diff --git a/src/commands/cli/release/automerge.ts b/src/commands/cli/release/automerge.ts
index 50a9f6653..5769b72c9 100644
--- a/src/commands/cli/release/automerge.ts
+++ b/src/commands/cli/release/automerge.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,16 @@ Messages.importMessagesDirectoryFromMetaUrl(import.meta.url);
 
 const messages = Messages.loadMessages('@salesforce/plugin-release-management', 'cli.release.automerge');
 
+/**
+ * Bot accounts whose PRs are eligible for automerge. Add to this list (via
+ * reviewed PR) to onboard a new bot.
+ */
+export const ALLOWED_BOT_USERS = ['svc-cli-bot', 'svc-idee-bot'];
+
+export function isAllowedBotUser(login: string | undefined | null): boolean {
+  return !!login && ALLOWED_BOT_USERS.includes(login);
+}
+
 type BaseRepoParams = {
   owner: string;
   repo: string;
@@ -102,8 +112,8 @@ export default class AutoMerge extends SfCommand<void> {
       stop(`Missing automerge label: [${automergeLabels.join(', ')}]`);
     }
 
-    if (prData.user?.login !== 'svc-cli-bot') {
-      stop('PR must be created by "svc-cli-bot"');
+    if (!isAllowedBotUser(prData.user?.login)) {
+      stop(`PR must be created by one of: [${ALLOWED_BOT_USERS.join(', ')}]`);
     }
 
     if (!(await this.isGreen(prData, verbose))) {
diff --git a/test/commands/cli.release.automerge.test.ts b/test/commands/cli.release.automerge.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f409d1e10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/commands/cli.release.automerge.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2026, salesforce.com, inc.
+ * All rights reserved.
+ * Licensed under the BSD 3-Clause license.
+ * For full license text, see LICENSE.txt file in the repo root or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+ */
+
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import { ALLOWED_BOT_USERS, isAllowedBotUser } from '../../src/commands/cli/release/automerge.js';
+
+describe('cli:release:automerge bot allow-list', () => {
+  it('accepts svc-cli-bot', () => {
+    expect(isAllowedBotUser('svc-cli-bot')).to.equal(true);
+  });
+
+  it('accepts svc-idee-bot', () => {
+    expect(isAllowedBotUser('svc-idee-bot')).to.equal(true);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects an unknown user', () => {
+    expect(isAllowedBotUser('random-user')).to.equal(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects undefined login', () => {
+    expect(isAllowedBotUser(undefined)).to.equal(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects null login', () => {
+    expect(isAllowedBotUser(null)).to.equal(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects empty string login', () => {
+    expect(isAllowedBotUser('')).to.equal(false);
+  });
+
+  it('exports the canonical allow-list', () => {
+    expect(ALLOWED_BOT_USERS).to.deep.equal(['svc-cli-bot', 'svc-idee-bot']);
+  });
+});