diff --git a/eng/pipelines/templates/BuildAndTest.yml b/eng/pipelines/templates/BuildAndTest.yml
index ec26c27560..24274aabaa 100644
--- a/eng/pipelines/templates/BuildAndTest.yml
+++ b/eng/pipelines/templates/BuildAndTest.yml
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ steps:
     # downloaded to <repo root>/artifacts/helixresults folder.
     - template: /eng/pipelines/templates/send-to-helix.yml
       parameters:
-        HelixProjectPath: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/tests/send-to-helix.proj'
-        HelixProjectArguments: /p:Configuration=${{ parameters.buildConfig }} /p:RunWithCodeCoverage=true /p:RepoTestResultsPath=${{ parameters.repoTestResultsPath }}
+        HelixProjectPath: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/tests/helix/send-to-helix-ci.proj'
+        HelixProjectArguments: /m /p:Configuration=${{ parameters.buildConfig }} /p:RunWithCodeCoverage=true /p:RepoTestResultsPath=${{ parameters.repoTestResultsPath }}
 
         ${{ if eq(parameters.isWindows, 'true') }}:
           ${{ if eq(variables['System.TeamProject'], 'public') }}:
diff --git a/tests/README.md b/tests/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..900e2fa26b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Helix
+
+The helix CI job builds `tests/helix/send-to-helix-ci.proj`, which in turns builds the `Test` target on `tests/helix/send-to-helix-inner.proj`. This inner project uses the Helix SDK to construct `@(HelixWorkItem)`s, and send them to helix to run.
+
+- `tests/helix/send-to-helix-basic-tests.targets` - this prepares all the tests that don't need special preparation
+- `tests/helix/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets` - this is for tests that require a sdk+workload installed
diff --git a/tests/helix/send-to-helix-basic-tests.targets b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-basic-tests.targets
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28571f75f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-basic-tests.targets
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+<Project>
+
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <WorkItemArchiveWildCard>$(TestArchiveTestsDir)**/*.zip</WorkItemArchiveWildCard>
+    <BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>$(BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn);BuildHelixWorkItemsForDefaultTests</BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
+  <Target Name="BuildHelixWorkItemsForDefaultTests" DependsOnTargets="_StageDependenciesForHelix">
+    <PropertyGroup>
+      <_TestRunCommand Condition="'$(RunWithCodeCoverage)' == 'true'">@(_TestCoverageCommand, ' ') &quot;@(_TestRunCommandArguments, ' ')&quot;</_TestRunCommand>
+      <_TestRunCommand Condition="'$(RunWithCodeCoverage)' != 'true'">@(_TestRunCommandArguments, ' ')</_TestRunCommand>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+
+    <Error Condition="'$(_DotNetCoverageToolPath)' == '' or !Exists($(_DotNetCoverageToolPath))"
+           Text="Could not find dotnet-coverage tool. %24(_DotNetCoverageToolPath)=$(_DotNetCoverageToolPath)" />
+
+    <ItemGroup>
+      <_DefaultWorkItems Include="$(WorkItemArchiveWildCard)" />
+
+      <HelixWorkItem Include="@(_DefaultWorkItems -> '%(FileName)')">
+        <PayloadArchive>%(Identity)</PayloadArchive>
+        <PreCommands Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'">set &quot;TEST_NAME=%(FileName)&quot;</PreCommands>
+        <PreCommands Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">export &quot;TEST_NAME=%(FileName)&quot;</PreCommands>
+        <Command>$(_TestRunCommand)</Command>
+        <Timeout>$(_workItemTimeout)</Timeout>
+
+        <!-- Download results file so coverage files can be extracted -->
+        <DownloadFilesFromResults>logs/%(FileName).cobertura.xml</DownloadFilesFromResults>
+      </HelixWorkItem>
+    </ItemGroup>
+
+    <Message Text="HelixCorrelationPayload: %(HelixCorrelationPayload.Identity)" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true' and @(HelixWorkItem->Count()) > 0" Importance="High" />
+    <Message Text="HelixWorkItem: %(HelixWorkItem.Identity), Command: %(HelixWorkItem.Command), PreCommands: %(HelixWorkItem.PreCommands) with PayloadArchive: %(HelixWorkItem.PayloadArchive)" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true' and @(HelixWorkItem->Count()) > 0" Importance="High" />
+  </Target>
+</Project>
diff --git a/tests/helix/send-to-helix-ci.proj b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-ci.proj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cef601d171
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-ci.proj
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<Project>
+  <Target Name="Test">
+    <ItemGroup>
+      <TestCategory Include="basictests" />
+      <TestCategory Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="endtoendtests" />
+
+      <_ProjectsToBuild Include="send-to-helix-inner.proj"
+                        Condition="'%(TestCategory.Identity)' != ''"
+                        AdditionalProperties="TestCategory=%(TestCategory.Identity);Configuration=$(Configuration)" />
+    </ItemGroup>
+
+    <!-- Invoke MSBuild once for each Category (because of the grouping defined in "_ProjectsToBuild").
+         Create the Helix work items and start the jobs. This is done by invoking the "Test" Helix target.
+    -->
+    <MSBuild Projects="@(_ProjectsToBuild)" Targets="Test" BuildInParallel="true" StopOnFirstFailure="false" />
+  </Target>
+</Project>
diff --git a/tests/send-to-helix.proj b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-inner.proj
similarity index 67%
rename from tests/send-to-helix.proj
rename to tests/helix/send-to-helix-inner.proj
index 6051d8be7a..c7fdcf0cb2 100644
--- a/tests/send-to-helix.proj
+++ b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-inner.proj
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-<Project Sdk="Microsoft.DotNet.Helix.Sdk" InitialTargets="BuildHelixWorkItems" DefaultTargets="Test">
+<Project Sdk="Microsoft.DotNet.Helix.Sdk" InitialTargets="BuildHelixWorkItems">
+  <!-- this project is built multiple times, once per test-category. For example: basictests, endtoendtests. -->
 
   <PropertyGroup>
     <Language>msbuild</Language>
 
     <_workItemTimeout>00:20:00</_workItemTimeout>
-    <WorkItemArchiveWildCard>$(TestArchiveTestsDir)**/*.zip</WorkItemArchiveWildCard>
 
     <IncludeDotNetCli>true</IncludeDotNetCli>
     <DotNetCliPackageType>sdk</DotNetCliPackageType>
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
     <GlobalJsonContent>$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('$(RepoRoot)global.json'))</GlobalJsonContent>
     <DotNetCliVersion>$([System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex]::Match($(GlobalJsonContent), '(%3F&lt;="dotnet": ").*(%3F=")'))</DotNetCliVersion>
 
-    <BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>BuildHelixWorkItemsForDefaultTests</BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>
+    <_SupportDataStagingDir>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(ArtifactsDir), 'helix', 'support-data'))</_SupportDataStagingDir>
+    <BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>_StageDependenciesForHelix</BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <PropertyGroup>
-    <_SupportDataStagingDir>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(ArtifactsDir), 'helix', 'support-data'))</_SupportDataStagingDir>
     <_HelixLogsPath Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">$HELIX_WORKITEM_UPLOAD_ROOT/logs</_HelixLogsPath>
     <_HelixLogsPath Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'">%HELIX_WORKITEM_UPLOAD_ROOT%/logs</_HelixLogsPath>
 
@@ -49,35 +49,36 @@
     <_TestRunCommandArguments Include="full" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
-  <Import Project="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets" />
+  <Import Project="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)send-to-helix-basic-tests.targets" Condition="'$(TestCategory)' == 'basictests'" />
+  <Import Project="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets" Condition="'$(TestCategory)' == 'EndToEndTests'" />
 
-  <Target Name="BuildHelixWorkItemsForDefaultTests" DependsOnTargets="_StageDependenciesForHelix">
-    <PropertyGroup>
-      <_TestRunCommand Condition="'$(RunWithCodeCoverage)' == 'true'">@(_TestCoverageCommand, ' ') &quot;@(_TestRunCommandArguments, ' ')&quot;</_TestRunCommand>
-      <_TestRunCommand Condition="'$(RunWithCodeCoverage)' != 'true'">@(_TestRunCommandArguments, ' ')</_TestRunCommand>
-    </PropertyGroup>
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(NeedsWorkload)' == 'true'">
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set PATH=%HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD%\dotnet-latest;%PATH%" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export PATH=$HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD/dotnet-latest:$PATH" />
 
