diff --git a/.github/.kodiak.toml b/.github/.kodiak.toml
index 02ffc6298f..316d1dfe99 100644
--- a/.github/.kodiak.toml
+++ b/.github/.kodiak.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ ignored_usernames       = ["dependabot", "renovate"]
 automerge_label                      = "automerge"
 show_missing_automerge_label_message = true
 prioritize_ready_to_merge            = true
+blocking_title_regex                 = "^WIP:.*"
+blocking_labels                      = ['in-progress']
 
 [merge.automerge_dependencies]
 # auto merge all PRs opened by dependency management that are "minor" or "patch" version upgrades. "major" version upgrades will be ignored.
@@ -23,11 +25,11 @@ usernames = ["renovate"]
 auto_approve_usernames = ["dependabot", "renovate"]
 
 [merge.message]
-title             = "pull_request_title" # default: "github_default"
-body              = "pull_request_body"  # default: "github_default"
-include_pr_number = true                 # default: true
-# body_type                   = "markdown"           # default: "markdown"
-strip_html_comments         = true # default: false
+title                       = "pull_request_title" # default: "github_default"
+body                        = "pull_request_body"  # default: "github_default"
+include_pr_number           = true                 # default: true
+strip_html_comments         = true                 # default: false
 include_pull_request_url    = true
 include_coauthors           = true
 include_pull_request_author = true
+# body_type                   = "markdown"           # default: "markdown"