diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index f24116134..a43856827 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -5,8 +5,44 @@
 
 version: 2
 updates:
-  - package-ecosystem: "uv" # See documentation for possible values
-    directory: "/" # Location of package manifests
+  - package-ecosystem: "uv"
+    directory: "/"
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
+      day: "monday"
+      time: "09:00"
+      timezone: "America/Denver"
     target-branch: "staging"
+    open-pull-requests-limit: 5
+    rebase-strategy: "auto"
+    labels:
+      - "dependencies"
+      - "python"
+    groups:
+      uv-non-major:
+        patterns:
+          - "*"
+        update-types:
+          - "minor"
+          - "patch"
+
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: "/"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "monday"
+      time: "09:00"
+      timezone: "America/Denver"
+    target-branch: "staging"
+    open-pull-requests-limit: 5
+    rebase-strategy: "auto"
+    labels:
+      - "dependencies"
+      - "github-actions"
+    groups:
+      gha-minor-and-patch:
+        patterns:
+          - "*"
+        update-types:
+          - "minor"
+          - "patch"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dependabot_automerge.yml b/.github/workflows/dependabot_automerge.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7f45fe27b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/dependabot_automerge.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+name: Dependabot auto-merge
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, reopened, synchronize, ready_for_review]
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  automerge:
+    if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]' && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'dependabot[bot]'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Fetch Dependabot metadata
+        id: metadata
+        uses: dependabot/fetch-metadata@v2
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      # Auto-approve (only matters if your branch protection requires reviews)
+      - name: Approve PR
+        if: steps.metadata.outputs.update-type != 'version-update:semver-major'
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          script: |
+            const { data: reviews } = await github.rest.pulls.listReviews({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              pull_number: context.payload.pull_request.number,
+            });
+
+            const alreadyApprovedByBot = reviews.some(
+              (review) =>
+                review.state === "APPROVED" &&
+                review.user?.login === "github-actions[bot]"
+            );
+
+            if (!alreadyApprovedByBot) {
+              await github.rest.pulls.createReview({
+                owner: context.repo.owner,
+                repo: context.repo.repo,
+                pull_number: context.payload.pull_request.number,
+                event: "APPROVE",
+              });
+            }
+
+      # Enable GitHub auto-merge; it will merge once required checks (your Test Suite) are green
+      - name: Enable auto-merge (squash)
+        if: steps.metadata.outputs.update-type != 'version-update:semver-major'
+        uses: peter-evans/enable-pull-request-automerge@v3
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          pull-request-number: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+          merge-method: squash