diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-plugin.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-plugin.yml
index ce6742d527..b3ca88ca0c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-plugin.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync-plugin.yml
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches: [main]
     paths:
-      - 'skills/**'
-      - '.claude-plugin/**'
+      - '.claude-plugin/plugin.json'
 
 jobs:
   sync:
@@ -14,9 +13,26 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout CLI repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
+          fetch-depth: 2
           path: cli
 
+      - name: Check if version changed
+        id: version
+        run: |
+          cd cli
+          OLD=$(git show HEAD~1:.claude-plugin/plugin.json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.version' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+          NEW=$(jq -r '.version' .claude-plugin/plugin.json)
+          if [ "$OLD" = "$NEW" ]; then
+            echo "Version unchanged ($NEW), skipping sync"
+            echo "changed=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            echo "Version changed: $OLD → $NEW"
+            echo "changed=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "version=$NEW" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+
       - name: Checkout Plugin repo
+        if: steps.version.outputs.changed == 'true'
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           repository: firecrawl/firecrawl-claude-plugin
@@ -24,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
           path: plugin
 
       - name: Copy files
+        if: steps.version.outputs.changed == 'true'
         run: |
           # Sync skill files
           rm -rf plugin/skills/firecrawl-cli
@@ -33,20 +50,12 @@ jobs:
           cp cli/.claude-plugin/plugin.json plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
           cp cli/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json plugin/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
 
-      - name: Bump version
-        run: |
-          cd plugin
-          VERSION=$(jq -r '.version' .claude-plugin/plugin.json)
-          IFS='.' read -r MAJOR MINOR PATCH <<< "$VERSION"
-          NEW_VERSION="$MAJOR.$MINOR.$((PATCH + 1))"
-          jq --arg v "$NEW_VERSION" '.version = $v' .claude-plugin/plugin.json > tmp.json
-          mv tmp.json .claude-plugin/plugin.json
-          echo "NEW_VERSION=$NEW_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
       - name: Create PR
+        if: steps.version.outputs.changed == 'true'
         run: |
           cd plugin
-          BRANCH="sync/cli-v${{ env.NEW_VERSION }}"
+          VERSION="${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}"
+          BRANCH="sync/cli-v${VERSION}"
           git checkout -b "$BRANCH"
           git add -A
           if git diff --cached --quiet; then
@@ -55,12 +64,12 @@ jobs:
           fi
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git commit -m "Sync from firecrawl/cli — v${{ env.NEW_VERSION }}"
+          git commit -m "Sync from firecrawl/cli — v${VERSION}"
           git push origin "$BRANCH"
           gh pr create \
             --repo firecrawl/firecrawl-claude-plugin \
-            --title "Sync CLI changes → v${{ env.NEW_VERSION }}" \
-            --body "Automated sync from [firecrawl/cli](https://github.com/firecrawl/cli) main branch." \
+            --title "Sync CLI changes → v${VERSION}" \
+            --body "Automated sync from [firecrawl/cli](https://github.com/firecrawl/cli) main branch (v${VERSION})." \
             --base main \
             --head "$BRANCH"
         env: