diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yml b/.github/workflows/pr.yml
index d91a39c..d89252c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yml
@@ -80,4 +80,4 @@ jobs:
           Build__TestProjects: ${{ matrix.project }}
           Build__RunLint: "false"
           Build__RunPack: "false"
-        run: dotnet run --project build/PipelineCLI/PipelineCLI.csproj --configuration Release
\ No newline at end of file
+        run: dotnet run --project build/PipelineCLI/PipelineCLI.csproj --configuration Release
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 70d8a62..9825177 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run release pipeline
         if: steps.version.outputs.should_publish == 'true'
         env:
-          Release__ShouldPublish: true
+          Release__Mode: NuGet
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           NuGet__ApiKey: ${{ secrets.NUGET__APIKEY }}
         run: dotnet run --project build/PipelineCLI/PipelineCLI.csproj --configuration Release
diff --git a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/CreateGitHubReleaseModule.cs b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/CreateGitHubReleaseModule.cs
index 14de6dd..6d24f31 100644
--- a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/CreateGitHubReleaseModule.cs
+++ b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/CreateGitHubReleaseModule.cs
@@ -17,16 +17,10 @@ protected override ModuleConfiguration Configure() =>
 		ModuleConfiguration
 			.Create()
 			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				releaseSettings.Value.Mode is ReleaseMode.NuGet or ReleaseMode.GitHubRelease
-					? SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
-					: SkipDecision.Skip(
-						"Release publishing is disabled. Set Release__Mode=GitHubRelease or Release__Mode=NuGet to create a GitHub release."
-					)
-			)
-			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(gitSettings.Value.GetGitHubToken())
+				releaseSettings.Value.Mode is not (ReleaseMode.NuGet or ReleaseMode.GitHubRelease)
+				|| string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(gitSettings.Value.GetGitHubToken())
 					? SkipDecision.Skip(
-						"GitHub access token is not configured. Set GitHub__AccessToken or GITHUB_TOKEN to create a GitHub release."
+						"GitHub release creation is disabled. Set Release__Mode=NuGet (or GitHubRelease) and GITHUB_TOKEN to create a GitHub release."
 					)
 					: SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
 			)
diff --git a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PackModule.cs b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PackModule.cs
index 5977701..27119b6 100644
--- a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PackModule.cs
+++ b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PackModule.cs
@@ -18,16 +18,11 @@ protected override ModuleConfiguration Configure() =>
 		ModuleConfiguration
 			.Create()
 			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				settings.Value.RunPack
-					? SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
-					: SkipDecision.Skip("Packing is disabled. Set Build__RunPack=true to enable it.")
-			)
-			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				releaseSettings.Value.Mode != ReleaseMode.None
-					? SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
-					: SkipDecision.Skip(
-						"Packing is disabled. Set Release__Mode to something other than None to enable it."
+				!settings.Value.RunPack || releaseSettings.Value.Mode == ReleaseMode.None
+					? SkipDecision.Skip(
+						"Packing is disabled. Set Build__RunPack=true and Release__Mode to something other than None to enable it."
 					)
+					: SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
 			)
 			.Build();
 
diff --git a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishLocalNuGetModule.cs b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishLocalNuGetModule.cs
index 1eddee2..9374bc7 100644
--- a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishLocalNuGetModule.cs
+++ b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishLocalNuGetModule.cs
@@ -20,16 +20,11 @@ protected override ModuleConfiguration Configure() =>
 		ModuleConfiguration
 			.Create()
 			.WithSkipWhen(ctx =>
-				ctx.IsRunningLocally()
-					? SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
-					: SkipDecision.Skip("Local NuGet Feed publishing is disabled. This module can only be run locally.")
-			)
-			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				releaseSettings.Value.Mode == ReleaseMode.LocalNuGet
-					? SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
-					: SkipDecision.Skip(
-						"Local NuGet Feed publishing is disabled. Set Release__Mode=LocalNuGet to enable it."
+				!ctx.IsRunningLocally() || releaseSettings.Value.Mode != ReleaseMode.LocalNuGet
+					? SkipDecision.Skip(
+						"Local NuGet Feed publishing is disabled. Run the pipeline locally with Release__Mode=LocalNuGet to enable it."
 					)
+					: SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
 			)
 			.Build();
 
diff --git a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishNuGetModule.cs b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishNuGetModule.cs
index ae68a4c..9c8f74e 100644
--- a/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishNuGetModule.cs
+++ b/build/PipelineCLI/Modules/PublishNuGetModule.cs
@@ -20,16 +20,10 @@ protected override ModuleConfiguration Configure() =>
 		ModuleConfiguration
 			.Create()
 			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				releaseSettings.Value.Mode == ReleaseMode.NuGet
-					? SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
-					: SkipDecision.Skip(
-						"Release publishing is disabled. Set Release__Mode=NuGet to publish packages to nuget.org."
-					)
-			)
-			.WithSkipWhen(_ =>
-				string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(nugetSettings.Value.GetNuGetAPIKey())
+				releaseSettings.Value.Mode != ReleaseMode.NuGet
+				|| string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(nugetSettings.Value.GetNuGetAPIKey())
 					? SkipDecision.Skip(
-						"NuGet API key is not set. Set NuGet__APIKey or NUGET_APIKEY to publish packages."
+						"NuGet publishing is disabled. Set Release__Mode=NuGet and NuGet__ApiKey (or NUGET_APIKEY) to publish packages to nuget.org."
 					)
 					: SkipDecision.DoNotSkip
 			)
@@ -40,9 +34,16 @@ protected override ModuleConfiguration Configure() =>
 		CancellationToken cancellationToken
 	)
 	{
-		var packages = Directory
-			.EnumerateFiles(buildSettings.Value.ArtifactsFolder, "*.nupkg", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)
-			.ToList();
+		var artifactsFolder = buildSettings.Value.ArtifactsFolder;
+		if (!Directory.Exists(artifactsFolder))
+		{
+			throw new InvalidOperationException(
+				$"The artifacts folder '{artifactsFolder}' does not exist. "
+					+ "Ensure the pack step ran (Release__Mode must not be None) before publishing."
+			);
+		}
+
+		var packages = Directory.EnumerateFiles(artifactsFolder, "*.nupkg", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly).ToList();
 
 		if (packages.Count == 0)
 		{