diff --git a/.ci/ansible/Containerfile.j2 b/.ci/ansible/Containerfile.j2
index a446f339..13b5ff05 100644
--- a/.ci/ansible/Containerfile.j2
+++ b/.ci/ansible/Containerfile.j2
@@ -10,9 +10,8 @@ ADD ./{{ item.origin }} {{ item.destination }}
 {%- endfor %}
 
 # This MUST be the ONLY call to pip install in inside the container.
-RUN pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel && \
-  rm -rf /root/.cache/pip && \
-  pip3 install {{ image.source }}
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv uv pip install --upgrade setuptools wheel && \
+  uv pip install {{ image.source }}
 {%- if image.upperbounds | default(false) -%}
 {{ " " }}-c ./{{ plugin_name }}/upperbounds_constraints.txt
 {%- endif -%}
@@ -22,8 +21,7 @@ RUN pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel && \
 {%- if image.ci_requirements | default(false) -%}
 {{ " " }}-r ./{{ plugin_name }}/ci_requirements.txt
 {%- endif -%}
-{{ " " }}-c ./{{ plugin_name }}/.ci/assets/ci_constraints.txt && \
-  rm -rf /root/.cache/pip
+{{ " " }}-c ./{{ plugin_name }}/.ci/assets/ci_constraints.txt
 
 {% if pulp_env is defined and pulp_env %}
 {% for key, value in pulp_env.items() %}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/before_script.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/before_script.sh
index 13809a87..cf24c186 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/before_script.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/before_script.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ echo
 echo "# Pulp config:"
 tail -v -n +1 .ci/ansible/settings/settings.*
 
+echo
+echo "# Pulp CLI config"
+tail -v -n +1 "../pulp-cli/tests/cli.toml"
+
 echo
 echo "# Containerfile:"
 tail -v -n +1 .ci/ansible/Containerfile
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh
index 5a4910e3..139ca45e 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh
@@ -142,9 +142,16 @@ else
     cmd_user_prefix bash -c "pytest -v --timeout=300 -r sx --color=yes --suppress-no-test-exit-code --durations=20 --pyargs pulp_python.tests.functional -m 'not parallel'"
   fi
 fi
+# some pulp-cli tests use the api root envvar
+export PULP_API_ROOT="$(EDITOR=cat pulp config edit 2>/dev/null | awk -F'"' '/api_root/{print $2; exit}')"
 pushd ../pulp-cli
-pip install -r test_requirements.txt
-pytest -v tests -m "pulp_python"
+if [[ -f "test_requirements.txt" ]]
+then
+  pip install -r test_requirements.txt
+  pytest -v tests -m "pulp_python"
+else
+  PULP_CA_BUNDLE="/usr/local/share/ca-certificates/pulp_webserver.crt" make livetest
+fi
 popd
 
 if [ -f "$POST_SCRIPT" ]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 00d2c3ec..bbe184af 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
 
+      - name: "Install uv"
+        uses: "astral-sh/setup-uv@v7"
+        with:
+          enable-cache: true
+
       - name: "Download plugin package"
         uses: "actions/download-artifact@v8"
         with:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f9262825..de27f224 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ extend-select = [
 
 [tool.ruff.lint.flake8-tidy-imports.banned-api]
 # This section is managed by the plugin template. Do not edit manually.
+"distutils".msg = "The 'distutils' module has been deprecated since Python 3.9."
 "pulpcore.app".msg = "The 'pulpcore' apis must only be consumed via 'pulpcore.plugin'."
 
 [tool.ruff.lint.isort]