diff --git a/.tests/pre-commit-frontend.sh b/.tests/pre-commit-frontend.sh
index b8c8266..cbc375f 100755
--- a/.tests/pre-commit-frontend.sh
+++ b/.tests/pre-commit-frontend.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-pwd
-ls -lsah
+$UI_DIR="hyperglass/ui"
 
-cd hyperglass/ui
+if git diff --cached --name-only | grep --quiet "$UI_DIR"
+then
+    echo "No frontend files have changed, skipping pre-commit check..."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+cd $UI_DIR
 
 yarn typecheck
diff --git a/hyperglass/ui/nextdev.js b/hyperglass/ui/nextdev.js
index 0c6bb31..05e6667 100644
--- a/hyperglass/ui/nextdev.js
+++ b/hyperglass/ui/nextdev.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const config = require(String(configFile));
 
 const { NODE_ENV: env, _HYPERGLASS_URL_: envUrl } = config;
 
+// testing
 const devProxy = {
   '/api/query/': { target: envUrl + 'api/query/', pathRewrite: { '^/api/query/': '' } },
   '/images': { target: envUrl + 'images', pathRewrite: { '^/images': '' } },
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ app
 
     // Set up the proxy.
     if (dev && devProxy) {
-      Object.keys(devProxy).forEach(function(context) {
+      Object.keys(devProxy).forEach(function (context) {
         server.use(proxyMiddleware(context, devProxy[context]));
       });
     }