diff --git a/.github/scripts/gemini-lifecycle-manager.cjs b/.github/scripts/gemini-lifecycle-manager.cjs
index 6a32beeb53..35e6b2a336 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/gemini-lifecycle-manager.cjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/gemini-lifecycle-manager.cjs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
     '🗓️ Public Roadmap',
   ];
 
-  const STALE_DAYS = 60;
+  const STALE_DAYS = 30;
   const CLOSE_DAYS = 14;
   const NO_RESPONSE_DAYS = 14;
 
@@ -64,30 +64,66 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
     }
   }
 
-  // 1. Handle No-Response (status/need-information)
-  // Removal: Check issues updated in the last 48h that have the label
-  const twoDaysAgo = new Date(now.getTime() - 2 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
-  await processItems(
-    `repo:${owner}/${repo} is:open label:"${NEED_INFO_LABEL}" updated:>${twoDaysAgo.toISOString()}`,
-    async (item) => {
+  /**
+   * Helper to get the timestamp when a specific label was added to an item.
+   */
+  async function getLabelAddedDate(issueNumber, labelName) {
+    try {
+      const events = await github.paginate(
+        github.rest.issues.listEventsForTimeline,
+        {
+          owner,
+          repo,
+          issue_number: issueNumber,
+          per_page: 100,
+        },
+      );
+      const labelEvent = events
+        .filter((e) => e.event === 'labeled' && e.label?.name === labelName)
+        .pop(); // Get the most recent application of the label
+      return labelEvent ? new Date(labelEvent.created_at) : null;
+    } catch (err) {
+      core.warning(
+        `Failed to fetch timeline for #${issueNumber}: ${err.message}`,
+      );
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Helper to check if there is a non-maintainer comment after a certain date.
+   */
+  async function hasContributorResponse(issueNumber, sinceDate) {
+    try {
       const { data: comments } = await github.rest.issues.listComments({
         owner,
         repo,
-        issue_number: item.number,
-        sort: 'created',
-        direction: 'desc',
-        per_page: 5,
+        issue_number: issueNumber,
+        since: sinceDate.toISOString(),
       });
+      return comments.some(
+        (c) =>
+          !['OWNER', 'MEMBER', 'COLLABORATOR'].includes(
+            c.author_association,
+          ) && c.user?.type !== 'Bot',
+      );
+    } catch (err) {
+      core.warning(
+        `Failed to fetch comments for #${issueNumber}: ${err.message}`,
+      );
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
 
-      // Check if the last comment is from a non-maintainer
-      const lastComment = comments[0];
-      if (
-        lastComment &&
-        !['OWNER', 'MEMBER', 'COLLABORATOR'].includes(
-          lastComment.author_association,
-        ) &&
-        lastComment.user?.type !== 'Bot'
-      ) {
+  // 1. Handle No-Response (status/need-information)
+  // Removal: Check issues with the label
+  await processItems(
+    `repo:${owner}/${repo} is:open label:"${NEED_INFO_LABEL}"`,
+    async (item) => {
+      const labelAddedAt = await getLabelAddedDate(item.number, NEED_INFO_LABEL);
+      if (!labelAddedAt) return;
+
+      if (await hasContributorResponse(item.number, labelAddedAt)) {
         core.info(
           `Removing ${NEED_INFO_LABEL} from #${item.number} due to contributor response.`,
         );
@@ -101,35 +137,30 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
             })
             .catch(() => {});
         }
+      } else if (labelAddedAt < noResponseThreshold) {
+        // Closure: Check if grace period passed
+        core.info(
+          `Closing #${item.number} due to no response for ${NO_RESPONSE_DAYS} days.`,
+        );
+        if (!dryRun) {
+          await github.rest.issues.createComment({
+            owner,
+            repo,
+            issue_number: item.number,
+            body: `This item was marked as needing more information and has not received a response in ${NO_RESPONSE_DAYS} days. Closing it for now. If you still face this problem, feel free to reopen with more details. Thank you!`,
+          });
+          await github.rest.issues.update({
+            owner,
+            repo,
+            issue_number: item.number,
+            state: 'closed',
+          });
+        }
       }
     },
   );
 
