diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 4f10fceae29..ab7c849f122 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -8,31 +8,58 @@ env:
   BASENAME: "vorestation"
 
 jobs:
-  file_tests:
+
+  run_linters:
     name: Run Linters
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Ensure +x on CI directory
-        run: |
-          chmod -R +x ./tools/ci
-      - name: Install Tools
-        run: |
-          bash tools/ci/install_build_deps.sh
+      # Caches
       - name: Restore Yarn cache
-        if: "${{ contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'Type: TGUI Bundle') }}"
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
           path: tgui/.yarn/cache
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-${{ secrets.CACHE_PURGE_KEY }}-${{ hashFiles('tgui/yarn.lock') }}
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-${{ hashFiles('tgui/yarn.lock') }}
           restore-keys: |
-            ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ secrets.CACHE_PURGE_KEY }}-
-            ${{ runner.os }}-build-
-            ${{ runner.os }}-
-      - name: Run Tests
+            ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-
+      - name: Restore Node cache
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/.nvm
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('dependencies.sh') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            ${{ runner.os }}-node-
+      - name: Restore Bootstrap cache
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: tools/bootstrap/.cache
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-bootstrap-${{ hashFiles('tools/requirements.txt') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            ${{ runner.os }}-bootstrap-
+      - name: Restore Rust cache
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/.cargo
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-rust-${{ hashFiles('tools/ci/ci_dependencies.sh')}}
+          restore-keys: |
+            ${{ runner.os }}-rust-
+      - name: Restore Cutter cache
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: tools/icon_cutter/cache
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-cutter-${{ hashFiles('dependencies.sh') }}
+      # End Caches
+      - name: Install Tools
         run: |
-          tools/ci/validate_files.sh
-          tools/ci/build_tgui.sh
+          pip3 install setuptools
+          bash tools/ci/install_node.sh
+          bash tools/ci/install_ripgrep.sh
+          tools/bootstrap/python -c ''
+      - name: Run Grep Checks
+        run: tools/ci/validate_files.sh
+      - name: Run TGUI Checks
+        run: tools/build/build --ci lint tgui-test
 
   dreamchecker:
     name: DreamChecker
@@ -68,7 +95,7 @@ jobs:
         map: ['tether', 'stellar_delight', 'groundbase']
     # name: Integration Tests (${{ matrix.map }})
     name: Integration Tests
-    # needs: ['file_tests', 'dreamchecker']
+    # needs: ['run_linters', 'dreamchecker']
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -119,7 +146,7 @@ jobs:
 
   tests_successful:
     name: Integration Tests
-    needs: ['file_tests', 'dreamchecker', 'unit_tests']
+    needs: ['run_linters', 'dreamchecker', 'unit_tests']
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     steps:
       - name: Report Success
diff --git a/_build_dependencies.sh b/_build_dependencies.sh
index a66b3a5a867..2edcacda857 100644
--- a/_build_dependencies.sh
+++ b/_build_dependencies.sh
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ export BYOND_MAJOR=515
 # Byond Minor
 export BYOND_MINOR=1637
 # Macro Count
-export MACRO_COUNT=4
+export MACRO_COUNT=8
diff --git a/dependencies.sh b/dependencies.sh
index cba44327e5c..57e14e9c8cd 100644
--- a/dependencies.sh
+++ b/dependencies.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export NODE_VERSION_COMPAT=20.2.0
 export SPACEMAN_DMM_VERSION=suite-1.8
 
 # Python version for mapmerge and other tools
-export PYTHON_VERSION=3.9.0
+export PYTHON_VERSION=3.8.10
 
 #dreamluau repo
 export DREAMLUAU_REPO="tgstation/dreamluau"
diff --git a/tools/bootstrap/node b/tools/bootstrap/node
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tools/bootstrap/python b/tools/bootstrap/python
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tools/build/build b/tools/build/build
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tools/build/build.bat b/tools/build/build.bat
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tools/build/build.js b/tools/build/build.js
index fb3f93d5ab5..5f1a1019400 100644
--- a/tools/build/build.js
+++ b/tools/build/build.js
@@ -182,12 +182,13 @@ export const IconCutterTarget = new Juke.Target({
       .map((file) => file.replace(`.dmi.toml`, '.png'));
   },
   executes: async () => {
-    await Juke.exec(cutter_path, [
-      '--dont-wait',
-      '--templates',
-      'cutter_templates',
-      'icons',
-    ]);
+    // Don't run icon cutter, we don't use it and it's not compiled for ubuntu 20.04
+    // await Juke.exec(cutter_path, [
+    //   '--dont-wait',
+    //   '--templates',
+    //   'cutter_templates',
+    //   'icons',
+    // ]);
   },
 });
 
diff --git a/tools/ci/build_tgui.sh b/tools/ci/build_tgui.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tools/ci/ci_dependencies.sh b/tools/ci/ci_dependencies.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fd1bee5ea88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci/ci_dependencies.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+#Project dependencies file
+#Contains versions of programs that we might need to install for CI purposes - do not add anything here that is REQUIRED to run the project, this is just for CI.
+
+export RIPGREP_VERSION=14.0.3
diff --git a/tools/ci/compile_and_run.sh b/tools/ci/compile_and_run.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index d991773ec71..ae58fa18074
--- a/tools/ci/compile_and_run.sh
+++ b/tools/ci/compile_and_run.sh
@@ -25,12 +25,11 @@ elif grep -q '#include[[:space:]]\"maps\\groundbase\\groundbase.dm\"' $BASENAME.
 fi
 
