diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-merge-release.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-merge-release.yml
index ef174d99..98aa95f2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-merge-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-merge-release.yml
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ name: auto-merge-release
 
 on:
   schedule:
-    # 10:00 UTC = 4am CST (winter) / 5am CDT (summer)
-    - cron: "0 10 * * 1"
+    - cron: "0 10 * * *"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 permissions: {}
@@ -16,11 +15,45 @@ jobs:
   merge:
     if: github.repository == 'jdx/usage'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
     steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          fetch-tags: true
+          persist-credentials: false
       - name: Merge release into main
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
+          if [ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME:-}" != "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
+            latest_tag=$(git describe --tags --match 'v[0-9]*' --abbrev=0 || true)
+            if [ -n "$latest_tag" ]; then
+              range="${latest_tag}..HEAD"
+              tag_time=$(git for-each-ref --format='%(creatordate:unix)' "refs/tags/$latest_tag")
+              now=$(date +%s)
+              min_age=$((7 * 24 * 60 * 60))
+              age=$((now - tag_time))
+              if [ "$age" -lt "$min_age" ]; then
+                echo "Latest release ${latest_tag} is less than 7 days old; not auto-merging release PRs"
+                exit 0
+              fi
+            else
+              echo "No v[0-9]* release tag found; allowing bootstrap release"
+              range=""
+            fi
+            if [ -n "$range" ]; then
+              commit_subjects=$(git log --format=%s "$range")
+              if ! grep -Eq '^(fix|feat)(\([^)]+\))?!?: ' <<<"$commit_subjects"; then
+                echo "No pending fix/feat commits since the latest release; not auto-merging release PRs"
+                exit 0
+              fi
+            fi
+          else
+            echo "Manual dispatch; skipping release cadence guards"
+          fi
+
           PR_NUMBER=$(gh pr list -R jdx/usage --base main --head release --state open --limit 100 --json number,headRefName,headRepositoryOwner \
             --jq '[.[] | select(.headRefName == "release") | select(.headRepositoryOwner.login == "jdx")][0].number // empty')
           if [ -z "$PR_NUMBER" ]; then
@@ -35,7 +68,7 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
 
-          echo "PR #$PR_NUMBER is ready for the Monday morning release window"
+          echo "PR #$PR_NUMBER is ready for the daily release window"
           gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" -R jdx/usage --squash --auto
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MY_RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN }}