diff --git a/.github/actions/slack-build-notify/action.yml b/.github/actions/slack-build-notify/action.yml
index efccfdecc..55ffb0eff 100644
--- a/.github/actions/slack-build-notify/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/slack-build-notify/action.yml
@@ -54,32 +54,36 @@ runs:
               .filter(r => r.id !== context.runId && r.conclusion !== 'cancelled')
               .sort((a, b) => new Date(b.created_at) - new Date(a.created_at));
 
-            if (previousRuns.length === 0) {
-              core.info('No previous completed runs found, skipping notification');
-              return;
-            }
-
-            const previousRun = previousRuns[0];
             const currentFailed = currentResult !== 'success';
 
-            // Compare against the previous run's CI job conclusion (not the workflow
-            // conclusion) so that clean-job flaps don't trigger false notifications.
-            // Falls back to workflow conclusion if the CI job isn't found.
-            const { data: { jobs: prevJobs } } = await github.rest.actions.listJobsForWorkflowRun({
-              owner: context.repo.owner,
-              repo: context.repo.repo,
-              run_id: previousRun.id,
-              per_page: 100,
-            });
-            const prevCiJob = prevJobs.find(j => j.name === 'CI');
-            const previousConclusion = prevCiJob
-              ? prevCiJob.conclusion
-              : previousRun.conclusion;
-            const previousFailed = previousConclusion !== 'success';
-
-            if (currentFailed === previousFailed) {
-              core.info(`No state transition (current: ${currentResult}, previous: ${previousConclusion}), skipping`);
-              return;
+            if (previousRuns.length === 0) {
+              if (!currentFailed) {
+                core.info('No previous completed runs found and build passed, skipping notification');
+                return;
+              }
+              // No history — notify on failure directly (e.g. merge queue runs on ephemeral refs)
+            } else {
+              const previousRun = previousRuns[0];
+
+              // Compare against the previous run's CI job conclusion (not the workflow
+              // conclusion) so that clean-job flaps don't trigger false notifications.
+              // Falls back to workflow conclusion if the CI job isn't found.
+              const { data: { jobs: prevJobs } } = await github.rest.actions.listJobsForWorkflowRun({
+                owner: context.repo.owner,
+                repo: context.repo.repo,
+                run_id: previousRun.id,
+                per_page: 100,
+              });
+              const prevCiJob = prevJobs.find(j => j.name === 'CI');
+              const previousConclusion = prevCiJob
+                ? prevCiJob.conclusion
+                : previousRun.conclusion;
+              const previousFailed = previousConclusion !== 'success';
+
+              if (currentFailed === previousFailed) {
+                core.info(`No state transition (current: ${currentResult}, previous: ${previousConclusion}), skipping`);
+                return;
+              }
             }
 
             const runUrl = currentRun.html_url;
diff --git a/.github/workflows/bakery-build-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/bakery-build-pr.yml
index 1cfe51ad3..40ccd5f67 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bakery-build-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bakery-build-pr.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ on:
         default: "exclude"
         required: false
         type: string
+      latest-only:
+        description: "Build only the latest version of each image (faster PR checks)"
+        default: false
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
       retry:
         description: "Number of times to retry a failed build"
         default: 1
@@ -102,9 +107,12 @@ jobs:
           IS_FORK: ${{ needs.detect.outputs.is-fork }}
           DEV_VERSIONS: ${{ inputs.dev-versions }}
           MATRIX_VERSIONS: ${{ inputs.matrix-versions }}
+          LATEST_ONLY: ${{ inputs.latest-only }}
           BAKERY_CONTEXT: ${{ inputs.context }}
         run: |
-          FULL_MATRIX=$(bakery ci matrix --quiet --dev-versions "$DEV_VERSIONS" --matrix-versions "$MATRIX_VERSIONS" --context "$BAKERY_CONTEXT" | jq --compact-output .)
+          LATEST_FLAGS=()
+          if [ "$LATEST_ONLY" = "true" ]; then LATEST_FLAGS=(--latest); fi
+          FULL_MATRIX=$(bakery ci matrix --quiet --dev-versions "$DEV_VERSIONS" --matrix-versions "$MATRIX_VERSIONS" "${LATEST_FLAGS[@]}" --context "$BAKERY_CONTEXT" | jq --compact-output .)
           if [ "$IS_FORK" = "true" ]; then
             # Skip arm64 for fork PRs — paid runners may not be available
             FULL_MATRIX=$(echo "$FULL_MATRIX" | jq --compact-output '[.[] | select(.platform != "linux/arm64")]')
@@ -116,9 +124,12 @@ jobs:
         env:
           DEV_VERSIONS: ${{ inputs.dev-versions }}
           MATRIX_VERSIONS: ${{ inputs.matrix-versions }}
+          LATEST_ONLY: ${{ inputs.latest-only }}
           BAKERY_CONTEXT: ${{ inputs.context }}
         run: |
-          result=$(bakery ci matrix --quiet --dev-versions "$DEV_VERSIONS" --matrix-versions "$MATRIX_VERSIONS" --exclude platform --context "$BAKERY_CONTEXT")
+          LATEST_FLAGS=()
+          if [ "$LATEST_ONLY" = "true" ]; then LATEST_FLAGS=(--latest); fi
+          result=$(bakery ci matrix --quiet --dev-versions "$DEV_VERSIONS" --matrix-versions "$MATRIX_VERSIONS" "${LATEST_FLAGS[@]}" --exclude platform --context "$BAKERY_CONTEXT")
           echo "versions_matrix=$(echo "$result" | jq --compact-output .)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
   build-test:
diff --git a/posit-bakery/posit_bakery/cli/ci.py b/posit-bakery/posit_bakery/cli/ci.py
index d0b5e3511..b4da5e378 100644
--- a/posit-bakery/posit_bakery/cli/ci.py
+++ b/posit-bakery/posit_bakery/cli/ci.py
@@ -75,6 +75,14 @@ def matrix(
             rich_help_panel=RichHelpPanelEnum.FILTERS,
         ),
     ] = None,
+    latest: Annotated[
+        Optional[bool],
+        typer.Option(
+            "--latest",
+            help="Include only the latest version of each image. For matrix images, includes only the highest-version combination.",
+            rich_help_panel=RichHelpPanelEnum.FILTERS,
+        ),
+    ] = False,
     exclude: Annotated[
         Optional[list[BakeryCIMatrixFieldEnum]],
         typer.Option(help="Fields to exclude splitting the matrix by."),
@@ -152,6 +160,8 @@ def matrix(
                     continue
                 if image_version is not None and not version_matches(ver.name, image_version):
                     continue
+                if latest and not ver.latest:
+                    continue
 
