diff --git a/.versionrc.json b/.versionrc.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3178955551057
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.versionrc.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "skip": { "tag": true },
+  "packageFiles": [ {  "filename": "lerna.json",  "type": "json" } ],
+  "bumpFiles": [ { "filename": "lerna.json", "type": "json" }  ]
+}
diff --git a/bump.sh b/bump.sh
index c7f7b0fe74873..4e27012be15c7 100755
--- a/bump.sh
+++ b/bump.sh
@@ -19,12 +19,5 @@ echo "Starting ${version} version bump"
 
 # /bin/bash ./install.sh
 
-# Generate CHANGELOG and create a commit
-# --skip.tag because we create the tag as part of creating the github release
-npx standard-version \
-  --bumpFiles package.json \
-  --release-as ${version} \
-  --skip.tag=true \
-  --releaseCommitMessageFormat="chore(release): v{{currentTag}}" \
-  --commit-all
-
+# Generate CHANGELOG and create a commit (see .versionrc.json)
+npx standard-version --release-as ${version}
diff --git a/lerna.json b/lerna.json
index b0265f2414ca4..d5446ec0c490d 100644
--- a/lerna.json
+++ b/lerna.json
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@
     "tools/*"
   ],
   "rejectCycles": "true",
-  "version": "999.0.0"
+  "version": "1.25.0"
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7225da6c67cbb..08de0c688b9e1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "aws-cdk",
-  "version": "1.25.0",
+  "version": "999.0.0",
   "private": true,
   "pkglint": {
     "include": "dependencies/node-version"
diff --git a/scripts/align-version.js b/scripts/align-version.js
index 5a02cd24ba6eb..1fc763438e01a 100755
--- a/scripts/align-version.js
+++ b/scripts/align-version.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 
 const marker = '999.0.0';
-const repoVersion = require('../package.json').version;
+const repoVersion = require('./get-version');
 
 for (const file of process.argv.splice(2)) {
   const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(file).toString());
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ for (const file of process.argv.splice(2)) {
   processSection(pkg.devDependencies || { });
   processSection(pkg.peerDependencies || { });
 
+  console.error(`${file} => ${repoVersion}`);
   fs.writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify(pkg, undefined, 2));
 }
 
@@ -29,4 +30,4 @@ function processSection(section) {
       section[name] = version.replace(marker, repoVersion);
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/scripts/align-version.sh b/scripts/align-version.sh
index 1d896841eee2c..b2628a92362ae 100755
--- a/scripts/align-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/align-version.sh
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ scriptdir=$(cd $(dirname $0) && pwd)
 # go to repo root
 cd ${scriptdir}/..
 
-files="lerna.json $(find . -name package.json | grep -v node_modules | grep -v "^./package.json" | xargs)"
+files="$(find . -name package.json | grep -v node_modules | xargs)"
 ${scriptdir}/align-version.js ${files}
 
 # validation
 if find . -name package.json | grep -v node_modules | xargs grep "999.0.0"; then
   echo "ERROR: unexpected version marker 999.0.0 in a package.json file"
   exit 1
-fi
\ No newline at end of file
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/get-version.js b/scripts/get-version.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9e6972582c427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/get-version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/**
+ * Returns the current repo version.
+ * 
+ * Usage:
+ * 
+ *    const version = require('./get-version');
+ * 
+ * Or from the command line:
+ * 
+ *    node -p require('./get-version')
+ * 
+ */
+const versionFile = require('../.versionrc.json').packageFiles[0].filename;
+if (!versionFile) {
+  throw new Error(`unable to determine version filename from .versionrc.json at the root of the repo`);
+}
+
+module.exports = require(`../${versionFile}`).version;
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index f657935ba7d84..189b10058dd31 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2416,6 +2416,11 @@ anymatch@^2.0.0:
     micromatch "^3.1.4"
     normalize-path "^2.1.1"
 
