diff --git a/qhub/initialize.py b/qhub/initialize.py
index ed505769c5..f35dc30397 100644
--- a/qhub/initialize.py
+++ b/qhub/initialize.py
@@ -65,7 +65,11 @@
     },
 }
 
-CICD_CONFIGURATION = {"type": "PLACEHOLDER", "branch": "main"}
+CICD_CONFIGURATION = {
+    "type": "PLACEHOLDER",
+    "branch": "main",
+    "commit_render": True,
+}
 
 AUTH_PASSWORD = {
     "type": "password",
@@ -255,7 +259,8 @@ def render_config(
     config["provider"] = cloud_provider
 
     if ci_provider is not None and ci_provider != "none":
-        config["ci_cd"] = {"type": ci_provider, "branch": "main"}
+        config["ci_cd"] = CICD_CONFIGURATION.copy()
+        config["ci_cd"]["type"] = ci_provider
 
     if terraform_state is not None:
         config["terraform_state"] = {"type": terraform_state}
diff --git a/qhub/provider/cicd/github.py b/qhub/provider/cicd/github.py
index 8f60ce59c7..94cfb930f9 100644
--- a/qhub/provider/cicd/github.py
+++ b/qhub/provider/cicd/github.py
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ def gen_qhub_ops(config):
 
     env_vars = gha_env_vars(config)
     branch = config["ci_cd"]["branch"]
+    commit_render = config["ci_cd"]["commit_render"]
     qhub_version = config["qhub_version"]
 
     push = GHA_on_extras(branches=[branch], paths=["qhub-config.yaml"])
@@ -245,9 +246,11 @@ def gen_qhub_ops(config):
         },
     )
 
-    job1 = GHA_job_id(
-        name="qhub", runs_on_="ubuntu-latest", steps=[step1, step2, step3, step4, step5]
-    )
+    gha_steps = [step1, step2, step3, step4]
+    if commit_render:
+        gha_steps.append(step5)
+
+    job1 = GHA_job_id(name="qhub", runs_on_="ubuntu-latest", steps=gha_steps)
     jobs = GHA_jobs(__root__={"build": job1})
 
     return QhubOps(
diff --git a/qhub/provider/cicd/gitlab.py b/qhub/provider/cicd/gitlab.py
index c63982a3a4..75a5e444c8 100644
--- a/qhub/provider/cicd/gitlab.py
+++ b/qhub/provider/cicd/gitlab.py
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class GLCI(BaseModel):
 def gen_gitlab_ci(config):
 
     branch = config["ci_cd"]["branch"]
+    commit_render = config["ci_cd"]["commit_render"]
     before_script = config["ci_cd"].get("before_script")
     after_script = config["ci_cd"].get("after_script")
     pip_install = pip_install_qhub(config["qhub_version"])
@@ -53,6 +54,9 @@ def gen_gitlab_ci(config):
         f"git checkout {branch}",
         f"{pip_install}",
         "qhub deploy --config qhub-config.yaml --disable-prompt --skip-remote-state-provision",
+    ]
+
+    commit_render_script = [
         "git config user.email 'qhub@quansight.com'",
         "git config user.name 'gitlab ci'",
         "git add .",
@@ -60,6 +64,9 @@ def gen_gitlab_ci(config):
         f"git push origin {branch})",
     ]
 
+    if commit_render:
+        script += commit_render_script
+
     rules = [
         GLCI_rules(
             if_=f"$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == '{branch}'",
diff --git a/qhub/schema.py b/qhub/schema.py
index d9c8fceea4..074968d2a3 100644
--- a/qhub/schema.py
+++ b/qhub/schema.py
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ class Config:
 class CICD(Base):
     type: CiEnum
     branch: str
+    commit_render: typing.Optional[bool] = True
     before_script: typing.Optional[typing.List[str]]
     after_script: typing.Optional[typing.List[str]]