diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle-library-check.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle-library-check.yml
index a710040..185e6c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle-library-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle-library-check.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ on:
         description: If JUnit test results are expected
         default: true
         type: boolean
+      checkout-ref:
+        description: Custom ref to check out
+        type: string
+        default: ''
     secrets:
       WETF_ARTIFACTORY_USER:
       WETF_ARTIFACTORY_PASSWORD:
@@ -30,5 +34,6 @@ jobs:
       java-version: ${{ inputs.java-version }}
       multi-module: ${{ inputs.multi-module }}
       expect-tests: ${{ inputs.expect-tests }}
+      checkout-ref: ${{ inputs.checkout-ref }}
       notify-failure: false
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle-library-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle-library-publish.yml
index b85ee92..e400e53 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle-library-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle-library-publish.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ on:
         description: If JUnit test results are expected
         default: true
         type: boolean
+      checkout-ref:
+        description: Custom ref to check out
+        type: string
+        default: ''
       semantic-release:
         description: State if a release should be created using semantic-release if applicable
         default: false
@@ -31,6 +35,13 @@ on:
         description: If semantic release should do a dryrun
         default: false
         type: boolean
+    outputs:
+      release-published:
+        description: If a release was created
+        value: ${{ jobs.publish.outputs.release-published }}
+      release-version:
+        description: The release version if a release was created
+        value: ${{ jobs.publish.outputs.release-version }}
     secrets:
       WETF_ARTIFACTORY_USER:
       WETF_ARTIFACTORY_PASSWORD:
@@ -47,6 +58,7 @@ jobs:
       java-version: ${{ inputs.java-version }}
       multi-module: ${{ inputs.multi-module }}
       expect-tests: ${{ inputs.expect-tests }}
+      checkout-ref: ${{ inputs.checkout-ref }}
       semantic-release: ${{ inputs.semantic-release }}
       semantic-release-dryrun: ${{ inputs.semantic-release-dryrun }}
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle-library.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle-library.yml
index 73c512e..3ffaac5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle-library.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle-library.yml
@@ -62,6 +62,17 @@ on:
         description: If this is a multi-module project
         type: boolean
         default: false
+      checkout-ref:
+        description: Custom ref to check out
+        type: string
+        default: ''
+    outputs:
+      release-published:
+        description: If a release was created
+        value: ${{ jobs.run.outputs.release-published }}
+      release-version:
+        description: The release version if a release was created
+        value: ${{ jobs.run.outputs.release-version }}
     secrets:
       # GH_PAT:
       #   required: true
@@ -78,10 +89,15 @@ jobs:
   run:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
+    outputs:
+      release-published: ${{ steps.gradle-release.outputs.release-published }}
+      release-version: ${{ steps.gradle-release.outputs.release-version }}
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@692973e3d937129bcbf40652eb9f2f61becf3332 # v4.1.7
         with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.checkout-ref }}
           submodules: ${{ inputs.submodules }}
           # do not persist credentials because this clashes with semantic-release action
           # (because the @semantic-release/git attempts to use them but needs permissions to bypass protection)
@@ -181,6 +197,7 @@ jobs:
           private-key: "${{ secrets.WE_RELEASE_GITHUB_PRIVATE_KEY }}"
 
       - name: Publish/release with Gradle
+        id: gradle-release
         if: ${{ !inputs.skip-build && inputs.publish-tasks != '' }}
         uses: wetransform/gha-gradle-semantic-release@7df5afac738e0cf1ffb38917c17a6c4a5357a5af # v2.1.0
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle-service-check.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle-service-check.yml
index a698b85..17ef999 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle-service-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle-service-check.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ on:
         description: If JUnit test results are expected
         default: true
         type: boolean
+      checkout-ref:
+        description: Custom ref to check out
+        type: string
+        default: ''
     secrets:
       # GH_PAT:
       #   required: true
@@ -51,5 +55,6 @@ jobs:
       image-tag-3: ${{ inputs.image-tag-3 }}
       multi-module: ${{ inputs.multi-module }}
       expect-tests: ${{ inputs.expect-tests }}
+      checkout-ref: ${{ inputs.checkout-ref }}
       notify-failure: false
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle-service-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle-service-publish.yml
index 02de36c..7dffe72 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle-service-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle-service-publish.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ on:
         description: If JUnit test results are expected
         default: true
         type: boolean
+      checkout-ref:
+        description: Custom ref to check out
+        type: string
+        default: ''
     secrets:
       # GH_PAT:
       #   required: true
@@ -55,4 +59,5 @@ jobs:
       image-tag-3: ${{ inputs.image-tag-3 }}
       multi-module: ${{ inputs.multi-module }}
       expect-tests: ${{ inputs.expect-tests }}
+      checkout-ref: ${{ inputs.checkout-ref }}
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle-service.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle-service.yml
index 0630cc1..c8a130f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle-service.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle-service.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ on:
         description: If this is a multi-module project
         type: boolean
         default: false
+      checkout-ref:
+        description: Custom ref to check out
+        type: string
+        default: ''
     secrets:
       # GH_PAT:
       #   required: true
@@ -51,6 +55,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@692973e3d937129bcbf40652eb9f2f61becf3332 # v4.1.7
         with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.checkout-ref }}
           # fetch-depth 0 is required to fetch all tags (and to determine the version based on tags)
           fetch-depth: 0
           # TODO similar to gradle-library: