diff --git a/.github/actions/pull-caches/action.yml b/.github/actions/pull-caches/action.yml
index 2f7f29ea0cc..c3c79ab93e9 100644
--- a/.github/actions/pull-caches/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/pull-caches/action.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ inputs:
     description: cache restore/dump key
     required: false
     default: "pypi-packages"
+  cache-torch-HF:
+    description: "cache torch and HF"
+    required: false
+    default: "true"
+  cache-references:
+    description: "cache metrics references"
+    required: false
+    default: "false"
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
@@ -67,6 +75,7 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Cache Torch & HF
+      if: inputs.cache-torch-HF == 'true' # since the input is string
       continue-on-error: true
       uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
       with:
@@ -75,6 +84,7 @@ runs:
         key: ci-caches
 
     - name: Restored Torch & HF
+      if: inputs.cache-torch-HF == 'true' # since the input is string
       run: |
         mkdir -p $CACHES_DIR
         pip install -q py-tree
@@ -83,7 +93,7 @@ runs:
 
     - name: Cache References
       # do not use this cache for dispatch and crone, to enable rebuild caches if needed
-      if: github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event_name != 'schedule'
+      if: github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event_name != 'schedule' && inputs.cache-references == 'true'
       continue-on-error: true
       uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
       with:
@@ -91,6 +101,7 @@ runs:
         key: cache-references
 
     - name: Restored References
+      if: inputs.cache-references == 'true' # since the input is string
       continue-on-error: true
       working-directory: tests/
       run: |
diff --git a/.github/actions/push-caches/action.yml b/.github/actions/push-caches/action.yml
index 8f5db36b6dd..85c7378a69e 100644
--- a/.github/actions/push-caches/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/push-caches/action.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@ inputs:
     description: location to pull PyTorch from
     required: false
     default: "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html"
+  cache-artifact-appendix:
+    description: "unique name or running index"
+    required: false
+    default: ""
+  cache-torch-HF:
+    description: "cache torch and HF"
+    required: false
+    default: "true"
+  cache-references:
+    description: "cache metrics references"
+    required: false
+    default: "false"
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
@@ -23,66 +35,50 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Freeze local emv.
+      if: inputs.cache-artifact-appendix != ''
       run: |
         pip freeze > requirements.dump
         cat requirements.dump
       shell: bash
 
-    #- name: Filter self pkg
-    #  run: |
-    #    import os
-    #    fp = 'requirements.dump'
-    #    with open(fp) as fopen:
-    #      lines = [ln.strip() for ln in fopen.readlines()]
-    #    lines = [ln.split('+')[0] for ln in lines if '-e ' not in ln]
-    #    with open(fp, 'w') as fwrite:
-    #      fwrite.writelines([ln + os.linesep for ln in lines])
-    #  shell: python
-
     - name: Dump wheels
+      if: inputs.cache-artifact-appendix != ''
       run: |
         pip wheel -r requirements/_devel.txt --prefer-binary \
-          --wheel-dir=.pip-wheels \
+          --wheel-dir=_pip-wheels \
           -f ${{ inputs.torch-url }} -f ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
-        ls -lh .pip-wheels
+        ls -lh _pip-wheels
       shell: bash
 
-    - name: Cache pull packages
-      uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
-      with:
-        enableCrossOsArchive: true
-        path: ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
-        key: ${{ inputs.pypi-key }}
-
-    - name: Find diff
-      id: wheels-diff
+    - name: Move new packages to staging
+      if: inputs.cache-artifact-appendix != ''
       run: |
-        import os, glob
-        wheels = [os.path.basename(p) for p in glob.glob(".pip-wheels/*")]
-        pkgs = [os.path.basename(p) for p in glob.glob("${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}/*")]
-        diff = [w for w in wheels if w not in pkgs]
-        print(diff)
-        with open(os.environ['GITHUB_OUTPUT'], 'a') as fh:
-            print(f'count-new={len(diff)}', file=fh)
-      shell: python
-
-    - run: cp .pip-wheels/* ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
-      if: ${{ steps.wheels-diff.outputs.count-new != 0 }}
+        mkdir -p _pip-staging
+        python .github/assistant.py move_new_packages \
+          --dir-cache="${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}" \
+          --dir_local="_pip-wheels" \
+          --dir_staging="_pip-staging"
+        ls -lh _pip-staging/
+        # count files in the staging dir
+        file_count=$(ls -1 "_pip-staging/" | wc -l)
+        echo "NUM_PACKAGES=$file_count" >> $GITHUB_ENV
       shell: bash
 