-    <Error Condition="'$(_DotNetCoverageToolPath)' == '' or !Exists($(_DotNetCoverageToolPath))"
-           Text="Could not find dotnet-coverage tool. %24(_DotNetCoverageToolPath)=$(_DotNetCoverageToolPath)" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set SDK_DIR_NAME=dotnet-latest" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export SDK_DIR_NAME=dotnet-latest" />
 
-    <ItemGroup>
-      <_DefaultWorkItems Include="$(WorkItemArchiveWildCard)" />
-
-      <HelixWorkItem Include="@(_DefaultWorkItems -> '%(FileName)')">
-        <PayloadArchive>%(Identity)</PayloadArchive>
-        <PreCommands Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'">set &quot;TEST_NAME=%(FileName)&quot;</PreCommands>
-        <PreCommands Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">export &quot;TEST_NAME=%(FileName)&quot;</PreCommands>
-        <Command>$(_TestRunCommand)</Command>
-        <Timeout>$(_workItemTimeout)</Timeout>
-
-        <!-- Download results file so coverage files can be extracted -->
-        <DownloadFilesFromResults>logs/%(FileName).cobertura.xml</DownloadFilesFromResults>
-      </HelixWorkItem>
-    </ItemGroup>
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set SDK_FOR_WORKLOAD_TESTING_PATH=%HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD%\%SDK_DIR_NAME%" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export SDK_FOR_WORKLOAD_TESTING_PATH=$HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD/$SDK_DIR_NAME" />
 
-    <Message Text="HelixCorrelationPayload: %(HelixCorrelationPayload.Identity)" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true' and @(HelixWorkItem->Count()) > 0" Importance="High" />
-    <Message Text="HelixWorkItem: %(HelixWorkItem.Identity), Command: %(HelixWorkItem.Command), PreCommands: %(HelixWorkItem.PreCommands) with PayloadArchive: %(HelixWorkItem.PayloadArchive)" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true' and @(HelixWorkItem->Count()) > 0" Importance="High" />
-  </Target>
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set TestsRunningOutsideOfRepo=true" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export TestsRunningOutsideOfRepo=true" />
+
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set BUILT_NUGETS_PATH=%HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD%\built-nugets" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export BUILT_NUGETS_PATH=$HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD/built-nugets" />
+
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set TEST_LOG_PATH=%HELIX_WORKITEM_UPLOAD_ROOT%/logs" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export TEST_LOG_PATH=$HELIX_WORKITEM_UPLOAD_ROOT/logs" />
+
+    <HelixPreCommand Include="docker info" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Include="docker ps" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Include="docker container ls --all" />
+    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="docker ps -aq | xargs docker stop | xargs docker rm" />
+
+    <HelixPostCommand Include="docker container ls --all" />
+    <HelixPostCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="docker ps -aq | xargs docker stop | xargs docker rm" />
+  </ItemGroup>
 
   <Target Name="_StageDependenciesForHelix">
     <PropertyGroup>
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@
   </Target>
 
   <Target Name="BuildHelixWorkItems" DependsOnTargets="$(BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn)">
+    <Message Text="Building for TestCategory=$(TestCategory)" Importance="High" />
     <Message Text="HelixCorrelationPayload: %(HelixCorrelationPayload.Identity)" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true' and @(HelixWorkItem->Count()) > 0" Importance="High" />
     <Message Text="HelixWorkItem: %(HelixWorkItem.Identity), Command: %(HelixWorkItem.Command), PreCommands: %(HelixWorkItem.PreCommands) with PayloadArchive: %(HelixWorkItem.PayloadArchive)" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true' and @(HelixWorkItem->Count()) > 0" Importance="High" />
     <Error Text="Stopping the build for dry run" Condition="'$(HelixDryRun)' == 'true'" />
diff --git a/tests/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets
similarity index 51%
rename from tests/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets
rename to tests/helix/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets
index e1dba93be0..1f29681eeb 100644
--- a/tests/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets
+++ b/tests/helix/send-to-helix-workload-tests.targets
@@ -1,45 +1,16 @@
 <Project>
 
