# CI Optimization: Path-Based Triggers to Reduce Action Spend

## Problem
Repository metrics showed a massive surge in GitHub Action minutes (+5198 min in a short period). Investigation revealed that heavy CI (`ci.yml`) and E2E (`trigger_e2e.yml`) workflows were running on every PR, including those only affecting documentation or other non-functional files. This leads to unnecessary resource consumption and longer wait times for contributors.

## Changes
- **Implemented Path Filters**: Added `paths-ignore` to `ci.yml` and `trigger_e2e.yml` for non-functional files (docs, markdown, templates, etc.).
- **Sharded Content Checks**: Created a new, lightweight `.github/workflows/content-check.yml` that specifically runs the `link_checker` job on documentation changes.
- **Improved Workflow Robustness**: Fixed quoting in the `ci.yml` strategy matrix to satisfy both `yamllint` and `actionlint`.
- **Refined Rollup Logic**: Updated the `ci` rollup job in `ci.yml` to remove the dependency on the now-sharded `link_checker`.

## Impact
- Significant reduction in `actions_spend_minutes` for documentation-only PRs.
- Reduced resource pressure on the 16-core runners.
- Faster feedback for contributors making minor updates.
- Directly addresses the "Action Spend Anomaly" identified in the Brain phase metrics analysis.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -5,10 +5,32 @@ on:
     branches:
       - 'main'
       - 'release/**'
+    paths-ignore:
+      - 'docs/**'
+      - '**/*.md'
+      - '.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/**'
+      - '.github/pull_request_template.md'
+      - '.gitignore'
+      - '.editorconfig'
+      - 'LICENSE'
+      - 'CONTRIBUTING.md'
+      - 'ROADMAP.md'
+      - 'SECURITY.md'
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - 'main'
       - 'release/**'
+    paths-ignore:
+      - 'docs/**'
+      - '**/*.md'
+      - '.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/**'
+      - '.github/pull_request_template.md'
+      - '.gitignore'
+      - '.editorconfig'
+      - 'LICENSE'
+      - 'CONTRIBUTING.md'
+      - 'ROADMAP.md'
+      - 'SECURITY.md'
   merge_group:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
@@ -123,18 +145,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: 'Run GitHub Actions pinning linter'
         run: 'node scripts/lint.js --check-github-actions-pinning'
 
-  link_checker:
-    name: 'Link Checker'
-    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
-    if: "github.repository == 'google-gemini/gemini-cli'"
-    steps:
-      - name: 'Checkout'
-        uses: 'actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8' # ratchet:actions/checkout@v5
-      - name: 'Link Checker'
-        uses: 'lycheeverse/lychee-action@885c65f3dc543b57c898c8099f4e08c8afd178a2' # ratchet: lycheeverse/lychee-action@v2.6.1
-        with:
-          args: '--verbose --accept 200,503 ./**/*.md'
-          fail: true
   test_linux:
     name: 'Test (Linux) - ${{ matrix.node-version }}, ${{ matrix.shard }}'
     runs-on: 'gemini-cli-ubuntu-16-core'
@@ -147,7 +157,7 @@ jobs:
       pull-requests: 'write'
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        node-version: ${{ fromJSON(github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '["20.x"]' || '["20.x", "22.x", "24.x"]') }}
+        node-version: '${{ fromJSON(github.event_name == ''pull_request'' && ''["20.x"]'' || ''["20.x", "22.x", "24.x"]'') }}'
         shard:
           - 'cli'
           - 'others'
@@ -239,7 +249,7 @@ jobs:
     continue-on-error: true
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        node-version: ${{ fromJSON(github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '["20.x"]' || '["20.x", "22.x", "24.x"]') }}
+        node-version: '${{ fromJSON(github.event_name == ''pull_request'' && ''["20.x"]'' || ''["20.x", "22.x", "24.x"]'') }}'
         shard:
           - 'cli'
           - 'others'
@@ -471,7 +481,6 @@ jobs:
     if: "github.repository == 'google-gemini/gemini-cli' && always()"
     needs:
       - 'lint'
-      - 'link_checker'
       - 'test_linux'
       - 'test_mac'
       - 'test_windows'
@@ -482,7 +491,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: 'Check all job results'
         run: |
           if [[ (${NEEDS_LINT_RESULT} != 'success' && ${NEEDS_LINT_RESULT} != 'skipped') || \
-               (${NEEDS_LINK_CHECKER_RESULT} != 'success' && ${NEEDS_LINK_CHECKER_RESULT} != 'skipped') || \
                (${NEEDS_TEST_LINUX_RESULT} != 'success' && ${NEEDS_TEST_LINUX_RESULT} != 'skipped') || \
                (${NEEDS_TEST_MAC_RESULT} != 'success' && ${NEEDS_TEST_MAC_RESULT} != 'skipped') || \
                (${NEEDS_TEST_WINDOWS_RESULT} != 'success' && ${NEEDS_TEST_WINDOWS_RESULT} != 'skipped') || \
@@ -494,7 +502,6 @@ jobs:
           echo "All CI jobs passed!"
         env:
           NEEDS_LINT_RESULT: '${{ needs.lint.result }}'
-          NEEDS_LINK_CHECKER_RESULT: '${{ needs.link_checker.result }}'
           NEEDS_TEST_LINUX_RESULT: '${{ needs.test_linux.result }}'
           NEEDS_TEST_MAC_RESULT: '${{ needs.test_mac.result }}'
           NEEDS_TEST_WINDOWS_RESULT: '${{ needs.test_windows.result }}'

.github/workflows/content-check.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+name: '🔍 Content Check'
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - '**/*.md'
+      - '.github/workflows/content-check.yml'
+
+jobs:
+  link_checker:
+    name: 'Link Checker'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    if: "github.repository == 'google-gemini/gemini-cli'"
+    steps:
+      - name: 'Checkout'
+        uses: 'actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683' # ratchet:actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: 'Link Checker'
+        uses: 'lycheeverse/lychee-action@885c65f3dc543b57c898c8099f4e08c8afd178a2' # ratchet:lycheeverse/lychee-action@v2.6.1
+        with:
+          args: '--verbose --accept 200,503 ./**/*.md'
+          fail: true

.github/workflows/trigger_e2e.yml

@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@ on:
         required: false
         type: 'string'
   pull_request:
+    paths-ignore:
+      - 'docs/**'
+      - '**/*.md'
+      - '.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/**'
+      - '.github/pull_request_template.md'
+      - '.gitignore'
+      - '.editorconfig'
+      - 'LICENSE'
+      - 'CONTRIBUTING.md'
+      - 'ROADMAP.md'
+      - 'SECURITY.md'
 
 jobs:
   save_repo_name: