--- a/build/src/github.js
+++ b/build/src/github.js
@@ -78,14 +78,20 @@
                     this.logger.trace('no GraphQL response, retrying');
                 }
                 catch (err) {
-                    if (err.status !== 502) {
+                    // Only commit-history reads opt in to transient HTTP-200 errors.
+                    const retryInternalError = options?.retryInternalErrors &&
+                        err instanceof graphql_1.GraphqlResponseError &&
+                        err.errors.length > 0 &&
+                        err.errors.every(error => typeof error.message === 'string' &&
+                            error.message.startsWith('Something went wrong while executing your query'));
+                    if (err.status !== 502 && !retryInternalError) {
                         throw err;
                     }
                     if (maxRetries === 0) {
                         this.logger.warn('ran out of retries and response is required');
                         throw err;
                     }
-                    this.logger.info(`received 502 error, ${maxRetries} attempts remaining`);
+                    this.logger.info(`received ${err.status === 502 ? '502' : 'internal GraphQL'} error, ${maxRetries} attempts remaining`);
                 }
                 maxRetries -= 1;
                 if (maxRetries >= 0) {
@@ -535,8 +541,9 @@
     async mergeCommitsGraphQL(targetBranch, cursor, options = {}) {
         var _a, _b, _c, _d, _e, _f, _g, _h, _j;
         var _k;
+        const includeFiles = options.includeFiles ?? true;
         this.logger.debug(`Fetching merge commits on branch ${targetBranch} with cursor: ${cursor}`);
-        const query = `query pullRequestsSince($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $num: Int!, $maxFilesChanged: Int, $targetBranch: String!, $cursor: String) {
+        const query = `query pullRequestsSince($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $num: Int!, $maxFilesChanged: Int, $includeFiles: Boolean!, $targetBranch: String!, $cursor: String) {
       repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
         ref(qualifiedName: $targetBranch) {
           target {
@@ -558,7 +565,7 @@
                       mergeCommit {
                         oid
                       }
-                      files(first: $maxFilesChanged) {
+                      files(first: $maxFilesChanged) @include(if: $includeFiles) {
                         nodes {
                           path
                         }
@@ -589,11 +596,12 @@
             num: (_a = options.batchSize) !== null && _a !== void 0 ? _a : 10,
             targetBranch,
             maxFilesChanged: 100, // max is 100
+            includeFiles,
         };
         const response = await this.graphqlRequest({
             query,
             ...params,
-        });
+        }, { retryInternalErrors: true });
         if (!response) {
             this.logger.warn(`Did not receive a response for query: ${query}`, params);
             return null;
@@ -646,10 +654,12 @@
                     title: pullRequest.title,
                     body: pullRequest.body,
                     labels: pullRequest.labels.nodes.map(node => node.name),
-                    files: (((_f = pullRequest.files) === null || _f === void 0 ? void 0 : _f.nodes) || []).map(node => node.path),
+                    ...(includeFiles ? {
+                        files: (((_f = pullRequest.files) === null || _f === void 0 ? void 0 : _f.nodes) || []).map(node => node.path),
+                    } : {}),
                 };
             }
-            if (mergePullRequest) {
+            if (includeFiles && mergePullRequest) {
                 if (((_h = (_g = mergePullRequest.files) === null || _g === void 0 ? void 0 : _g.pageInfo) === null || _h === void 0 ? void 0 : _h.hasNextPage) &&
                     options.backfillFiles) {
                     this.logger.info(`PR #${mergePullRequest.number} has many files, backfilling`);
@@ -661,7 +671,7 @@
                     commit.files = (((_j = mergePullRequest.files) === null || _j === void 0 ? void 0 : _j.nodes) || []).map(node => node.path);
                 }
             }
-            else if (options.backfillFiles) {
+            else if (includeFiles && options.backfillFiles) {
                 // In this case, there is no squashed merge commit. This could be a simple
                 // merge commit, a rebase merge commit, or a direct commit to the branch.
