diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index c3fcb0ea9591..000000000000
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,104 +0,0 @@
-# With infos from
-# http://tjelvarolsson.com/blog/how-to-continuously-test-your-python-code-on-windows-using-appveyor/
-# https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/appveyor/
----
-
-# Backslashes in quotes need to be escaped: \ -> "\\"
-branches:
-  except:
-    - /auto-backport-.*/
-    - /^v\d+\.\d+\.[\dx]+-doc$/
-
-skip_commits:
-  message: /\[ci doc\]/
-  files:
-    - doc/
-    - galleries/
-
-clone_depth: 50
-
-image: Visual Studio 2022
-
-environment:
-
-  global:
-    PYTHONFAULTHANDLER: 1
-    PYTHONIOENCODING: UTF-8
-    PYTEST_ARGS: -rfEsXR --numprocesses=auto --timeout=300 --durations=25
-                 --cov-report= --cov=lib --log-level=DEBUG
-
-  matrix:
-    - PYTHON_VERSION: "3.11"
-      TEST_ALL: "yes"
-
-# We always use a 64-bit machine, but can build x86 distributions
-# with the PYTHON_ARCH variable
-platform:
-  - x64
-
-# all our python builds have to happen in tests_script...
-build: false
-
-cache:
-  - '%LOCALAPPDATA%\pip\Cache'
-  - '%USERPROFILE%\.cache\matplotlib'
-
-init:
-  - ps:
-      Invoke-Webrequest
-      -URI https://micro.mamba.pm/api/micromamba/win-64/latest
-      -OutFile C:\projects\micromamba.tar.bz2
-  - ps: C:\PROGRA~1\7-Zip\7z.exe x C:\projects\micromamba.tar.bz2 -aoa -oC:\projects\
-  - ps: C:\PROGRA~1\7-Zip\7z.exe x C:\projects\micromamba.tar -ttar -aoa -oC:\projects\
-  - 'set PATH=C:\projects\Library\bin;%PATH%'
-  - micromamba shell init --shell cmd.exe
-  - micromamba config set always_yes true
-  - micromamba config prepend channels conda-forge
-  - micromamba info
-
-install:
-  - micromamba env create -f environment.yml python=%PYTHON_VERSION% pywin32
-  - micromamba activate mpl-dev
-
-test_script:
-  # Now build the thing..
-  - set LINK=/LIBPATH:%cd%\lib
-  - pip install -v --no-build-isolation --editable .[dev]
-  # this should show no freetype dll...
-  - set "DUMPBIN=%VS140COMNTOOLS%\..\..\VC\bin\dumpbin.exe"
-  - '"%DUMPBIN%" /DEPENDENTS lib\matplotlib\ft2font*.pyd | findstr freetype.*.dll && exit /b 1 || exit /b 0'
-
-  # this are optional dependencies so that we don't skip so many tests...
-  - if x%TEST_ALL% == xyes micromamba install -q ffmpeg inkscape
-  # miktex is available on conda, but seems to fail with permission errors.
-  # missing packages on conda-forge for imagemagick
-  # This install sometimes failed randomly :-(
-  # - choco install imagemagick
-
-  # Test import of tkagg backend
-  - python -c
-    "import matplotlib as m; m.use('tkagg');
-    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt;
-    print(plt.get_backend())"
-  # tests
-  - echo The following args are passed to pytest %PYTEST_ARGS%
-  - pytest %PYTEST_ARGS%
-
-artifacts:
-  - path: result_images\*
-    name: result_images
-    type: Zip
-
-on_finish:
-  - micromamba install codecov
-  - codecov -e PYTHON_VERSION PLATFORM -n "%PYTHON_VERSION% Windows"
-
-on_failure:
-  # Generate a html for visual tests
-  - python tools/visualize_tests.py --no-browser
-  - echo zipping images after a failure...
-  - 7z a result_images.zip result_images\ | grep -v "Compressing"
-  - appveyor PushArtifact result_images.zip
-
-matrix:
-  fast_finish: true
diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 40ba933cf0d9..000000000000
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,262 +0,0 @@
-# Circle CI configuration file
-# https://circleci.com/docs/
----
-version: 2.1
-
-
-#######################################
-# Define some common steps as commands.
-#
-
-commands:
-  check-skip:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Check-skip
-          command: |
-            export git_log=$(git log --max-count=1 --pretty=format:"%B" | tr "\n" " ")
-            echo "Got commit message:"
-            echo "${git_log}"
-            if [[ -v CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST ]] &&
-               [[ $git_log =~ (\[skip circle\]|\[circle skip\]|\[skip doc\]|\[doc skip\]) ]]; then
-              echo "Skip detected, exiting job ${CIRCLE_JOB} for PR ${CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST}."
-              circleci-agent step halt;
-            fi
-
-  merge:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Merge with upstream
-          command: |
-            if ! git remote -v | grep upstream; then
-              git remote add upstream https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib.git
-            fi
-            git fetch upstream
-            if [[ "$CIRCLE_BRANCH" != "main" ]] && \
-               [[ "$CIRCLE_PR_NUMBER" != "" ]]; then
-              echo "Merging ${CIRCLE_PR_NUMBER}"
-              git pull --ff-only upstream "refs/pull/${CIRCLE_PR_NUMBER}/merge"
-            fi
-
-  apt-install:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Install apt packages
-          command: |
-            sudo apt-get -qq update
-            sudo apt-get install -yy --no-install-recommends \
-              cm-super \
-              dvipng \
-              ffmpeg \
-              fonts-crosextra-carlito \
-              fonts-freefont-otf \
-              fonts-noto-cjk \
-              fonts-wqy-zenhei \
-              graphviz \
-              inkscape \
-              lmodern \
-              ninja-build \
-              optipng \
-              texlive-fonts-recommended \
-              texlive-latex-base \
-              texlive-latex-extra \
-              texlive-latex-recommended \
-              texlive-pictures \
-              texlive-xetex
-
-  fonts-install:
-    steps:
-      - restore_cache:
-          key: fonts-4
-      - run:
-          name: Install custom fonts
-          command: |
-            mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fonts
-            wget -nc \
-              https://github.com/google/fonts/blob/master/ofl/felipa/Felipa-Regular.ttf?raw=true \
-              -O ~/.local/share/fonts/Felipa-Regular.ttf || true
-            wget -nc \
-              https://github.com/ipython/xkcd-font/blob/master/xkcd-script/font/xkcd-script.ttf?raw=true \
-              -O ~/.local/share/fonts/xkcd-Script.ttf || true
-            fc-cache -f -v
-      - save_cache:
-          key: fonts-4
-          paths:
-            - ~/.local/share/fonts/
-
-  pip-install:
-    description: Upgrade pip and setuptools and wheel to get as clean an install as possible
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Upgrade pip, setuptools, wheel
-          command: |
-            python -m pip install --upgrade --user pip
-            python -m pip install --upgrade --user wheel
-            python -m pip install --upgrade --user 'setuptools!=60.6.0'
-
-  doc-deps-install:
-    parameters:
-      numpy_version:
-        type: string
-        default: ""
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Install Python dependencies
-          command: |
-            python -m pip install --user -r requirements/dev/build-requirements.txt
-            python -m pip install --user \
-                numpy<< parameters.numpy_version >> \
-                -r requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt
-            python -m pip install --no-deps --user \
-                git+https://github.com/matplotlib/mpl-sphinx-theme.git
-
-  mpl-install:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Install Matplotlib
-          command: |
-            if [[ "$CIRCLE_BRANCH" == v*-doc ]]; then
-              # The v*-doc branches must build against the specified release.
-              version=${CIRCLE_BRANCH%-doc}
-              version=${version#v}
-              python -m pip install matplotlib==${version}
-            else
-              python -m pip install --user --verbose \
-                --no-build-isolation --editable .[dev]
-            fi
-      - save_cache:
-          key: build-deps-2
-          paths:
-            - subprojects/packagecache
-
-  doc-build:
-    steps:
-      - restore_cache:
-          keys:
-            - sphinx-env-v1-{{ .BuildNum }}-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}
-            - sphinx-env-v1-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_PREVIOUS_BUILD_NUM }}-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}
-      - run:
-          name: Build documentation
-          command: |
-            # Set epoch to date of latest tag.
-            export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH="$(git log -1 --format=%at $(git describe --abbrev=0))"
-            # Set release mode only when deploying to devdocs.
-            if [ "$CIRCLE_PROJECT_USERNAME" = "matplotlib" ] && \
-               [ "$CIRCLE_BRANCH" = "main" ] && \
-               [ "$CIRCLE_PR_NUMBER" = "" ]; then
-              export RELEASE_TAG='-t release'
-            fi
-            mkdir -p logs
-            make html O="-T $RELEASE_TAG -j4 -w /tmp/sphinxerrorswarnings.log"
-            rm -r build/html/_sources
-          working_directory: doc
-      - save_cache:
-          key: sphinx-env-v1-{{ .BuildNum }}-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}
-          paths:
-            - doc/build/doctrees
-
-  doc-show-errors-warnings:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Extract possible build errors and warnings
-          command: |
-            (grep "WARNING\|ERROR" /tmp/sphinxerrorswarnings.log ||
-             echo "No errors or warnings")
-            # Save logs as an artifact, and convert from absolute paths to
-            # repository-relative paths.