   <PropertyGroup>
-    <WorkItemArchiveWildCardWorkloadTests>$(TestArchiveTestsDirForWorkloadTests)**/*.zip</WorkItemArchiveWildCardWorkloadTests>
     <_E2ETestsArchivePath>$(TestArchiveTestsDirForEndToEndTests)Aspire.EndToEnd.Tests.zip</_E2ETestsArchivePath>
-
     <BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>$(BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn);BuildHelixWorkItemsForEnd2EndTests</BuildHelixWorkItemsDependsOn>
-  </PropertyGroup>
-
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <_DefaultWorkItemsWorkloadTests Include="$(WorkItemArchiveWildCardWorkloadTests)" />
-  </ItemGroup>
-
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set PATH=%HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD%\dotnet-latest;%PATH%" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export PATH=$HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD/dotnet-latest:$PATH" />
-
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set SDK_DIR_NAME=dotnet-latest" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export SDK_DIR_NAME=dotnet-latest" />
+    <NeedsWorkload>true</NeedsWorkload>
 
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set SDK_FOR_WORKLOAD_TESTING_PATH=%HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD%\%SDK_DIR_NAME%" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export SDK_FOR_WORKLOAD_TESTING_PATH=$HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD/$SDK_DIR_NAME" />
-
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set TestsRunningOutsideOfRepo=true" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export TestsRunningOutsideOfRepo=true" />
-
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set BUILT_NUGETS_PATH=%HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD%\built-nugets" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export BUILT_NUGETS_PATH=$HELIX_CORRELATION_PAYLOAD/built-nugets" />
-
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'" Include="set TEST_LOG_PATH=%HELIX_WORKITEM_UPLOAD_ROOT%/logs" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export TEST_LOG_PATH=$HELIX_WORKITEM_UPLOAD_ROOT/logs" />
-
-    <HelixPreCommand Include="docker info" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Include="docker ps" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Include="docker container ls --all" />
-    <HelixPreCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="docker ps -aq | xargs docker stop | xargs docker rm" />
+  </PropertyGroup>
 
-    <HelixPostCommand Include="docker container ls --all" />
-    <HelixPostCommand Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="docker ps -aq | xargs docker stop | xargs docker rm" />
-  </ItemGroup>
+  <Target Name="BuildHelixWorkItemsForEnd2EndTests">
+    <Error Condition="'$(_E2ETestsArchivePath)' == '' or !Exists($(_E2ETestsArchivePath))"
+           Text="Could not find EndToEnd tests at %24(_E2ETestsArchivePath)=$(_E2ETestsArchivePath)" />
 
-  <Target Name="BuildHelixWorkItemsForEnd2EndTests" Condition="'$(_E2ETestsArchivePath)' != '' and Exists($(_E2ETestsArchivePath))">
     <PropertyGroup>
       <_TestScenarioEnvVar Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'">%TEST_SCENARIO%</_TestScenarioEnvVar>
       <_TestScenarioEnvVar Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">${TEST_SCENARIO}</_TestScenarioEnvVar>
@@ -50,7 +21,6 @@
     </ItemGroup>
 
     <PropertyGroup>
-      <_WorkItemTimeoutForEndToEndTests>00:20:00</_WorkItemTimeoutForEndToEndTests>
       <_WorkItemName>$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($(_E2ETestsArchivePath)))</_WorkItemName>
 
       <HelixPreCommands>$(HelixPreCommands);@(HelixPreCommand)</HelixPreCommands>
@@ -75,7 +45,7 @@
         <PreCommands Condition="'$(OS)' == 'Windows_NT'">set &quot;TEST_NAME=$(_WorkItemName)&quot; &amp; set TEST_SCENARIO=%(Identity) &amp; set &quot;CODE_COV_FILE_SUFFIX=-%(Identity)&quot;</PreCommands>
         <PreCommands Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'">export &quot;TEST_NAME=$(_WorkItemName)&quot; &amp;&amp; export TEST_SCENARIO=%(Identity) &amp;&amp; export &quot;CODE_COV_FILE_SUFFIX=-%(Identity)&quot;</PreCommands>
         <Command>$(_TestRunCommand)</Command>
-        <Timeout>$(_WorkItemTimeoutForEndToEndTests)</Timeout>
+        <Timeout>$(_workItemTimeout)</Timeout>
 
         <!-- Download results file so coverage files can be extracted -->
         <DownloadFilesFromResults>logs/Aspire.EndToEnd.Tests-%(Identity).cobertura.xml</DownloadFilesFromResults>