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Dependency updates (Renovate)

Renovate checks the repository’s dependency files and opens pull requests for available updates. Every update is an ordinary pull request against main that must pass the required CI checks. Some low-risk update types are auto-merged by Renovate once CI passes; everything else needs a human review.

This page reflects renovate-config.json and .github/workflows/renovate.yml. If they change, they win. The earlier README description (“never merges anything itself”, daily 08:00 UTC run, no grouping) was outdated; see the migration map.

Where it runs from

• Workflow: .github/workflows/renovate.yml
• Config: renovate-config.json (referenced via RENOVATE_CONFIG_FILE). The root renovate.json contains only the schema reference.

When it runs

• The workflow runs hourly (cron: "0 * * * *") and on demand (workflow_dispatch).
• The schedule in renovate-config.json (before 6am on monday, timezone Europe/Amsterdam) gates when regular PRs are actually opened or updated. Off-window runs are cheap no-ops, but let Renovate pick up urgent (vulnerability) updates and rebase conflicted branches promptly.

What it scans

Renovate auto-detects dependency files from its default managers: Maven (pom.xml in each reactor module), npm (the Nx workspace under frontend/: frontend/package.json with one package-lock.json, plus the app and library package.json files), Docker image references and GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/*.yml). No manager list is restricted, so newly added supported files are picked up automatically. Presets pin GitHub Action and Docker image digests (helpers:pinGitHubActionDigests, docker:pinDigests).

Update strategy

Setting	Behaviour
Presets	config:best-practices, group:monorepos, group:recommended, :dependencyDashboard, :semanticCommits
rebaseWhen: conflicted	Only rebases a PR branch when it has conflicts, to avoid churn.
prHourlyLimit: 5, prConcurrentLimit: 10	Caps PR volume.
rangeStrategy: bump, postUpdateOptions: npmDedupe	Bumps ranges; dedupes npm lock files.
Patch + digest updates	One grouped PR (patch dependencies), auto-merged once CI passes.
Minor updates	One grouped PR (minor dependencies), manual review.
Major updates	Separate PRs, manual review. Review them with extra care; they are more likely to be breaking.
Lock-file maintenance	Enabled on the same schedule, auto-merged.
Vulnerability alerts (incl. OSV)	Labelled security, no minimum release age, auto-merged once CI passes.
Extra groups	spring (Spring Boot parent + Spring AI BOM), lint & format, frontend test stack, type definitions.
Held back	@types/react / @types/react-dom majors are disabled.

Auto-merge uses GitHub’s platform auto-merge (platformAutomerge: true, merge commits), so branch protection and required checks still apply.

Automated checks required before merge

Every Renovate PR is a normal PR against main and must pass whatever required status checks are configured in the repository’s branch protection rules for main. The CI orchestrator exposes a single required check, ci-summary (see Continuous integration). Branch protection is configured in GitHub repo settings, not in this repository’s files. Confirm the required checks list there if you need to change what’s enforced.

Developer review and testing

• reviewers and assignees in renovate-config.json are set to the developers who must review Renovate PRs; update that list when ownership changes.
• For PRs that are not auto-merged, a developer must review the release notes/changelog for the bumped dependency, exercise the affected functionality locally where relevant, and only then approve.
• Branch protection determines whether an approval is required before merging; auto-merged update types rely on the required CI checks.

How developers are notified

Renovate PRs set the assigned/reviewer-requested developers from renovate-config.json, which triggers GitHub’s standard notifications (email/notification inbox) for a review request and an assignment. All Renovate PRs also carry the dependencies label (and security updates the security label), so they’re easy to filter in the PR list regardless of notifications. The Dependency Dashboard issue lists all pending updates.

Identifying a Renovate PR

• Label: dependencies
• Author: the account behind the RENOVATE_TOKEN secret
• Title: semantic-commit style (chore(deps): update ...)

Pausing or disabling Renovate

• Fastest: disable the scheduled trigger by removing/commenting the schedule block in .github/workflows/renovate.yml, or disable the workflow from the Actions tab (Renovate → ⋯ → Disable workflow). workflow_dispatch still works for an on-demand run afterwards.
• To pause without touching the workflow file, add "enabled": false to renovate-config.json (Renovate will still run but won’t open new PRs). This is useful for a temporary freeze.
• To stop auto-merging, remove the automerge settings from the patch package rule, lock-file maintenance and vulnerability alerts.
• To stop a single noisy dependency, add it to an ignoreDeps list in renovate-config.json.

Handling a failed or incompatible update

• If required CI checks fail on a Renovate PR: leave the PR open, do not merge (auto-merge will not happen while checks fail). Either fix the incompatibility in a follow-up commit on the same PR branch, or close the PR. Renovate will reopen/recreate it on the next run once a compatible version is available, unless the dependency is added to ignoreDeps in renovate-config.json.
• If an update is merged and later found to cause a regression: revert the merge commit, then add the dependency to ignoreDeps (or pin a max version with matchPackageNames + allowedVersions) until a fixed release is available.

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