        if: ${{ env.IS_NIGHTLY != 'true' || steps.detect.outputs.should_publish == '1' }}
         run: |
           cd packages/openapi
           yarn build
         env:
           CI: true
       - name: Modify dependencies to use npm packages
+        if: ${{ env.IS_NIGHTLY != 'true' || steps.detect.outputs.should_publish == '1' }}
         run: |
           node scripts/prepublish.js "${{ github.repository }}" "${{ env.NPM_PACKAGE_SCOPE }}" ${{ env.NPM_PACKAGE_PREFIX }}
 
@@ -190,6 +320,7 @@ jobs:
           yarn install --no-immutable
 
       - name: Upload release artifact
+        if: ${{ env.IS_NIGHTLY != 'true' || steps.detect.outputs.should_publish == '1' }}
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v5
         with:
           name: publish-dist
@@ -210,6 +341,8 @@ jobs:
       - prepare-publish
       - test-packages
 
+    if: ${{ env.IS_NIGHTLY != 'true' || needs.prepare-publish.outputs.should_publish == '1' }}
+
     permissions:
       contents: write
       id-token: write # scoped for as short as possible, as this gives write access to npm
@@ -256,7 +389,7 @@ jobs:
           yarn install
 
           NPM_TAG=nightly
-          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "workflow_dispatch" ] && [ "${{ github.event_name }}" != "schedule" ]; then
             PACKAGE_NAME=$(node -p "require('./shared-lib/package.json').name")
             PUBLISHED_VERSION=$(yarn npm info --json $PACKAGE_NAME | jq -c '.version' -r)
             THIS_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./lerna.json').version")