diff --git a/.github/workflows/Semgrep.yml b/.github/workflows/Semgrep.yml
index f31369bec..db7c26752 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/Semgrep.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/Semgrep.yml
@@ -16,8 +16,15 @@ permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
+  # Docs-only PRs skip the semgrep scan; a skipped required check is treated as
+  # passing by branch protection. Non-PR events (push, schedule) always scan.
+  # See .github/workflows/_changes.yml.
+  changes:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_changes.yml
+
   semgrep:
     # User definable name of this GitHub Actions job.
+    needs: [changes]
     permissions:
       contents: read  # for actions/checkout to fetch code
       security-events: write  # for github/codeql-action/upload-sarif to upload SARIF results
@@ -38,11 +45,14 @@ jobs:
     # branch — the Create Release PR workflow posts the required checks for it).
     # The release gate is keyed on the PR author, not the branch name (which any
     # contributor controls), so a "release/…" branch can't bypass required checks.
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]'
       && !(github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
 
     steps:
       # Fetch project source with GitHub Actions Checkout.
@@ -57,4 +67,4 @@ jobs:
         uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@3c3833e0f8c1c83d449a7478aa59c036a9165498 # v3.29.11
         with:
           sarif_file: semgrep.sarif
-        if: always()
\ No newline at end of file
+        if: always()
diff --git a/.github/workflows/_changes.yml b/.github/workflows/_changes.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42fcc44dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/_changes.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+name: changes
+
+# Reusable detector shared by the PR-triggered CI workflows (lint, typecheck,
+# test, windows, executable-check, semgrep). It reports a single output, `code`,
+# which is 'true' when the triggering pull request changes anything other than
+# documentation, and 'false' for docs-only PRs.
+#
+# Docs allowlist: *.md, *.txt, README*, LICENSE, docs/**. Anything else --
+# source, lockfiles, Dockerfiles, Makefiles, the workflows themselves -- counts
+# as code and forces the full suite to run.
+#
+# Callers gate their heavy jobs on `needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true'`. A
+# docs-only PR therefore SKIPS those jobs, and GitHub branch protection treats a
+# skipped required check as passing, so the PR can still merge with zero tests.
+#
+# Fail-safe by construction: only a clean docs-only `pull_request` yields
+# 'false'. Any other event (push, workflow_dispatch, schedule), an empty or
+# failed diff, or any non-docs path yields 'true' (full CI).
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    outputs:
+      code:
+        description: "true when non-docs files changed (or for non-PR events)"
+        value: ${{ jobs.detect.outputs.code }}
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  detect:
+    name: Detect changes
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      code: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.code }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - id: detect
+        name: Detect non-docs changes
+        env:
+          EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
+          BASE_REF: ${{ github.base_ref }}
+        run: |
+          code=true
+          if [ "$EVENT_NAME" = "pull_request" ]; then
+            files="$(git diff --name-only "origin/${BASE_REF}...HEAD" || true)"
+            echo "Changed files:"; printf '%s\n' "$files"
+            if [ -n "$files" ] && ! printf '%s\n' "$files" | grep -qvE '(\.md|\.txt)$|(^|/)README[^/]*$|(^|/)LICENSE$|^docs/'; then
+              code=false
+            fi
+          fi
+          echo "Resolved code=$code (docs-only PR => code=false => skip CI)"
+          echo "code=$code" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/executable-check.yml b/.github/workflows/executable-check.yml
index 335905545..f16c22a9b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/executable-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/executable-check.yml
@@ -21,17 +21,25 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+  # Docs-only PRs skip the executable build; see .github/workflows/_changes.yml.
+  changes:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_changes.yml
+
   verify:
     name: Build & verify executable
+    needs: [changes]
     # Skip CI only for the automated release PR: opened by github-actions[bot],
     # from this same repo, on a release/* branch (the Create Release PR workflow
     # posts the required checks as passing for it). Keyed on the PR author, not the
     # branch name, so a "release/…" branch can't be used to bypass required checks.
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
     runs-on: macos-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v5
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index c86ab011a..894ed1788 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -8,17 +8,27 @@ permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
+  # Resolve whether this PR touches anything other than docs. Docs-only PRs skip
+  # the lint job below; a skipped required check is treated as passing by branch
+  # protection. See .github/workflows/_changes.yml.
+  changes:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_changes.yml
+
   lint:
     name: Lint
+    needs: [changes]
     # Skip CI only for the automated release PR: opened by github-actions[bot],
     # from this same repo, on a release/* branch (the Create Release PR workflow
     # posts the required checks as passing for it). Keyed on the PR author, not the
     # branch name, so a "release/…" branch can't be used to bypass required checks.
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index d83506518..baa868b0f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -5,18 +5,27 @@ on:
   pull_request:
   workflow_dispatch:
 jobs:
+  # Docs-only PRs skip build/test/regression below; a skipped required check is
+  # treated as passing by branch protection. See .github/workflows/_changes.yml.
+  changes:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_changes.yml
+
   build:
     name: Build
+    needs: [changes]
     # Skip CI only for the automated release PR: opened by github-actions[bot],
     # from this same repo, on a release/* branch (the Create Release PR workflow
     # posts the required checks as passing for it). The gate is keyed on the PR
     # author — NOT the branch name, which any contributor controls — so a PR from
     # a "release/…" branch can't be used to bypass required checks.
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
@@ -46,12 +55,15 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: Test ${{ matrix.package }}
     # Skip only for the automated release PR (see the build job for rationale).
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
-    needs: [build]
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
+    needs: [changes, build]
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-latest]
@@ -154,12 +166,15 @@ jobs:
   regression:
     name: Regression
     # Skip only for the automated release PR (see the build job for rationale).
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
-    needs: [build]
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
+    needs: [changes, build]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 15
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/typecheck.yml b/.github/workflows/typecheck.yml
index 28284162e..5f83f1796 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/typecheck.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/typecheck.yml
@@ -8,17 +8,25 @@ permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
+  # Docs-only PRs skip typecheck; see .github/workflows/_changes.yml.
+  changes:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_changes.yml
+
   typecheck:
     name: Typecheck
+    needs: [changes]
     # Skip CI only for the automated release PR: opened by github-actions[bot],
     # from this same repo, on a release/* branch (the Create Release PR workflow
     # posts the required checks as passing for it). Keyed on the PR author, not the
     # branch name, so a "release/…" branch can't be used to bypass required checks.
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/windows.yml b/.github/workflows/windows.yml
index 6ab2edb02..cd45d28ae 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/windows.yml
@@ -5,17 +5,26 @@ on:
   pull_request:
   workflow_dispatch:
 jobs:
+  # Docs-only PRs skip build/test below; a skipped required check is treated as
+  # passing by branch protection. See .github/workflows/_changes.yml.
+  changes:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_changes.yml
+
   build:
     name: Build
+    needs: [changes]
     # Skip CI only for the automated release PR: opened by github-actions[bot],
     # from this same repo, on a release/* branch (the Create Release PR workflow
     # posts the required checks as passing for it). Keyed on the PR author, not the
     # branch name, so a "release/…" branch can't be used to bypass required checks.
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
     runs-on: windows-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
@@ -45,12 +54,15 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: Test ${{ matrix.package }}
     # Skip only for the automated release PR (see the build job for rationale).
+    # Also skipped for docs-only PRs (changes.code == 'false').
     if: >-
       ${{ !(github.event_name == 'pull_request'
       && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]'
       && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) }}
-    needs: [build]
+      && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/'))
+      && (github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+      || needs.changes.outputs.code == 'true') }}
+    needs: [changes, build]
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix: