diff --git a/services/nginx/app/classes/release_manager.php b/services/nginx/app/classes/release_manager.php
index 1fa0130c..6e59bb57 100644
--- a/services/nginx/app/classes/release_manager.php
+++ b/services/nginx/app/classes/release_manager.php
@@ -1064,6 +1064,7 @@ class release_manager
     private function releaseGateAutoSyncValidationSteps(array $gateInput, ?array $channel): array
     {
         $steps = [];
+        $requiredChecks = is_array($gateInput['required_checks'] ?? null) ? $gateInput['required_checks'] : [];
         $context = [
             'channel_slug' => $gateInput['channel_slug'] ?? null,
             'app' => $gateInput['app'] ?? null,
@@ -1071,6 +1072,7 @@ class release_manager
             'branch' => $gateInput['branch'] ?? null,
             'expected_commit' => $gateInput['expected_commit'] ?? null,
             'workflow_url' => $gateInput['workflow_url'] ?? null,
+            'required_checks' => $requiredChecks,
         ];
 
         if ($channel === null) {
@@ -1106,6 +1108,17 @@ class release_manager
                 'context' => $context,
             ];
         }
+        if ($requiredChecks === []) {
+            $steps[] = [
+                'step_key' => 'auto_sync_required_checks',
+                'label' => 'Automatic update required checks',
+                'status' => 'failed',
+                'message' => 'Automatic container updates require at least one release gate check.',
+                'diagnostic' => 'required_checks was empty.',
+                'solution_hint' => 'Include required_checks (for example static_artifact and/or api_gateway) in the release gate payload.',
+                'context' => $context,
+            ];
+        }
 
         if ($steps === []) {
             $steps[] = [
diff --git a/services/nginx/app/tests/Unit/ReleaseManager/ReleaseManagerTest.php b/services/nginx/app/tests/Unit/ReleaseManager/ReleaseManagerTest.php
index 23b76516..f4caff61 100644
--- a/services/nginx/app/tests/Unit/ReleaseManager/ReleaseManagerTest.php
+++ b/services/nginx/app/tests/Unit/ReleaseManager/ReleaseManagerTest.php
@@ -96,6 +96,40 @@ it('normalizes app-specific release gate auto-sync metadata', function (): void
     expect($appMatches->invoke($manager, [], 'api'))->toBeFalse();
 });
 
+it('requires non-empty release gate checks before auto-sync can proceed', function (): void {
+    $manager = new release_manager();
+    $method = new ReflectionMethod(release_manager::class, 'releaseGateAutoSyncValidationSteps');
+    $method->setAccessible(true);
+
+    $failed = $method->invoke($manager, [
+        'channel_slug' => 'stable',
+        'app' => 'api',
+        'repository' => 'copenhagentruckwash/api',
+        'branch' => 'master',
+        'expected_commit' => 'd52ceb85138740c45f20cda9b7ed9b7a21f0d4e8',
+        'workflow_url' => 'https://github.com/copenhagentruckwash/api/actions/runs/123',
+        'required_checks' => [],
+    ], ['slug' => 'stable']);
+    expect($failed)->toContainEqual(expect()->toMatchArray([
+        'step_key' => 'auto_sync_required_checks',
+        'status' => 'failed',
+    ]));
+
+    $passed = $method->invoke($manager, [
+        'channel_slug' => 'stable',
+        'app' => 'api',
+        'repository' => 'copenhagentruckwash/api',
+        'branch' => 'master',
+        'expected_commit' => 'd52ceb85138740c45f20cda9b7ed9b7a21f0d4e8',
+        'workflow_url' => 'https://github.com/copenhagentruckwash/api/actions/runs/123',
+        'required_checks' => ['api_gateway'],
+    ], ['slug' => 'stable']);
+    expect($passed)->toContainEqual(expect()->toMatchArray([
+        'step_key' => 'auto_sync_inputs',
+        'status' => 'passed',
+    ]));
+});
+
 it('normalizes GitHub repository identifiers for private repository access checks', function (): void {
     expect(release_manager::normalizeGithubRepositoryName('truckwash/backend-php'))->toBe('truckwash/backend-php');
     expect(release_manager::normalizeGithubRepositoryName('https://github.com/truckwash/front-end-vue.git'))->toBe('truckwash/front-end-vue');