diff --git a/.github/workflows/clang_sanitizers.yml b/.github/workflows/clang_sanitizers.yml
index e89cb676a03..a5610fcfb94 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/clang_sanitizers.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/clang_sanitizers.yml
@@ -5,19 +5,36 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-clangsanitizers
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   build_UB_sanitizer:
     name: Clang UB sanitizer
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     container: ubuntu:23.10
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CC: clang
       CXX: clang++
@@ -83,7 +100,8 @@ jobs:
     name: Clang thread sanitizer
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     container: ubuntu:23.10
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CC: clang
       CXX: clang++
diff --git a/.github/workflows/clang_tidy.yml b/.github/workflows/clang_tidy.yml
index edb3e8b1988..a236b03114b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/clang_tidy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/clang_tidy.yml
@@ -5,14 +5,30 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-clangtidy
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   run_clang_tidy:
     strategy:
       matrix:
@@ -20,13 +36,17 @@ jobs:
     name: clang-tidy-${{ matrix.dim }}D
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     timeout-minutes: 180
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    # NOTE if condition must be checked at every step due to matrix structure
+    #if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: install dependencies
+      if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
       run: |
         .github/workflows/dependencies/clang15.sh
     - name: set up cache
+      if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
       uses: actions/cache@v4
       with:
         path: ~/.cache/ccache
@@ -34,6 +54,7 @@ jobs:
         restore-keys: |
              ccache-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.job }}-git-
     - name: build WarpX & run clang-tidy
+      if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
       run: |
         export CCACHE_COMPRESS=1
         export CCACHE_COMPRESSLEVEL=10
diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
index e3549ae340a..6c212b2c208 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@@ -13,10 +13,29 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   analyze:
     name: Analyze
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     permissions:
       actions: read
       contents: read
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cuda.yml b/.github/workflows/cuda.yml
index 8d40aba553c..01226eb4698 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cuda.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cuda.yml
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-cuda
@@ -17,10 +15,29 @@ jobs:
 #   https://gitlab.com/nvidia/container-images/cuda/-/blob/master/dist/ubuntu18.04/10.1/base/Dockerfile
 #   https://github.com/ComputationalRadiationPhysics/picongpu/blob/0.5.0/share/picongpu/dockerfiles/ubuntu-1604/Dockerfile
 #   https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu1804/x86_64/
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   build_nvcc:
     name: NVCC 11.3 SP
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror"
       CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
@@ -101,7 +118,8 @@ jobs:
   build_nvcc_gnumake:
     name: NVCC 11.8.0 GNUmake
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: install dependencies
@@ -135,7 +153,8 @@ jobs:
   build_nvhpc24-1-nvcc:
     name: NVHPC@24.1 NVCC/NVC++ Release [tests]
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     #env:
     #  # For NVHPC, Ninja is slower than the default:
     #  CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
diff --git a/.github/workflows/hip.yml b/.github/workflows/hip.yml
index 6ab4e4a8401..20ec4de8694 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/hip.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/hip.yml
@@ -5,21 +5,38 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-hip
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   build_hip_3d_sp:
     name: HIP 3D SP
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     env:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror -Wno-deprecated-declarations -Wno-error=pass-failed"
       CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: install dependencies
@@ -78,7 +95,8 @@ jobs:
     env:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror -Wno-deprecated-declarations -Wno-error=pass-failed"
       CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: install dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/insitu.yml b/.github/workflows/insitu.yml
index 50b482d28d3..51f5e9f0863 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/insitu.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/insitu.yml
@@ -5,18 +5,35 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-insituvis
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   sensei:
     name: SENSEI
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXX: clang++
       CC: clang
@@ -42,7 +59,8 @@ jobs:
   ascent:
     name: Ascent
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXX: g++
       CC: gcc
@@ -82,7 +100,8 @@ jobs:
   catalyst:
     name: Catalyst
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXX: g++
       CC: gcc
diff --git a/.github/workflows/intel.yml b/.github/workflows/intel.yml
index 9b98c6e5990..d5384926b8f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/intel.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/intel.yml
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-intel
@@ -15,10 +13,29 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
 # Ref.: https://github.com/rscohn2/oneapi-ci
 # intel-basekit intel-hpckit are too large in size
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   build_icc:
     name: oneAPI ICC SP&DP
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     # For oneAPI, Ninja is slower than the default:
     #env:
     #  CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
@@ -86,7 +103,8 @@ jobs:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror -Wno-error=pass-failed -Wno-tautological-constant-compare"
     # For oneAPI, Ninja is slower than the default:
     #  CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: install dependencies
@@ -151,7 +169,8 @@ jobs:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror -Wno-tautological-constant-compare"
     # For oneAPI, Ninja is slower than the default:
     #  CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: install dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh
index 32af0fa8d6d..3099bf2b4fe 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ head_ref=${1}
 base_ref=${2}
 clone_url=${3}
 
-# Set paths to ignore
+# Set paths to ignore (FIXME update this before merging)
 paths_ignore="^(Docs|\.github)/|\.azure-pipelines\.yml$"
 
 # Add forked repository as remote
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ubuntu.yml b/.github/workflows/ubuntu.yml
index bbe20679781..30b025d2c1d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ubuntu.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ubuntu.yml
@@ -5,18 +5,35 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-ubuntu
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   build_cxxminimal:
     name: GCC Minimal w/o MPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror"
     steps:
@@ -54,7 +71,8 @@ jobs:
   build_1D_2D:
     name: GCC 1D & 2D w/ MPI, QED tools
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror"
       CXX: "g++-12"
@@ -101,7 +119,8 @@ jobs:
   build_3D_sp:
     name: GCC 3D & RZ w/ MPI, single precision
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CXX: "g++-12"
       CC: "gcc-12"
@@ -148,7 +167,8 @@ jobs:
   build_gcc_ablastr:
     name: GCC ABLASTR w/o MPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CMAKE_GENERATOR: Ninja
       CXXFLAGS: "-Werror"
@@ -184,7 +204,8 @@ jobs:
   build_pyfull:
     name: Clang pywarpx
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     env:
       CC: clang
       CXX: clang++
diff --git a/.github/workflows/windows.yml b/.github/workflows/windows.yml
index ae4843e0536..d06a495011f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/windows.yml
@@ -5,20 +5,37 @@ on:
     branches:
       - "development"
   pull_request:
-    paths-ignore:
-      - "Docs/**"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ github.head_ref }}-windows
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+
+  skip_checks:
+    name: Skip checks?
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Run PR analysis script
+        run: |
+          .github/workflows/scripts/check_diff.sh     \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }} \
+            ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.clone_url }}
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ env.SKIP_CHECKS }}
+
   build_win_msvc:
     name: MSVC C++17 w/o MPI
     runs-on: windows-latest
     # disabled due to issues in #5230
     if: 0
-    #if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    #needs: skip_checks
+    #if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
@@ -69,7 +86,8 @@ jobs:
   build_win_clang:
     name: Clang C++17 w/ OMP w/o MPI
     runs-on: windows-2019
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    needs: skip_checks
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.draft == false && needs.skip_checks.outputs.skip == false }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v5