-  // Closure: Check issues with the label that haven't been updated in 14 days
-  await processItems(
-    `repo:${owner}/${repo} is:open label:"${NEED_INFO_LABEL}" updated:<${noResponseThreshold.toISOString()}`,
-    async (item) => {
-      core.info(
-        `Closing #${item.number} due to no response for ${NO_RESPONSE_DAYS} days.`,
-      );
-      if (!dryRun) {
-        await github.rest.issues.createComment({
-          owner,
-          repo,
-          issue_number: item.number,
-          body: `This item was marked as needing more information and has not received a response in ${NO_RESPONSE_DAYS} days. Closing it for now. If you still face this problem, feel free to reopen with more details. Thank you!`,
-        });
-        await github.rest.issues.update({
-          owner,
-          repo,
-          issue_number: item.number,
-          state: 'closed',
-        });
-      }
-    },
-  );
-
-  // 2. Handle Stale Mark (60 days inactivity, no stale label)
+  // 2. Handle Stale Mark (30 days inactivity, no stale label)
   const exemptQuery = EXEMPT_LABELS.map((l) => `-label:"${l}"`).join(' ');
   await processItems(
     `repo:${owner}/${repo} is:open -label:"${STALE_LABEL}" ${exemptQuery} updated:<${staleThreshold.toISOString()}`,
@@ -154,22 +185,27 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
 
   // 3. Handle Stale Close (14 days with stale label)
   await processItems(
-    `repo:${owner}/${repo} is:open label:"${STALE_LABEL}" ${exemptQuery} updated:<${closeThreshold.toISOString()}`,
+    `repo:${owner}/${repo} is:open label:"${STALE_LABEL}" ${exemptQuery}`,
     async (item) => {
-      core.info(`Closing stale item #${item.number}.`);
-      if (!dryRun) {
-        await github.rest.issues.createComment({
-          owner,
-          repo,
-          issue_number: item.number,
-          body: `This item has been closed due to ${CLOSE_DAYS} additional days of inactivity after being marked as stale. If you believe this is still relevant, feel free to comment or reopen. Thank you!`,
-        });
-        await github.rest.issues.update({
-          owner,
-          repo,
-          issue_number: item.number,
-          state: 'closed',
-        });
+      const staleAddedAt = await getLabelAddedDate(item.number, STALE_LABEL);
+      if (!staleAddedAt) return;
+
+      if (staleAddedAt < closeThreshold) {
+        core.info(`Closing stale item #${item.number}.`);
+        if (!dryRun) {
+          await github.rest.issues.createComment({
+            owner,
+            repo,
+            issue_number: item.number,
+            body: `This item has been closed due to ${CLOSE_DAYS} additional days of inactivity after being marked as stale. If you believe this is still relevant, feel free to comment or reopen. Thank you!`,
+          });
+          await github.rest.issues.update({
+            owner,
+            repo,
+            issue_number: item.number,
+            state: 'closed',
+          });
+        }
       }
     },
   );
diff --git a/.github/workflows/chained_e2e.yml b/.github/workflows/chained_e2e.yml
index 4a5de8bf7c..5e208e7e20 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/chained_e2e.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/chained_e2e.yml
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ jobs:
     needs:
       - 'merge_queue_skipper'
       - 'parse_run_context'
-    runs-on: 'macos-latest-large'
+    runs-on: 'macos-latest'
     if: |
       github.repository == 'google-gemini/gemini-cli' && always() && (needs.merge_queue_skipper.result !='success' || needs.merge_queue_skipper.outputs.skip != 'true')
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2ef8bdb58d..28f682c30e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ jobs:
 
   test_mac:
     name: 'Test (Mac) - ${{ matrix.node-version }}, ${{ matrix.shard }}'
-    runs-on: 'macos-latest-large'
+    runs-on: 'macos-latest'
     needs:
       - 'merge_queue_skipper'
     if: "github.repository == 'google-gemini/gemini-cli' && needs.merge_queue_skipper.outputs.skip == 'false'"
@@ -244,8 +244,6 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         node-version:
           - '20.x'
-          - '22.x'
-          - '24.x'
         shard:
           - 'cli'
           - 'others'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-pulse.yml b/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-pulse.yml
index b929444837..ddc272d677 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-pulse.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gemini-cli-bot-pulse.yml
@@ -15,15 +15,35 @@ permissions:
   pull-requests: 'write'
 
 jobs:
-  pulse:
-    name: 'Pulse (Reflex Layer)'
+  precheck:
+    name: 'Pre-check'
     runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
     if: "github.repository == 'google-gemini/gemini-cli'"
+    outputs:
+      has_scripts: '${{ steps.check.outputs.has_scripts }}'
     steps:
       - name: 'Checkout'
         uses: 'actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8' # ratchet:actions/checkout@v5
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
+          fetch-depth: 1 # Shallow checkout for check
+      - id: 'check'
+        run: |
+          if [ -d "tools/gemini-cli-bot/reflexes/scripts" ] && [ "$(ls -A tools/gemini-cli-bot/reflexes/scripts/*.ts 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+            echo "has_scripts=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "has_scripts=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+  pulse:
+    name: 'Pulse (Reflex Layer)'
+    needs: 'precheck'
+    if: "needs.precheck.outputs.has_scripts == 'true'"
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    steps:
+      - name: 'Checkout'
+        uses: 'actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8' # ratchet:actions/checkout@v5
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 1 # Pulse doesn't need full history unless a script specifically asks for it.
 