+app-root-path@^2.2.1:
+  version "2.2.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/app-root-path/-/app-root-path-2.2.1.tgz#d0df4a682ee408273583d43f6f79e9892624bc9a"
+  integrity sha512-91IFKeKk7FjfmezPKkwtaRvSpnUc4gDwPAjA1YZ9Gn0q0PPeW+vbeUsZuyDwjI7+QTHhcLen2v25fi/AmhvbJA==
+
 append-transform@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/append-transform/-/append-transform-1.0.0.tgz#046a52ae582a228bd72f58acfbe2967c678759ab"
@@ -4551,11 +4556,21 @@ dotenv-expand@^5.1.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv-expand/-/dotenv-expand-5.1.0.tgz#3fbaf020bfd794884072ea26b1e9791d45a629f0"
   integrity sha512-YXQl1DSa4/PQyRfgrv6aoNjhasp/p4qs9FjJ4q4cQk+8m4r6k4ZSiEyytKG8f8W9gi8WsQtIObNmKd+tMzNTmA==
 
+dotenv-json@^1.0.0:
+  version "1.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv-json/-/dotenv-json-1.0.0.tgz#fc7f672aafea04bed33818733b9f94662332815c"
+  integrity sha512-jAssr+6r4nKhKRudQ0HOzMskOFFi9+ubXWwmrSGJFgTvpjyPXCXsCsYbjif6mXp7uxA7xY3/LGaiTQukZzSbOQ==
+
 dotenv@^5.0.0:
   version "5.0.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv/-/dotenv-5.0.1.tgz#a5317459bd3d79ab88cff6e44057a6a3fbb1fcef"
   integrity sha512-4As8uPrjfwb7VXC+WnLCbXK7y+Ueb2B3zgNCePYfhxS1PYeaO1YTeplffTEcbfLhvFNGLAz90VvJs9yomG7bow==
 
+dotenv@^8.0.0:
+  version "8.2.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv/-/dotenv-8.2.0.tgz#97e619259ada750eea3e4ea3e26bceea5424b16a"
+  integrity sha512-8sJ78ElpbDJBHNeBzUbUVLsqKdccaa/BXF1uPTw3GrvQTBgrQrtObr2mUrE38vzYd8cEv+m/JBfDLioYcfXoaw==
+
 dotgitignore@2.1.0:
   version "2.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotgitignore/-/dotgitignore-2.1.0.tgz#a4b15a4e4ef3cf383598aaf1dfa4a04bcc089b7b"
@@ -4790,6 +4805,11 @@ escodegen@~1.9.0:
   optionalDependencies:
     source-map "~0.6.1"
 
+eslint-config-standard@^14.1.0:
+  version "14.1.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-config-standard/-/eslint-config-standard-14.1.0.tgz#b23da2b76fe5a2eba668374f246454e7058f15d4"
+  integrity sha512-EF6XkrrGVbvv8hL/kYa/m6vnvmUT+K82pJJc4JJVMM6+Qgqh0pnwprSxdduDLB9p/7bIxD+YV5O0wfb8lmcPbA==
+
 eslint-import-resolver-node@^0.3.2, eslint-import-resolver-node@^0.3.3:
   version "0.3.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-import-resolver-node/-/eslint-import-resolver-node-0.3.3.tgz#dbaa52b6b2816b50bc6711af75422de808e98404"
@@ -4817,7 +4837,15 @@ eslint-module-utils@^2.4.1:
     debug "^2.6.9"
     pkg-dir "^2.0.0"
 
