diff --git a/.github/renovate.json5 b/.github/renovate.json5
index 6cc13e1ebe..70e3507d22 100644
--- a/.github/renovate.json5
+++ b/.github/renovate.json5
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   ],
   packageRules: [
     {
+      // this is to reduce the number of renovate PRs
       matchManagers: [
         'github-actions',
         'dockerfile',
@@ -21,10 +22,15 @@
         'io.opentelemetry.proto:opentelemetry-proto',
         'io.opentelemetry.semconv:opentelemetry-semconv-incubating',
       ],
+      // Renovate's default behavior is only to update from unstable -> unstable if it's for the
+      // major.minor.patch, under the assumption that you would want to update to the stable version
+      // of that release instead of the unstable version for a future release
+      // (TODO remove once the artifacts above release stable versions)
       ignoreUnstable: false,
       allowedVersions: '!/\\-SNAPSHOT$/',
     },
     {
+      // junit-pioneer 2+ requires Java 11+
       matchPackageNames: [
         'org.junit-pioneer:junit-pioneer',
       ],
@@ -34,6 +40,7 @@
       enabled: false,
     },
     {
+      // mockito 5+ requires Java 11+
       matchUpdateTypes: [
         'major',
       ],
@@ -43,6 +50,7 @@
       ],
     },
     {
+      // jqf-fuzz version 1.8+ requires Java 11+
       matchPackageNames: [
         'edu.berkeley.cs.jqf:jqf-fuzz',
       ],
@@ -53,6 +61,7 @@
       enabled: false,
     },
     {
+      // pinned version for compatibility
       matchPackageNames: [
         'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core',
       ],