       - name: 'Setup Node.js'
         uses: 'actions/setup-node@49933ea5288caeca8642d1e84afbd3f7d6820020' # ratchet:actions/setup-node@v4
@@ -38,11 +58,8 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: '${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}'
         run: |
-          if [ -d "tools/gemini-cli-bot/reflexes/scripts" ] && [ "$(ls -A tools/gemini-cli-bot/reflexes/scripts)" ]; then
-            for script in tools/gemini-cli-bot/reflexes/scripts/*.ts; do
-              echo "Running reflex script: $script"
-              npx tsx "$script"
-            done
-          else
-            echo "No reflex scripts found."
-          fi
+          shopt -s nullglob
+          for script in tools/gemini-cli-bot/reflexes/scripts/*.ts; do
+            echo "Running reflex script: $script"
+            npx tsx "$script"
+          done
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gemini-scheduled-issue-triage.yml b/.github/workflows/gemini-scheduled-issue-triage.yml
index f66724cd20..c9062384cd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gemini-scheduled-issue-triage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gemini-scheduled-issue-triage.yml
@@ -63,15 +63,15 @@ jobs:
 
           echo '🔍 Finding issues missing area labels...'
           NO_AREA_ISSUES="$(gh issue list --repo "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}" \
-            --search 'is:open is:issue -label:status/bot-triaged -label:area/core -label:area/agent -label:area/enterprise -label:area/non-interactive -label:area/security -label:area/platform -label:area/extensions -label:area/documentation -label:area/unknown' --limit 100 --json number,title,body)"
+            --search 'is:open is:issue -label:status/bot-triaged -label:area/core -label:area/agent -label:area/enterprise -label:area/non-interactive -label:area/security -label:area/platform -label:area/extensions -label:area/documentation -label:area/unknown' --limit 200 --json number,title,body)"
 
           echo '🔍 Finding issues missing kind labels...'
           NO_KIND_ISSUES="$(gh issue list --repo "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}" \
-            --search 'is:open is:issue -label:status/bot-triaged -label:kind/bug -label:kind/enhancement -label:kind/customer-issue -label:kind/question' --limit 100 --json number,title,body)"
+            --search 'is:open is:issue -label:status/bot-triaged -label:kind/bug -label:kind/enhancement -label:kind/customer-issue -label:kind/question' --limit 200 --json number,title,body)"
 
           echo '🏷️ Finding issues missing priority labels...'
           NO_PRIORITY_ISSUES="$(gh issue list --repo "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}" \
-            --search 'is:open is:issue -label:status/bot-triaged -label:priority/p0 -label:priority/p1 -label:priority/p2 -label:priority/p3 -label:priority/unknown' --limit 100 --json number,title,body)"
+            --search 'is:open is:issue -label:status/bot-triaged -label:priority/p0 -label:priority/p1 -label:priority/p2 -label:priority/p3 -label:priority/unknown' --limit 200 --json number,title,body)"
 
           echo '🔄 Merging and deduplicating issues...'
           ISSUES="$(echo "${NO_AREA_ISSUES}" "${NO_KIND_ISSUES}" "${NO_PRIORITY_ISSUES}" | jq -c -s 'add | unique_by(.number)')"
@@ -228,14 +228,22 @@ jobs:
           github-token: '${{ steps.generate_token.outputs.token }}'
           script: |-
             const rawLabels = process.env.LABELS_OUTPUT;
-            core.info(`Raw labels JSON: ${rawLabels}`);
+            core.info(`Raw labels output: ${rawLabels}`);
             let parsedLabels;
             try {
-              const jsonMatch = rawLabels.match(/```json\s*([\s\S]*?)\s*```/);
-              if (!jsonMatch || !jsonMatch[1]) {
-                throw new Error("Could not find a ```json ... ``` block in the output.");
+              // Strategy 1: Look for JSON block
+              const jsonMatch = rawLabels.match(/```json\s*([\s\S]*?)\s*```/i) || rawLabels.match(/```\s*([\s\S]*?)\s*```/);
+              let jsonString = jsonMatch ? jsonMatch[1].trim() : rawLabels.trim();
+
+              // Strategy 2: Remove any non-JSON prefix/suffix if backticks weren't found
+              if (!jsonMatch) {
+                const firstBracket = jsonString.indexOf('[');
+                const lastBracket = jsonString.lastIndexOf(']');
+                if (firstBracket !== -1 && lastBracket !== -1) {
+                  jsonString = jsonString.substring(firstBracket, lastBracket + 1);
+                }
               }
-              const jsonString = jsonMatch[1].trim();
+
               parsedLabels = JSON.parse(jsonString);
               core.info(`Parsed labels JSON: ${JSON.stringify(parsedLabels)}`);
             } catch (err) {