-eslint-plugin-import@^2.20.1:
+eslint-plugin-es@^2.0.0:
+  version "2.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-plugin-es/-/eslint-plugin-es-2.0.0.tgz#0f5f5da5f18aa21989feebe8a73eadefb3432976"
+  integrity sha512-f6fceVtg27BR02EYnBhgWLFQfK6bN4Ll0nQFrBHOlCsAyxeZkn0NHns5O0YZOPrV1B3ramd6cgFwaoFLcSkwEQ==
+  dependencies:
+    eslint-utils "^1.4.2"
+    regexpp "^3.0.0"
+
+eslint-plugin-import@^2.19.1, eslint-plugin-import@^2.20.1:
   version "2.20.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-plugin-import/-/eslint-plugin-import-2.20.1.tgz#802423196dcb11d9ce8435a5fc02a6d3b46939b3"
   integrity sha512-qQHgFOTjguR+LnYRoToeZWT62XM55MBVXObHM6SKFd1VzDcX/vqT1kAz8ssqigh5eMj8qXcRoXXGZpPP6RfdCw==
@@ -4835,6 +4863,28 @@ eslint-plugin-import@^2.20.1:
     read-pkg-up "^2.0.0"
     resolve "^1.12.0"
 
+eslint-plugin-node@^10.0.0:
+  version "10.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-plugin-node/-/eslint-plugin-node-10.0.0.tgz#fd1adbc7a300cf7eb6ac55cf4b0b6fc6e577f5a6"
+  integrity sha512-1CSyM/QCjs6PXaT18+zuAXsjXGIGo5Rw630rSKwokSs2jrYURQc4R5JZpoanNCqwNmepg+0eZ9L7YiRUJb8jiQ==
+  dependencies:
+    eslint-plugin-es "^2.0.0"
+    eslint-utils "^1.4.2"
+    ignore "^5.1.1"
+    minimatch "^3.0.4"
+    resolve "^1.10.1"
+    semver "^6.1.0"
+
+eslint-plugin-promise@^4.2.1:
+  version "4.2.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-plugin-promise/-/eslint-plugin-promise-4.2.1.tgz#845fd8b2260ad8f82564c1222fce44ad71d9418a"
+  integrity sha512-VoM09vT7bfA7D+upt+FjeBO5eHIJQBUWki1aPvB+vbNiHS3+oGIJGIeyBtKQTME6UPXXy3vV07OL1tHd3ANuDw==
+
+eslint-plugin-standard@^4.0.1:
+  version "4.0.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-plugin-standard/-/eslint-plugin-standard-4.0.1.tgz#ff0519f7ffaff114f76d1bd7c3996eef0f6e20b4"
+  integrity sha512-v/KBnfyaOMPmZc/dmc6ozOdWqekGp7bBGq4jLAecEfPGmfKiWS4sA8sC0LqiV9w5qmXAtXVn4M3p1jSyhY85SQ==
+
 eslint-scope@^5.0.0:
   version "5.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-scope/-/eslint-scope-5.0.0.tgz#e87c8887c73e8d1ec84f1ca591645c358bfc8fb9"
@@ -4843,7 +4893,7 @@ eslint-scope@^5.0.0:
     esrecurse "^4.1.0"
     estraverse "^4.1.1"
 
-eslint-utils@^1.4.3:
+eslint-utils@^1.4.2, eslint-utils@^1.4.3:
   version "1.4.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eslint-utils/-/eslint-utils-1.4.3.tgz#74fec7c54d0776b6f67e0251040b5806564e981f"
   integrity sha512-fbBN5W2xdY45KulGXmLHZ3c3FHfVYmKg0IrAKGOkT/464PQsx2UeIzfz1RmEci+KLm1bBaAzZAh8+/E+XAeZ8Q==
@@ -5984,6 +6034,11 @@ ignore@^4.0.3, ignore@^4.0.6:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ignore/-/ignore-4.0.6.tgz#750e3db5862087b4737ebac8207ffd1ef27b25fc"
   integrity sha512-cyFDKrqc/YdcWFniJhzI42+AzS+gNwmUzOSFcRCQYwySuBBBy/KjuxWLZ/FHEH6Moq1NizMOBWyTcv8O4OZIMg==
 
