diff --git a/pkg/cmd/release/download/download.go b/pkg/cmd/release/download/download.go
index 0521fe12e..2810d68e3 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/release/download/download.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/release/download/download.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 
+	"github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/api"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/ghrepo"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/release/shared"
@@ -35,16 +36,32 @@ func NewCmdDownload(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*DownloadOptions) error) *cobr
 	}
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "download <tag> [<pattern>]",
+		Use:   "download [<tag>]",
 		Short: "Download release assets",
-		Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
+		Long: heredoc.Doc(`
+			Download assets from a GitHub release.
+
+			Without an explicit tag name argument, assets are downloaded from the
+			latest release in the project. In this case, '--pattern' is required.
+		`),
+		Example: heredoc.Doc(`
+			# download all assets from a specific release
+			$ gh release download v1.2.3
+			
+			# download only Debian packages for the latest release
+			$ gh release download --pattern '*.deb'
+		`),
+		Args: cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			// support `-R, --repo` override
 			opts.BaseRepo = f.BaseRepo
 
-			opts.TagName = args[0]
-			if len(args) > 1 {
-				opts.FilePattern = args[1]
+			if len(args) == 0 {
+				if opts.FilePattern == "" {
+					return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: errors.New("the '--pattern' flag is required when downloading the latest release")}
+				}
+			} else {
+				opts.TagName = args[0]
 			}
 
 			opts.Concurrency = 5
@@ -56,7 +73,8 @@ func NewCmdDownload(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*DownloadOptions) error) *cobr
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Destination, "dir", "C", ".", "The directory to download files into")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Destination, "dir", "D", ".", "The directory to download files into")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.FilePattern, "pattern", "p", "", "Download only assets that match the glob pattern")
 
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -72,9 +90,18 @@ func downloadRun(opts *DownloadOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	release, err := shared.FetchRelease(httpClient, baseRepo, opts.TagName)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	var release *shared.Release
+
+	if opts.TagName == "" {
+		release, err = shared.FetchLatestRelease(httpClient, baseRepo)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else {
+		release, err = shared.FetchRelease(httpClient, baseRepo, opts.TagName)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	var toDownload []shared.ReleaseAsset
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/release/download/download_test.go b/pkg/cmd/release/download/download_test.go
index cd1a5469c..7c16e7fed 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/release/download/download_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/release/download/download_test.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdDownload(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:  "version and file pattern",
-			args:  "v1.2.3 *.tgz",
+			args:  "v1.2.3 -p *.tgz",
 			isTTY: true,
 			want: DownloadOptions{
 				TagName:     "v1.2.3",
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func Test_NewCmdDownload(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:  "version and destination",
-			args:  "v1.2.3 -C tmp/assets",
+			args:  "v1.2.3 -D tmp/assets",
 			isTTY: true,
 			want: DownloadOptions{
 				TagName:     "v1.2.3",
@@ -58,11 +58,22 @@ func Test_NewCmdDownload(t *testing.T) {
 				Concurrency: 5,
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:  "download latest",
+			args:  "-p *",
+			isTTY: true,
+			want: DownloadOptions{
+				TagName:     "",
+				FilePattern: "*",
+				Destination: ".",
+				Concurrency: 5,
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name:    "no arguments",
 			args:    "",
 			isTTY:   true,
-			wantErr: "requires at least 1 arg(s), only received 0",
+			wantErr: "the '--pattern' flag is required when downloading the latest release",
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/release/view/view.go b/pkg/cmd/release/view/view.go
index 6de42abc1..63adf9901 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/release/view/view.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/release/view/view.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/ghrepo"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/release/shared"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
@@ -32,7 +33,13 @@ func NewCmdView(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*ViewOptions) error) *cobra.Comman
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "view [<tag>]",
 		Short: "View information about a release",
-		Args:  cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
+		Long: heredoc.Doc(`
+			View information about a GitHub release.
+
+			Without an explicit tag name argument, the latest release in the project
+			is shown.
+		`),
+		Args: cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			// support `-R, --repo` override
 			opts.BaseRepo = f.BaseRepo