 # Compile a copy of the codebase, and print errors as Github Actions annotations
-DreamMaker $BASENAME.dme > compile.log
+tools/build/build --ci dm -DCIBUILDING -DCITESTING
 exitVal=$?
-cat compile.log
-if [ $exitVal -gt 0 ]; then
-	sed -E -n 's/^(.+?\.dm):([0-9]+):(error|warning): (.+)$/::\3 file=\1,line=\2::\4/gp' < compile.log
-fi
+# if [ $exitVal -gt 0 ]; then
+# 	sed -E -n 's/^(.+?\.dm):([0-9]+):(error|warning): (.+)$/::\3 file=\1,line=\2::\4/gp'
+# fi
 
 # Compile failed on map_test
 if [ $exitVal -gt 0 ] && [ $TEST_DEFINE = "MAP_TEST" ]; then
diff --git a/tools/ci/install_build_deps.sh b/tools/ci/install_build_deps.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index e59934c1e2f..00000000000
--- a/tools/ci/install_build_deps.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -euo pipefail
-
-source _build_dependencies.sh
-
-source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
-nvm install $NODE_VERSION
-nvm use $NODE_VERSION
-npm install --location=global yarn
-
-pip install --user PyYaml -q
-pip install --user beautifulsoup4 -q
diff --git a/tools/ci/install_byond.sh b/tools/ci/install_byond.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/tools/ci/install_node.sh b/tools/ci/install_node.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..906984ed3fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci/install_node.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source dependencies.sh
+
+if [[ -e ~/.nvm/nvm.sh ]]; then
+	source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
+	nvm install $NODE_VERSION_COMPAT
+	nvm use $NODE_VERSION_COMPAT
+fi
diff --git a/tools/ci/install_ripgrep.sh b/tools/ci/install_ripgrep.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..455027d93a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci/install_ripgrep.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source tools/ci/ci_dependencies.sh
+
+cargo install ripgrep --features pcre2 --version $RIPGREP_VERSION
diff --git a/tools/ci/validate_files.sh b/tools/ci/validate_files.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 034bd222c8f..a97d28fe782
--- a/tools/ci/validate_files.sh
+++ b/tools/ci/validate_files.sh
@@ -1,51 +1,86 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# nb: must be bash to support shopt globstar
+shopt -s globstar extglob
 
 source _build_dependencies.sh
 
+# ANSI Colors
 RED='\033[0;31m'
-NC='\033[0m'
+GREEN="\033[0;32m"
+BLUE="\033[0;34m"
+NC='\033[0m' # No color
+
 FAILED=0
 
+# check for ripgrep
+if command -v rg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	grep=rg
+	pcre2_support=1
+	if [ ! rg -P '' >/dev/null 2>&1 ] ; then
+		pcre2_support=0
+	fi
+	code_files="code/**/**.dm"
+	map_files="maps/**/**.dmm"
+	# shuttle_map_files="_maps/shuttles/**.dmm"
+	# code_x_515="code/**/!(__byond_version_compat).dm"
+else
+	pcre2_support=0
+	grep=grep
+	code_files="-r --include=code/**/**.dm"
+	map_files="-r --include=maps/**/**.dmm"
+	# shuttle_map_files="-r --include=_maps/shuttles/**.dmm"
+	# code_x_515="-r --include=code/**/!(__byond_version_compat).dm"
+fi
+
+echo -e "${BLUE}Using grep provider at $(which $grep)${NC}"
+
+part=0
+section() {
+	echo -e "${BLUE}Checking for $1${NC}..."
+	part=0
+}
+
+part() {
+	part=$((part+1))
+	padded=$(printf "%02d" $part)
+	echo -e "${GREEN} $padded- $1${NC}"
+}
+
+section "map issues"
+
+part "step_[xy]"
 #Checking for step_x/step_y defined in any maps anywhere.
-(! grep 'step_[xy]' maps/**/*.dmm)
+(! $grep 'step_[xy]' $map_files)
 retVal=$?
 if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
   echo -e "${RED}The variables 'step_x' and 'step_y' are present on a map, and they 'break' movement ingame.${NC}"
   FAILED=1
 fi
 