                 if BakeryCIMatrixFieldEnum.VERSION not in exclude:
                     entry["version"] = ver.name
diff --git a/posit-bakery/test/cli/testdata/ci/matrix/multiversion/default.json b/posit-bakery/test/cli/testdata/ci/matrix/multiversion/default.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..699c5c863
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posit-bakery/test/cli/testdata/ci/matrix/multiversion/default.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[{"image": "test-image", "version": "2.0.0", "dev": false, "platform": "linux/amd64"}, {"image": "test-image", "version": "1.0.0", "dev": false, "platform": "linux/amd64"}]
diff --git a/posit-bakery/test/cli/testdata/ci/matrix/multiversion/latest_only.json b/posit-bakery/test/cli/testdata/ci/matrix/multiversion/latest_only.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fcd48eec6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posit-bakery/test/cli/testdata/ci/matrix/multiversion/latest_only.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[{"image": "test-image", "version": "2.0.0", "dev": false, "platform": "linux/amd64"}]
diff --git a/posit-bakery/test/features/cli/ci/matrix.feature b/posit-bakery/test/features/cli/ci/matrix.feature
index 243a794ba..c6d4fa156 100644
--- a/posit-bakery/test/features/cli/ci/matrix.feature
+++ b/posit-bakery/test/features/cli/ci/matrix.feature
@@ -47,3 +47,19 @@ Feature: matrix
             | --image-version | 9.9.9 |
         When I execute the command
         Then The command fails
+
+    Scenario: Generating a full CI matrix for the multiversion suite
+        Given I call bakery ci matrix
+        * in the multiversion context
+        When I execute the command
+        Then The command succeeds
+        * the matrix matches testdata ci/matrix/multiversion/default.json
+
+    Scenario: Filtering the CI matrix to latest versions only
+        Given I call bakery ci matrix
+        * in the multiversion context
+        * with the arguments:
+            | --latest |  |
+        When I execute the command
+        Then The command succeeds
+        * the matrix matches testdata ci/matrix/multiversion/latest_only.json
diff --git a/posit-bakery/test/resources/multiversion/bakery.yaml b/posit-bakery/test/resources/multiversion/bakery.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a7a2d91bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posit-bakery/test/resources/multiversion/bakery.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+repository:
+  url: "github.com/posit-dev/images-shared"
+  vendor: "Posit Software, PBC"
+  maintainer:
+    name: "Posit Docker Team"
+    email: "docker@posit.co"
+
+registries:
+  - host: "ghcr.io"
+    namespace: "posit-dev"
+
+images:
+  - name: "test-image"
+    versions:
+      - name: "2.0.0"
+        latest: true
+        os:
+          - name: Ubuntu 22.04
+            primary: true
+      - name: "1.0.0"
+        os:
+          - name: Ubuntu 22.04
+            primary: true