diff --git a/src/signals/path-matchers.ts b/src/signals/path-matchers.ts
index fd81f38a94..94251a2505 100644
--- a/src/signals/path-matchers.ts
+++ b/src/signals/path-matchers.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,19 @@ const CONFIG_FILE_NAMES: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
   ".gitignore",
   ".gitattributes",
   ".dockerignore",
+  // Dependency automation and local toolchain version pins.
+  "renovate.json",
+  "dependabot.yml",
+  ".tool-versions",
+  "mise.toml",
+  "lefthook.yml",
+  "lefthook.yaml",
+  ".pre-commit-config.yaml",
+  // Hosted CI pipeline definitions (single-file basenames).
+  ".gitlab-ci.yml",
+  "azure-pipelines.yml",
+  "buf.yaml",
+  "buf.gen.yaml",
 ]);
 
 // Filename prefixes that identify build, lint, test-runner, and environment config files.
@@ -145,9 +158,12 @@ export function isDependencyManifestFile(path: string): boolean {
  * lower-effort than genuine source changes, so slop signals can weight them differently (#561).
  */
 export function isConfigFile(path: string): boolean {
+  const norm = normalize(path);
   const base = basename(path);
   if (CONFIG_FILE_NAMES.has(base)) return true;
   if (CONFIG_FILE_PREFIXES.some((prefix) => base.startsWith(prefix))) return true;
+  if (/(^|\/)\.github\/workflows\/[^/]+\.(ya?ml)$/.test(norm)) return true;
+  if (/(^|\/)\.circleci\/config\.ya?ml$/.test(norm)) return true;
   if (/\.(config|rc)\.[a-z0-9]+$/i.test(base)) return true;
   // `.stylelintrc`-style: dot-prefixed name with no extension after "rc"; `custom.rc`: dotted rc extension.
   return base.endsWith(".rc") || /^\.[^.]+rc$/i.test(base);
diff --git a/test/unit/path-matchers.test.ts b/test/unit/path-matchers.test.ts
index f1ca4a7b56..3a6bb089b6 100644
--- a/test/unit/path-matchers.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/path-matchers.test.ts
@@ -175,6 +175,32 @@ describe("isConfigFile", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("matches automation, toolchain, and hosted CI config files", () => {
+    for (const path of [
+      "renovate.json",
+      ".github/dependabot.yml",
+      ".tool-versions",
+      "mise.toml",
+      "lefthook.yml",
+      ".pre-commit-config.yaml",
+      ".gitlab-ci.yml",
+      "azure-pipelines.yml",
+      "buf.yaml",
+      "buf.gen.yaml",
+      ".github/workflows/ci.yml",
+      ".github/workflows/release.yaml",
+      ".circleci/config.yml",
+    ]) {
+      expect(isConfigFile(path)).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat renovate-like source names as config", () => {
+    for (const path of ["src/renovate-helpers.ts", "docs/dependabot-notes.md"]) {
+      expect(isConfigFile(path)).toBe(false);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("matches config files by known filename prefix", () => {
     for (const path of ["tsconfig.build.json", "vitest.config.ts", ".env.local", ".eslintrc.json", ".prettierrc.js"]) {
       expect(isConfigFile(path)).toBe(true);
@@ -212,6 +238,8 @@ describe("classifyChangedFile", () => {
       ["vitest.config.ts", "config"],
       ["wrangler.jsonc", "config"],
       ["turbo.json", "config"],
+      ["renovate.json", "config"],
+      [".github/workflows/ci.yml", "config"],
       ["test/unit/app.test.ts", "test"],
       ["README.md", "docs"],
       ["src/app.ts", "source"],