diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..972dcbdae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+name: Setup runner
+description: Prepare a runner for the tests (install uv, python, project dependencies, etc.)
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Install uv
+      uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
+      with:
+        python-version: "3.10"
+        activate-environment: true
+        version: 0.7.6
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        uv sync --all-extras
+        uv pip install ollama faiss-cpu
+        # always test against the latest version of the client
+        # TODO: this is not necessarily a good idea. we need to test against both published and latest
+        # to find out backwards compatibility issues.
+        uv pip install git+https://github.com/meta-llama/llama-stack-client-python.git@main
+        uv pip install -e .
diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-auth-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-auth-tests.yml
index 994bd1dec..25f696c9e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-auth-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-auth-tests.yml
@@ -30,16 +30,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-          activate-environment: true
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
-      - name: Set Up Environment and Install Dependencies
+      - name: Build Llama Stack
         run: |
-          uv sync --extra dev --extra test
-          uv pip install -e .
           llama stack build --template ollama --image-type venv
 
       - name: Install minikube
@@ -109,7 +104,6 @@ jobs:
           yq eval '.server.auth.config.jwks = {"uri": "${{ env.KUBERNETES_API_SERVER_URL }}"}' -i $run_dir/run.yaml
           cat $run_dir/run.yaml
 
-          source .venv/bin/activate
           nohup uv run llama stack run $run_dir/run.yaml --image-type venv > server.log 2>&1 &
 
       - name: Wait for Llama Stack server to be ready
diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
index da41e2185..2414522a7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
@@ -32,24 +32,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-          activate-environment: true
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Setup ollama
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-ollama
 
-      - name: Set Up Environment and Install Dependencies
+      - name: Build Llama Stack
         run: |
-          uv sync --extra dev --extra test
-          uv pip install ollama faiss-cpu
-          # always test against the latest version of the client
-          # TODO: this is not necessarily a good idea. we need to test against both published and latest
-          # to find out backwards compatibility issues.
-          uv pip install git+https://github.com/meta-llama/llama-stack-client-python.git@main
-          uv pip install -e .
           llama stack build --template ollama --image-type venv
 
       - name: Start Llama Stack server in background
@@ -57,7 +47,6 @@ jobs:
         env:
           INFERENCE_MODEL: "meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct"
         run: |
-          source .venv/bin/activate
           LLAMA_STACK_LOG_FILE=server.log nohup uv run llama stack run ./llama_stack/templates/ollama/run.yaml --image-type venv &
 
       - name: Wait for Llama Stack server to be ready
@@ -85,6 +74,7 @@ jobs:
             echo "Ollama health check failed"
             exit 1
           fi
+
       - name: Check Storage and Memory Available Before Tests
         if: ${{ always() }}
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml b/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml
index 3c1682833..cf53459b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml
@@ -50,21 +50,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.10'
-
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-
-      - name: Install LlamaStack
-        run: |
-          uv venv
-          source .venv/bin/activate
-          uv pip install -e .
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Print build dependencies
         run: |
@@ -79,7 +66,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Print dependencies in the image
         if: matrix.image-type == 'venv'
         run: |
-          source test/bin/activate
           uv pip list
 
   build-single-provider:
@@ -88,21 +74,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.10'
-
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-
-      - name: Install LlamaStack
-        run: |
-          uv venv
-          source .venv/bin/activate
-          uv pip install -e .
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Build a single provider
         run: |
@@ -114,21 +87,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.10'
-
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-
-      - name: Install LlamaStack
-        run: |
-          uv venv
-          source .venv/bin/activate
-          uv pip install -e .
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Build a single provider
         run: |
@@ -152,21 +112,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.10'
-
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-
-      - name: Install LlamaStack
-        run: |
-          uv venv
-          source .venv/bin/activate
-          uv pip install -e .
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Pin template to UBI9 base
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-external-providers.yml b/.github/workflows/test-external-providers.yml
index 2e18fc5eb..06ab7cf3c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-external-providers.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-external-providers.yml
@@ -25,15 +25,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Install uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
-
-      - name: Set Up Environment and Install Dependencies
-        run: |
-          uv sync --extra dev --extra test
-          uv pip install -e .
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Apply image type to config file
         run: |
@@ -59,7 +52,6 @@ jobs:
         env:
           INFERENCE_MODEL: "meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct"
         run: |
-          source ci-test/bin/activate
           uv run pip list
           nohup uv run --active llama stack run tests/external-provider/llama-stack-provider-ollama/run.yaml --image-type ${{ matrix.image-type }} > server.log 2>&1 &
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
index d2dd34e05..fc0459f0f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
@@ -30,17 +30,11 @@ jobs:
           - "3.12"
           - "3.13"
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python }}
-
-      - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python }}
-          enable-cache: false
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Run unit tests
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-readthedocs.yml b/.github/workflows/update-readthedocs.yml
index 04e23bca9..981332a77 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-readthedocs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-readthedocs.yml
@@ -37,16 +37,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
 
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.11'
-
-      - name: Install the latest version of uv
-        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@6b9c6063abd6010835644d4c2e1bef4cf5cd0fca # v6.0.1
-
-      - name: Sync with uv
-        run: uv sync --extra docs
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
       - name: Build HTML
         run: |