diff --git a/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh b/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
index 2ca2654a207..7aa0c3544ee 100755
--- a/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
+++ b/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -uo pipefail
 
-category="${1:?usage: classify_changes.sh <backend|client>}"
+category="${1:?usage: classify_changes.sh <backend|client|ui>}"
 
 has_client=false
 has_backend=false
+has_ci=false
 while IFS= read -r file || [ -n "$file" ]; do
   [ -n "$file" ] || continue
   case "$file" in
     ui/* | tests/e2e/ui/*) has_client=true ;;
     docs/* | *.md | *.mdx) : ;;
+    .github/* | .circleci/*) has_ci=true; has_backend=true ;;
     *) has_backend=true ;;
   esac
 done
@@ -21,6 +23,9 @@ case "$category" in
   client)
     { [ "$has_client" = true ] || [ "$has_backend" = true ]; } && echo run || echo skip
     ;;
+  ui)
+    { [ "$has_client" = true ] || [ "$has_ci" = true ]; } && echo run || echo skip
+    ;;
   *)
     echo run
     ;;
diff --git a/.github/actions/detect-backend-changes/action.yml b/.github/actions/detect-backend-changes/action.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 6e6019e4af9..00000000000
--- a/.github/actions/detect-backend-changes/action.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-name: "Detect backend-relevant changes"
-description: >-
-  Classify the pull request's changed files with .circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
-  and expose decision=run|skip. decision=skip means only ui/**, **.md or **.mdx files
-  changed, so callers can short-circuit expensive steps while the job still completes
-  successfully and satisfies its required status check. The file list comes from the
-  pull request itself rather than from a git diff, because the checked-out merge ref is
-  recomputed as the base branch advances and would otherwise attribute the base
-  branch's own commits to the pull request. The decision defaults to run for any non
-  pull_request event or whenever the changed set cannot be resolved, so tests are never
-  skipped when the classification is uncertain.
-
-inputs:
-  github-token:
-    description: "Token used to list the pull request's files; needs pull-requests: read"
-    required: false
-    default: ${{ github.token }}
-
-outputs:
-  decision:
-    description: "run when backend-relevant files changed, otherwise skip"
-    value: ${{ steps.classify.outputs.decision }}
-
-runs:
-  using: composite
-  steps:
-    - id: classify
-      shell: bash
-      env:
-        GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
-        REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
-        PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
-        CHANGED_FILE_COUNT: ${{ github.event.pull_request.changed_files }}
-      run: bash "${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/../../scripts/detect_backend_changes.sh"
diff --git a/.github/actions/detect-changes/action.yml b/.github/actions/detect-changes/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9b22d2c23a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/detect-changes/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+name: "Detect relevant changes"
+description: >-
+  Classify the pull request's changed files with .circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
+  and expose decision=run|skip for one category. backend means anything outside ui/,
+  docs/ and markdown; ui means the dashboard sources alone. decision=skip lets callers
+  short-circuit expensive steps while the job still completes successfully and satisfies
+  its required status check, which a paths: filter cannot do because a workflow that
+  never starts never reports. The file list comes from the pull request itself rather
+  than from a git diff, because the checked-out merge ref is recomputed as the base
+  branch advances and would otherwise attribute the base branch's own commits to the
+  pull request. The decision defaults to run for any non pull_request event or whenever
+  the changed set cannot be resolved, so jobs are never skipped when the classification
+  is uncertain.
+
+inputs:
+  category:
+    description: "Which classification to apply: backend, client or ui"
+    required: false
+    default: backend
+  github-token:
+    description: "Token used to list the pull request's files; needs pull-requests: read"
+    required: false
+    default: ${{ github.token }}
+
+outputs:
+  decision:
+    description: "run when category-relevant files changed, otherwise skip"
+    value: ${{ steps.classify.outputs.decision }}
+
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - id: classify
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
+        CATEGORY: ${{ inputs.category }}
+        REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+        PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+        CHANGED_FILE_COUNT: ${{ github.event.pull_request.changed_files }}
+      run: bash "${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/../../scripts/detect_changes.sh"
diff --git a/.github/scripts/detect_backend_changes.sh b/.github/scripts/detect_changes.sh
similarity index 80%
rename from .github/scripts/detect_backend_changes.sh
rename to .github/scripts/detect_changes.sh
index 7be49992b37..2d427c92fb5 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/detect_backend_changes.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/detect_changes.sh
@@ -2,15 +2,16 @@
 set -uo pipefail
 
 readonly API_FILE_CEILING=3000
+readonly CATEGORY="${CATEGORY:-backend}"
 
 decide() {
-  echo "detect-backend-changes: decision=$1"
+  echo "detect-changes[${CATEGORY}]: decision=$1"
   [ -z "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-}" ] || echo "decision=$1" >>"${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
   exit 0
 }
 
 run_full() {
-  echo "detect-backend-changes: $1; running job"
+  echo "detect-changes[${CATEGORY}]: $1; running job"
   decide run
 }
 
@@ -30,10 +31,10 @@ changed="$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}/files" --paginate --jq '.[].
   run_full "could not list the files on PR #${PR_NUMBER}"
 [ -n "${changed}" ] || run_full "the API listed no files on PR #${PR_NUMBER}"
 
-echo "detect-backend-changes: files changed by PR #${PR_NUMBER}:"
+echo "detect-changes[${CATEGORY}]: files changed by PR #${PR_NUMBER}:"
 printf '%s\n' "${changed}" | sed 's/^/  /'
 
-decision="$(printf '%s\n' "${changed}" | bash "${classify}" backend)" ||
+decision="$(printf '%s\n' "${changed}" | bash "${classify}" "${CATEGORY}")" ||
   run_full "classify_changes.sh failed"
 case "${decision}" in
 run | skip) decide "${decision}" ;;
diff --git a/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml b/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml
index 6ad240717e8..4f4339a360a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/_test-unit-base.yml
@@ -72,24 +72,27 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
-      - name: Detect backend-relevant changes
+      - name: Detect relevant changes
         id: changes
         timeout-minutes: 2
-        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-backend-changes
+        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
 
       - name: Set up Python
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         timeout-minutes: 3
         uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
       - name: Set up uv
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         timeout-minutes: 3
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-uv-with-retries
         with:
           version: "0.10.9"
 
       - name: Cache uv dependencies
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         timeout-minutes: 5
         uses: actions/cache@0057852bfaa89a56745cba8c7296529d2fc39830 # v4.3.0
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-linting.yml b/.github/workflows/test-linting.yml
index 69495cff896..7a0ae0faaa0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-linting.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-linting.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
     # re-running basedpyright over the merge-base tree.
     permissions:
       contents: read
+      pull-requests: read
       actions: read
 
     steps:
@@ -37,7 +38,12 @@ jobs:
           clean: true
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Detect relevant changes
+        id: changes
+        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
+
       - name: Fetch gate base (merge-base with target branch)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           BASE_SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
@@ -50,39 +56,47 @@ jobs:
           echo "GATE_BASE_SHA=$MERGE_BASE" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
 
       - name: Set up Python
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
       - name: Set up uv
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-uv-with-retries
         with:
           version: "0.10.9"
 
       - name: Clean Python cache
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           find . -type d -name "__pycache__" -exec rm -rf {} + || true
           find . -name "*.pyc" -delete || true
 
       - name: Check uv.lock is up to date
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv lock --check || (echo "❌ uv.lock is out of sync with pyproject.toml. Run 'uv lock' locally and commit the result." && exit 1)
 
       - name: Install dependencies
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv sync --frozen --group proxy-dev --group e2e-dev
 
       - name: Cache Prisma binaries
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: ./.github/actions/cache-prisma-binaries
 
       # basedpyright resolves Prisma's generated client (litellm/proxy/schema.prisma)
       # only after `prisma generate` writes prisma/client.py et al. Without this the
       # DB wrappers typed against the generated client would degrade to Unknown.
       - name: Generate Prisma client
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync prisma generate --schema litellm/proxy/schema.prisma
 
       - name: Check ruff format
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           git diff --name-only --diff-filter=ACMR "$GATE_BASE_SHA" HEAD -- 'litellm/**/*.py' | grep -v '^litellm/enterprise/' > "$RUNNER_TEMP/ruff_format_files.txt" || true
           if [ ! -s "$RUNNER_TEMP/ruff_format_files.txt" ]; then
@@ -92,6 +106,7 @@ jobs:
           xargs uv run --no-sync ruff format --check --exclude '/enterprise/' < "$RUNNER_TEMP/ruff_format_files.txt"
 
       - name: Debug - Check file state
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           echo "Current branch:"
           git branch --show-current
@@ -101,30 +116,36 @@ jobs:
           head -50 litellm/litellm_core_utils/custom_logger_registry.py | tail -10
 
       - name: Run Ruff linting
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           cd litellm
           uv run --no-sync ruff check .
           cd ..
 
