---
date: 2026-10-30
branch: fix/renovate-run-hygiene
title: Renovate's first completed dry runs, audited; it would have opened red PRs for every app and missed the databases. Config fixed
---

## What changed

**`renovate.json5` only.** Each change carries a comment quoting the measurement behind it.

1. **Three new regex managers, so updates edit the SOURCE.**
   - `catalog/*.yaml` `source.image`.
   - `catalog/render.py` `OAUTH2_PROXY_IMAGE`.
   - CNPG `imageName:` under `platform/` and `apps/`.

   The first two match the rendered line's depName, so the catalog edit and the generated
   `apps/wave-*` edit land in **one** branch.
2. **`allowedVersions` mirroring each ServiceDefinition's `update.range`:**
   - gitea/gitea `<2.0.0`
   - nextcloud `<32.0.0`
   - qbittorrent `<6.0.0`
   - radarr `<6.0.0`
   - sonarr `<5.0.0`
   - semaphore `<3.0.0`

   Plus CNPG postgresql `<17.0.0`, because a Postgres major is a migration, not a bump.
3. **The blast-radius never-automerge list gains** `gitea/gitea`, `gitea/act_runner` and
   `ghcr.io/cloudnative-pg/postgresql`.
4. **HelmRelease range widening** (`matchManagers: flux`, ranged currentValue) is never
   auto-merged and is labelled `range-widen`.
5. **Majors need a Dependency Dashboard tick** (`dependencyDashboardApproval`) before a PR opens.
6. **`flux` manager docker deps are disabled.** These are duplicates of `kubernetes` manager
   extractions.
7. **`velero/velero-plugin-for-aws` uses `semver` versioning**, so its RC pin can reach a stable
   release.
8. **`python` minors are not auto-merged.**
9. **Two false comments are corrected.**
   - Ranges "cap Renovate at patches": false, Renovate widens them.
   - `nextcloud:31-apache` and `docker:27-dind` "cannot be maintained": false, they were.

PR #85 is merged, so nothing here overlaps an open branch.

### The audit: dispatch runs 353 (07:12 UTC) and 354 (07:23 UTC), on 593d0fa

Both runs ended `success`, Renovate `"result": "done"`, `exitCode 0`. Both were at `info` level, so
I reproduced the per-dependency detail with a debug-level local dry run of the same commit (see
below).

The runs were inside the 03:00–06:00 America/New_York window, so branches were processed:
- run 353: 37 "Would commit" branches;
- run 354: 40, because the operator had added `RENOVATE_GITHUB_COM_TOKEN` 9 s before it.

Gitea's router log for the act-runner pod during both runs shows 317 2xx responses. The only
non-2xx were all expected:
- `/v2/` 401: the registry challenge;
- `/admin/orgs` 403: the #85 scope probe, by design;
- 6× `HEAD …/manifests/sha256:000…` 404: the placeholder digests.

| # | Class | Count | Cause | Severity | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | App-image PRs edit only generated `apps/wave-*` | 9 branches | A ServiceDefinition has no `apiVersion`, so the `kubernetes` manager extracts 0 deps from `catalog/`. The oauth2-proxy sidecar is a Python constant (`catalog/render.py:132`) | **Real problem.** Every such PR fails `ci/render-golden.sh` (reproduced: rc 1 "GOLDEN DRIFT"), stays red and holds a PR slot | git (1) |
| 2 | CNPG `imageName` untracked | 3 Clusters | The `kubernetes` manager reads `image:` only. The one tracked postgres line was the grant Job (`nextcloud-db.yaml:303`, "keep in step with spec.imageName") | **Real problem.** A real run bumps the Job and leaves the databases behind | git (1) |
| 3 | Bogus or out-of-policy majors | 5 branches: gitea 28.2.0, qbittorrent 20.04.1, radarr 6.x, nextcloud 35, postgresql 18.6 | Odd legacy tags, plus `update.range` in `catalog/` not being read by Renovate | Risk if run for real: unmergeable PRs, which hold slots | git (2) |
| 4 | Auto-merge of the merge gate's own host | gitea 1.24.3→1.27.3, act_runner 0.2.11→0.6.1, both "minor" | Not in the blast-radius list. A 0.x minor is breaking by semver | **Risk if run for real** | git (3) |
| 5 | Range widening auto-merged | external-dns, headlamp (minor); longhorn (blast radius); kube-prometheus-stack (major) | Renovate widens `>=a <b`. The config's comment claimed the opposite | **Risk if run for real:** silently lets Flux adopt new minors | git (4, 9) |
| 6 | Majors hold PR slots | 10 majors in run 354 against `prConcurrentLimit: 5` | Majors never auto-merge, so they stay open | Risk: starves auto-mergeable PRs | git (5) |
| 7 | `Cannot find replaceString … alpine:3.22` (INFO) | 1 per run | The same HelmRelease `image:` line is extracted by `flux` and `kubernetes` (also the velero plugin) | Cosmetic. The branch is still right | git (6) |
| 8 | velero-plugin-for-aws stuck on `v1.14.3-rc.2` | 1 dep, 0 updates | Docker versioning treats `-rc.2` as a suffix, so stable `v1.14.3` and `v1.14.4` never qualify | **Real problem** (silent) | git (7) |
| 9 | python 3.13→3.15 as auto-mergeable "minor" | 2 files | Language runtime minor | Risk if run for real | git (8) |
| 10 | `WARN GitHub token is required` | run 353: 5 packages, 17 deps | No github.com token | Real (they were unmaintained) | **operator, done:** run 354 has no WARN and adds `pin-dependencies`, `kubevirt-cdi`, `actions-checkout-7.x`, `major-github-artifact-actions` |
| 11 | Floating or untagged images (`invalid-value`) | 4: jackett, plex `latest`; pihole, keycloak no tag | No version to compare | Real, already documented | none in git. Pinning by hand is an operator/PM decision |
| 12 | `runs-on: ubuntu-latest` `invalid-version` | 11 | The github-actions manager extracts runner labels | Cosmetic, debug-only | none |
| 13 | `Docker Manifest is unknown` (debug) | 3 | HEAD on the all-zero placeholder digests | Expected. Clears when the own-image digest PRs merge | none |
| 14 | `Docker: error fetching data from DockerHub` 403 (debug) | 5 | Hub refuses `page=11`. Renovate already has the tags | Cosmetic. Updates were still found | none |
| 15 | `Config migration necessary` | 1 | Top-level `"docker": {"enabled": true}` | Cosmetic, pre-existing | none (as before) |

