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Scan Changed Files Only in CI

Use --changed-only to scan just the files touched in a pull request, keeping PR pipelines fast while reserving full scans for scheduled runs.

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This recipe uses --changed-only to scan just the files a pull request touches, so PR pipelines stay fast. It is for teams whose full-repository scans are too slow to run on every commit.

When to use changed-only scans

A full scan measures the whole codebase. On large repositories that can be slow for every PR. Scanning only changed files gives quick feedback on what the author actually modified, while a scheduled full scan keeps the overall trend honest.

The command

npx @vibgrate/cli scan --changed-only

Post-install:

vg scan --changed-only

This restricts the scan to files changed relative to the comparison point, rather than the entire project.

Combining with a gate

Pair changed-only with a quality gate so fast PR feedback can still block regressions:

vg scan --changed-only --fail-on error

Pair with a full scheduled scan

Changed-only scans can miss drift in files the PR did not touch. Run a full scan on a schedule to catch repo-wide drift. See Schedule nightly Vibgrate scans in CI.

Caching

Changed-only scans still benefit from the Vibgrate cache for unchanged context. See Cache Vibgrate scans in CI.

Related

  • Monorepo matrix scans for splitting large repos by package.
  • Gate pull requests on a drift budget for numeric gating.

Related Commands