       - name: Check strict-rule budget (delta vs base)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync python scripts/ruff_strict_gate.py --base "$GATE_BASE_SHA"
 
       - name: Check type-discipline budget (mutable collections / casts / type guards / kwargs / unexplained suppressions, delta vs base)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync python scripts/type_discipline_gate.py --base "$GATE_BASE_SHA"
 
       - name: Print OpenAI version
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync python -c "import openai; print(f'OpenAI version: {openai.__version__}')"
 
       - name: Check basedpyright budget (delta vs base)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync python scripts/type_check_gate.py --base "$GATE_BASE_SHA"
 
       - name: Check tests/e2e basedpyright (zero errors)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           if git diff --name-only --diff-filter=ACMRD "$GATE_BASE_SHA" HEAD -- 'tests/e2e/**/*.py' | grep -q .; then
             uv run --no-sync basedpyright tests/e2e
@@ -133,12 +154,14 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
       - name: Check for circular imports
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           cd litellm
           uv run --no-sync python ../tests/documentation_tests/test_circular_imports.py
           cd ..
 
       - name: Check import safety
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync python -c "from litellm import *" || (echo '🚨 import failed, this means you introduced unprotected imports! 🚨'; exit 1)
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-build.yml b/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-build.yml
index 618b0195b5a..b3a07a6e0ff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-build.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 name: UI Build Check
 permissions:
   contents: read
+  pull-requests: read
 
 on:
   pull_request:
@@ -28,7 +29,14 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Detect relevant changes
+        id: changes
+        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
+        with:
+          category: ui
+
       - name: Setup Node.js
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/setup-node@a0853c24544627f65ddf259abe73b1d18a591444 # v5.0.0
         with:
           node-version-file: ui/litellm-dashboard/.nvmrc
@@ -36,7 +44,9 @@ jobs:
           cache-dependency-path: ui/litellm-dashboard/package-lock.json
 
       - name: Install dependencies
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: npm ci
 
       - name: Build
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: npm run build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml b/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml
index 69cbc082d98..a7329432be5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 name: UI Unit Tests
 permissions:
   contents: read
+  pull-requests: read
 
 on:
   pull_request:
@@ -32,7 +33,14 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: 1
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Detect relevant changes
+        id: changes
+        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
+        with:
+          category: ui
+
       - name: Setup Node.js
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/setup-node@a0853c24544627f65ddf259abe73b1d18a591444 # v5.0.0
         with:
           node-version-file: ui/litellm-dashboard/.nvmrc
@@ -40,14 +48,17 @@ jobs:
           cache-dependency-path: ui/litellm-dashboard/package-lock.json
 
       - name: Install dependencies
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: npm ci
 
       - name: Run UI type tests (Vitest)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         env:
           CI: "true"
         run: npm run test:types
 
       - name: Run UI unit tests (Vitest)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         env:
           CI: "true"
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml b/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml
index 05cc13d0af2..95187ef2835 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-mcp.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ on:
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
+  pull-requests: read
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.sha }}
@@ -25,26 +26,34 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Detect relevant changes
+        id: changes
+        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
+
       - name: Thank You Message
         run: |
           echo "### 🙏 Thank you for contributing to LiteLLM!" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           echo "Your PR is being tested now. We appreciate your help in making LiteLLM better!" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
 
       - name: Set up Python
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
       - name: Set up uv
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-uv-with-retries
         with:
           version: "0.10.9"
 
       - name: Install dependencies
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv lock --check
           .github/scripts/uv_sync_with_retries.sh --frozen --group proxy-dev --extra proxy --extra semantic-router
 
       - name: Run MCP tests
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         run: |
           uv run --no-sync pytest tests/mcp_tests -x -vv -n 4 --cov=./litellm --cov-report=xml --durations=5
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-unit-documentation.yml b/.github/workflows/test-unit-documentation.yml
index 00566e13f53..cb8035aafa1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-unit-documentation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-unit-documentation.yml
@@ -32,28 +32,32 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Detect relevant changes
+        id: changes
+        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-changes
+
       - name: Checkout litellm-docs into docs/my-website (for documentation_tests)
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955 # v4.3.0
         with:
           repository: BerriAI/litellm-docs
           path: docs/my-website
           persist-credentials: false
 
