diff --git a/.commitlintrc.js b/.commitlintrc.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b93b32ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.commitlintrc.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+module.exports = {
+  extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
+  ignores: [
+    (message) => message === 'Initial plan',
+  ],
+  rules: {
+    'type-enum': [
+      2,
+      'always',
+      [
+        'feat',
+        'fix',
+        'chore',
+        'docs',
+        'style',
+        'refactor',
+        'perf',
+        'test',
+        'build',
+        'ci',
+        'revert',
+      ],
+    ],
+    'type-case': [2, 'always', 'lower-case'],
+    'type-empty': [2, 'never'],
+    'subject-empty': [2, 'never'],
+    'subject-full-stop': [2, 'never', '.'],
+    'header-max-length': [2, 'always', 100],
+  },
+};
diff --git a/.commitlintrc.json b/.commitlintrc.json
deleted file mode 100644
index f83a6a47..00000000
--- a/.commitlintrc.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "extends": ["@commitlint/config-conventional"],
-  "rules": {
-    "type-enum": [
-      2,
-      "always",
-      [
-        "feat",
-        "fix",
-        "chore",
-        "docs",
-        "style",
-        "refactor",
-        "perf",
-        "test",
-        "build",
-        "ci",
-        "revert"
-      ]
-    ],
-    "type-case": [2, "always", "lower-case"],
-    "type-empty": [2, "never"],
-    "subject-empty": [2, "never"],
-    "subject-full-stop": [2, "never", "."],
-    "header-max-length": [2, "always", 100]
-  }
-}
diff --git a/.github/renovate.json5 b/.github/renovate.json5
index 0872a0c4..baa25d37 100644
--- a/.github/renovate.json5
+++ b/.github/renovate.json5
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
     'config:recommended',
   ],
   ignoreTests: true,
-  automergeType: 'pr',
-  automergeStrategy: 'rebase',
   packageRules: [
     {
       matchUpdateTypes: [
@@ -14,7 +12,6 @@
       ],
       groupName: 'all non-major dependencies',
       groupSlug: 'all-minor-patch',
-      automerge: true,
       ignoreTests: true,
       matchPackageNames: [
         '*',
diff --git a/.github/workflows/commit-lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/commit-lint.yaml
index 58adb7cf..0e9e93ca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/commit-lint.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/commit-lint.yaml
@@ -55,5 +55,5 @@ jobs:
       - name: Validate Conventional Commits
         uses: wagoid/commitlint-github-action@v6
         with:
-          configFile: .commitlintrc.json
+          configFile: .commitlintrc.js
 
diff --git a/applications/flask-watchlist.yaml b/applications/flask-watchlist.yaml
index 4cdef995..5a932f79 100644
--- a/applications/flask-watchlist.yaml
+++ b/applications/flask-watchlist.yaml
@@ -3,11 +3,6 @@ kind: Application
 metadata:
   name: flask-watchlist
   namespace: argocd
-  annotations:
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/image-list: flask-watchlist=fullstackjam/flask-watchlist
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/write-back-method: argocd
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/git-branch: master
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/update-strategy: newest-build
 spec:
   project: default
   source:
diff --git a/applications/portfolio.yaml b/applications/portfolio.yaml
index d3ee108e..87c0568e 100644
--- a/applications/portfolio.yaml
+++ b/applications/portfolio.yaml
@@ -3,11 +3,6 @@ kind: Application
 metadata:
   name: portfolio
   namespace: argocd
-  annotations:
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/image-list: portfolio=fullstackjam/portfolio
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/write-back-method: argocd
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/git-branch: master
-    argocd-image-updater.argoproj.io/update-strategy: newest-build
 spec:
   project: default
   source: