diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 281be3e..a00bed5 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 include:
-  - gitlab-ci.yml
+  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/$CI_PROJECT_PATH/nix-gitlab-ci@$CI_COMMIT_SHA
 
 stages:
   - build
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@ build:image:
     - export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.nix-profile/bin"
   script:
     - nix build .#image${VARIANT}
+    - export NORMALIZED_BRANCH=${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH/\//-}
     - skopeo --insecure-policy copy  --dest-creds "${CI_REGISTRY_USER}:${CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD}" --tmpdir /tmp
       "docker-archive:result"
-      "docker://$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/nix-ci:${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH/main/latest}${VARIANT}"
+      "docker://$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/nix-ci:${NORMALIZED_BRANCH/main/latest}${VARIANT}"
     - skopeo --insecure-policy copy --dest-creds "${CI_REGISTRY_USER}:${CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD}" --tmpdir /tmp
       "docker-archive:result"
       "docker://$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/nix-ci:$(date +"%m-%d-%y")${VARIANT}"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c005548..5a52d25 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ which can be imported in multiple projects.
 ```yaml
 # .gitlab-ci.yml
 include:
-  - project: TECHNOFAB/nix-gitlab-ci
-    ref: main
-    file: gitlab-ci.yml
+  - component: gitlab.com/TECHNOFAB/nix-gitlab-ci/nix-gitlab-ci@0.2.0
+    inputs:
+      # specify inputs here, for example:
+      image_tag: latest-cachix
 ```
+
diff --git a/gitlab-ci.yml b/gitlab-ci.yml
index 66f9699..71dc45c 100644
--- a/gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-
+#
+# NOTE: DEPRECATED: please switch to the CI/CD Component or include "templates/nix-gitlab-ci.yml"
+#
 variables:
   # latest | latest-cachix | latest-attic etc.
   NIX_CI_IMAGE_TAG: latest
diff --git a/templates/nix-gitlab-ci.yml b/templates/nix-gitlab-ci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d91d28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/nix-gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+spec:
+  inputs:
+    image_tag:
+      type: string
+      description: "latest | latest-cachix | latest-attic etc."
+      default: latest
+---
+
+stages:
+  - build
+  - trigger
+
+nix-ci:build:
+  stage: build
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/technofab/nix-gitlab-ci/nix-ci:$[[ inputs.image_tag ]]
+  before_script:
+    - source setup_nix_ci
+  script:
+    # build the generated-gitlab-ci.yml
+    - nix build .#gitlab-ci-config
+    - install result generated-gitlab-ci.yml
+  after_script:
+    # upload to binary cache
+    - finalize_nix_ci
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - generated-gitlab-ci.yml
+
+nix-ci:trigger:
+  stage: trigger
+  needs:
+    - nix-ci:build
+  trigger:
+    include:
+      - artifact: generated-gitlab-ci.yml
+        job: nix-ci:build
+    strategy: depend
+