-      - name: Detect backend-relevant changes
-        id: changes
-        uses: ./.github/actions/detect-backend-changes
-
       - name: Set up Python
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
       - name: Set up uv
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-uv-with-retries
         with:
           version: "0.10.9"
 
       - name: Cache uv dependencies
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.decision != 'skip'
         uses: actions/cache@0057852bfaa89a56745cba8c7296529d2fc39830 # v4.3.0
         with:
           path: |
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/test_circleci_path_filter.py b/tests/test_litellm/test_circleci_path_filter.py
index b8e763b4979..b427a1a3bd8 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/test_circleci_path_filter.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/test_circleci_path_filter.py
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ category, it prints `run` or `skip`. The gating contract we lock in here:
   * docs-only changes (``*.md``, ``*.mdx``, ``docs/``) run nothing
   * client-only changes (``ui/``) run client jobs but skip backend jobs
   * any backend change runs both client and backend jobs
+  * ``ui`` tracks ``ui/`` plus CI config, so a backend-only change skips it
+    where ``client`` would still run, while a change to the workflows that
+    define the dashboard jobs still exercises them
 
 If this logic silently regresses, real test jobs get skipped, so these cases
 are the guardrail against that.
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@ def classify(category: str, changed: list[str]) -> str:
 DOCS = ["README.md", "docs/my_website/index.mdx", "litellm/anywhere.md"]
 CLIENT = ["ui/litellm-dashboard/src/App.tsx"]
 BACKEND = ["litellm/main.py"]
+CI = [".github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml"]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -48,20 +52,27 @@ BACKEND = ["litellm/main.py"]
         # docs-only: skip everything
         ("backend", DOCS, "skip"),
         ("client", DOCS, "skip"),
+        ("ui", DOCS, "skip"),
         ("backend", [], "skip"),
         ("client", [], "skip"),
+        ("ui", [], "skip"),
         # client-only: backend skips, client runs
         ("backend", CLIENT, "skip"),
         ("client", CLIENT, "run"),
+        ("ui", CLIENT, "run"),
         ("backend", CLIENT + DOCS, "skip"),
         ("client", CLIENT + DOCS, "run"),
+        ("ui", CLIENT + DOCS, "run"),
         # any backend change: both run ("backend runs both")
         ("backend", BACKEND, "run"),
         ("client", BACKEND, "run"),
+        ("ui", BACKEND, "skip"),
         ("backend", BACKEND + DOCS, "run"),
         ("client", BACKEND + DOCS, "run"),
+        ("ui", BACKEND + DOCS, "skip"),
         ("backend", BACKEND + CLIENT, "run"),
         ("client", BACKEND + CLIENT, "run"),
+        ("ui", BACKEND + CLIENT, "run"),
     ],
 )
 def test_classify_decisions(category: str, changed: list[str], expected: str) -> None:
@@ -71,6 +82,31 @@ def test_classify_decisions(category: str, changed: list[str], expected: str) ->
 def test_markdown_under_ui_counts_as_client_not_docs() -> None:
     assert classify("client", ["ui/litellm-dashboard/README.md"]) == "run"
     assert classify("backend", ["ui/litellm-dashboard/README.md"]) == "skip"
+    assert classify("ui", ["ui/litellm-dashboard/README.md"]) == "run"
+
+
+def test_ci_config_changes_reach_every_category() -> None:
+    """A workflow edit has to exercise the jobs it defines, otherwise the change
+    ships unvalidated: the dashboard jobs would skip on the very pull request
+    that rewrites them."""
+    assert classify("ui", CI) == "run"
+    assert classify("backend", CI) == "run"
+    assert classify("client", CI) == "run"
+
+
+def test_markdown_under_dot_github_is_still_docs() -> None:
+    """`.github/**` counting as CI config must not drag the pull request template
+    and other markdown back into running the full suite."""
+    assert classify("ui", [".github/pull_request_template.md"]) == "skip"
+    assert classify("backend", [".github/pull_request_template.md"]) == "skip"
+
+
+def test_ui_and_client_diverge_on_a_backend_only_change() -> None:
+    """`client` gates CircleCI's dashboard end-to-end jobs, which drive a real
+    proxy and so must run on backend changes. `ui` gates the dashboard build and
+    its unit tests, which cannot see the backend at all."""
+    assert classify("client", BACKEND) == "run"
+    assert classify("ui", BACKEND) == "skip"
 
 
 def test_non_docs_directory_with_docs_in_name_is_backend() -> None:
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/test_detect_backend_changes.py b/tests/test_litellm/test_detect_changes.py
similarity index 73%
rename from tests/test_litellm/test_detect_backend_changes.py
rename to tests/test_litellm/test_detect_changes.py
index 527d4143a9c..d8feb2371a3 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/test_detect_backend_changes.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/test_detect_changes.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 """Regression tests for the GitHub Actions change-based job gating.
 
