diff --git a/scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs b/scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs
index 1aca18246f3..69c2454ba3a 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs
+++ b/scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,20 @@
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { existsSync, readdirSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join, relative } from "node:path";
 
 function listContractTestFiles(rootDir = "src/channels/plugins/contracts") {
+  const result = spawnSync("git", ["ls-files", "--", rootDir], {
+    encoding: "utf8",
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+  });
+  if (result.status === 0) {
+    return result.stdout
+      .split("\n")
+      .map((line) => line.trim().replaceAll("\\", "/"))
+      .filter((line) => line.endsWith(".test.ts"))
+      .toSorted((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
+  }
+
   if (!existsSync(rootDir)) {
     return [];
   }
diff --git a/scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs b/scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs
index 6cca550e53b..82e94ecfc11 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs
+++ b/scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,20 @@
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { existsSync, readdirSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 
 function listContractTestFiles(rootDir = "src/plugins/contracts") {
+  const result = spawnSync("git", ["ls-files", "--", rootDir], {
+    encoding: "utf8",
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+  });
+  if (result.status === 0) {
+    return result.stdout
+      .split("\n")
+      .map((line) => line.trim().replaceAll("\\", "/"))
+      .filter((line) => line.endsWith(".test.ts"))
+      .toSorted((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
+  }
+
   if (!existsSync(rootDir)) {
     return [];
   }
diff --git a/test/scripts/channel-contract-test-plan.test.ts b/test/scripts/channel-contract-test-plan.test.ts
index 01927129031..cbe8c8f2172 100644
--- a/test/scripts/channel-contract-test-plan.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/channel-contract-test-plan.test.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
-import { existsSync, readdirSync } from "node:fs";
-import { join } from "node:path";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { createChannelContractTestShards } from "../../scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs";
 
 function listContractTests(rootDir = "src/channels/plugins/contracts"): string[] {
-  if (!existsSync(rootDir)) {
-    return [];
-  }
-
-  return readdirSync(rootDir, { withFileTypes: true })
-    .filter((entry) => entry.isFile() && entry.name.endsWith(".test.ts"))
-    .map((entry) => join(rootDir, entry.name).replaceAll("\\", "/"))
+  const result = spawnSync("git", ["ls-files", "--", rootDir], {
+    cwd: process.cwd(),
+    encoding: "utf8",
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+  });
+  expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+  return result.stdout
+    .split("\n")
+    .map((line) => line.trim().replaceAll("\\", "/"))
+    .filter((line) => line.endsWith(".test.ts"))
     .toSorted((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
 }
 
@@ -42,6 +44,54 @@ describe("scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs", () => {
     expect(new Set(actual).size).toBe(actual.length);
   });
 
+  it("uses git-tracked files without walking contract directories", () => {
+    const result = spawnSync(
+      process.execPath,
+      [
+        "--input-type=module",
+        "--eval",
+        `
+          import fs from "node:fs";
+          import { syncBuiltinESMExports } from "node:module";
+          const counts = { existsSync: 0, readdirSync: 0 };
+          const originalExistsSync = fs.existsSync;
+          const originalReaddirSync = fs.readdirSync;
+          fs.existsSync = (...args) => {
+            counts.existsSync += 1;
+            return originalExistsSync(...args);
+          };
+          fs.readdirSync = (...args) => {
+            counts.readdirSync += 1;
+            return originalReaddirSync(...args);
+          };
+          syncBuiltinESMExports();
+          const { createChannelContractTestShards } = await import("./scripts/lib/channel-contract-test-plan.mjs");
+          const shards = createChannelContractTestShards();
+          console.log(JSON.stringify({
+            counts,
+            files: shards.reduce((total, shard) => total + shard.includePatterns.length, 0),
+            shards: shards.length,
+          }));
+        `,
+      ],
+      {
+        cwd: process.cwd(),
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+      },
+    );
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    const payload = JSON.parse(result.stdout) as {
+      counts: { existsSync: number; readdirSync: number };
+      files: number;
+      shards: number;
+    };
+    expect(payload.shards).toBe(3);
+    expect(payload.files).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(payload.counts).toEqual({ existsSync: 0, readdirSync: 0 });
+  });
+
   it("keeps registry-backed surface shards spread across checks", () => {
     for (const shard of createChannelContractTestShards()) {
       const surfaceRegistryFiles = shard.includePatterns.filter((pattern) =>
diff --git a/test/scripts/plugin-contract-test-plan.test.ts b/test/scripts/plugin-contract-test-plan.test.ts
index 2827b8b8fed..8447e12e1af 100644
--- a/test/scripts/plugin-contract-test-plan.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/plugin-contract-test-plan.test.ts
@@ -1,29 +1,20 @@
-import { existsSync, readFileSync, readdirSync } from "node:fs";
-import { join } from "node:path";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { createPluginContractTestShards } from "../../scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs";
 
 function listContractTests(rootDir = "src/plugins/contracts"): string[] {
-  if (!existsSync(rootDir)) {
-    return [];
-  }
-
-  const files: string[] = [];
-  const visit = (dir: string) => {
-    for (const entry of readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true })) {
-      const path = join(dir, entry.name);
-      if (entry.isDirectory()) {
-        visit(path);
-        continue;
-      }
-      if (entry.isFile() && entry.name.endsWith(".test.ts")) {
-        files.push(path.replaceAll("\\", "/"));
-      }
-    }
-  };
-
-  visit(rootDir);
-  return files.toSorted((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
+  const result = spawnSync("git", ["ls-files", "--", rootDir], {
+    cwd: process.cwd(),
+    encoding: "utf8",
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+  });
+  expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+  return result.stdout
+    .split("\n")
+    .map((line) => line.trim().replaceAll("\\", "/"))
+    .filter((line) => line.endsWith(".test.ts"))
+    .toSorted((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
 }
 
 describe("scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs", () => {
@@ -66,6 +57,54 @@ describe("scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs", () => {
     expect(new Set(actual).size).toBe(actual.length);
   });
 
+  it("uses git-tracked files without walking contract directories", () => {
+    const result = spawnSync(
+      process.execPath,
+      [
+        "--input-type=module",
+        "--eval",
+        `
+          import fs from "node:fs";
+          import { syncBuiltinESMExports } from "node:module";
+          const counts = { existsSync: 0, readdirSync: 0 };
+          const originalExistsSync = fs.existsSync;
+          const originalReaddirSync = fs.readdirSync;
+          fs.existsSync = (...args) => {
+            counts.existsSync += 1;
+            return originalExistsSync(...args);
+          };
+          fs.readdirSync = (...args) => {
+            counts.readdirSync += 1;
+            return originalReaddirSync(...args);
+          };
+          syncBuiltinESMExports();
+          const { createPluginContractTestShards } = await import("./scripts/lib/plugin-contract-test-plan.mjs");
+          const shards = createPluginContractTestShards();
+          console.log(JSON.stringify({
+            counts,
+            files: shards.reduce((total, shard) => total + shard.includePatterns.length, 0),
+            shards: shards.length,
+          }));
+        `,
+      ],
+      {
+        cwd: process.cwd(),
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+      },
+    );
+
+    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
+    const payload = JSON.parse(result.stdout) as {
+      counts: { existsSync: number; readdirSync: number };
+      files: number;
+      shards: number;
+    };
+    expect(payload.shards).toBe(4);
+    expect(payload.files).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(payload.counts).toEqual({ existsSync: 0, readdirSync: 0 });
+  });
+
   it("keeps plugin registration contract files spread across checks", () => {
     for (const shard of createPluginContractTestShards()) {
       const registrationFiles = shard.includePatterns.filter((pattern) =>