diff --git a/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/CODEOWNERS b/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/CODEOWNERS
index 3d82ad7fe..20d3e6db0 100644
--- a/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/CODEOWNERS
+++ b/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/CODEOWNERS
@@ -11,3 +11,6 @@
 {%- else %}
 *     @googleapis/yoshi-nodejs
 {%- endif %}
+
+# The github automation team is the default owner for the auto-approve file.
+.github/auto-approve.yml @googleapis/github-automation
diff --git a/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/auto-approve.yml b/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/auto-approve.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..903697974
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synthtool/gcp/templates/node_library/.github/auto-approve.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+rules:
+- author: "release-please[bot]"
+  title: "^chore: release"
+  changedFiles:
+  - "package\\.json$"
+  - "CHANGELOG\\.md$"
+  maxFiles: 3
\ No newline at end of file