-            sed "s~$PWD/~~" /tmp/sphinxerrorswarnings.log > \
-              doc/logs/sphinx-errors-warnings.log
-          when: always
-      - store_artifacts:
-          path: doc/logs/sphinx-errors-warnings.log
-
-  doc-show-deprecations:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Extract possible deprecation warnings in examples and tutorials
-          command: |
-            (grep -rl DeprecationWarning doc/build/html/gallery ||
-             echo "No deprecation warnings in gallery")
-            (grep -rl DeprecationWarning doc/build/html/plot_types ||
-             echo "No deprecation warnings in plot_types")
-            (grep -rl DeprecationWarning doc/build/html/tutorials ||
-             echo "No deprecation warnings in tutorials")
-            # Save deprecations that are from this absolute directory, and
-            # convert to repository-relative paths.
-            (grep -Ero --no-filename "$PWD/.+DeprecationWarning.+$" \
-             doc/build/html/{gallery,plot_types,tutorials} || echo) | \
-              sed "s~$PWD/~~" > doc/logs/sphinx-deprecations.log
-          when: always
-      - store_artifacts:
-          path: doc/logs/sphinx-deprecations.log
-
-  doc-bundle:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: Bundle sphinx-gallery documentation artifacts
-          command: >
-            tar cf doc/build/sphinx-gallery-files.tar.gz
-            doc/api/_as_gen
-            doc/gallery
-            doc/plot_types
-            doc/tutorials
-          when: always
-      - store_artifacts:
-          path: doc/build/sphinx-gallery-files.tar.gz
-
-  deploy-docs:
-    steps:
-      - run:
-          name: "Deploy new docs"
-          command: ./.circleci/deploy-docs.sh
-
-
-##########################################
-# Here is where the real jobs are defined.
-#
-
-jobs:
-  docs-python3:
-    docker:
-      - image: cimg/python:3.12
-    resource_class: large
-    steps:
-      - checkout
-      - check-skip
-      - merge
-
-      - apt-install
-      - fonts-install
-      - pip-install
-
-      - doc-deps-install
-      - mpl-install
-
-      - doc-build
-      - doc-show-errors-warnings
-      - doc-show-deprecations
-
-      - doc-bundle
-
-      - store_artifacts:
-          path: doc/build/html
-      - store_test_results:
-          path: doc/build/test-results
-
-      - add_ssh_keys:
-          fingerprints:
-            - "be:c3:c1:d8:fb:a1:0e:37:71:72:d7:a3:40:13:8f:14"
-
-      - deploy-docs
-
-#########################################
-# Defining workflows gets us parallelism.
-#
-
-workflows:
-  version: 2
-  build:
-    jobs:
-      # NOTE: If you rename this job, then you must update the `if` condition
-      # and `circleci-jobs` option in `.github/workflows/circleci.yml`.
-      - docs-python3
diff --git a/.circleci/deploy-docs.sh b/.circleci/deploy-docs.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 8801d5fd073e..000000000000
--- a/.circleci/deploy-docs.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -e
-
-if [ "$CIRCLE_PROJECT_USERNAME" != "matplotlib" ] || \
-        [ "$CIRCLE_BRANCH" != "main" ] || \
-        [[ "$CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST" == https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/pull/* ]]; then
-    echo "Not uploading docs for ${CIRCLE_SHA1}"\
-         "from non-main branch (${CIRCLE_BRANCH})"\
-         "or pull request (${CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST})"\
-         "or non-Matplotlib org (${CIRCLE_PROJECT_USERNAME})."
-    exit
-fi
-
-git clone git@github.com:matplotlib/devdocs.git
-
-cd devdocs
-
-git checkout --orphan gh-pages || true
-git reset --hard first_commit
-
-git rm -rf .
-cp -R ../doc/build/html/. .
-touch .nojekyll
-
-git config user.email "MatplotlibCircleBot@nomail"
-git config user.name "MatplotlibCircleBot"
-git config push.default simple
-
-git add .
-git commit -m "Docs build of $CIRCLE_SHA1"
-
-git push --set-upstream origin gh-pages --force
diff --git a/.circleci/fetch_doc_logs.py b/.circleci/fetch_doc_logs.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 0a5552a7721c..000000000000
--- a/.circleci/fetch_doc_logs.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-"""
-Download artifacts from CircleCI for a documentation build.
-
-This is run by the :file:`.github/workflows/circleci.yml` workflow in order to
-get the warning/deprecation logs that will be posted on commits as checks. Logs
-are downloaded from the :file:`docs/logs` artifact path and placed in the
-:file:`logs` directory.
-
-Additionally, the artifact count for a build is produced as a workflow output,
-by appending to the file specified by :env:`GITHUB_OUTPUT`.