                 // Fallback to fetching the list of commits from the REST API. In the future
--- a/build/src/github.d.ts
+++ b/build/src/github.d.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@
 interface CommitIteratorOptions {
     maxResults?: number;
     backfillFiles?: boolean;
+    /** Include PR files and permit REST backfill. Defaults to true. */
+    includeFiles?: boolean;
     batchSize?: number;
 }
 interface ReleaseIteratorOptions {
--- a/build/src/pull-request.d.ts
+++ b/build/src/pull-request.d.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     readonly title: string;
     readonly body: string;
     readonly labels: string[];
-    readonly files: string[];
+    /** Unknown when commit-history file collection is explicitly disabled. */
+    readonly files?: string[];
     readonly sha?: string;
 }
--- a/build/src/manifest.js
+++ b/build/src/manifest.js
@@ -261,9 +261,20 @@
         this.logger.info('Collecting commits since all latest releases');
         const commits = [];
         this.logger.debug(`commit search depth: ${this.commitSearchDepth}`);
+        // The root receives every commit without path splitting. Node's strategy,
+        // default changelog and extra-file updaters do not inspect commit.files.
+        // Keep the general path for exclusions, plugins and other strategies.
+        const rootConfig = this.repositoryConfig[exports.ROOT_PROJECT_PATH];
+        const rootOnlyNode = Object.keys(this.repositoryConfig).length === 1 &&
+            rootConfig?.releaseType === 'node' &&
+            (!rootConfig.changelogType || rootConfig.changelogType === 'default') &&
+            (!rootConfig.versioning || ['default', 'always-bump-minor'].includes(rootConfig.versioning)) &&
+            !rootConfig.excludePaths?.length &&
+            this.plugins.length === 0;
         const commitGenerator = this.github.mergeCommitIterator(this.targetBranch, {
             maxResults: this.commitSearchDepth,
-            backfillFiles: true,
+            backfillFiles: !rootOnlyNode,
+            includeFiles: !rootOnlyNode,
             batchSize: this.commitBatchSize,
         });
         const releaseShas = new Set(Object.values(releaseShasByPath));
@@ -272,6 +283,7 @@
         // sha => release pull request
         const releasePullRequestsBySha = {};
         let releaseCommitsFound = 0;
+        let historyBoundaryFound = false;
         for await (const commit of commitGenerator) {
             if (releaseShas.has(commit.sha)) {
                 if (commit.pullRequest) {
@@ -284,14 +296,17 @@
             }
             if (this.lastReleaseSha && this.lastReleaseSha === commit.sha) {
                 this.logger.info(`Using configured lastReleaseSha ${this.lastReleaseSha} as last commit.`);
+                historyBoundaryFound = true;
                 break;
             }
             else if (needsBootstrap && commit.sha === this.bootstrapSha) {
                 this.logger.info(`Needed bootstrapping, found configured bootstrapSha ${this.bootstrapSha}`);
+                historyBoundaryFound = true;
                 break;
             }
             else if (!needsBootstrap && releaseCommitsFound >= expectedShas) {
                 // found enough commits
+                historyBoundaryFound = true;
                 break;
             }
             commits.push({
@@ -301,16 +316,18 @@
                 pullRequest: commit.pullRequest,
             });
         }
+        if (releaseCommitsFound < expectedShas && !historyBoundaryFound) {
+            throw new Error(`Incomplete release history: expected ${expectedShas} release boundaries, found ${releaseCommitsFound}. Refusing a partial release proposal.`);
+        }
         if (releaseCommitsFound < expectedShas) {
             this.logger.warn(`Expected ${expectedShas} commits, only found ${releaseCommitsFound}`);
         }
         // split commits by path
         this.logger.info(`Splitting ${commits.length} commits by path`);
-        const cs = new commit_split_1.CommitSplit({
+        const splitCommits = rootOnlyNode ? {} : new commit_split_1.CommitSplit({
             includeEmpty: true,
             packagePaths: Object.keys(this.repositoryConfig),
-        });
-        const splitCommits = cs.split(commits);
+        }).split(commits);
         // limit paths to ones since the last release
         let commitsPerPath = {};
         for (const path in this.repositoryConfig) {