diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 725dab4..15f26e7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ jobs:
           name: ${{ matrix.artifact }}
           path: ${{ matrix.artifact }}
 
-  # Generate AI-powered changelog
+  # Generate changelog using git-cliff (fast, free, no API keys needed)
   changelog:
     needs: [check, bump-version, build]
     if: |
@@ -224,177 +224,114 @@ jobs:
       - name: Pull latest changes
         run: git pull origin ${{ github.ref_name }} || true
 
-      - name: Get previous tag
-        id: prev_tag
+      - name: Install git-cliff
         run: |
-          # Get the most recent tag before this release
-          PREV_TAG=$(git tag -l 'v*' --sort=-v:refname | head -2 | tail -1)
-          if [ -z "$PREV_TAG" ]; then
-            # No previous tag, use first commit
-            PREV_TAG=$(git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD)
-          fi
-          echo "prev_tag=$PREV_TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "Previous tag: $PREV_TAG"
+          # Install git-cliff v2.11.0 (Rust-based changelog generator)
+          # Using latest version to address CVE-2024-32650 in rustls dependency
+          VERSION="2.11.0"
+          TARBALL="git-cliff-${VERSION}-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz"
+          DOWNLOAD_URL="https://github.com/orhun/git-cliff/releases/download/v${VERSION}"
 
-      - name: Collect commits
-        id: commits
-        run: |
-          PREV_TAG="${{ steps.prev_tag.outputs.prev_tag }}"
-
-          # Get commits with conventional commit format parsing
-          echo "## Commits since $PREV_TAG" > commits.md
-          echo "" >> commits.md
-
-          # Group commits by type
-          git log "$PREV_TAG"..HEAD --pretty=format:"%s|%h|%an" | while IFS='|' read -r msg hash author; do
-            echo "$msg|$hash|$author"
-          done > raw_commits.txt
-
-          # Parse and categorize commits
-          echo "### ✨ Features" > features.md
-          echo "" >> features.md
-          echo "### 🐛 Bug Fixes" > fixes.md
-          echo "" >> fixes.md
-          echo "### 🔒 Security" > security.md
-          echo "" >> security.md
-          echo "### 📚 Documentation" > docs.md
-          echo "" >> docs.md
-          echo "### 🔧 Maintenance" > chores.md
-          echo "" >> chores.md
-          echo "### 🎨 Refactoring" > refactor.md
-          echo "" >> refactor.md
-          echo "### ⚡ Performance" > perf.md
-          echo "" >> perf.md
-          echo "### 🧪 Tests" > tests.md
-          echo "" >> tests.md
-          echo "### 📦 Other Changes" > other.md
-          echo "" >> other.md
-
-          while IFS='|' read -r msg hash author; do
-            # Extract type from conventional commit
-            if [[ "$msg" =~ ^feat(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> features.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^fix(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> fixes.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^security(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> security.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^docs?(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> docs.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^chore(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> chores.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^refactor(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> refactor.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^perf(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> perf.md
-            elif [[ "$msg" =~ ^test(\(.+\))?:\ (.+) ]]; then
-              scope="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-              desc="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-              echo "- ${desc} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> tests.md
-            else
-              # Other commits
-              echo "- ${msg} (\`${hash}\`) - @${author}" >> other.md
-            fi
-          done < raw_commits.txt
+          # Download the tarball and checksum
+          curl -sSfL "${DOWNLOAD_URL}/${TARBALL}" -o "${TARBALL}"
+          curl -sSfL "${DOWNLOAD_URL}/${TARBALL}.sha512" -o "${TARBALL}.sha512"
+
+          # Verify checksum before installation
+          echo "Verifying checksum..."
+          sha512sum -c "${TARBALL}.sha512"
+
+          # Extract and install
+          tar xzf "${TARBALL}"
+          sudo mv "git-cliff-${VERSION}/git-cliff" /usr/local/bin/
+
+          # Cleanup
+          rm -rf "${TARBALL}" "${TARBALL}.sha512" "git-cliff-${VERSION}"
 
-      - name: Generate changelog with AI
+          git-cliff --version
+
+      - name: Generate changelog
         id: generate
-        env:
-          OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}
         run: |
           VERSION="${{ needs.check.outputs.version }}"
 