-
-If there are no logs, an "ERROR" message is printed, but this is not fatal, as
-the initial 'status' workflow runs when the build has first started, and there
-are naturally no artifacts at that point.
-
-This script should be run by passing the CircleCI build URL as its first
-argument. In the GitHub Actions workflow, this URL comes from
-``github.event.target_url``.
-"""
-import json
-import os
-from pathlib import Path
-import sys
-from urllib.parse import urlparse
-from urllib.request import URLError, urlopen
-
-
-if len(sys.argv) != 2:
-    print('USAGE: fetch_doc_results.py CircleCI-build-url')
-    sys.exit(1)
-
-target_url = urlparse(sys.argv[1])
-*_, organization, repository, build_id = target_url.path.split('/')
-print(f'Fetching artifacts from {organization}/{repository} for {build_id}')
-
-artifact_url = (
-    f'https://circleci.com/api/v2/project/gh/'
-    f'{organization}/{repository}/{build_id}/artifacts'
-)
-print(artifact_url)
-try:
-    with urlopen(artifact_url) as response:
-        artifacts = json.load(response)
-except URLError:
-    artifacts = {'items': []}
-artifact_count = len(artifacts['items'])
-print(f'Found {artifact_count} artifacts')
-
-with open(os.environ['GITHUB_OUTPUT'], 'w+') as fd:
-    fd.write(f'count={artifact_count}\n')
-
-logs = Path('logs')
-logs.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
-
-found = False
-for item in artifacts['items']:
-    path = item['path']
-    if path.startswith('doc/logs/'):
-        path = Path(path).name
-        print(f'Downloading {path} from {item["url"]}')
-        with urlopen(item['url']) as response:
-            (logs / path).write_bytes(response.read())
-        found = True
-
-if not found:
-    print('ERROR: Did not find any artifact logs!')
diff --git a/.github/workflows/circleci.yml b/.github/workflows/circleci.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index d61db3f14345..000000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/circleci.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,75 +0,0 @@
----
-name: "CircleCI artifact handling"
-on: [status]
-jobs:
-  circleci_artifacts_redirector_job:
-    if: "${{ github.event.context == 'ci/circleci: docs-python3' }}"
-    permissions:
-      statuses: write
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Run CircleCI artifacts redirector
-    steps:
-      - name: GitHub Action step
-        uses:
-          scientific-python/circleci-artifacts-redirector-action@7eafdb60666f57706a5525a2f5eb76224dc8779b  # v1.1.0
-        with:
-          repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          api-token: ${{ secrets.CIRCLECI_TOKEN }}
-          artifact-path: 0/doc/build/html/index.html
-          circleci-jobs: docs-python3
-          job-title: View the built docs
-
-  post_warnings_as_review:
-    if: "${{ github.event.context == 'ci/circleci: docs-python3' }}"
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      checks: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Post warnings/errors as review
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Fetch result artifacts
-        id: fetch-artifacts
-        env:
-          target_url: "${{ github.event.target_url }}"
-        run: |
-          python .circleci/fetch_doc_logs.py "${target_url}"
-
-      - name: Set up reviewdog
-        if: "${{ steps.fetch-artifacts.outputs.count != 0 }}"
-        uses: reviewdog/action-setup@e04ffabe3898a0af8d0fb1af00c188831c4b5893  # v1.3.2
-        with:
-          reviewdog_version: latest
-
-      - name: Post review
-        if: "${{ steps.fetch-artifacts.outputs.count != 0 }}"
-        env:
-          REVIEWDOG_GITHUB_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          REVIEWDOG_SKIP_DOGHOUSE: "true"
-          CI_COMMIT: ${{ github.event.sha }}
-          CI_REPO_OWNER: ${{ github.event.repository.owner.login }}
-          CI_REPO_NAME: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
-        run: |
-          # The 'status' event does not contain information in the way that
-          # reviewdog expects, so we unset those so it reads from the
-          # environment variables we set above.
