diff --git a/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Orchestrator.php b/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Orchestrator.php
index ea18bc0..8b1129a 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Orchestrator.php
+++ b/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Orchestrator.php
@@ -348,13 +348,21 @@ private function validateDraft(
             files: ['Dockerfile'],
             state: 'merged',
         );
-        if (
-            $draft->tag !== $tag
-            || $draft->body !== $body
-            || ! RecoverySelector::matches($draft, $merge)
-        ) {
+        $mismatched = [];
+        if ($draft->tag !== $tag) {
+            $mismatched[] = "tag {$draft->tag} is not {$tag}";
+        }
+        if (! str_starts_with($draft->body, $body)) {
+            $mismatched[] = 'body does not open with the automation markers';
+        }
+        if (! RecoverySelector::matches($draft, $merge)) {
+            $mismatched[] = 'release does not match its automation merge';
+        }
+
+        if ($mismatched !== []) {
             throw new RuntimeException(
-                "Draft release {$draft->identifier} is unsafe",
+                "Draft release {$draft->identifier} is unsafe: "
+                . implode(', ', $mismatched),
             );
         }
     }
diff --git a/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Repository/GitHub.php b/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Repository/GitHub.php
index ffa11df..6807ca2 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Repository/GitHub.php
+++ b/.github/scripts/src/Automation/Repository/GitHub.php
@@ -853,16 +853,30 @@ private function assertDraft(
         int $pull,
         string $body,
     ): Recovery {
-        if (
-            $release->tag !== $tag
-            || $release->target !== $target
-            || $release->pull !== $pull
-            || ! $release->draft
-            || $release->prerelease
-            || $release->body !== $body
-        ) {
+        $mismatched = [];
+        if ($release->tag !== $tag) {
+            $mismatched[] = "tag {$release->tag} is not {$tag}";
+        }
+        if ($release->target !== $target) {
+            $mismatched[] = "target {$release->target} is not {$target}";
+        }
+        if ($release->pull !== $pull) {
+            $mismatched[] = "pull {$release->pull} is not {$pull}";
+        }
+        if (! $release->draft) {
+            $mismatched[] = 'release is not a draft';
+        }
+        if ($release->prerelease) {
+            $mismatched[] = 'release is a prerelease';
+        }
+        if (! str_starts_with($release->body, $body)) {
+            $mismatched[] = 'body does not open with the automation markers';
+        }
+
+        if ($mismatched !== []) {
             throw new RuntimeException(
-                "Draft release {$release->identifier} is unsafe",
+                "Draft release {$release->identifier} is unsafe: "
+                . implode(', ', $mismatched),
             );
         }
 
diff --git a/.github/scripts/tests/Unit/Automation/OrchestratorTest.php b/.github/scripts/tests/Unit/Automation/OrchestratorTest.php
index d338c8a..3935f05 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/tests/Unit/Automation/OrchestratorTest.php
+++ b/.github/scripts/tests/Unit/Automation/OrchestratorTest.php
@@ -515,6 +515,71 @@ public function test_recovers_concurrently_created_draft_after_422(): void
         self::assertSame(0, $runner->remaining());
     }
 
+    public function test_accepts_a_draft_with_generated_notes_appended(): void
+    {
+        $target = str_repeat('a', 40);
+        $body = $this->draftBody($target, 75);
+        $runner = new Queue([
+            $this->commandResult(1, '{"status":"404"}'),
+            $this->commandResult(
+                output: '{"data":{"repository":{"release":null}}}',
+            ),
+            $this->commandResult(
+                output: json_encode(
+                    $this->release(
+                        identifier: 10,
+                        tag: '1.4.5',
+                        target: $target,
+                        draft: true,
+                        body: $body . self::GENERATED_NOTES,
+                    ),
+                    JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR,
+                ),
+            ),
+        ]);
+
+        $draft = $this->github($runner)->createDraft(
+            '1.4.5',
+            $target,
+            75,
+            $body,
+        );
+
+        self::assertSame(10, $draft->identifier);
+        self::assertSame(0, $runner->remaining());
+    }
+
+    public function test_rejects_a_draft_whose_markers_were_rewritten(): void
+    {
+        $target = str_repeat('a', 40);
+        $body = $this->draftBody($target, 75);
+        $runner = new Queue([
+            $this->commandResult(1, '{"status":"404"}'),
+            $this->commandResult(
+                output: '{"data":{"repository":{"release":null}}}',
+            ),
+            $this->commandResult(
+                output: json_encode(
+                    $this->release(
+                        identifier: 10,
+                        tag: '1.4.5',
+                        target: $target,
+                        draft: true,
+                        body: $this->draftBody($target, 76),
+                    ),
+                    JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR,
+                ),
+            ),
+        ]);
+
+        $this->expectException(RuntimeException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage(
+            'body does not open with the automation markers',
+        );
+
+        $this->github($runner)->createDraft('1.4.5', $target, 75, $body);
+    }
+
     public function test_does_not_publish_when_prepublication_target_changed(): void
     {
         $repository = $this->repository();
@@ -762,6 +827,10 @@ private function pullBody(string $head, string $base): string
             . "\n<!-- dependency-tested-base:{$base} -->";
     }
 
+    private const string GENERATED_NOTES = "\n\n## What's Changed"
+        . "\n* chore: update dependencies by @abnegate in "
+        . 'https://github.com/appwrite/docker-base/pull/75';
+
     private function draftBody(string $target, int $pull): string
     {
         return '<!-- dependency-automation:v1 -->'
diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index d667df6..fb89ce9 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 
 * The updater rewrote `PHP_*_VERSION` and left `PHP_*_COMMIT` / `PHP_*_CHECKSUM` at the superseded release. Protobuf failed loudly on the checksum, but the git-sourced extensions did not: the build fetched the old commit and shipped, say, brotli 0.20.0 in an image labelled 0.21.0. `Dockerfile::pins()` only ever located the version variable, so no companion reference was ever a candidate for replacement. Every dependency now carries its reference variable through the catalog, resolver, selector, and rewriter, and both move together or neither does.
 * `git ls-remote --tags --refs` returns the *annotated tag object*, not the commit it points at — `refs/tags/6.3.0` on phpredis is `aa4302d`, while the commit is `df4fab2`. Resolving references from that output would have replaced correct commit pins with tag-object SHAs. The resolver now reads the peeled `^{}` entry when a tag is annotated and falls back to the object for lightweight tags.
+* The release step could never succeed. `createDraft` asks GitHub for `generate_release_notes=true`, so the returned body is the automation's body *plus* the generated changelog — and both `assertDraft` and `validateDraft` then required the body to equal what was sent. Every run died at `Draft release <id> is unsafe` after tagging and drafting. Both checks now require the body to *open with* the automation markers, which is what the safety property actually depends on; `RecoverySelector::matches` already worked this way.
+* `Draft release <id> is unsafe` named none of the six fields it compared, so diagnosing it needed the API and the source side by side. It now says which ones mismatched.
+
 * A reference that has drifted from its version is now corrected on the next run even when the version itself is unchanged, so a hand-edited or stale pin self-heals instead of persisting. Every reference is resolved from upstream unconditionally — the peeled commit for git, a fresh hash of the selected tarball for PECL — rather than carrying forward whatever the file already held. A pinned tag that upstream no longer publishes now fails the run instead of passing silently.
 
 * Duplicate release builds — `build-and-push.yml` no longer triggers on `release: published`. Tag pushes already trigger it, so publishing a release rebuilt and repushed the same image a second time.