ci: skip slow lint/code-quality/mcp/server-root-path jobs on docs/ui-only PRs

[devin-ai-integration]

Relevant issues

Follow-up to #32532 (merged); rebased onto and targeting litellm_internal_staging

Linear ticket

Pre-Submission checklist

Please complete all items before asking a LiteLLM maintainer to review your PR

• I have added meaningful tests
• My PR passes all CI/CD checks (e.g., lint, format, unit tests)
• My PR's scope is as isolated as possible; it only solves 1 specific problem
• I have received a Greptile Confidence Score of at least 4/5 before requesting a maintainer review

Screenshots / Proof of Fix

This is a CI-config change, so the proof is the classification the gate uses (.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh, the same script CircleCI and the composite action run) for representative diffs:

== docs-only (README.md) ==
  backend: skip
  client:  skip
== ui-only (ui/litellm-dashboard/foo.tsx) ==
  backend: skip
  client:  run
== backend (litellm/x.py) ==
  backend: run
  client:  run

So a docs-only PR skips every gated job; a ui-only PR skips the backend-only checks (lint, code-quality, mcp) but still runs the UI-serving server-root-path e2e; a backend PR runs everything, unchanged

Validated end-to-end on a throwaway docs-only PR (single README comment line, since closed): lint, budget-ratchet, code-quality, test (mcp) and both test-server-root-path legs all reported green in seconds with their heavy steps skipped, while secret-scan still ran. The server-root-path job log showed changed files vs <base>: README.md -> decision=skip -> straight to post-job cleanup (~5s instead of ~11m)

Type

🚄 Infrastructure

Changes

#32532 stopped stranding required checks on ui-only PRs for the 12 test-unit-* workflows, but the other slow PR checks never had any path filter and kept running on every PR (including docs-only ones); the timings on #32539 showed server-root-path at ~11m, plus lint/code-quality/mcp and the CircleCI Windows job all running for a one-line README change

This extends the exact same mechanism to those jobs. The steps still run inside a job that completes successfully (like CircleCI's step halt), so required checks report green rather than sitting on "waiting for status to be reported"

The detect-backend-changes composite action now takes a category input (default backend, so #32532's callers are unchanged) that it forwards to classify_changes.sh:

• backend -> skip when only ui/**, **.md, **.mdx changed. Used by test-linting (the lint and non-gating budget-ratchet jobs; secret-scan is intentionally left running on every PR), test-code-quality, and test-mcp
• client -> skip only when the change is pure docs, so ui/** changes still run. Used by test_server_root_path because it is a UI-serving e2e (builds the image, curls /ui/, runs Playwright); this mirrors CircleCI's e2e_ui_testing_server_root_path which is already category client

On the CircleCI side, using_litellm_on_windows was the only job without skip_if_unrelated_changes, so it ran on every PR (~5m45s). It now runs path_filter.sh backend first; since the Windows executor defaults to PowerShell, the guard step sets shell: bash.exe so the bash script and circleci-agent step halt resolve

Deliberate call worth a look: whether server-root-path should be client (skip only pure-docs, keep running on ui-only, as here) or backend (also skip on ui-only). I went with client since it validates UI serving, but it is a one-word flip if you'd rather skip it on ui-only too

Link to Devin session: https://app.devin.ai/sessions/01543c7d72924959bdd52dc138bb4a20
Requested by: @mateo-berri

[devin-ai-integration]

🤖 Devin AI Engineer

I'll be helping with this pull request! Here's what you should know:

✅ I will automatically:

• Address comments on this PR. Add '(aside)' to your comment to have me ignore it.
• Look at CI failures and help fix them

Note: I can only respond to comments from users who have write access to this repository.

⚙️ Control Options:

• Disable automatic comment, CI, and merge conflict monitoring

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This PR extends the docs/UI-only skip mechanism (from #32532) to four additional workflows — test-linting, test-code-quality, test-mcp, and test_server_root_path — plus the CircleCI Windows job, by adding a category input to the detect-backend-changes composite action and wiring it through classify_changes.sh.

• The category: backend path skips when only ui/**, **.md, or **.mdx files changed; category: client skips only on pure-docs changes so UI-serving e2e tests still run on UI-only PRs. The classify_changes.sh logic is correct for both cases.
• The CircleCI Windows job uses shell: bash.exe to run the bash path-filter script under PowerShell, which is the correct approach for that executor.
• always() and failure() guards in test_server_root_path.yml are correctly narrowed with && steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip' so cleanup and artifact-upload steps don't attempt to operate on containers that were never started.

Confidence Score: 4/5

Safe to merge — the skip logic is correct and the fallback always defaults to run on uncertainty, so no legitimate test run can be accidentally suppressed.

The core classification logic in classify_changes.sh and the action wiring are correct. A handful of lightweight setup steps (Set up Python, Set up uv, Clean Python cache) are intentionally left ungated, adding a few seconds of overhead on skipped runs — minor efficiency gaps, not correctness issues. The secret-scan job remaining fully ungated is explicitly intentional.

No files require special attention. The ungated setup steps in test-mcp.yml and test-linting.yml are worth a look if CI minute costs become a concern, but they do not affect correctness.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
.circleci/config.yml	Adds path_filter.sh backend guard to the Windows job with shell: bash.exe for correct PowerShell-to-bash bridging.
.github/actions/detect-backend-changes/action.yml	Adds optional category input (default backend) passed through to classify_changes.sh; existing callers are unaffected.
.github/workflows/test-code-quality.yml	Adds detect-backend-changes action; all expensive steps are gated, but uv and cache setup steps still run on skipped PRs (minor overhead).
.github/workflows/test-linting.yml	Adds detect-backend-changes to both lint and budget-ratchet jobs; Set up Python, Set up uv, and Clean Python cache are ungated (minimal overhead); secret-scan intentionally left ungated.
.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml	Adds detect-backend-changes; Install dependencies and Run MCP tests are gated; Set up Python, Set up uv, and Thank You Message still run unconditionally.
.github/workflows/test_server_root_path.yml	Correctly uses category: client so UI-only PRs still run this e2e; always() and failure() guards are properly narrowed to avoid operating on non-existent containers when skipped.

_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "ci: skip slow lint/code-quality/mcp/serv..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!

[codspeed-hq]

Merging this PR will not alter performance

✅ 31 untouched benchmarks

---

_{Comparing litellm_ci_skip_slow_ui_docs_only (274f00f) with litellm_internal_staging (45f9bee)}