+ignore@^5.1.1:
+  version "5.1.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ignore/-/ignore-5.1.4.tgz#84b7b3dbe64552b6ef0eca99f6743dbec6d97adf"
+  integrity sha512-MzbUSahkTW1u7JpKKjY7LCARd1fU5W2rLdxlM4kdkayuCwZImjkpluF9CM1aLewYJguPDqewLam18Y6AU69A8A==
+
 immediate@~3.0.5:
   version "3.0.6"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/immediate/-/immediate-3.0.6.tgz#9db1dbd0faf8de6fbe0f5dd5e56bb606280de69b"
@@ -7313,6 +7368,24 @@ kleur@^3.0.3:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/kleur/-/kleur-3.0.3.tgz#a79c9ecc86ee1ce3fa6206d1216c501f147fc07e"
   integrity sha512-eTIzlVOSUR+JxdDFepEYcBMtZ9Qqdef+rnzWdRZuMbOywu5tO2w2N7rqjoANZ5k9vywhL6Br1VRjUIgTQx4E8w==
 
+lambda-leak@^2.0.0:
+  version "2.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/lambda-leak/-/lambda-leak-2.0.0.tgz#771985d3628487f6e885afae2b54510dcfb2cd7e"
+  integrity sha1-dxmF02KEh/boha+uK1RRDc+yzX4=
+
+lambda-tester@^3.6.0:
+  version "3.6.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/lambda-tester/-/lambda-tester-3.6.0.tgz#ceb7d4f4f0da768487a05cff37dcd088508b5247"
+  integrity sha512-F2ZTGWCLyIR95o/jWK46V/WnOCFAEUG/m/V7/CLhPJ7PCM+pror1rZ6ujP3TkItSGxUfpJi0kqwidw+M/nEqWw==
+  dependencies:
+    app-root-path "^2.2.1"
+    dotenv "^8.0.0"
+    dotenv-json "^1.0.0"
+    lambda-leak "^2.0.0"
+    semver "^6.1.1"
+    uuid "^3.3.2"
+    vandium-utils "^1.1.1"
+
 lazystream@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/lazystream/-/lazystream-1.0.0.tgz#f6995fe0f820392f61396be89462407bb77168e4"
@@ -8108,6 +8181,17 @@ nise@^4.0.1:
     just-extend "^4.0.2"
     path-to-regexp "^1.7.0"
 
+nock@^11.7.0:
+  version "11.9.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/nock/-/nock-11.9.1.tgz#2b026c5beb6d0dbcb41e7e4cefa671bc36db9c61"
+  integrity sha512-U5wPctaY4/ar2JJ5Jg4wJxlbBfayxgKbiAeGh+a1kk6Pwnc2ZEuKviLyDSG6t0uXl56q7AALIxoM6FJrBSsVXA==
+  dependencies:
+    debug "^4.1.0"
+    json-stringify-safe "^5.0.1"
+    lodash "^4.17.13"
+    mkdirp "^0.5.0"
+    propagate "^2.0.0"
+
 nock@^12.0.1:
   version "12.0.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/nock/-/nock-12.0.1.tgz#6d497d01f23cb52c733545c97e09e8318f6af801"
@@ -10186,6 +10270,13 @@ resolve@1.x, resolve@^1.1.5, resolve@^1.10.0, resolve@^1.11.1, resolve@^1.12.0,
   dependencies:
     path-parse "^1.0.6"
 
+resolve@^1.10.1:
+  version "1.15.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/resolve/-/resolve-1.15.1.tgz#27bdcdeffeaf2d6244b95bb0f9f4b4653451f3e8"
+  integrity sha512-84oo6ZTtoTUpjgNEr5SJyzQhzL72gaRodsSfyxC/AXRvwu0Yse9H8eF9IpGo7b8YetZhlI6v7ZQ6bKBFV/6S7w==
+  dependencies:
+    path-parse "^1.0.6"
+
 restore-cursor@^2.0.0:
   version "2.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/restore-cursor/-/restore-cursor-2.0.0.tgz#9f7ee287f82fd326d4fd162923d62129eee0dfaf"
@@ -10348,7 +10439,7 @@ semver-intersect@^1.4.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/semver/-/semver-5.7.1.tgz#a954f931aeba508d307bbf069eff0c01c96116f7"
   integrity sha512-sauaDf/PZdVgrLTNYHRtpXa1iRiKcaebiKQ1BJdpQlWH2lCvexQdX55snPFyK7QzpudqbCI0qXFfOasHdyNDGQ==
 
