diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 27e95eb..7efee44 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -567,18 +567,36 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
           echo "Opened cartsnitch/infra PR #${PR_NUM} (head=${BRANCH})"
+          # Request CTO (cs_savannah) review as the GitOps hand-off. Best-effort:
+          # log on non-2xx but never fail the job for this.
+          REVIEW_HTTP=$(curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' -X POST \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${CI_GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -d '{"reviewers":["cs_savannah"]}' \
+            "https://git.farh.net/api/v1/repos/cartsnitch/infra/pulls/${PR_NUM}/requested_reviewers")
+          if [ "${REVIEW_HTTP}" -lt 200 ] || [ "${REVIEW_HTTP}" -ge 300 ]; then
+            echo "::notice::Failed to request reviewers for cartsnitch/infra PR #${PR_NUM} (HTTP ${REVIEW_HTTP}); continuing"
+          fi
           MERGE_RESP=$(curl -sS -X POST \
             -H "Authorization: token ${CI_GITEA_TOKEN}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
             -d '{"Do":"merge","delete_branch_after_merge":true}' \
             "https://git.farh.net/api/v1/repos/cartsnitch/infra/pulls/${PR_NUM}/merge")
           MERGED=$(echo "$MERGE_RESP" | jq -r '.merged // false')
-          if [ "$MERGED" != "true" ]; then
+          if [ "$MERGED" = "true" ]; then
+            echo "PR #${PR_NUM} merged into cartsnitch/infra main"
+          elif echo "$MERGE_RESP" | grep -qi 'does not have enough approvals'; then
+            # GitOps approval gate: the PR is correctly opened and surfaces in
+            # the CTO queue via the reviewers request above. Treat as success
+            # (exit 0) so the deploy job does not hard-fail on the approvals
+            # requirement that only a human maintainer can satisfy.
+            echo "::notice::infra PR #${PR_NUM} opened and awaiting CTO (cs_savannah) approve+merge — GitOps approval gate, not a failure"
+            exit 0
+          else
             echo "::error::Auto-merge of cartsnitch/infra PR #${PR_NUM} failed: $MERGE_RESP"
             echo "::error::Reassign to cs_savannah (authorized merger for cartsnitch/infra main) for backstop merge."
             exit 1
           fi
-          echo "PR #${PR_NUM} merged into cartsnitch/infra main"
 
   deploy-uat:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -693,15 +711,33 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
           echo "Opened cartsnitch/infra PR #${PR_NUM} (head=${BRANCH})"
+          # Request CTO (cs_savannah) review as the GitOps hand-off. Best-effort:
+          # log on non-2xx but never fail the job for this.
+          REVIEW_HTTP=$(curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' -X POST \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${CI_GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -d '{"reviewers":["cs_savannah"]}' \
+            "https://git.farh.net/api/v1/repos/cartsnitch/infra/pulls/${PR_NUM}/requested_reviewers")
+          if [ "${REVIEW_HTTP}" -lt 200 ] || [ "${REVIEW_HTTP}" -ge 300 ]; then
+            echo "::notice::Failed to request reviewers for cartsnitch/infra PR #${PR_NUM} (HTTP ${REVIEW_HTTP}); continuing"
+          fi
           MERGE_RESP=$(curl -sS -X POST \
             -H "Authorization: token ${CI_GITEA_TOKEN}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
             -d '{"Do":"merge","delete_branch_after_merge":true}' \
             "https://git.farh.net/api/v1/repos/cartsnitch/infra/pulls/${PR_NUM}/merge")
           MERGED=$(echo "$MERGE_RESP" | jq -r '.merged // false')
-          if [ "$MERGED" != "true" ]; then
+          if [ "$MERGED" = "true" ]; then
+            echo "PR #${PR_NUM} merged into cartsnitch/infra main"
+          elif echo "$MERGE_RESP" | grep -qi 'does not have enough approvals'; then
+            # GitOps approval gate: the PR is correctly opened and surfaces in
+            # the CTO queue via the reviewers request above. Treat as success
+            # (exit 0) so the deploy job does not hard-fail on the approvals
+            # requirement that only a human maintainer can satisfy.
+            echo "::notice::infra PR #${PR_NUM} opened and awaiting CTO (cs_savannah) approve+merge — GitOps approval gate, not a failure"
+            exit 0
+          else
             echo "::error::Auto-merge of cartsnitch/infra PR #${PR_NUM} failed: $MERGE_RESP"
             echo "::error::Reassign to cs_savannah (authorized merger for cartsnitch/infra main) for backstop merge."
             exit 1
           fi
-          echo "PR #${PR_NUM} merged into cartsnitch/infra main"