-          unset GITHUB_ACTIONS GITHUB_EVENT_PATH
-          cat logs/sphinx-errors-warnings.log | \
-            reviewdog \
-              -efm '%f\:%l: %tEBUG: %m' \
-              -efm '%f\:%l: %tNFO: %m' \
-              -efm '%f\:%l: %tARNING: %m' \
-              -efm '%f\:%l: %tRROR: %m' \
-              -efm '%f\:%l: %tEVERE: %m' \
-              -efm '%f\:%s: %tARNING: %m' \
-              -efm '%f\:%s: %tRROR: %m' \
-              -name=sphinx -tee -fail-on-error=false \
-              -reporter=github-check -filter-mode=nofilter
-          cat logs/sphinx-deprecations.log | \
-            reviewdog \
-              -efm '%f\:%l: %m' \
-              -name=examples -tee -reporter=github-check -filter-mode=nofilter
diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index d6d1eba02560..000000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
----
-name: "CodeQL"
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [main, v*.x]
-  pull_request:
-    # The branches below must be a subset of the branches above
-    branches: [main]
-  schedule:
-    - cron: '45 19 * * 1'
-
-jobs:
-  analyze:
-    if: github.repository == 'matplotlib/matplotlib'
-    name: Analyze
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      actions: read
-      contents: read
-      security-events: write
-
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        language: ['c-cpp', 'javascript', 'python']
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Initialize CodeQL
-        uses: github/codeql-action/init@181d5eefc20863364f96762470ba6f862bdef56b  # v3.29.2
-        with:
-          languages: ${{ matrix.language }}
-
-      - name: Build compiled code
-        if: matrix.language == 'c-cpp'
-        run: |
-          pip install --user --upgrade pip
-          pip install --user -v .
-
-      - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
-        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@181d5eefc20863364f96762470ba6f862bdef56b  # v3.29.2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/mypy-stubtest.yml b/.github/workflows/mypy-stubtest.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 92a67236fb9d..000000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/mypy-stubtest.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
----
-name: Mypy Stubtest
-on: [pull_request]
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-
-jobs:
-  mypy-stubtest:
-    name: mypy-stubtest
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      checks: write
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: Set up Python 3
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065  # v5.6.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.11'
-
-      - name: Set up reviewdog
-        uses: reviewdog/action-setup@e04ffabe3898a0af8d0fb1af00c188831c4b5893  # v1.3.9
-
-      - name: Install tox
-        run: python -m pip install tox
-
-      - name: Run mypy stubtest
-        env:
-          REVIEWDOG_GITHUB_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        run: |
-          set -o pipefail
-          tox -e stubtest | \
-              sed -e "s!.tox/stubtest/lib/python3.11/site-packages!lib!g" | \
-              reviewdog \
-                -efm '%Eerror: %m' \
-                -efm '%CStub: in file %f:%l' \
-                -efm '%CStub: in file %f' \
-                -efm '%+CRuntime:%.%#' \
-                -efm '%+CMISSING' \
-                -efm '%+Cdef %.%#' \
-                -efm '%+C<%.%#>' \
-                -efm '%Z' \
-                -reporter=github-check -tee -name=mypy-stubtest \
-                -filter-mode=nofilter
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 85ace93445b6..a36d6c154eb8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -42,52 +42,16 @@ jobs:
       contents: read
     name: "Python ${{ matrix.python-version }} on ${{ matrix.os }} ${{ matrix.name-suffix }}"
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    continue-on-error: ${{ contains(matrix.name-suffix, 'pre-release') }}
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         include:
-          - name-suffix: "(Minimum Versions)"
-            os: ubuntu-22.04
-            python-version: '3.11'
-            extra-requirements: '-c requirements/testing/minver.txt'
-            delete-font-cache: true
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29844
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
-          - os: ubuntu-22.04
-            python-version: '3.11'
-            CFLAGS: "-fno-lto"  # Ensure that disabling LTO works.
-            extra-requirements: '-r requirements/testing/extra.txt'
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29844
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
-          - os: ubuntu-22.04-arm
-            python-version: '3.12'
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29844
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
-          - name-suffix: "(Extra TeX packages)"
-            os: ubuntu-22.04
-            python-version: '3.13'
-            extra-packages: 'texlive-fonts-extra texlive-lang-cyrillic'
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29844
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
-          - name-suffix: "Free-threaded"
-            os: ubuntu-22.04
-            python-version: '3.13t'
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29844
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
-          - os: ubuntu-24.04
-            python-version: '3.12'
-          - os: macos-13  # This runner is on Intel chips.
-            # merge numpy and pandas install in nighties test when this runner is dropped
-            python-version: '3.11'
-          - os: macos-14  # This runner is on M1 (arm64) chips.
-            python-version: '3.12'
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29732
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
-          - os: macos-14  # This runner is on M1 (arm64) chips.
