diff --git a/.github/test-filters.yml b/.github/test-filters.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..89f4322adea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/test-filters.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+all:
+  - "src/**"
+  - "test/**"
+  - "public/**"
+  # Workflows that can impact tests
+  - ".github/workflows/test*.yml"
+  - ".github/test-filters.yml"
+  # top-level files
+  - "package*.json"
+  - ".nvrmc" # Updates to node version can break tests
+  - "vite*" # vite.config.ts, vite.vitest.config.ts, vitest.workspace.ts
+  - "tsconfig*.json" # tsconfig.json tweaking can impact compilation
+  - "global.d.ts"
+  - ".env*"
+  # Blanket negations for files that cannot impact tests
+  - "!**/*.py" # No .py files
+  - "!**/*.sh" # No .sh files
+  - "!**/*.md" # No .md files
+  - "!**/.git*" # .gitkeep and family
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-shard-template.yml b/.github/workflows/test-shard-template.yml
index cee452f3a59..a1146cb3497 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-shard-template.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-shard-template.yml
@@ -12,11 +12,16 @@ on:
       totalShards:
         required: true
         type: number
+      skip:
+        required: true
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 jobs:
   test:
     name: Shard ${{ inputs.shard }} of ${{ inputs.totalShards }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !inputs.skip }}
     steps:
       - name: Check out Git repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4.2.2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index d9db8401f8e..f04a1987eff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -7,58 +7,30 @@ on:
     branches:
       - main # Trigger on push events to the main branch
       - beta # Trigger on push events to the beta branch
-      - release # Trigger on push events to the release branch
-    # go upvote https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/1182 and yell at microsoft until they fix this or ditch yml for workflows
-    paths:
-      # src and test files
-      - "src/**"
-      - "test/**"
-      - "public/**"
-      # Workflows that can impact tests
-      - ".github/workflows/test*.yml"
-      # top-level files
-      - "package*.json"
-      - ".nvrmc" # Updates to node version can break tests
-      - "vite.*.ts" # vite.config.ts, vite.vitest.config.ts, vitest.workspace.ts
-      - "tsconfig*.json" # tsconfig.json tweaking can impact compilation
-      - "global.d.ts"
-      - ".env.*"
-      # Blanket negations for files that cannot impact tests
-      - "!**/*.py" # No .py files
-      - "!**/*.sh" # No .sh files
-      - "!**/*.md" # No .md files
-      - "!**/.git*" # .gitkeep and family
-
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - main # Trigger on pull request events targeting the main branch
       - beta # Trigger on pull request events targeting the beta branch
-      - release # Trigger on pull request events targeting the release branch
-    paths: # go upvote https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/1182 and yell at microsoft because until then we have to duplicate this
-      # src and test files
-      - "src/**"
-      - "test/**"
-      - "public/**"
-      # Workflows that can impact tests
-      - ".github/workflows/test*.yml"
-      # top-level files
-      - "package*.json"
-      - ".nvrmc" # Updates to node version can break tests
-      - "vite*" # vite.config.ts, vite.vitest.config.ts, vitest.workspace.ts
-      - "tsconfig*.json" # tsconfig.json tweaking can impact compilation
-      - "global.d.ts"
-      - ".env.*"
-      # Blanket negations for files that cannot impact tests
-      - "!**/*.py" # No .py files
-      - "!**/*.sh" # No .sh files
-      - "!**/*.md" # No .md files
-      - "!**/.git*" # .gitkeep and family
   merge_group:
     types: [checks_requested]
 
 jobs:
+  check-path-change-filter:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: read
+    outputs:
+      all: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.all }}
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: dorny/paths-filter@de90cc6fb38fc0963ad72b210f1f284cd68cea36
+        with:
+          filters: .github/test-filters.yml
+
   run-tests:
     name: Run Tests
+    needs: check-path-change-filter
     strategy:
       matrix:
         shard: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
@@ -67,3 +39,4 @@ jobs:
       project: main
       shard: ${{ matrix.shard }}
       totalShards: 10
+      skip: ${{ needs.check-path-change-filter.outputs.all == 'false'}}