diff --git a/tools/release.mjs b/tools/release.mjs
index 0904dfdf684eda55a1b5daaa369aacd067484dde..3ea6f6cb625d8f4b737feec6c4743ef8f8ff680c 100644
--- a/tools/release.mjs
+++ b/tools/release.mjs
@@ -32,9 +32,18 @@ class Package {
         return json[key]
     }
 
+    compile() {
+        process.chdir(this.path)
+        try {
+            execSync(`npm run compile`)
+        } catch(e) {
+            console.log(`cannot compile package: ${this.name()}`, e)
+        }
+    }
+
     publish() {
         process.chdir(this.path)
-        publishToOpenlab("next")
+        publish("next")
     }
 
     externalDependencies = [
@@ -104,7 +113,7 @@ function readVersion() {
     return new Version(version)
 }
 
-function publishToOpenlab(tag, dryRun = false) {
+function publish(tag, dryRun = false) {
     if (dryRun) {
         execSync(`npm publish --dry-run --tag ${tag}`)
     } else {
@@ -113,6 +122,9 @@ function publishToOpenlab(tag, dryRun = false) {
 }
 
 function main() {
+
+    all_packages.forEach(module => module.compile())
+    
     const version = CURRENT_VERSION.toString()
 
     console.log(`> Updating idlize version to ${version}`)