The external Gitea merge queue only considered PRs that already carried the
`merge-queue` label. Agent Gitea tokens lack `write:issue` (labels are
issue-scoped), so agents could never self-label a ready PR — the queue stalled
waiting on a human to add the label, blocking core-PR autonomy (#2355).
Fix: merge-on-criteria, label-optional. The cron now AUTO-DISCOVERS every open
same-repo PR and considers any that meets the unchanged merge bar. The
`merge-queue` label is now optional metadata, not a gate — this fully removes
the write:issue dependency (the cron itself never needs to add a label).
SAFETY is preserved as opt-OUT: a PR carrying any opt-out label
(`merge-queue-hold`, `do-not-auto-merge`, or `wip`) or marked draft is skipped
(never auto-considered, never merged). A human keeps a PR out of autonomous
merging by adding one of those labels. `AUTO_DISCOVER=0` restores legacy opt-IN.
The merge bar is UNCHANGED: still 2 genuine official approvals on the CURRENT
head from {agent-reviewer, agent-researcher, agent-reviewer-cr2}, all
branch-protection-required contexts green, mergeable=True (fail-closed on
None/False per #2349/#2352), and no open REQUEST_CHANGES. Auto-discovery only
changes WHICH PRs are considered, not whether they may merge.
- new `do-not-auto-merge` (id 78) + `wip` (id 79) repo labels
- `choose_next_candidate_issue` / `list_candidate_issues` for the opt-OUT,
draft-skipping selection; legacy `choose_next_queued_issue` retained
- defensive opt-out/draft re-check on the live pull payload (stale-listing race)
- 15 new §SOP-22 regression tests; existing 26 kept green (41 total)
- workflow + runbook updated (AUTO_DISCOVER / OPT_OUT_LABELS documented)
Verified live (dry-run): auto-discovery selects unlabeled PR #1519 (the old
code never touched it); AUTO_DISCOVER=0 still selects only labeled #2346.
Helps #2355 (autonomy expansion).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
devops-engineer
2fa68b1f23