-    - name: Cache push packages
-      if: ${{ steps.wheels-diff.outputs.count-new != 0 }}
-      uses: actions/cache/save@v3
+    - name: Upload new packages
+      if: inputs.cache-artifact-appendix != '' && env.NUM_PACKAGES != 0
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
       with:
-        enableCrossOsArchive: true
-        path: ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
-        key: ${{ inputs.pypi-key }}
+        name: ${{ inputs.pypi-key }}-run-${{ inputs.cache-artifact-appendix }}
+        path: _pip-staging
+        retention-days: 1
 
     - name: Post Torch & HF
+      if: inputs.cache-torch-HF == 'true' # since the input is string
       run: py-tree $CACHES_DIR
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Cache Torch & HF
+      if: inputs.cache-torch-HF == 'true' # since the input is string
       continue-on-error: true
       uses: actions/cache/save@v3
       with:
@@ -91,6 +87,7 @@ runs:
         key: ci-caches
 
     - name: Cache references
+      if: inputs.cache-references == 'true' # since the input is string
       continue-on-error: true
       uses: actions/cache/save@v3
       with:
@@ -98,6 +95,8 @@ runs:
         path: tests/_cache-references
         key: cache-references
 
-    - name: Post References
-      run: py-tree tests/_cache-references/ --show_hidden
-      shell: bash
+    #- name: Post References
+    #  # This print taken soo many lines, so it is commented out
+    #  if: inputs.cache-references == 'true' # since the input is string
+    #  run: py-tree tests/_cache-references/ --show_hidden
+    #  shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/assistant.py b/.github/assistant.py
index 174ed2117a4..d2564603f2f 100644
--- a/.github/assistant.py
+++ b/.github/assistant.py
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 
 import fire
 from packaging.version import parse
-from pkg_resources import parse_requirements
 
 _REQUEST_TIMEOUT = 10
 _PATH_ROOT = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
@@ -58,6 +57,9 @@ def set_min_torch_by_python(fpath: str = "requirements/base.txt") -> None:
         >>> AssistantCLI.set_min_torch_by_python("../requirements/base.txt")
 
         """
+        # ToDo: `pkg_resources` is deprecates and shall be updated
+        from pkg_resources import parse_requirements
+
         py_ver = f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}"
         if py_ver not in LUT_PYTHON_TORCH:
             return
@@ -114,9 +116,14 @@ def changed_domains(
         """Determine what domains were changed in particular PR."""
         import github
 
+        # define some edge case return cases
+        _return_all = "unittests" if not as_list else ["torchmetrics"]
+        _return_empty = [] if as_list else ""
+
+        # early return if no PR number
         if not pr:
-            return "unittests"
-        gh = github.Github()
+            return _return_all
+        gh = github.Github(login_or_token=auth_token)
         pr = gh.get_repo("Lightning-AI/torchmetrics").get_pull(pr)
         files = [f.filename for f in pr.get_files()]
 
@@ -124,19 +131,27 @@ def changed_domains(
         files = [fn for fn in files if not fn.startswith("tests/integrations")]
         if not files:
             logging.debug("Only integrations was changed so not reason for deep testing...")
-            return ""
+            return _return_empty
         # filter only docs files
-        files_ = [fn for fn in files if fn.startswith("docs")]
-        if len(files) == len(files_):
+        files_docs = [fn for fn in files if fn.startswith("docs")]
+        if len(files) == len(files_docs):
             logging.debug("Only docs was changed so not reason for deep testing...")
-            return ""
+            return _return_empty
+        # files in requirements folder
+        files_req = [fn for fn in files if fn.startswith("requirements")]
+        req_domains = [fn.split("/")[1] for fn in files_req]
+        # cleaning up determining domains
+        req_domains = [req.replace(".txt", "").replace("_test", "") for req in req_domains if not req.endswith("_")]
+        # if you touch base, you need to run everything
+        if "base" in req_domains:
+            return _return_all
 
         # filter only package files and skip inits
         _is_in_test = lambda fn: fn.startswith("tests")
         _filter_pkg = lambda fn: _is_in_test(fn) or (fn.startswith("src/torchmetrics") and "__init__.py" not in fn)
         files_pkg = [fn for fn in files if _filter_pkg(fn)]
         if not files_pkg:
-            return "unittests"
+            return _return_all
 
