diff --git a/action.js b/action.js
index 358ca56..5211c1c 100644
--- a/action.js
+++ b/action.js
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ const inputs = {
 }
 
 let fetchedHistory = []
+let fetchedTags = []
 
 const Scheme = {
+  Absolute: 'absolute',
   Continuous: 'continuous',
   Semantic: 'semantic',
 }
@@ -86,27 +88,51 @@ async function existingTags() {
         }
       }`
     ).then((result) => {
-      return result.repository.refs.nodes
+      fetchedTags = result.repository.refs.nodes
+      return fetchedTags
     })
     .catch((e) => {
       core.setFailed(`Failed to fetch tags: ${e}`)
     })
 }
 
+async function fetchWorkflowCommitDate() {
+  return await octokit.graphql(
+    `{
+	    repository(owner: "${owner}", name: "${repo}") {
+		    commit: object(oid: "${process.env['GITHUB_SHA']}") {
+			    ... on Commit {
+				    sha: oid
+				    committedDate
+			    }
+		    }
+	    }
+    }`
+  ).then((data) => data.repository.commit.committedDate)
+}
+
 async function latestTagForBranch(allTags, branch) {
   core.info(
     `Fetching commits for ref ${branch}. This may take a while on large repositories.`
   )
 
   const query =
-    `query commits($cursor: String) {
+    `query commits($cursor: String, $until: GitTimestamp) {
       repository(owner: "${owner}", name: "${repo}") {
         branch: ref(qualifiedName: "${branch}") {
           head: target {
             ... on Commit {
-              history(first: 100, after: $cursor) {
+              history(first: 100, after: $cursor, until: $until) {
                 commits: nodes {
                   sha: oid
+                  associatedPullRequests(first: 1) {
+                    prs: nodes {
+                      baseRefName
+                      mergeCommit {
+                        sha: oid
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
                 }
                 pageInfo {
                   endCursor
@@ -119,12 +145,14 @@ async function latestTagForBranch(allTags, branch) {
       }
     }`
   let cursor = null;
+  let until = (inputs.scheme == Scheme.Absolute) ? await fetchWorkflowCommitDate() : null;
 
   let latestTag
   let moreToFetch = true
   while (isNullString(latestTag) && moreToFetch) {
     let opts = {
       cursor: cursor,
+      until: until,
     }
 
     latestTag = await octokit.graphql(query, opts)
@@ -203,6 +231,47 @@ function determinePrereleaseName(semTag) {
   }
 }
 
+// increments version according to the number of merge commits between
+// this one and the most recent tag in history.
+// assumes repo merge strategy that generates merge commits,
+// and that only merge commits will receive tags.
+// also assumes continuous versioning.
+function computeNextAbsolute(semTag, lastTag) {
+  core.info(JSON.stringify(fetchedTags))
+  core.info(`last tag: ${lastTag}`)
+  const tag = fetchedTags.find((tag) => {
+    core.info(JSON.stringify(tag))
+    return tag.ref === lastTag
+  })
+  core.info(`tag ${JSON.stringify(tag)}`)
+  const tagSha = tag.object.sha
+  const tagIndex = fetchedHistory.findIndex((commit) => commit.sha === tagSha)
+  // we only want merge commits between now and the most recent tag
+  const relevantHistory = fetchedHistory.slice(0, tagIndex).filter((commit) => {
+    const pr = commit.associatedPullRequests.prs[0]
+
+    // filters non-merge commits
+    if (!pr || !pr.mergeCommit || pr.mergeCommit.sha != commit.sha) {
+      return false
+    }
+
+    // ensures merge was into this branch
+    // and not into a branch that was then merged into this one
+    if (pr.baseRefName != inputs.branch) {
+      return false
+    }
+
+    return true
+  })
+  core.info(JSON.stringify(relevantHistory))
+
+  let nextTag = semTag
+  for (const i = relevantHistory.length; i > 0; i++) {
+    nextTag = computeNextContinuous(nextTag)
+  }
+  return semver.parse(nextTag)
+}
+
 function computeNextContinuous(semTag) {
   const bumpType = determineContinuousBumpType(semTag)
   const preName = determinePrereleaseName(semTag)
@@ -300,6 +369,8 @@ async function computeNextTag() {
   }
 
   switch (inputs.scheme) {
+    case 'absolute':
+      return computeNextAbsolute(semTag, lastTag)
     case 'continuous':
       return computeNextContinuous(semTag)
     case 'semantic':