diff --git a/.github/scripts/ci/merge_gate_wait.sh b/.github/scripts/ci/merge_gate_wait.sh
index c5b17d91f..7c14d285c 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/ci/merge_gate_wait.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/ci/merge_gate_wait.sh
@@ -18,10 +18,14 @@
 # Inputs (environment variables):
 #   GH_TOKEN          required. Token with 'checks:read' for the repo.
 #   REPO              required. owner/repo (e.g. microsoft/apm).
-#   SHA               required. Head SHA of the PR.
+#   SHA               required. Head SHA to poll (PR head, merge_group temp
+#                     branch head, or workflow_dispatch-resolved PR head).
 #   EXPECTED_CHECKS   required. Comma-separated list of check-run names to
 #                     wait for. Whitespace around commas is trimmed.
 #                     Example: "Build & Test (Linux),Build (Linux)"
+#   EVENT_NAME        optional. The triggering event ('pull_request',
+#                     'merge_group', 'workflow_dispatch'). Used only to
+#                     emit the right recovery instructions on timeout.
 #   TIMEOUT_MIN       optional. Total wall-clock budget in minutes.
 #                     Default: 30.
 #   POLL_SEC          optional. Poll interval in seconds. Default: 30.
@@ -96,11 +100,13 @@ while [ "$(date +%s)" -lt "$deadline" ]; do
     [ "${check_status[i]}" = "pending" ] || continue
     pending_count=$((pending_count + 1))
 
-    # Filter by check-run name server-side. Most-recent first.
+    # Filter by check-run name server-side, asking GitHub for only the
+    # latest run per name (avoids client-side sort / pagination races
+    # when a check has been re-run on the same SHA).
     encoded=$(jq -rn --arg n "$c" '$n|@uri')
     payload=$(gh api \
       -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
-      "repos/${REPO}/commits/${SHA}/check-runs?check_name=${encoded}&per_page=10" \
+      "repos/${REPO}/commits/${SHA}/check-runs?check_name=${encoded}&filter=latest&per_page=10" \
       2>/dev/null) || payload='{"check_runs":[]}'
 
     total=$(echo "$payload" | jq '.check_runs | length' 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
@@ -166,8 +172,15 @@ if [ "${#missing[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
     for c in "${missing[@]}"; do echo "  - ${c}"; done
     echo ""
     echo "This usually indicates a transient GitHub Actions webhook delivery failure. Recovery:"
-    echo "  1. Push an empty commit to retrigger:  git commit --allow-empty -m 'ci: retrigger' && git push"
-    echo "  2. If that fails, close and reopen the PR."
+    if [ "${EVENT_NAME:-}" = "merge_group" ]; then
+      echo "  Merge-queue context: pushing a commit will NOT retrigger the merge_group event."
+      echo "  1. Remove the PR from the merge queue and re-add it."
+      echo "  2. If it still fails, push an empty commit to the PR branch and re-queue:"
+      echo "       git commit --allow-empty -m 'ci: retrigger' && git push"
+    else
+      echo "  1. Push an empty commit to retrigger:  git commit --allow-empty -m 'ci: retrigger' && git push"
+      echo "  2. If that fails, close and reopen the PR."
+    fi
     echo ""
     echo "Merge Gate catches this failure mode so it surfaces as a clear red check instead of a stuck 'Expected -- Waiting'. See .github/workflows/merge-gate.yml."
   } >&2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 5cb128b8c..499dfe9b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@ env:
 on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main ]
-    paths-ignore:
-      - 'docs/**'
-      - '.gitignore'
-      - 'LICENSE'
   # Tier 1 also runs in merge queue context so the same unit + build checks
   # execute against the tentative merge commit that the queue creates. See
   # microsoft/apm#770 for the design.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/merge-gate.yml b/.github/workflows/merge-gate.yml
index aaa6d85e8..e0d7598f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/merge-gate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/merge-gate.yml
@@ -1,39 +1,51 @@
 # Merge Gate -- single-authority orchestrator that aggregates ALL required
-# PR-time checks into one verdict. Branch protection requires only this
-# check; this workflow polls the Checks API for all underlying checks.
+# checks into one verdict for BOTH PR-time and merge-queue contexts.
+# Branch protection / merge-queue ruleset requires only this check; this
+# workflow polls the Checks API for all underlying checks.
 #
 # Why this file exists:
 #   GitHub's required-status-checks model is name-based, not workflow-based.
-#   Without this gate, branch protection had to require each PR-time check
-#   individually -- adding or renaming a check meant a ruleset edit. With
-#   this gate, branch protection requires only 'gate' (the check-run name
-#   of the job below) and the gate aggregates whatever underlying checks
-#   we declare in EXPECTED_CHECKS. Tide / bors single-authority pattern.
+#   Without this gate, every required check would need to be listed in the
+#   ruleset (and listed again for the merge-queue ruleset) -- adding or
+#   renaming a check meant editing rulesets. With this gate, the ruleset
+#   requires only 'gate' and the gate aggregates whatever underlying checks
+#   we declare in EXPECTED_CHECKS for each event context.
 #
-# Why a single trigger (not dual pull_request + pull_request_target):
+# Why both pull_request and merge_group triggers:
+#   The merge-queue ruleset also requires 'gate'. Without a merge_group
+#   trigger, the gate check would never fire against the merge-queue temp
+#   branch SHA and PRs would sit in the queue with 'gate' stuck in
+#   "Expected -- Waiting for status to be reported" indefinitely
+#   (observed on PR #899). The merge_group trigger fires the same gate
+#   logic against the temp branch SHA and aggregates the merge-queue-time
+#   checks (ci.yml + ci-integration.yml).
+#
+# Why no pull_request_target dual trigger:
 #   We tried dual-trigger redundancy in PR #865 to harden against rare
 #   dropped 'pull_request' webhook deliveries (observed once on PR #856).
 #   It backfired: 'concurrency: cancel-in-progress' produced TWO check-runs
 #   per SHA -- one SUCCESS and one CANCELLED -- which poisons branch
 #   protection's status-check rollup ('CANCELLED' counts as failure ->
-#   PR BLOCKED). No GitHub Actions primitive cleanly de-duplicates checks
-#   across event channels. World-class OSS projects (k8s, rust, deno,
-#   next.js) accept this and use a single trigger plus manual recovery.
+#   PR BLOCKED). pull_request and merge_group are different event channels
+#   that target different SHAs, so they don't collide.
 #
-# Recovery if a 'pull_request' webhook is dropped:
-#   - Push an empty commit:  git commit --allow-empty -m 'retrigger' && git push
-#   - Or trigger manually:   gh workflow run merge-gate.yml -f pr_number=NNN
-#   - Or close + reopen the PR.
+# Recovery if a webhook is dropped:
+#   pull_request context:
+#     - Push an empty commit:  git commit --allow-empty -m 'retrigger' && git push
+#     - Or trigger manually:   gh workflow run merge-gate.yml -f pr_number=NNN
+#     - Or close + reopen the PR.
+#   merge_group context (NB: pushing a commit will not retrigger the
+#   merge_group event, only pull_request):
+#     - Remove the PR from the merge queue and re-add it.
 