         # parse domains
         def _crop_path(fname: str, paths: list[str]) -> str:
@@ -151,15 +166,35 @@ def _crop_path(fname: str, paths: list[str]) -> str:
         tm_modules = [md for md in tm_modules if md not in general_sub_pkgs]
         if len(files_pkg) > len(tm_modules):
             logging.debug("Some more files was changed -> rather test everything...")
-            return "unittests"
-        # keep only unique
-        if as_list:
-            return list(tm_modules)
-        tm_modules = [f"unittests/{md}" for md in set(tm_modules)]
-        not_exists = [p for p in tm_modules if os.path.exists(p)]
+            return _return_all
+
+        # compose the final list with requirements and touched modules
+        test_modules = set(tm_modules + list(req_domains))
+        if as_list:  # keep only unique
+            return list(test_modules)
+
+        test_modules = [f"unittests/{md}" for md in set(test_modules)]
+        not_exists = [p for p in test_modules if os.path.exists(p)]
         if not_exists:
             raise ValueError(f"Missing following paths: {not_exists}")
-        return " ".join(tm_modules)
+        return " ".join(test_modules)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def move_new_packages(dir_cache: str, dir_local: str, dir_staging: str) -> None:
+        """Move unique packages from local folder to staging."""
+        assert os.path.isdir(dir_cache), f"Missing folder with saved packages: '{dir_cache}'"  # noqa: S101
+        assert os.path.isdir(dir_local), f"Missing folder with local packages: '{dir_local}'"  # noqa: S101
+        assert os.path.isdir(dir_staging), f"Missing folder for staging: '{dir_staging}'"  # noqa: S101
+
+        import shutil
+
+        for pkg in os.listdir(dir_local):
+            if not os.path.isfile(pkg):
+                continue
+            if pkg in os.listdir(dir_cache):
+                continue
+            logging.info(f"Moving '{pkg}' to staging...")
+            shutil.move(os.path.join(dir_cache, pkg), os.path.join(dir_staging, pkg))
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/.github/workflows/_focus-diff.yml b/.github/workflows/_focus-diff.yml
index 0e68eac2406..5c875fcbfab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/_focus-diff.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/_focus-diff.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ jobs:
           set -e
           echo $PR_NUMBER
           pip install -q -U packaging fire pyGithub pyopenssl
-          # python .github/assistant.py changed-domains $PR_NUMBER
           echo "focus=$(python .github/assistant.py changed-domains $PR_NUMBER)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
       - run: echo "${{ steps.diff-domains.outputs.focus }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/_merge_cache.yml b/.github/workflows/_merge_cache.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7581f232b88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/_merge_cache.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+name: Collect new packages and upload cache
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      pypi-key:
+        description: cache restore/dump key
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "pypi-packages"
+      pypi-dir:
+        description: location of local PyPI cache
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "_ci-cache_PyPI"
+      cache-artifact-appendix:
+        description: "unique name for the job"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  merge-caches:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Download 📥 artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          pattern: ${{ inputs.pypi-key }}-run-${{ inputs.cache-artifact-appendix }}*
+          merge-multiple: true
+          path: _local-packages
+      - name: Cache pull packages
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
+        with:
+          enableCrossOsArchive: true
+          path: ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
+          key: ${{ inputs.pypi-key }}
+
+      - name: show 📦
+        run: |
+          # create the directory if it doesn't exist - no artifact were found
+          mkdir -p _local-packages
+          ls -lh _local-packages
+          ls -lh ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
+          # count files in the staging dir
+          file_count=$(ls -1 "_local-packages/" | wc -l)
+          echo "NUM_PACKAGES=$file_count" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+      - name: Move collected 📦
+        if: env.NUM_PACKAGES != 0
+        run: mv _local-packages/* ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
+
+      - name: Cache push packages
+        if: env.NUM_PACKAGES != 0
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v3
+        with:
+          enableCrossOsArchive: true
+          path: ${{ inputs.pypi-dir }}
+          key: ${{ inputs.pypi-key }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml
index 210f2f2195b..22e5ca5563a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ defaults:
   run:
     shell: bash
 
+env:
+  PYPI_CACHE_DIR: "_ci-cache_PyPI"
+
 jobs:
   check-diff:
     if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
@@ -59,10 +62,10 @@ jobs:
           - { os: "windows-2022", python-version: "3.11", pytorch-version: "2.6.0" }
     env:
       FREEZE_REQUIREMENTS: ${{ ! (github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/heads/release/')) }}
-      PYPI_CACHE_DIR: "_ci-cache_PyPI"
       TOKENIZERS_PARALLELISM: false
       TEST_DIRS: ${{ needs.check-diff.outputs.test-dirs }}
-      PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL: "--find-links https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html"
+      PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL: "--find-links=https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html"
+      UNITTEST_TIMEOUT: "" # by default, it is not set
 
     # Timeout: https://stackoverflow.com/a/59076067/4521646
     # seems that macOS jobs take much more than orger OS
@@ -98,6 +101,7 @@ jobs:
           requires: ${{ matrix.requires }}
           pytorch-version: ${{ matrix.pytorch-version }}
           pypi-dir: ${{ env.PYPI_CACHE_DIR }}
+          cache-references: true
 
