diff --git a/.github/scripts/get_plugin_slug.sh b/.github/scripts/get_plugin_slug.sh
index 2035c0f1..3244bd4a 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/get_plugin_slug.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get_plugin_slug.sh
@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@ set -e
 BASE_SHA="$1"
 HEAD_SHA="$2"
 
-git fetch --prune --unshallow 2>/dev/null || git fetch --prune
+# The checkout's blobless history covers this diff, and --no-renames stops git from
+# fetching blobs to detect renames.
 
 # Get changed files in plugins subdirectories
 if [ "$BASE_SHA" = "main" ]; then
-  CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only HEAD~1 HEAD | grep '^plugins/[^/]\+/' || true)
+  CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --no-renames --name-only HEAD~1 HEAD | grep '^plugins/[^/]\+/' || true)
 else
-  CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only "$BASE_SHA" "$HEAD_SHA" | grep '^plugins/[^/]\+/' || true)
+  CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --no-renames --name-only "$BASE_SHA" "$HEAD_SHA" | grep '^plugins/[^/]\+/' || true)
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$CHANGED_FILES" ]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/code-quality.yml b/.github/workflows/code-quality.yml
index ddcd46e2..98485eb5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/code-quality.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/code-quality.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,15 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # get_plugin_slug.sh diffs against history, so fetch all of it without file contents.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Get changed plugin directory
         id: plugin
@@ -83,6 +92,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: PHP Code Quality for ${{ matrix.plugin }}
         uses: ./.github/actions/code-quality
diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeception.yml b/.github/workflows/codeception.yml
index 4ed93c04..65a30721 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/codeception.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeception.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,15 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # get_plugin_slug.sh diffs against history, so fetch all of it without file contents.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Get changed plugin directory
         id: plugin
@@ -88,6 +97,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
       - name: ${{ matrix.plugin }} codeception tests
         uses: ./.github/actions/codeception
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml
index fb25003a..3c3a689b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # get_plugin_slug.sh diffs against history, so fetch all of it without file contents.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Get changed plugin directory
         id: plugin
@@ -82,6 +91,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Setup Node.js
         uses: actions/setup-node@v4
@@ -104,8 +120,10 @@ jobs:
           composer-options: '--no-progress --optimize-autoloader --no-dev'
 
       - name: Install playwright browsers
-        # Use the locked @playwright/test, and only Chromium since that's all the config runs
-        run: pnpm exec playwright install --with-deps chromium
+        # Use the locked @playwright/test, and only Chromium since that's all the config runs.
+        # Skip --with-deps because the runner image has Chromium's libraries and its apt
+        # step has hung for up to 40 minutes.
+        run: pnpm exec playwright install chromium
         working-directory: plugins/${{ env.PLUGIN }}
 
       - name: Start wp-env
@@ -116,7 +134,3 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run Playwright tests
         run: pnpm test:e2e
         working-directory: plugins/${{ env.PLUGIN }}
-
-      - name: Stop wp-env
-        run: pnpm wp-env stop
-        working-directory: plugins/${{ env.PLUGIN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/plugin-artifact-for-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/plugin-artifact-for-pr.yml
index 227fea6d..e770bbf1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/plugin-artifact-for-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/plugin-artifact-for-pr.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # get_plugin_slug.sh diffs against history, so fetch all of it without file contents.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Get changed plugin directories
         id: plugin
@@ -39,6 +48,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Create plugin artifact for ${{ matrix.plugin }}
         uses: ./.github/actions/create-plugin-artifact
diff --git a/.github/workflows/plugin-check.yml b/.github/workflows/plugin-check.yml
index ec9f00e8..94fa121a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/plugin-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/plugin-check.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # get_plugin_slug.sh diffs against history, so fetch all of it without file contents.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Get changed plugin directories
         id: plugin
@@ -74,6 +83,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Skip the example sites' uploads.zip files (590 MB), which plugin jobs don't use.
+          filter: blob:none
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            /*
+            !**/wp-env/uploads.zip
 
       - name: Setup PHP and install production dependencies
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-php-composer