diff --git a/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go b/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go
index f75a4d8..538967d 100644
--- a/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go
+++ b/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go
@@ -96,9 +96,14 @@ func parseMsg(confRoot, confName, msg, tag string) (
 	confPath string, conventionalCommit *ConventionalCommit, err error,
 ) {
 	slog.Info("parse msg", "msg", msg)
-	conventionalCommit, err = parseConventionalCommit(msg)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
+	if tag == "" {
+		conventionalCommit, err = parseConventionalCommit(msg)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+	} else {
+		conventionalCommit = new(ConventionalCommit)
+		conventionalCommit.Scope = tag
 	}
 	slog.Info("conventional commit", "commit", conventionalCommit)
 	confRoot = filepath.Clean(confRoot)
@@ -111,11 +116,6 @@ func parseMsg(confRoot, confName, msg, tag string) (
 		err = fmt.Errorf("invalid scope as path: %s", conventionalCommit.Scope)
 		return
 	}
-	if tag != "" && conventionalCommit.Scope != tag {
-		err = fmt.Errorf("tag does not match scope: %s != %s", tag,
-			conventionalCommit.Scope)
-		return
-	}
 	return
 }
 
@@ -156,6 +156,12 @@ func GetConfPath(confRoot, confName, fallbackConfName, msg, tag string) (
 	confPath, conventionalCommit, err = parseMsg(confRoot, confName, msg, tag)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Error("parse msg", "error", err)
+		// no fallback when tag is specified, it is triggered by release.yaml
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			slog.Info("tag is not empty, no fallback conf")
+			hintValidScopes(confRoot, confName)
+			return confPath, confStat, conventionalCommit, err
+		}
 		// fallback to conf file in conf root on parse error
 		confPath = filepath.Join(confRoot, fallbackConfName)
 		slog.Info("fallback to conf", "path", confPath)
@@ -172,10 +178,10 @@ func GetConfPath(confRoot, confName, fallbackConfName, msg, tag string) (
 		confStat, err = os.Stat(confPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			slog.Error("stat fallback conf", "error", err)
-			return
+			return confPath, confStat, conventionalCommit, err
 		}
 	}
-	return
+	return confPath, confStat, conventionalCommit, err
 }
 
 func MatchGroups(conf *Conf, conventionalCommit *ConventionalCommit) []string {
diff --git a/cmd/joj3/main.go b/cmd/joj3/main.go
index e0ec906..82edae5 100644
--- a/cmd/joj3/main.go
+++ b/cmd/joj3/main.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func init() {
 	flag.StringVar(&confFileRoot, "conf-root", ".", "root path for all config files")
 	flag.StringVar(&confFileName, "conf-name", "conf.json", "filename for config files")
 	flag.StringVar(&fallbackConfFileName, "fallback-conf-name", "", "filename for the fallback config file in conf-root, leave empty to use conf-name")
-	flag.StringVar(&tag, "tag", "", "tag to trigger the running, when non-empty, should equal to the scope in msg")
+	flag.StringVar(&tag, "tag", "", "tag to trigger the running, when non-empty, fallback will be disabled")
 	printVersion = flag.Bool("version", false, "print current version")
 }
 
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index bf663f2..4ca3152 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ github.com/cloudflare/circl v1.6.1 h1:zqIqSPIndyBh1bjLVVDHMPpVKqp8Su/V+6MeDzzQBQ
 github.com/cloudflare/circl v1.6.1/go.mod h1:uddAzsPgqdMAYatqJ0lsjX1oECcQLIlRpzZh3pJrofs=
 github.com/criyle/go-judge/pb v1.0.0 h1:8A4zHPPCGCDTuFY1GW5Hqpg+8ETIwzgXxiRpYKKb2zA=
 github.com/criyle/go-judge/pb v1.0.0/go.mod h1:hjgixgK9NH9ktwc29xbXVdZDOlKfEkRkEbZ4W5bOMmw=
-github.com/criyle/go-judge/pb v1.2.0 h1:XqR1CEE9ZR7+4nYPZqwIure4VuJOt4kmFygN7aeXeJg=
-github.com/criyle/go-judge/pb v1.2.0/go.mod h1:oANRvhBOHpu4WZhbWnm5IeTaLmTbGdZNUNwcnmQe6jI=
 github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.5.0 h1:hIAhkRBMQ8nIeuVwcAoymp7MY4oherZdAxD+m0u9zaw=
 github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.5.0/go.mod h1:Sdj7gXlvMcPZsbhwhQ33GguGLDGQL7h7bg04C/+u9jI=
 github.com/danwakefield/fnmatch v0.0.0-20160403171240-cbb64ac3d964 h1:y5HC9v93H5EPKqaS1UYVg1uYah5Xf51mBfIoWehClUQ=