       - name: Switch to PT test URL
         if: ${{ matrix.pytorch-version == '2.6.0' }}
@@ -107,7 +111,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           pip --version
           pip install -e . -U "setuptools==69.5.1" -r requirements/_doctest.txt \
-            $PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL --find-links $PYPI_CACHE_DIR
+            $PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL --find-links="$PYPI_CACHE_DIR"
           pip list
 
       - name: DocTests
@@ -126,7 +130,7 @@ jobs:
               python adjust-torch-versions.py $fpath
           done
           pip install --requirement requirements/_devel.txt -U \
-            $PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL --find-links $PYPI_CACHE_DIR
+            $PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL --find-links="$PYPI_CACHE_DIR"
           pip list
 
       - name: set special vars for PR
@@ -201,7 +205,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
-          file: tests/coverage.xml
+          files: "tests/coverage.xml"
           flags: cpu,${{ runner.os }},python${{ matrix.python-version }},torch${{ steps.info.outputs.TORCH }}
           env_vars: OS,PYTHON
           name: codecov-umbrella
@@ -213,6 +217,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: ./.github/actions/push-caches
         with:
           pypi-dir: ${{ env.PYPI_CACHE_DIR }}
+          cache-artifact-appendix: ${{ github.run_id }}-${{ strategy.job-index }}
+          cache-references: true
 
   testing-guardian:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -227,3 +233,11 @@ jobs:
         if: contains(fromJSON('["cancelled", "skipped"]'), needs.pytester.result)
         timeout-minutes: 1
         run: sleep 90
+
+  merge-pkg-artifacts:
+    needs: pytester
+    if: success()
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_merge_cache.yml
+    with:
+      pypi-dir: "_ci-cache_PyPI"
+      cache-artifact-appendix: ${{ github.run_id }}-${{ strategy.job-index }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml b/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml
index dce0f0192a2..e9d43bce33e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml
@@ -98,12 +98,26 @@ jobs:
         uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
         with:
           credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCS_SA_KEY }}
-
       - name: Setup gcloud
         uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v2
         with:
           project_id: ${{ secrets.GCS_PROJECT }}
 
+      # Uploading docs as archive to GCS, so they can be as backup
+      - name: Upload docs as archive to GCS 🪣
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+        working-directory: docs/build
+        run: |
+          zip ${{ github.ref_name }}.zip -r html/
+          gsutil cp ${{ github.ref_name }}.zip ${GCP_TARGET}
+
+      - name: Inject version selector
+        working-directory: docs/build
+        run: |
+          pip install -q wget
+          python -m wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lightning-AI/utilities/main/scripts/inject-selector-script.py
+          python inject-selector-script.py html torchmetrics
+
       # Uploading docs to GCS, so they can be served on lightning.ai
       - name: Upload docs/metrics/stable to GCS 🪣
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/heads/release/')
@@ -118,11 +132,3 @@ jobs:
       - name: Upload docs/metrics/release to GCS 🪣
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
         run: gsutil -m rsync -d -R docs/build/html/ ${GCP_TARGET}/${{ github.ref_name }}
-
-      # Uploading docs as archive to GCS, so they can be as backup
-      - name: Upload docs as archive to GCS 🪣
-        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
-        working-directory: docs/build
-        run: |
-          zip ${{ github.ref_name }}.zip -r html/
-          gsutil cp ${{ github.ref_name }}.zip ${GCP_TARGET}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-pkg.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-pkg.yml
index af47477a480..df7d11f522b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-pkg.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-pkg.yml
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: ls -lh dist/
       # We do this, since failures on test.pypi aren't that bad
       - name: Publish to Test PyPI
-        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@v1.12.2
+        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@v1.12.3
         with:
           user: __token__
           password: ${{ secrets.test_pypi_password }}
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ jobs:
           path: dist
       - run: ls -lh dist/
       - name: Publish distribution 📦 to PyPI
-        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@v1.12.2
+        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@v1.12.3
         with:
           user: __token__
           password: ${{ secrets.pypi_password }}
diff --git a/tests/unittests/_helpers/wrappers.py b/tests/unittests/_helpers/wrappers.py
index 157dd1db2b8..2a1d54d8152 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/_helpers/wrappers.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/_helpers/wrappers.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
     "We couldn't connect to",
     "Connection error",
     "Can't load",
-    "`nltk` resource `punkt` is",
 )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/unittests/utilities/test_auc.py b/tests/unittests/classification/test_auc.py
similarity index 99%
rename from tests/unittests/utilities/test_auc.py
rename to tests/unittests/classification/test_auc.py
index 887f4c2d14b..8644de105a0 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/utilities/test_auc.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/classification/test_auc.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 from sklearn.metrics import auc as _sk_auc
 from torch import Tensor, tensor
 from torchmetrics.utilities.compute import auc
+
 from unittests import NUM_BATCHES
 from unittests._helpers import seed_all
 from unittests._helpers.testers import MetricTester