**Checked and fine:**
- The 3 own-image digest updates were found in both runs. All 4 `# renovate-digest:` markers parse.
- No marker failed to parse.
- No package file is under `conformance/runs` or `tests`, nor is `DECISIONS-LOG.md`, `decisions/` or
  any `*.sops.yaml` (77 package files checked).
- `kubevirt-cdi` grouping works.
- The schedule window behaved as designed.
- Vulnerability alerts: none in either log.

## What I verified

- I read both job logs in full (132 and 129 lines), and the router log for 10.0.0.38 during both
  runs.
- **`renovate-config-validator` on 44.167.0**: `Config validated successfully`. The migration diff
  is only the pre-existing `docker` block.
- **Local dry runs.** Pinned image, `--platform=local`, debug, origin/main snapshot. "Before" is
  593d0fa and "after" is this config; the GitHub-hosted deps were skipped in both.
  - **Extraction:** `regex` went from 6 files / 7 deps to **19 files / 20 deps**. Every other
    manager is unchanged: flux 15, github-actions 24, kubernetes 131, kustomize 2.
  - **Branches:** 33 before, **29 after**. Removed: gitea-28.x, qbittorrent-20.x, radarr-6.x,
    nextcloud-35.x and postgresql-18.x. Added: velero `v1.14.3-rc.2 → v1.14.4` (patch).
  - **Gitea, qbittorrent, radarr, sonarr, semaphore and seerr branches** now each carry
    `catalog/<svc>.yaml` + `apps/wave-*/<svc>.yaml`.
  - **The oauth2-proxy branch** carries `catalog/render.py` plus the 5 rendered apps and
    `platform/crafty`.
  - **The postgresql-16.x branch** carries all three Clusters.
  - The 2 flux docker duplicates report `disabled`.
- **render==golden holds for the new branch shape.**
  - In the toolbox, I applied the gitea branch edit (catalog + apps) and the oauth2-proxy branch
    edit (`render.py` constant + 5 apps) textually. `./ci/render-golden.sh` reported
    `all 10 onboarded service golden(s) reproduce`, rc 0.
  - Negative control, the old shape with only `apps/wave-0/gitea.yaml` bumped: rc 1,
    `GOLDEN DRIFT`.
  - Both edits were reverted afterwards.

## What I did NOT verify

- **The effect of the automerge, label and dashboard-approval rules (3, 4, 5, 8). UNVERIFIED in a
  run.** `--platform=local` stops before branch processing, so I saw only which updates exist, not
  their merged flags. The matchers are standard (`matchPackageNames`, `matchManagers`,
  `matchCurrentValue`, `matchUpdateTypes`). The next dispatch's debug log shows them per branch.
- **`allowedVersions` under docker versioning** used Renovate's "Falling back to npm semver
  syntax" path (16 debug lines). That it filters is shown by the five removed branches.
- **render==golden for the other app branches** (qbittorrent, radarr, sonarr, semaphore, seerr). I
  proved it only for gitea and oauth2-proxy. They have the same shape: one `source.image` line ↔
  one rendered `image:` line.
- **The `allowedVersions` rules duplicate `catalog/*/update.range`** and can drift from it. Nothing
  checks them against each other. A lint comparing the two is the obvious follow-up.
- **Any real (non-dry) run.** None has happened. PR creation, labels, auto-merge through Gitea's
  API and the Dependency Dashboard issue are all unobserved.
- **Sensitive path?** `renovate.json5` is not in `infra/gitea/approval-policy.json`, as far as I
  know. CI's `approval-policy` result on the PR is the measurement.