diff --git a/pkg/cli/cli.go b/pkg/cli/cli.go
index 10a4fbe..9d54855 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/cli.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/cli.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ func New(version, commit, date string) *CLI {
 				signCmd(),
 				notarizeCmd(),
 				packageCmd(),
+				releaseCmd(),
 				{
 					Name:    "version",
 					Usage:   "print the version",
diff --git a/pkg/cli/release.go b/pkg/cli/release.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c48b73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cli/release.go
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/jimeh/build-emacs-for-macos/pkg/plan"
+	"github.com/jimeh/build-emacs-for-macos/pkg/release"
+	"github.com/jimeh/build-emacs-for-macos/pkg/repository"
+	cli2 "github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+type releaseOptions struct {
+	Plan        *plan.Plan
+	Repository  *repository.Repository
+	Name        string
+	GithubToken string
+}
+
+func releaseCmd() *cli2.Command {
+	tokenDefaultText := ""
+	if len(os.Getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN")) > 0 {
+		tokenDefaultText = "***"
+	}
+
+	return &cli2.Command{
+		Name:  "release",
+		Usage: "manage GitHub releases",
+		Flags: []cli2.Flag{
+			&cli2.StringFlag{
+				Name: "plan",
+				Usage: "path to build plan YAML file produced by " +
+					"emacs-builder plan",
+				Aliases:   []string{"p"},
+				EnvVars:   []string{"EMACS_BUILDER_PLAN"},
+				TakesFile: true,
+			},
+			&cli2.StringFlag{
+				Name:    "repository",
+				Aliases: []string{"repo", "r"},
+				Usage: "owner/name of GitHub repo to check for release, " +
+					"ignored if a plan is provided",
+				EnvVars: []string{"GITHUB_REPOSITORY"},
+				Value:   "jimeh/emacs-builds",
+			},
+			&cli2.StringFlag{
+				Name:    "name",
+				Aliases: []string{"n"},
+				Usage: "name of release to operate on, ignored if plan " +
+					"is provided",
+			},
+			&cli2.StringFlag{
+				Name:        "github-token",
+				Usage:       "GitHub API Token",
+				EnvVars:     []string{"GITHUB_TOKEN"},
+				DefaultText: tokenDefaultText,
+			},
+		},
+		Subcommands: []*cli2.Command{
+			releaseCheckCmd(),
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func releaseActionWrapper(
+	f func(*cli2.Context, *Options, *releaseOptions) error,
+) func(*cli2.Context) error {
+	return actionWrapper(func(c *cli2.Context, opts *Options) error {
+		rOpts := &releaseOptions{
+			Name:        c.String("name"),
+			GithubToken: c.String("github-token"),
+		}
+
+		if r := c.String("repository"); r != "" {
+			var err error
+			rOpts.Repository, err = repository.NewGitHub(r)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+
+		if f := c.String("plan"); f != "" {
+			p, err := plan.Load(f)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			rOpts.Plan = p
+		}
+
+		return f(c, opts, rOpts)
+	})
+}
+
+func releaseCheckCmd() *cli2.Command {
+	return &cli2.Command{
+		Name: "check",
+		Usage: "check if a GitHub release exists and has specified " +
+			"asset files",
+		ArgsUsage: "[<asset-file> ...]",
+		Action:    releaseActionWrapper(releaseCheckAction),
+	}
+}
+
+func releaseCheckAction(
+	c *cli2.Context,
+	opts *Options,
+	rOpts *releaseOptions,
+) error {
+	rlsOpts := &release.CheckOptions{
+		Repository:  rOpts.Repository,
+		ReleaseName: rOpts.Name,
+		AssetFiles:  c.Args().Slice(),
+		GithubToken: rOpts.GithubToken,
+	}
+
+	if rOpts.Plan != nil && rOpts.Plan.Release != nil {
+		rlsOpts.ReleaseName = rOpts.Plan.Release.Name
+	}
+	if rOpts.Plan != nil && rOpts.Plan.Output != nil {
+		rlsOpts.AssetFiles = []string{rOpts.Plan.Output.DiskImage}
+	}
+
+	return release.Check(c.Context, rlsOpts)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/release/check.go b/pkg/release/check.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4c7a6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/release/check.go
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+package release
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
+	"github.com/jimeh/build-emacs-for-macos/pkg/gh"
+	"github.com/jimeh/build-emacs-for-macos/pkg/repository"
+)
+
+type CheckOptions struct {
+	// Repository is the GitHub repository to check.
+	Repository *repository.Repository
+
+	// ReleaseName is the name of the GitHub Release to check.
+	ReleaseName string
+
+	// AssetFiles is a list of files which must all exist in the release for
+	// the check to pass.
+	AssetFiles []string
+
+	// GitHubToken is the OAuth token used to talk to the GitHub API.
+	GithubToken string
+}
+
+// Check checks if a GitHub repository has a Release by given name, and if the
+// release contains assets with given filenames.
+func Check(ctx context.Context, opts *CheckOptions) error {
+	logger := hclog.FromContext(ctx).Named("release")
+	gh := gh.New(ctx, opts.GithubToken)
+
+	repo := opts.Repository
+
+	release, resp, err := gh.Repositories.GetReleaseByTag(
+		ctx, repo.Owner(), repo.Name(), opts.ReleaseName,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
+			return fmt.Errorf("release %s does not exist", opts.ReleaseName)
+		}
+
+		return err
+	}
+
+	logger.Info("release exists", "release", opts.ReleaseName)
+
+	missingMap := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, filename := range opts.AssetFiles {
+		filename = filepath.Base(filename)
+		missingMap[filename] = true
+		for _, a := range release.Assets {
+			if a.GetName() == filename {
+				logger.Info("asset exists", "filename", filename)
+				delete(missingMap, filename)
+
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(missingMap) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var missing []string
+	for f := range missingMap {
+		missing = append(missing, f)
+	}
+
+	logger.Error("missing assets", "filenames", missing)
+
+	return fmt.Errorf(
+		"release %s is missing assets:\n- %s",
+		opts.ReleaseName, strings.Join(missing, "\n-"),
+	)
+}