 name: Merge Gate
 
 on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main ]
-    paths-ignore:
-      - 'docs/**'
-      - '.gitignore'
-      - 'LICENSE'
+  merge_group:
+    branches: [ main ]
+    types: [ checks_requested ]
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       pr_number:
@@ -41,9 +53,11 @@ on:
         required: true
         type: string
 
-# Dedup pushes to the same PR: cancel any older in-flight gate run on
-# the same PR head. Now safe -- only one trigger channel, so cancellations
-# only happen on rapid push-after-push, not on cross-event collisions.
+# Dedup pushes to the same PR / merge-queue entry: cancel any older
+# in-flight gate run on the same head. In merge_group context, github.ref
+# is refs/heads/gh-readonly-queue/main/pr-N-<sha>, which is unique per
+# queue entry -- so cancel-in-progress only cancels rapid push-after-push
+# on the same temp branch, never across PR <-> merge_group channels.
 concurrency:
   group: merge-gate-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || inputs.pr_number || github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
@@ -57,26 +71,37 @@ jobs:
   gate:
     name: gate
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
-    timeout-minutes: 35
+    # Job timeout sized above the poll budget (TIMEOUT_MIN below) to leave
+    # headroom for setup/teardown without false-failing the gate.
+    timeout-minutes: 60
     steps:
-      - name: Resolve PR head SHA
+      - name: Resolve head SHA
         id: sha
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
-          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
-            sha=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${{ inputs.pr_number }}" --jq '.head.sha')
-          else
-            sha="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}"
-          fi
+          case "${{ github.event_name }}" in
+            workflow_dispatch)
+              sha=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${{ inputs.pr_number }}" --jq '.head.sha')
+              ;;
+            merge_group)
+              # Temp merge commit on the merge-queue temp branch; check
+              # runs from ci.yml/ci-integration.yml are reported here, NOT
+              # against the PR head SHA.
+              sha="${{ github.event.merge_group.head_sha }}"
+              ;;
+            *)
+              sha="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}"
+              ;;
+          esac
           if [ -z "$sha" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Could not resolve PR head SHA"
+            echo "::error::Could not resolve head SHA for event ${{ github.event_name }}"
             exit 1
           fi
           echo "sha=$sha" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "[merge-gate] resolved head SHA: $sha"
+          echo "[merge-gate] event=${{ github.event_name }} resolved head SHA: $sha"
 
-      - name: Checkout PR head
+      - name: Checkout head
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.sha.outputs.sha }}
@@ -88,17 +113,23 @@ jobs:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
           SHA: ${{ steps.sha.outputs.sha }}
-          # All PR-time checks the gate aggregates. Keep this in sync with
-          # the underlying workflows. Currently only ci.yml emits PR-time
-          # checks ('Build & Test (Linux)', 'APM Self-Check');
-          # ci-integration.yml is merge_group-only and is NOT polled here.
+          EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
+          # All required checks the gate aggregates, branched by event:
+          #   pull_request / workflow_dispatch -> only ci.yml runs at PR time
+          #   merge_group                      -> ci.yml AND ci-integration.yml run
+          # Keep this in sync with the underlying workflows.
           # NOTE: 'gate' (this job) MUST NOT appear here -- it would
           # deadlock waiting for itself.
-          EXPECTED_CHECKS: 'Build & Test (Linux),APM Self-Check'
-          TIMEOUT_MIN: '30'
+          EXPECTED_CHECKS: ${{ github.event_name == 'merge_group' && 'Build & Test (Linux),APM Self-Check,Build (Linux),Smoke Test (Linux),Integration Tests (Linux),Release Validation (Linux)' || 'Build & Test (Linux),APM Self-Check' }}
+          # Poll budget: ci-integration.yml chains Build -> Smoke ->
+          # Integration (timeout 20m) -> Release Validation (timeout 20m).
+          # Theoretical worst case ~50m; observed today ~5m end-to-end.
+          # Sized at 55m to absorb growth without false-failing the gate.
+          TIMEOUT_MIN: '55'
           POLL_SEC: '30'
         run: |
           chmod +x .github/scripts/ci/merge_gate_wait.sh
           .github/scripts/ci/merge_gate_wait.sh
 
 
+