diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/tests-pr.yml
index 880eca5f8b1..3165c915e66 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests-pr.yml
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ jobs:
           node-version: ${{ env.DEFAULT_NODE_VERSION }}
       - name: Build
         run: pnpm build --output-style=stream
+      - name: Check commands snapshot
+        run: node bin/check-commands-snapshot.js
       - name: Refresh manifests
         run: pnpm refresh-manifests
       - name: Check if there are changes
@@ -222,6 +224,9 @@ jobs:
   e2e-tests:
     name: "E2E tests (shard ${{ matrix.shard }})"
     if: github.event_name == 'merge_group' || github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
+    # Gate on build and type-check so a PR that doesn't compile never reaches
+    # Playwright — those failures belong to the build lane, not to E2E.
+    needs: [type-check, bundle]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 20
     continue-on-error: true
diff --git a/bin/check-commands-snapshot.js b/bin/check-commands-snapshot.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..33a334596c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/check-commands-snapshot.js
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import {spawnSync} from 'node:child_process'
+import {mkdtempSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync} from 'node:fs'
+import {tmpdir} from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import {fileURLToPath} from 'node:url'
+
+// Verifies that `shopify commands --tree` matches the committed snapshot.
+// This proves every command can load, and catches command additions/removals
+// that were not regenerated. It used to run inside the Playwright E2E suite,
+// where its failures were misclassified as E2E flake.
+
+const repoRoot = path.dirname(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)))
+const cliBin = path.join(repoRoot, 'packages/cli/bin/run.js')
+const snapshotPath = path.join(repoRoot, 'packages/e2e/data/snapshots/commands.txt')
+
+const errorMessage = `
+SNAPSHOT TEST FAILED!
+
+The result of 'shopify commands --tree' has changed! We run this to check that
+all commands can load successfully.
+
+It's normal to see this test fail when you add or remove a command in the CLI.
+In this case you can run this command to regenerate the snapshot file:
+
+$ pnpm test:regenerate-snapshots
+
+Then you can commit this change and this test will pass.
+
+If instead you didn't mean to change a command, UH OH. Check the commands in
+the diff below and figure out what is broken.
+`
+
+const normalize = (value) => value.replace(/\r\n/g, '\n').trimEnd()
+
+const env = {...process.env, FORCE_COLOR: '0'}
+delete env.DEBUG
+
+const result = spawnSync('node', [cliBin, 'commands', '--tree'], {encoding: 'utf8', env})
+
+if (result.status !== 0) {
+  console.error(`::error::commands --tree failed (exit ${result.status})\nstdout: ${result.stdout}\nstderr: ${result.stderr}`)
+  process.exit(1)
+}
+
+const actual = normalize(result.stdout)
+const expected = normalize(readFileSync(snapshotPath, 'utf8'))
+
+if (actual !== expected) {
+  console.error(errorMessage)
+  const actualPath = path.join(mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'commands-snapshot-')), 'commands.txt')
+  writeFileSync(actualPath, `${actual}\n`)
+  spawnSync('git', ['diff', '--no-index', snapshotPath, actualPath], {stdio: 'inherit'})
+  process.exit(1)
+}
+
+console.log('commands --tree matches snapshot')
diff --git a/packages/e2e/tests/commands.spec.ts b/packages/e2e/tests/commands.spec.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 9171bd2ee14..00000000000
--- a/packages/e2e/tests/commands.spec.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-/* eslint-disable no-restricted-imports */
-import {cliFixture as test} from '../setup/cli.js'
-import {expect} from '@playwright/test'
-import * as fs from 'fs/promises'
-import * as path from 'path'
-import {fileURLToPath} from 'url'
-
-const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
-const snapshotPath = path.join(__dirname, '../data/snapshots/commands.txt')
-
-const errorMessage = `
-SNAPSHOT TEST FAILED!
-
-The result of 'shopify commands --tree' has changed! We run this to check that
-all commands can load successfully.
-
-It's normal to see this test fail when you add or remove a command in the CLI.
-In this case you can run this command to regenerate the snapshot file:
-
-$ pnpm test:regenerate-snapshots
-
-Then you can commit this change and this test will pass.
-
-If instead you didn't mean to change a command, UH OH. Check the commands in
-the diff below and figure out what is broken.
-`
-
-const normalize = (value: string) => value.replace(/\r\n/g, '\n').trimEnd()
-
-test.describe('Command snapshot', () => {
-  test('shopify commands --tree matches snapshot', async ({cli}) => {
-    const result = await cli.exec(['commands', '--tree'])
-    expect(result.exitCode, `commands --tree failed:\nstdout: ${result.stdout}\nstderr: ${result.stderr}`).toBe(0)
-
-    const snapshot = await fs.readFile(snapshotPath, {encoding: 'utf8'})
-    expect(normalize(result.stdout), errorMessage).toBe(normalize(snapshot))
-  })
-})