-            python-version: '3.13'
-            # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/29732
-            pygobject-ver: '<3.52.0'
+          - name-suffix: "(Python pre-release)"
+            os: ubuntu-24.04
+            python-version: '3.14-dev'
+            skip-interactive-backend-builds: true
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
@@ -226,6 +190,12 @@ jobs:
             PRE="--pre"
           fi
 
+          # On pre-release builds, use nightly wheels
+          if ${{ contains(matrix.name-suffix, 'pre-release') }}; then
+            PRE="--pre --extra-index-url https://pypi.anaconda.org/scientific-python-nightly-wheels/simple"
+            PRE+=" --prefer-binary"
+          fi
+
           # Install dependencies from PyPI.
           # Preinstall build requirements to enable no-build-isolation builds.
           python -m pip install --upgrade $PRE \
@@ -239,7 +209,7 @@ jobs:
           # Sphinx is needed to run sphinxext tests
           python -m pip install --upgrade sphinx!=6.1.2
 
-          if [[ "${{ matrix.python-version }}" != '3.13t' ]]; then
+          if [[ "${{ matrix.skip-interactive-backend-builds }}" != "true" ]]; then
           # GUI toolkits are pip-installable only for some versions of Python
           # so don't fail if we can't install them.  Make it easier to check
           # whether the install was successful by trying to import the toolkit
@@ -265,8 +235,10 @@ jobs:
           # Even though PySide2 wheels can be installed on Python 3.12+, they are broken and since PySide2 is
           # deprecated, they are unlikely to be fixed. For the same deprecation reason, there are no wheels
           # on M1 macOS, so don't bother there either.
-          if [[ "${{ matrix.os }}" != 'macos-14'
-                && "${{ matrix.python-version }}" != '3.12' && "${{ matrix.python-version }}" != '3.13' ]]; then
+          version_atmost() {
+            printf "%s\n" "$1" "$2" | sort --version-sort --check=silent
+          }
+          if [[ "${{ matrix.os }}" != 'macos-14' ]] && version_atmost "${{ matrix.python-version }}" 3.11.999; then
             python -mpip install --upgrade pyside2 &&
               python -c 'import PySide2.QtCore' &&
               echo 'PySide2 is available' ||
@@ -288,7 +260,7 @@ jobs:
             echo 'wxPython is available' ||
             echo 'wxPython is not available'
 
-          fi  # Skip backends on Python 3.13t.
+          fi  # skip-interactive-backend-builds
 
       - name: Install the nightly dependencies
         # Only install the nightly dependencies during the scheduled event
@@ -333,13 +305,27 @@ jobs:
         if: matrix.delete-font-cache
 
       - name: Run pytest
+        timeout-minutes: 90
         run: |
           if [[ "${{ matrix.python-version }}" == '3.13t' ]]; then
             export PYTHON_GIL=0
           fi
-          pytest -rfEsXR -n auto \
-            --maxfail=50 --timeout=300 --durations=25 \
-            --cov-report=xml --cov=lib --log-level=DEBUG --color=yes
+          if "${{ contains(matrix.name-suffix, 'pre-release') }}"; then
+            FLAGS=(-k 'not test_backends_interactive')
+          else
+            FLAGS=()
+          fi
+          FLAGS+=(
+            --maxfail=50
+            --timeout=300
+            --durations=25
+            --cov-report=xml
+            --cov=lib
+            --log-level=DEBUG
+            --color=yes
+          )
+          pytest -rfEsXR -n auto -m 'not subprocess' "${FLAGS[@]}"
+          pytest -rfEsXR -m subprocess "${FLAGS[@]}"
 
       - name: Cleanup non-failed image files
         if: failure()
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index d68a9d36f0d3..000000000000
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,162 +0,0 @@
-# Python package
-# Create and test a Python package on multiple Python versions.
-# Add steps that analyze code, save the dist with the build record, publish to a PyPI-compatible index, and
-# more:
-# https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/ecosystems/python?view=azure-devops
-
----
-trigger:
-  branches:
-    exclude:
-      - v*-doc
-pr:
-  branches:
-    exclude:
-      - v*-doc
-  paths:
-    exclude:
-      - doc/**/*
-      - galleries/**/*
-
-stages:
-
-  - stage: Check
-    jobs:
-      - job: Skip
-        pool:
-          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
-        variables:
-          DECODE_PERCENTS: 'false'
-          RET: 'true'
-        steps:
-          - bash: |
-              git_log=`git log --max-count=1 --skip=1 --pretty=format:"%B" | tr "\n" " "`
-              echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=log]$git_log"
-          - bash: echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=RET]false"
-            condition: >-
-              or(contains(variables.log, '[skip azp]'),
-                 contains(variables.log, '[azp skip]'),
-                 contains(variables.log, '[skip ci]'),
-                 contains(variables.log, '[ci skip]'),
-                 contains(variables.log, '[ci doc]'))
-          - bash: echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=start_main;isOutput=true]$RET"
-            name: result
-
-  - stage: Main
-    condition: and(succeeded(), eq(dependencies.Check.outputs['Skip.result.start_main'], 'true'))
-    dependsOn: Check
-    jobs:
-      - job: Pytest
-        strategy:
-          matrix:
-            Windows_py311:
-              vmImage: 'windows-2022'  # Keep one job pinned to the oldest image
-              python.version: '3.11'
-            Windows_py312:
-              vmImage: 'windows-latest'
-              python.version: '3.12'
-            Windows_py313:
-              vmImage: 'windows-latest'
-              python.version: '3.13'
-          maxParallel: 4
-        pool:
-          vmImage: '$(vmImage)'
-        steps:
-          - task: UsePythonVersion@0
-            inputs:
-              versionSpec: '$(python.version)'
-              architecture: 'x64'
-            displayName: 'Use Python $(python.version)'
-
-          - bash: |