-semver@6.3.0, semver@^6.0.0, semver@^6.1.2, semver@^6.2.0, semver@^6.3.0:
+semver@6.3.0, semver@^6.0.0, semver@^6.1.0, semver@^6.1.1, semver@^6.1.2, semver@^6.2.0, semver@^6.3.0:
   version "6.3.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/semver/-/semver-6.3.0.tgz#ee0a64c8af5e8ceea67687b133761e1becbd1d3d"
   integrity sha512-b39TBaTSfV6yBrapU89p5fKekE2m/NwnDocOVruQFS1/veMgdzuPcnOM34M6CwxW8jH/lxEa5rBoDeUwu5HHTw==
@@ -11462,6 +11553,22 @@ trivial-deferred@^1.0.1:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/trivial-deferred/-/trivial-deferred-1.0.1.tgz#376d4d29d951d6368a6f7a0ae85c2f4d5e0658f3"
   integrity sha1-N21NKdlR1jaKb3oK6FwvTV4GWPM=
 
+ts-jest@^24.2.0:
+  version "24.3.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ts-jest/-/ts-jest-24.3.0.tgz#b97814e3eab359ea840a1ac112deae68aa440869"
+  integrity sha512-Hb94C/+QRIgjVZlJyiWwouYUF+siNJHJHknyspaOcZ+OQAIdFG/UrdQVXw/0B8Z3No34xkUXZJpOTy9alOWdVQ==
+  dependencies:
+    bs-logger "0.x"
+    buffer-from "1.x"
+    fast-json-stable-stringify "2.x"
+    json5 "2.x"
+    lodash.memoize "4.x"
+    make-error "1.x"
+    mkdirp "0.x"
+    resolve "1.x"
+    semver "^5.5"
+    yargs-parser "10.x"
+
 ts-jest@^25.2.0:
   version "25.2.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ts-jest/-/ts-jest-25.2.1.tgz#49bf05da26a8b7fbfbc36b4ae2fcdc2fef35c85d"
@@ -11858,6 +11965,11 @@ validate-npm-package-name@^3.0.0:
   dependencies:
     builtins "^1.0.3"
 
+vandium-utils@^1.1.1:
+  version "1.2.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vandium-utils/-/vandium-utils-1.2.0.tgz#44735de4b7641a05de59ebe945f174e582db4f59"
+  integrity sha1-RHNd5LdkGgXeWevpRfF05YLbT1k=
+
 vendors@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vendors/-/vendors-1.0.3.tgz#a6467781abd366217c050f8202e7e50cc9eef8c0"
@@ -12213,7 +12325,7 @@ yapool@^1.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/yapool/-/yapool-1.0.0.tgz#f693f29a315b50d9a9da2646a7a6645c96985b6a"
   integrity sha1-9pPymjFbUNmp2iZGp6ZkXJaYW2o=
 
-yargs-parser@^10.0.0:
+yargs-parser@10.x, yargs-parser@^10.0.0:
   version "10.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/yargs-parser/-/yargs-parser-10.1.0.tgz#7202265b89f7e9e9f2e5765e0fe735a905edbaa8"
   integrity sha512-VCIyR1wJoEBZUqk5PA+oOBF6ypbwh5aNB3I50guxAL/quggdfs4TtNHQrSazFA3fYZ+tEqfs0zIGlv0c/rgjbQ==