diff --git a/.github/workflows/merge-validated-pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/merge-validated-pr.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eb4e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/merge-validated-pr.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+name: Merge valid PRs
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request_target:
+    branches: main
+    paths:
+      - 'model-output/**'
+      
+jobs:
+  validate-user-and-merge:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions: 
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+        
+      - name: Read authorized user
+        id: read_authorized_user
+        uses: jaywcjlove/github-action-read-file@main
+        with:
+          branch: main
+          path: 'auxiliary-data/authorized_users.txt'
+
+      - name: Get changed files
+        id: get_changed_files_in_model_output
+        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v45
+        with:
+          path: 'model-output'
+          dir_names: 'True'
+
+      - name: Get all changed files
+        id: get_all_changed_files
+        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v45
+
+      - name: Check for changes outside model-output folder
+        id: check_changes_outside_model_output
+        run: |
+          echo "Changed files:"
+          echo "${{ steps.get_all_changed_files.outputs.all_modified_files }}"
+          
+          for file in ${{ steps.get_all_changed_files.outputs.all_modified_files }}; do
+            if [[ "$file" != model-output/* ]]; then
+              echo "Error: Changes detected outside 'model-output' folder. File changed: $file"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          done
+          
+      - name: Get Token
+        id: get_workflow_token
+        uses: peter-murray/workflow-application-token-action@v4
+        with:
+          application_id: ${{ vars.GH_APP_ID }}
+          application_private_key: ${{ secrets.GH_APP_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Approve PR if changes made by authorized user
+        run: |
+          readarray -t lines_arr <<< "${{ steps.read_authorized_user.outputs.content }}"
+          
+          for line in "${lines_arr[@]}"; do
+            read -r dir user_list <<< $line
+            IFS=', ' read -r -a user_array <<< "$user_list"  
+            
+            for file in ${{ steps.get_changed_files_in_model_output.outputs.all_modified_files }}; do
+              if [[ "$file" == "$dir" ]]; then
+                is_authorized=false
+
+                for user in "${user_array[@]}"; do
+                  if [[ "${{ github.actor }}" == "$user" ]]; then
+                    is_authorized=true
+                    break
+                  fi
+                done
+
+                if [[ "$is_authorized" == true ]]; then
+                  gh pr review --approve "${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}"
+                  exit 0
+                else
+                  echo "Error: Only following users are allowed to change files in '$dir/': ${user_array[*]}"
+                  exit 1
+                fi
+
+              fi
+            done
+            
+          done
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.get_workflow_token.outputs.token }}
+
+      - name: Enable auto-merge for approved PRs
+        run: gh pr merge --auto --squash "${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}"
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.get_workflow_token.outputs.token }}
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diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-authorized-users.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-authorized-users.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ef076c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-authorized-users.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: Update authorized users
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '30 11 * * 3'
+    
+jobs:
+  update-users-list:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      GITHUB_PAT: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Setup R
+      uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
+      with:
+        install-r: false
+        use-public-rspm: true
+        
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: |
+        install.packages(c("yaml", "purrr", "glue"))
+      shell: Rscript {0}
+    
+    - name: generate users list
+      run: |
+        Rscript src/code/get_authorized_users.r
+
+    - name: Commit changes
+      uses: EndBug/add-and-commit@v9
+      with: 
+        message: "Update authorized users"
+        default_author: github_actions
+        push: true
+        new_branch: update-authorized-users
+  
+    - name: Create pull request
+      id: create_pr
+      run: |
+        gh pr create --base main --head update-authorized-users --title "Update authorized users" --body "This PR updates the authorized users list based on the latest metadata."
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/code/get_authorized_users.r b/src/code/get_authorized_users.r
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9cb5c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/code/get_authorized_users.r
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+
+hub_path <- "."
+output_path <- "auxiliary-data/"
+
+yml_files <- list.files(file.path(hub_path, "model-metadata"),
+  pattern = "\\.ya?ml$", full.names = TRUE
+)
+
+extract_metadata <- function(file) {
+  yml_data <- yaml::yaml.load_file(file)
+  team_abbr <- ifelse("team_abbr" %in% names(yml_data), yml_data$team_abbr, NA)
+  model_abbr <- ifelse(
+    "model_abbr" %in% names(yml_data), yml_data$model_abbr, NA
+  )
+  designated_user <- ifelse(
+    "designated_github_user" %in% names(yml_data),
+    paste(yml_data$designated_github_user, collapse = ", "),
+    NA
+  )
+
+  return(list(
+    team_abbr = team_abbr,
+    model_abbr = model_abbr,
+    designated_github_users = designated_user
+  ))
+}
+
+metadata_list <- purrr::map(yml_files, extract_metadata)
+data_df <- do.call(rbind, lapply(metadata_list, as.data.frame))
+colnames(data_df) <- c("team_name", "model_name", "designated_users")
+
+output <- glue::glue(
+  "{data_df$team_name}-{data_df$model_name} {data_df$designated_users}"
+)
+
+writeLines(output, file.path(output_path, "authorized_users.txt"))
\ No newline at end of file