-          # Combine categorized commits
-          {
-            echo "# Release v${VERSION}"
-            echo ""
-            echo "Released on $(date '+%Y-%m-%d')"
-            echo ""
-
-            # Add non-empty sections
-            for file in features.md fixes.md security.md docs.md refactor.md perf.md tests.md chores.md other.md; do
-              if [ -f "$file" ] && [ $(wc -l < "$file") -gt 2 ]; then
-                cat "$file"
-                echo ""
-              fi
-            done
-          } > changelog_draft.md
-
-          # If OpenAI API key is available, enhance with AI
-          if [ -n "$OPENAI_API_KEY" ]; then
-            echo "Enhancing changelog with AI..."
-
-            # Prepare prompt for AI
-            COMMITS=$(cat raw_commits.txt | head -50)
-
-            # Call OpenAI API to generate summary
-            RESPONSE=$(curl -s https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions \
-              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-              -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
-              -d @- <<EOF
-          {
-            "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
-            "messages": [
-              {
-                "role": "system",
-                "content": "You are a technical writer creating release notes for a software project. Generate a concise, professional summary of the changes. Focus on user-facing improvements and important technical changes. Use bullet points for clarity. Keep it under 200 words."
-              },
-              {
-                "role": "user",
-                "content": "Generate a release summary for version ${VERSION} based on these commits:\n\n${COMMITS}"
-              }
-            ],
-            "max_tokens": 500,
-            "temperature": 0.7
-          }
-          EOF
-            )
-
-            # Extract the summary from the response
-            SUMMARY=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.choices[0].message.content // empty')
-
-            if [ -n "$SUMMARY" ]; then
-              {
-                echo "# Release v${VERSION}"
-                echo ""
-                echo "Released on $(date '+%Y-%m-%d')"
-                echo ""
-                echo "## 📋 Summary"
-                echo ""
-                echo "$SUMMARY"
-                echo ""
-                echo "---"
-                echo ""
-                echo "## 📝 Detailed Changes"
-                echo ""
-                # Add non-empty sections
-                for file in features.md fixes.md security.md docs.md refactor.md perf.md tests.md chores.md other.md; do
-                  if [ -f "$file" ] && [ $(wc -l < "$file") -gt 2 ]; then
-                    cat "$file"
-                    echo ""
-                  fi
-                done
-              } > changelog.md
-            else
-              echo "AI summary generation failed, using draft changelog"
-              cp changelog_draft.md changelog.md
-            fi
+          # Get previous tag for range
+          PREV_TAG=$(git tag -l 'v*' --sort=-v:refname | head -2 | tail -1)
+          if [ -z "$PREV_TAG" ]; then
+            PREV_TAG=$(git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD)
+          fi
+          echo "Generating changelog from $PREV_TAG to HEAD"
+
+          # Create git-cliff config inline
+          cat > cliff.toml << 'CLIFF_CONFIG'
+          [changelog]
+          header = ""
+          body = """
+          # Release v{{ version }}
+
+          Released on {{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }}
+
+          {% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
+          ### {{ group | upper_first }}
+          {% for commit in commits %}
+          - {{ commit.message | split(pat="\n") | first | trim }} (`{{ commit.id | truncate(length=7, end="") }}`) - @{{ commit.author.name }}
+          {%- endfor %}
+          {% endfor %}
+          """
+          footer = ""
+          trim = true
+
+          [git]
+          conventional_commits = true
+          filter_unconventional = false
+          split_commits = false
+          commit_parsers = [
+            { message = "^feat", group = "✨ Features" },
+            { message = "^fix", group = "🐛 Bug Fixes" },
+            { message = "^security", group = "🔒 Security" },
+            { message = "^doc", group = "📚 Documentation" },
+            { message = "^perf", group = "⚡ Performance" },
+            { message = "^refactor", group = "🎨 Refactoring" },
+            { message = "^test", group = "🧪 Tests" },
+            { message = "^chore", group = "🔧 Maintenance" },
+            { message = "^ci", group = "🔧 Maintenance" },
+            { message = "^build", group = "🔧 Maintenance" },
+            { message = ".*", group = "📦 Other" },
+          ]
+          filter_commits = false
+          tag_pattern = "v[0-9].*"
+          CLIFF_CONFIG
+
+          # Generate changelog for this release with proper error handling
+          # Capture exit code to distinguish between failure and empty output
+          CLIFF_EXIT_CODE=0
+          git-cliff --config cliff.toml --tag "v${VERSION}" "${PREV_TAG}..HEAD" > changelog.md 2>&1 || CLIFF_EXIT_CODE=$?
+
+          # Check if git-cliff failed (non-zero exit code)
+          if [ $CLIFF_EXIT_CODE -ne 0 ]; then
+            echo "git-cliff failed with exit code $CLIFF_EXIT_CODE, using fallback"
+            {
+              echo "# Release v${VERSION}"
+              echo ""
+              echo "Released on $(date '+%Y-%m-%d')"
+              echo ""
+              echo "### 📦 Changes"
+              echo ""
+              git log "${PREV_TAG}..HEAD" --pretty=format:"- %s (\`%h\`) - @%an"
+            } > changelog.md
+          # Check if git-cliff succeeded but produced empty output
+          elif [ ! -s changelog.md ]; then
+            echo "git-cliff produced empty output (no commits in range), using fallback"
+            {
+              echo "# Release v${VERSION}"
+              echo ""
+              echo "Released on $(date '+%Y-%m-%d')"
+              echo ""
+              echo "### 📦 Changes"
+              echo ""
+              git log "${PREV_TAG}..HEAD" --pretty=format:"- %s (\`%h\`) - @%an"
+            } > changelog.md
           else
-            echo "No OpenAI API key, using standard changelog"
-            cp changelog_draft.md changelog.md
+            echo "git-cliff succeeded with valid output"
           fi
 
           # Output changelog for use in release
@@ -402,7 +339,8 @@ jobs:
           cat changelog.md >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-          # Also save as artifact
+          # Display changelog
+          echo "=== Generated Changelog ==="
           cat changelog.md
 
       - name: Upload changelog artifact