-`.github/scripts/detect_backend_changes.sh` decides whether a pull request's
-backend unit-test jobs do real work. It asks the API which files the pull
-request touches and hands them to `classify_changes.sh`. The contract locked in
-here:
+`.github/scripts/detect_changes.sh` decides whether a pull request's jobs do
+real work. It asks the API which files the pull request touches and hands them
+to `classify_changes.sh` under one category. The contract locked in here:
 
   * a UI-only pull request skips backend jobs even when the checked-out merge
     ref carries backend commits from the base branch
+  * the ui category is the mirror image: it skips when only backend files
+    changed, so a backend-only PR stops building and unit-testing the dashboard
   * anything the classification cannot resolve (no pull request, an API
     failure, a truncated file list, a broken classifier) runs the job
 """
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ import subprocess
 from pathlib import Path
 
 REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
-SCRIPT = REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "scripts" / "detect_backend_changes.sh"
+SCRIPT = REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "scripts" / "detect_changes.sh"
 CLASSIFIER = REPO_ROOT / ".circleci" / "scripts" / "classify_changes.sh"
 
 UI_FILE = "ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/Teams.tsx"
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ def _run(
     changed_file_count: str | None = None,
     gh_exit_code: int = 0,
     classifier_body: str | None = None,
+    category: str | None = None,
 ) -> tuple[str, str]:
     """Run the script against a stubbed `gh`; returns (decision, stdout)."""
     bin_dir = tmp_path / "bin"
@@ -102,6 +104,10 @@ def _run(
     env["REPO"] = "BerriAI/litellm"
     env["PR_NUMBER"] = pr_number
     env["CHANGED_FILE_COUNT"] = changed_file_count if changed_file_count is not None else str(len(files))
+    if category is not None:
+        env["CATEGORY"] = category
+    else:
+        env.pop("CATEGORY", None)
 
     tree = _scripts_tree(tmp_path, classifier_body)
     result = subprocess.run(
@@ -187,3 +193,43 @@ def test_unexpected_classifier_output_runs(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     )
     assert decision == "decision=run"
     assert "unexpected decision: maybe" in stdout
+
+
+def test_ui_category_skips_a_backend_only_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """The dashboard build and its unit tests cannot be affected by a pull request
+    that touches no `ui/` file, and the `client` category cannot express that
+    because it deliberately runs whenever the backend changes."""
+    decision, _ = _run(tmp_path, files=[BACKEND_FILE], category="ui")
+    assert decision == "decision=skip"
+
+
+def test_ui_category_runs_a_ui_only_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    decision, _ = _run(tmp_path, files=[UI_FILE], category="ui")
+    assert decision == "decision=run"
+
+
+def test_ui_category_runs_a_mixed_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    decision, _ = _run(tmp_path, files=[UI_FILE, BACKEND_FILE], category="ui")
+    assert decision == "decision=run"
+
+
+def test_absent_category_still_runs_a_backend_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Callers that pass no category keep the pre-existing backend behaviour."""
+    assert _run(tmp_path, files=[BACKEND_FILE])[0] == "decision=run"
+
+
+def test_absent_category_still_skips_a_ui_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    assert _run(tmp_path, files=[UI_FILE])[0] == "decision=skip"
+
+
+def test_ui_category_fails_open_when_the_api_fails(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    decision, stdout = _run(tmp_path, files=[], gh_exit_code=1, category="ui")
+    assert decision == "decision=run"
+    assert "detect-changes[ui]" in stdout
+
+
+def test_ui_category_runs_when_the_ui_workflows_themselves_change(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Without this the dashboard jobs would skip on the pull request that edits
+    them, shipping a workflow change nothing ever exercised."""
+    decision, _ = _run(tmp_path, files=[".github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml"], category="ui")
+    assert decision == "decision=run"