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Keep the dependencies current with a self-hosted Renovate

  • Status: accepted
  • Date: 2026-10-07

Context

Dependabot updates the dependency manifests and the actions, but not the images that scripts start by digest, the versions in workflow inputs or the end-to-end tests in subfolders unless each is listed, and every repository configures it on its own.

Options

  1. Dependabot, with its configuration in every repository.
  2. The Renovate app of Mend.
  3. Renovate, run by a workflow of the blueprint for every repository, as the release app.

Decision

Option 3. One workflow runs Renovate every two hours for each repository with a .github/renovate.json5, with a token that leaves out Administration. Commits go through the API, so GitHub signs them. The rules of the blueprint are in .github/renovate-blueprint.json5; the project extends them. Dependabot keeps only the Features of the dev container, whose lock file Renovate can't update.

Consequences

Updates wait a week, security updates come at once, and routine updates merge on their own. The bot depends on the private key of the release app in the blueprint.