-              choco install ninja
-            displayName: 'Install dependencies'
-
-          - bash: |
-              python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-              python -m pip install --upgrade -r requirements/dev/build-requirements.txt
-              python -m pip install -r requirements/testing/all.txt -r requirements/testing/extra.txt
-            displayName: 'Install dependencies with pip'
-
-          - bash: |
-              CONFIG='--config-settings=setup-args=--vsenv'
-              CONFIG="$CONFIG --config-settings=setup-args=-Dcpp_link_args=-PROFILE"
-              CONFIG="$CONFIG --config-settings=setup-args=-Dbuildtype=debug"
-
-              python -m pip install \
-                --no-build-isolation $CONFIG \
-                --verbose --editable .[dev]
-            displayName: "Install self"
-
-          - script: env
-            displayName: 'print env'
-
-          - script: pip list
-            displayName: 'print pip'
-
-          - bash: |
-              set -e
-              SESSION_ID=$(python -c "import uuid; print(uuid.uuid4(), end='')")
-              echo "Coverage session ID: ${SESSION_ID}"
-              VS=$(ls -d /c/Program\ Files*/Microsoft\ Visual\ Studio/*/Enterprise)
-              echo "Visual Studio: ${VS}"
-              DIR="$VS/Common7/IDE/Extensions/Microsoft/CodeCoverage.Console"
-              # This is for MSVC 2022 (on windows-latest).
-              TOOL="$DIR/Microsoft.CodeCoverage.Console.exe"
-              for f in build/cp*/src/*.pyd; do
-                echo $f
-                echo "=============================="
-                "$TOOL" instrument $f --session-id $SESSION_ID \
-                  --log-level Verbose --log-file instrument.log
-                cat instrument.log
-                rm instrument.log
-              done
-              echo "Starting $TOOL in server mode"
-              "$TOOL" collect \
-                  --session-id $SESSION_ID --server-mode \
-                  --output-format cobertura --output extensions.xml \
-                  --log-level Verbose --log-file extensions.log &
-              VS_VER=2022
-
-              echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=VS_COVERAGE_TOOL]$TOOL"
-
-              PYTHONFAULTHANDLER=1 pytest -rfEsXR -n 2 \
-                  --maxfail=50 --timeout=300 --durations=25 \
-                  --junitxml=junit/test-results.xml --cov-report=xml --cov=lib
-
-              if [[ $VS_VER == 2022 ]]; then
-                "$TOOL" shutdown $SESSION_ID
-                echo "Coverage collection log"
-                echo "======================="
-                cat extensions.log
-              else
-                "$TOOL" shutdown -session:$SESSION_ID
-              fi
-            displayName: 'pytest'
-
-          - bash: |
-              if [[ -f extensions.coverage ]]; then
-                # For MSVC 2019.
-                "$VS_COVERAGE_TOOL" analyze -output:extensions.xml \
-                  -include_skipped_functions -include_skipped_modules \
-                  extensions.coverage
-                rm extensions.coverage
-              fi
-            displayName: 'Filter C coverage'
-            condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - bash: |
-              bash <(curl -s https://codecov.io/bash) \
-                -n "$PYTHON_VERSION $AGENT_OS" \
-                -f 'coverage.xml' -f 'extensions.xml'
-            displayName: 'Upload to codecov.io'
-            condition: succeededOrFailed()
-
-          - task: PublishTestResults@2
-            inputs:
-              testResultsFiles: '**/test-results.xml'
-              testRunTitle: 'Python $(python.version)'
-            condition: succeededOrFailed()
-
-          - publish: $(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/result_images
-            artifact: $(Agent.JobName)-result_images
-            condition: failed()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/testing/conftest.py b/lib/matplotlib/testing/conftest.py
index 2961e7f02f3f..4efc10766be7 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/testing/conftest.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/testing/conftest.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ def pytest_configure(config):
         ("markers", "backend: Set alternate Matplotlib backend temporarily."),
         ("markers", "baseline_images: Compare output against references."),
         ("markers", "pytz: Tests that require pytz to be installed."),
+        ("markers", "subprocess: Tests that start a subprocess."),
         ("filterwarnings", "error"),
         ("filterwarnings",
          "ignore:.*The py23 module has been deprecated:DeprecationWarning"),
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_inline.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_inline.py
index 997e1e7186b1..e8b7cfbaa321 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_inline.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_inline.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 pytest.importorskip('matplotlib_inline')
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_ipynb():
     nb_path = Path(__file__).parent / 'data/test_inline_01.ipynb'
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_nbagg.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_nbagg.py
index ccf74df20aab..da90934f6bc4 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_nbagg.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_nbagg.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 # From https://blog.thedataincubator.com/2016/06/testing-jupyter-notebooks/
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_ipynb():
     nb_path = Path(__file__).parent / 'data/test_nbagg_01.ipynb'
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_webagg.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_webagg.py
index 1d6769494ef9..e09d85ce2e26 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_webagg.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_webagg.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from matplotlib.testing import subprocess_run_for_testing
