Trigger tests using PR comments

.github/workflows/build_and_test_maxtext.yml

@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ on:
   pull_request:
   workflow_call:
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      force_scheduled_run:
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
   schedule:
     # Run the job every 4 hours
     - cron:  '0 */4 * * *'
@@ -154,7 +158,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       flavor: ${{ matrix.flavor }}
       base_image: maxtext-unit-test-tpu:py312
-      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' }}
+      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event.inputs.force_scheduled_run == 'true' }}
       maxtext_sha: ${{ needs.build_and_upload_maxtext_package.outputs.maxtext_sha }}
 
   gpu-tests:
@@ -169,7 +173,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       flavor: ${{ matrix.flavor }}
       base_image: maxtext-unit-test-cuda12:py312
-      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' }}
+      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event.inputs.force_scheduled_run == 'true' }}
       maxtext_sha: ${{ needs.build_and_upload_maxtext_package.outputs.maxtext_sha }}
 
   cpu-tests:
@@ -184,7 +188,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       flavor: ${{ matrix.flavor }}
       base_image: maxtext-unit-test-tpu:py312
-      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' }}
+      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event.inputs.force_scheduled_run == 'true' }}
       maxtext_sha: ${{ needs.build_and_upload_maxtext_package.outputs.maxtext_sha }}
 
   maxtext_tpu_pathways_unit_tests:
@@ -203,7 +207,7 @@ jobs:
       xla_python_client_mem_fraction: 0.75
       tf_force_gpu_allow_growth: false
       container_resource_option: "--privileged"
-      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' }}
+      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event.inputs.force_scheduled_run == 'true' }}
       maxtext_sha: ${{ needs.build_and_upload_maxtext_package.outputs.maxtext_sha }}
 
   maxtext_tpu_pathways_integration_tests:
@@ -222,7 +226,7 @@ jobs:
       xla_python_client_mem_fraction: 0.75
       tf_force_gpu_allow_growth: false
       container_resource_option: "--privileged"
-      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' }}
+      is_scheduled_run: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event.inputs.force_scheduled_run == 'true' }}
       maxtext_sha: ${{ needs.build_and_upload_maxtext_package.outputs.maxtext_sha }}
 
   all_tests_passed:

.github/workflows/pr_comment_commands.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+name: PR Comment Commands
+
+on:
+  issue_comment:
+    types: [created]
+
+permissions:
+  actions: write
+  pull-requests: write
+  issues: write
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  trigger_workflows:
+    name: Trigger Workflows via Comment
+    # Only run if it's a pull request comment, and the author is a collaborator/member/owner
+    if: |
+      github.event.issue.pull_request != null &&
+      contains(fromJSON('["OWNER", "MEMBER", "COLLABORATOR"]'), github.event.comment.author_association)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Parse and Dispatch Comment Command
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          COMMENT_BODY: ${{ github.event.comment.body }}
+          ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+        run: |
+          # Normalize comment body (lowercase, trim whitespace)
+          COMMENT=$(echo "$COMMENT_BODY" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | xargs)
+
+          echo "Processing comment: '$COMMENT'"
+
+          # Get PR branch name using gh CLI
+          PR_BRANCH=$(gh pr view "$ISSUE_NUMBER" --json headRefName --jq '.headRefName' --repo "$REPO")
+          echo "PR branch ref is '$PR_BRANCH'"
+
+          MATCHED=false
+          WORKFLOW_NAME=""
+          PARAMS=()
+
+          # 1. Match "test this please" / "test this pr" / "run tests"
+          if [[ "$COMMENT" =~ ^(test this please|test this pr|run tests)$ ]]; then
+            MATCHED=true
+            WORKFLOW_NAME="build_and_test_maxtext.yml"
+            PARAMS=(-f force_scheduled_run=false)
+
+          # 2. Match "run scheduled tests"
+          elif [[ "$COMMENT" == "run scheduled tests" ]]; then
+            MATCHED=true
+            WORKFLOW_NAME="build_and_test_maxtext.yml"
+            PARAMS=(-f force_scheduled_run=true)
+          fi
+
+          if [ "$MATCHED" = "true" ]; then
+            echo "Dispatching workflow $WORKFLOW_NAME with parameters: ${PARAMS[*]}"
+
+            # Dispatch the workflow
+            gh workflow run "$WORKFLOW_NAME" --ref "$PR_BRANCH" "${PARAMS[@]}" --repo "$REPO"
+          else
+            echo "No matching command found in comment."
+          fi

.github/workflows/run_jupyter_notebooks.yml

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ jobs:
           MAXTEXT_INSTALLED: ${{ inputs.maxtext_installed }}
           # TODO: Fix evaluation in sft_qwen3_demo.ipynb and remove this env variable
           RUN_EVALUATION: "False"
+          CI_STEPS: "2"
         run: |
           if [ "${MAXTEXT_INSTALLED}" == "true" ]; then
             # Move to the directory where code is baked into the image. See the Dockerfile.