diff --git a/.woodpecker.yml b/.woodpecker.yml
index ab38db329..99dc16489 100644
--- a/.woodpecker.yml
+++ b/.woodpecker.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ variables:
   - &rust_image "rust:1.76"
   - &install_pnpm "corepack enable pnpm"
   - &slow_check_paths
-    - path:
+    - event: pull_request
+      path:
         include: [
             # rust source code
             "crates/**",
@@ -40,21 +41,29 @@ steps:
       - apk add git
       - git submodule init
       - git submodule update
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   prettier_check:
     image: tmknom/prettier:3.0.0
     commands:
       - prettier -c . '!**/volumes' '!**/dist' '!target' '!**/translations' '!api_tests/pnpm-lock.yaml'
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   toml_fmt:
     image: tamasfe/taplo:0.8.1
     commands:
       - taplo format --check
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   sql_fmt:
     image: backplane/pgformatter:latest
     commands:
       - ./scripts/sql_format_check.sh
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   cargo_fmt:
     image: rustlang/rust:nightly
@@ -64,6 +73,8 @@ steps:
     commands:
       - rustup component add rustfmt
       - cargo +nightly fmt -- --check
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   cargo_machete:
     image: rustlang/rust:nightly
@@ -73,6 +84,8 @@ steps:
       - cp cargo-binstall /usr/local/cargo/bin
       - cargo binstall -y cargo-machete
       - cargo machete
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   ignored_files:
     image: alpine:3
@@ -80,6 +93,8 @@ steps:
       - apk add git
       - IGNORED=$(git ls-files --cached -i --exclude-standard)
       - if [[ "$IGNORED" ]]; then echo "Ignored files present:\n$IGNORED\n"; exit 1; fi
+    when:
+      - event: pull_request
 
   # make sure api builds with default features (used by other crates relying on lemmy api)
   check_api_common_default_features:
@@ -200,7 +215,8 @@ steps:
       - cat target/log/lemmy_*.out || true
       - "# If you can't see all output, then use the download button"
     when:
-      - status: [failure]
+      - event: pull_request
+        status: failure
 
   publish_release_docker:
     image: woodpeckerci/plugin-docker-buildx
@@ -247,7 +263,8 @@ steps:
       - apk add curl
       - "curl -d'Lemmy CI build failed: ${CI_PIPELINE_URL}' ntfy.sh/lemmy_drone_ci"
     when:
-      - status: [failure]
+      - event: pull_request
+        status: failure
 
   notify_on_tag_deploy:
     image: alpine:3