-#Checking for 'tag' set to something on maps
-(! grep -Pn '( |\t|;|{)tag( ?)=' maps/**/*.dmm)
-retVal=$?
-if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
-  echo -e "${RED}A map has 'tag' set on an atom. It may cause problems and should be removed.${NC}"
-  FAILED=1
-fi
-
-#Checking for broken HTML tags (didn't close the quote for class)
-(! grep -En "<\s*span\s+class\s*=\s*('[^'>]+|[^'>]+')\s*>" **/*.dm)
-retVal=$?
-if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
-  echo -e "${RED}A broken span tag class is present (check quotes).${NC}"
-  FAILED=1
-fi
-
+part "test map included"
 #Checking for any 'checked' maps that include 'test'
-(! grep 'maps\\.*test.*' *.dme)
+(! $grep 'maps\\.*test.*' *.dme)
 retVal=$?
 if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
   echo -e "${RED}A map containing the word 'test' is included. This is not allowed to be committed.${NC}"
   FAILED=1
 fi
 
-#Check for weird indentation in any .dm files
-awk -f tools/indentation.awk **/*.dm
-retVal=$?
-if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
-  echo -e "${RED}Indention testing failed. Please see results and fix indentation.${NC}"
-  FAILED=1
-fi
+section "code issues"
 
+part "indentation"
+echo -e "${RED}DISABLED"
+#Check for weird indentation in any .dm files
+# awk -f tools/indentation.awk $code_files
+# retVal=$?
+# if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
+#   echo -e "${RED}Indention testing failed. Please see results and fix indentation.${NC}"
+#   FAILED=1
+# fi
+
+part "changelog"
 #Checking for a change to html/changelogs/example.yml
 md5sum -c - <<< "ea467b7b75774b41ecdf35e07091d96f *html/changelogs/example.yml"
 retVal=$?
@@ -54,20 +89,57 @@ if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
   FAILED=1
 fi
 
+part "color macros"
 #Checking for color macros
-(num=`grep -E '\\\\(red|blue|green|black|b|i[^mc])' **/*.dm | wc -l`; echo "$num escapes (expecting ${MACRO_COUNT} or less)"; [ $num -le ${MACRO_COUNT} ])
+(num=`$grep -n '\\\\(red|blue|green|black|b|i[^mc])' $code_files | wc -l`; echo "$num escapes (expecting ${MACRO_COUNT} or less)"; [ $num -le ${MACRO_COUNT} ])
 retVal=$?
 if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
   echo -e "${RED}Do not use any byond color macros (such as \blue), they are deprecated.${NC}"
   FAILED=1
 fi
 
+part "html tag matching"
 #Checking for missed tags
-python tools/TagMatcher/tag-matcher.py ../..
-retVal=$?
-if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
-  echo -e "${RED}Some HTML tags are missing their opening/closing partners. Please correct this.${NC}"
-  FAILED=1
+echo -e "${RED}DISABLED"
+# python tools/TagMatcher/tag-matcher.py ../..
+# retVal=$?
+# if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
+#   echo -e "${RED}Some HTML tags are missing their opening/closing partners. Please correct this.${NC}"
+#   FAILED=1
+# fi
+
+if [ "$pcre2_support" -eq 1 ]; then
+	section "regexes requiring PCRE2"
+
+	part "tag"
+	#Checking for 'tag' set to something on maps
+	(! $grep -Pn '( |\t|;|{)tag( ?)=' $map_files)
+	retVal=$?
+	if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
+		echo -e "${RED}A map has 'tag' set on an atom. It may cause problems and should be removed.${NC}"
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	part "broken html"
+	# echo -e "${RED}DISABLED"
+	#Checking for broken HTML tags (didn't close the quote for class)
+	(! $grep -Pn "<\s*span\s+class\s*=\s*('[^'>]+|[^'>]+')\s*>" $code_files)
+	retVal=$?
+	if [ $retVal -ne 0 ]; then
+		echo -e "${RED}A broken span tag class is present (check quotes).${NC}"
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+else
+	echo -e "${RED}pcre2 not supported, skipping checks requiring pcre2"
+	echo -e "if you want to run these checks install ripgrep with pcre2 support.${NC}"
+fi
+
+if [ $FAILED = 0 ]; then
+    echo
+    echo -e "${GREEN}No errors found using $grep!${NC}"
+else
+    echo
+    echo -e "${RED}Errors found, please fix them and try again.${NC}"
 fi
 
 # Quit with our status code
diff --git a/tools/requirements.txt b/tools/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2d9bf2fbcdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+pygit2==1.7.2
+bidict==0.22.0
+Pillow==9.3.0
+
+# changelogs
+PyYaml==6.0.1
+beautifulsoup4==4.9.3
+
+# ezdb
+mysql-connector-python==8.0.33
+
+# icon cutter
+numpy==1.24.4