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("backend", ["webagg", "nbagg"])
 def test_webagg_fallback(backend):
     pytest.importorskip("tornado")
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_basic.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_basic.py
index f6aa1e458555..10e94ee3be9d 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 from matplotlib.testing import subprocess_run_for_testing
 
+import pytest
+
 
 def test_simple():
     assert 1 + 1 == 2
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@ def test_override_builtins():
     assert overridden <= ok_to_override
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_lazy_imports():
     source = textwrap.dedent("""
     import sys
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_determinism.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_determinism.py
index 2ecc40dbd3c0..e14206437f86 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_determinism.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_determinism.py
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ def draw(self, renderer=None):
     fig.savefig(stdout, format=fmt)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "objects, fmt, usetex", [
         ("", "pdf", False),
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ def test_determinism_check(objects, fmt, usetex):
             assert p == plots[0]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "fmt, string", [
         ("pdf", b"/CreationDate (D:20000101000000Z)"),
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_font_manager.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_font_manager.py
index 97ee8672b1d4..3e9b95f4fd5a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_font_manager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_font_manager.py
@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@ def test_fontcache_thread_safe():
     subprocess_run_helper(_test_threading, timeout=10)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_lockfilefailure(tmp_path):
     # The logic here:
     # 1. get a temp directory from pytest
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py
index d0a3f8c617e1..3a28ecb985a7 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ def test_parse_to_version_info(version_str, version_tuple):
     assert matplotlib._parse_to_version_info(version_str) == version_tuple
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "win32",
                     reason="chmod() doesn't work as is on Windows")
 @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform != "win32" and os.geteuid() == 0,
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ def test_tmpconfigdir_warning(tmp_path):
         os.chmod(tmp_path, mode)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_importable_with_no_home(tmp_path):
     subprocess_run_for_testing(
         [sys.executable, "-c",
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_preprocess_data.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_preprocess_data.py
index c983d78786e1..3825a0aecd09 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_preprocess_data.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_preprocess_data.py
@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ def funcy(ax, x, y, z, t=None):
                          funcy.__doc__)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_data_parameter_replacement():
     """
     Test that the docstring contains the correct *data* parameter stub
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_pyplot.py
index 55f7c33cb52e..336847f4b7ef 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_pyplot.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def test_pyplot_up_to_date(tmp_path):
     pytest.importorskip("black")
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
index 2235f98b720f..ee9a6476703a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
@@ -528,6 +528,7 @@ def test_rcparams_reset_after_fail():
         assert mpl.rcParams['text.usetex'] is False
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform != "linux", reason="Linux only")
 def test_backend_fallback_headless_invalid_backend(tmp_path):
     env = {**os.environ,
@@ -545,6 +546,7 @@ def test_backend_fallback_headless_invalid_backend(tmp_path):
             env=env, check=True, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform != "linux", reason="Linux only")
 def test_backend_fallback_headless_auto_backend(tmp_path):
     # specify a headless mpl environment, but request a graphical (tk) backend
@@ -567,6 +569,7 @@ def test_backend_fallback_headless_auto_backend(tmp_path):
     assert backend.strip().lower() == "agg"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     sys.platform == "linux" and not _c_internal_utils.xdisplay_is_valid(),
     reason="headless")
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_sphinxext.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_sphinxext.py
index ede3166a2e1b..5b6e2e6b6e70 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_sphinxext.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_sphinxext.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 tinypages = Path(__file__).parent / 'data/tinypages'
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 def build_sphinx_html(source_dir, doctree_dir, html_dir, extra_args=None):
     # Build the pages with warnings turned into errors
     extra_args = [] if extra_args is None else extra_args
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_texmanager.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_texmanager.py
index 64dcbf46456d..d7adda36e615 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_texmanager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_texmanager.py
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ def test_unicode_characters():
         fig.canvas.draw()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.subprocess
 @needs_usetex
 def test_openin_any_paranoid():
     completed = subprocess_run_for_testing(