diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_qmlls.yaml b/.github/workflows/build_qmlls.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..465c6cfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_qmlls.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+name: Build qmlls
+
+on:
+  # release nightly on schedule
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '0 2 * * 1,3,5'
+  # also release nightly on manual trigger
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  # release "real" release when a qmlls tag is pushed to dev
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - 'dev'
+    tags:
+      - 'qmlls-*'
+
+defaults:
+  run:
+    shell: bash
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - name: ubuntu
+            os:   ubuntu-latest
+            deps: libgl-dev libglu-dev 'libxcb*-dev' libx11-xcb-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev libb2-dev libdouble-conversion-dev
+            tools: ccache
+            install_cmd: sudo apt-get -y install
+            configure_flags: -xcb
+          - name: macos
+            os:   macos-latest
+            deps:
+            tools: ccache
+            install_cmd: HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP=1 brew install
+          - name: windows
+            os:   windows-latest
+            install_cmd: choco install
+            install_cmd_postfix: --yes --no-progress
+            tools: ccache
+            configure_flags: -no-feature-sql-psql -no-feature-sql-mysql -no-feature-sql-odbc
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: lukka/get-cmake@latest
+
+    - name: prepare Linux
+      if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update
+        sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-10 100
+        sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-10 100
+    - name: prepare macOS
+      if: runner.os == 'macOS'
+      run: echo noop
+    - name: prepare Windows
+      if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+      shell: cmd
+      run: |
+        call "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Enterprise/VC/Auxiliary/Build/vcvars64.bat"
+        set >> "%GITHUB_ENV%"
+
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        path: source
+
+    - name: restore ccache
+      uses: actions/cache@v4
+      with:
+        path: ${{ runner.temp }}/ccache
+        key:  ccache-${{ matrix.os }}
+
+    - name: install build dependencies
+      run:  ${{ matrix.install_cmd }}  ${{ matrix.deps }}  ${{ matrix.install_cmd_postfix }}
+      if: matrix.deps != ''
+    - name: install compiler tools
+      run:  ${{ matrix.install_cmd }}  ${{ matrix.tools }}  ${{ matrix.install_cmd_postfix }}
+    - name: configure ccache
+      run: |
+        ccache --set-config sloppiness=file_macro,time_macros
+        ccache --set-config cache_dir='${{ runner.temp }}'/ccache
+        ccache --set-config compression=true
+        ccache --set-config max_size=1G
+
+    - name: initialize subrepositories
+      working-directory: source
+      run:  ./init-repository --module-subset=qtdeclarative --mirror="https://code.qt.io/qt/"
+
+    - name: set qtdeclarative to dev and set dependencies via dependencies.yaml
+      working-directory: source
+      run: cmake -DSYNC_TO_MODULE="qtdeclarative" -DSYNC_TO_BRANCH="dev" -P cmake/QtSynchronizeRepo.cmake
+
+    - name: configure and build
+      run:  |
+        mkdir build
+        cd build
+        ../source/configure -force-debug-info -ccache -no-pch -release -static \
+          -force-bundled-libs -submodules qtdeclarative -nomake tests -nomake examples \
+          -prefix '${{ runner.temp }}'/install_dir ${{ matrix.configure_flags }}
+        ninja qmlls
+
+    - name: Get current SHA
+      id: vars
+      working-directory: source/qtdeclarative
+      run: echo "sha_short=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+    - name: Create info file
+      run: |
+        echo -e "commit: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}\nbuild: $(date +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")" \
+        > info.txt
+
+    # workaround because -separate-debug-info is not supported in static builds
+    # note: msvc on windows separates the debug info, no need to strip by hand
+    - name: Stripping qmlls binary on linux
+      if: matrix.name == 'ubuntu'
+      run: |
+        objcopy --only-keep-debug ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls.dbg
+        strip ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls
+        objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls.dbg ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls
+
+    - name: Stripping qmlls binary on mac
+      if: matrix.name == 'macos'
+      run: |
+        dsymutil ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls -o ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls.dSYM
+        strip ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls
+
+    - name: Zip build files in archive
+      run: 7z a qmlls-${{ matrix.name }}-${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}.7z ./build/qtbase/bin/qmlls* info.txt
+
+    - name: Upload archive
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        path: qmlls-${{ matrix.name }}-${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}.7z
+        name: qmlls-${{ matrix.name }}-${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}.7z
+
+  release:
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: build
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        repository: qt/qtdeclarative
+        path: source
+
+    - name: Get current SHA
+      id: vars
+      working-directory: source
+      run: echo "sha_short=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+    - name: Download artifacts
+      id: downloaded_artifacts
+      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        path: release
+
+    - name: Create nightly release
+      if: ${{ ! contains(github.ref, 'tags/qmlls-') }}
+      uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+      env:
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      with:
+        tag_name: qmlls-nightly-${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}
+        draft: false
+        prerelease: true
+        files: release/*/*.7z
+
+    - name: Create release
+      if: ${{ contains(github.ref, 'tags/qmlls-') && !contains(github.ref, 'nightly') }}
+      uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+      env:
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      with:
+        # note: use default tag_name
+        draft: true
+        prerelease: false
+        files: release/*/*.7z