diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 7598d7c..cc55451 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -98,6 +98,17 @@ version = "0.5.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "130aac562c0dd69c56b3b1cc8ffd2e17be31d0b6c25b61c96b76231aa23e39e1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cargo_toml"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "513d17226888c7b8283ac02a1c1b0d8a9d4cbf6db65dfadb79f598f5d7966fe9"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+ "serde_derive",
+ "toml",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cc"
 version = "1.0.54"
@@ -351,6 +362,7 @@ name = "gitea-release"
 version = "0.5.2"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
+ "cargo_toml",
  "comrak",
  "elfs",
  "git2",
@@ -365,6 +377,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "structopt",
  "tempfile",
  "tokio",
+ "toml",
  "url",
 ]
 
@@ -881,9 +894,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "1.0.17"
+version = "1.0.24"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1502d12e458c49a4c9cbff560d0fe0060c252bc29799ed94ca2ed4bb665a0101"
+checksum = "1e0704ee1a7e00d7bb417d0770ea303c1bccbabf0ef1667dae92b5967f5f8a71"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-xid",
 ]
@@ -1100,18 +1113,18 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
-version = "1.0.111"
+version = "1.0.117"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c9124df5b40cbd380080b2cc6ab894c040a3070d995f5c9dc77e18c34a8ae37d"
+checksum = "b88fa983de7720629c9387e9f517353ed404164b1e482c970a90c1a4aaf7dc1a"
 dependencies = [
  "serde_derive",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde_derive"
-version = "1.0.111"
+version = "1.0.117"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3f2c3ac8e6ca1e9c80b8be1023940162bf81ae3cffbb1809474152f2ce1eb250"
+checksum = "cbd1ae72adb44aab48f325a02444a5fc079349a8d804c1fc922aed3f7454c74e"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -1209,9 +1222,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
-version = "1.0.29"
+version = "1.0.48"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "bb37da98a55b1d08529362d9cbb863be17556873df2585904ab9d2bc951291d0"
+checksum = "cc371affeffc477f42a221a1e4297aedcea33d47d19b61455588bd9d8f6b19ac"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -1353,6 +1366,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "toml"
+version = "0.5.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "75cf45bb0bef80604d001caaec0d09da99611b3c0fd39d3080468875cdb65645"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-service"
 version = "0.3.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 4fed248..4f66602 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ edition = "2018"
 
 [dependencies]
 anyhow = "1.0"
+cargo_toml = "0.8.1"
 comrak = "0.7"
 git2 = "0.13"
 http = "0.2"
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ serde_json = "1.0"
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 structopt = { version = "0.3", default-features = false }
 tokio = { version = "0.2", features = ["macros"] }
+toml = "0.5.7"
 url = "2"
 
 gitea = { path = "./gitea" }
diff --git a/src/version/cargo.rs b/src/version/cargo.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24a7a2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/version/cargo.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+use anyhow::Result;
+use cargo_toml::Manifest;
+use std::fs::{self, File};
+use std::io::Read;
+
+fn get_file_as_byte_vec(filename: &str) -> Option<Vec<u8>> {
+    let f = File::open(&filename);
+    if f.is_err() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let mut f = f.unwrap();
+    let metadata = fs::metadata(&filename).expect("unable to read metadata");
+    let mut buffer = vec![0; metadata.len() as usize];
+    f.read(&mut buffer).expect("buffer overflow");
+
+    Some(buffer)
+}
+
+pub fn read() -> Result<Option<String>> {
+    let bytes = get_file_as_byte_vec("Cargo.toml");
+
+    match bytes {
+        Some(bytes) => {
+            let pkg: Manifest = toml::from_slice(&bytes)?;
+            Ok(Some(pkg.package.unwrap().version))
+        }
+        None => Ok(None)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/version.rs b/src/version/mod.rs
similarity index 68%
rename from src/version.rs
rename to src/version/mod.rs
index eb1ff10..ad5c36e 100644
--- a/src/version.rs
+++ b/src/version/mod.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 use anyhow::Result;
 use std::{fs, path::PathBuf};
 
+mod cargo;
+
 pub(crate) fn read_version(fname: PathBuf) -> Result<String> {
-    let version = fs::read_to_string(fname)?;
-    Ok(version.trim().into())
+    let version = cargo::read()
+        .unwrap()
+        .unwrap_or(fs::read_to_string(fname)?.trim().into());
+    Ok(version)
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/tests/cut.rs b/tests/cut.rs
index 7ed6008..915b60e 100644
--- a/tests/cut.rs
+++ b/tests/cut.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const TAG: &'static str = "0.1.0";
 async fn cut() -> Result<()> {
     let _ = pretty_env_logger::try_init();
     let name = elfs::next();
-    let token = std::env::var("DOMO_GITEA_TOKEN")?;
+    let token = std::env::var("DOMO_GITEA_TOKEN").expect("wanted envvar DOMO_GITEA_TOKEN");
 
     let cli = gitea::Client::new("https://tulpa.dev".into(), token.clone(), APP_USER_AGENT)?;
     debug!("created gitea client");