diff --git a/.clang-format b/.clang-format
index 96b776d99..22729e92b 100644
--- a/.clang-format
+++ b/.clang-format
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ AccessModifierOffset: -4
 IndentWidth: 4
 InsertBraces: true
 InsertNewlineAtEOF: true
+DerivePointerAlignment: true
 SpaceBeforeInheritanceColon: true
 SpaceBeforeParens: ControlStatements
 SortIncludes: Never
diff --git a/.github/workflows/format_check.yml b/.github/workflows/format_check.yml
index eb716b5cf..631a92afb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/format_check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/format_check.yml
@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
+# Copyright ARDUINO SRL (https://www.arduino.cc)
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+# CI workflow to check formatting
 name: 'Format Check'
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches:
-      - 'main'
-
   pull_request:
-    types:
-      - opened
-      - edited
-      - reopened
-      - synchronize
-    branches:
-      - 'main'
 
 jobs:
   verify-format:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
+      - name: Install clang
+        working-directory: /opt
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get remove --purge man-db -y # skips the mandb triggers
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends clang-19
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
@@ -33,21 +33,17 @@ jobs:
             libraries/**/*.{c,cpp,h,hpp}
           files_ignore: |
             cores/arduino/api/**
-            loader/llext_exports.c
             loader/blobs/4343WA1_*.c
             loader/blobs/wifi_nvram_image.h
             libraries/examples/**
             libraries/extras/**
             libraries/ea_malloc/**
           json: true
-      - name: Export changed files in a text file, one per line
+      - name: Run clang-format checks
         if: steps.changed-files.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
         run: |
           echo ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }} | jq -r '.[]' > all_changed_files.txt
-          cat all_changed_files.txt
-      - name: Run clang-format check
-        if: steps.changed-files.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
-        uses: pillo79/clang-format-action@05f671e71f0758aba4d3c9dbb0ee81bc5f0137c6
-        with:
-          clang-format-version: '19'
-          check-files-from: all_changed_files.txt
+          ./extra/ci_clang_check.sh -f all_changed_files.txt
diff --git a/extra/ci_clang_check.sh b/extra/ci_clang_check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..13efcf8af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extra/ci_clang_check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright ARDUINO SRL
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+# parse arguments
+while getopts "p:f:o:r:e:i:" opt; do
+	case $opt in
+		p) CHECK_PATH="$OPTARG" ;;
+		f) CHECK_FILES_FROM="$OPTARG" ;;
+		e) EXCLUDE_REGEX="$OPTARG" ;;
+		i) INCLUDE_REGEX="$OPTARG" ;;
+		*) echo "Invalid option: -$OPTARG" >&2 ; exit 1 ;;
+	esac
+done
+
+if [[ -z "$CHECK_FILES_FROM" ]] && [[ -z "$CHECK_PATH" ]]; then
+	echo "No source input provided. Fallback to all files." >&2
+	CHECK_PATH="."
+elif [[ -f "$CHECK_FILES_FROM" ]]; then
+	echo "Checking files listed in 'check-files-from'." >&2
+elif [[ ! -z "$CHECK_PATH" ]] && [[ -d "$CHECK_PATH" ]]; then
+	echo "Checking directory specified by 'check-path'." >&2
+else
+	echo "::warning::Invalid inputs provided. Fallback to all files." >&2
+	CHECK_FILES_FROM=""
+	CHECK_PATH="."
+fi
+
+# Set the regex to an empty string regex if nothing was provided
+if [[ -z $EXCLUDE_REGEX ]]; then
+	EXCLUDE_REGEX="^$"
+fi
+
+# Set the filetype regex if nothing was provided.
+# Find all C/C++/Protobuf/CUDA files:
+#   h, H, hpp, hh, h++, hxx
+#   c, C, cpp, cc, c++, cxx
+#   ino, pde
+#   proto
+#   cu
+if [[ -z $INCLUDE_REGEX ]]; then
+	INCLUDE_REGEX='^.*\.((((c|C)(c|pp|xx|\+\+)?$)|((h|H)h?(pp|xx|\+\+)?$))|(ino|pde|proto|cu))$'
+fi
+
+cd "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE" || exit 2
+
+if [[ -f "$CHECK_FILES_FROM" ]]; then
+	# Use the provided list of files to check.
+	src_files=$(grep -E "$INCLUDE_REGEX" "$CHECK_FILES_FROM")
+else
+	# Find all source files in the provided path, excluding .git directories.
+	src_files=$(find "$CHECK_PATH" -name .git -prune -o -regextype posix-egrep -regex "$INCLUDE_REGEX" -print)
+fi
+
+exit_code=0
+IFS=$'\n' # Loop below should separate on new lines, not spaces.
+for file in $src_files; do
+	# Only check formatting if the path doesn't match the regex
+	[[ ${file} =~ $EXCLUDE_REGEX ]] && continue
+
+	clang-format -i -style=file "${file}" 2>&1
+	changes=$(git diff -U0 --color=always ${file})
+	[ -z "$changes" ] && continue
+
+	exit_code=1
+	echo "$changes" | tail -n +5 | while IFS= read -r line ; do
+		if [[ $line =~ @@\ -([0-9]+),?([0-9]*)\ \+([0-9]+),?([0-9]*)\ @@ ]]; then
+			# Extract the line numbers from the diff output
+			git_start_line=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+			git_line_count=${BASH_REMATCH[2]:-1}
+			# fixed_start_line=${BASH_REMATCH[3]}
+			# fixed_line_count=${BASH_REMATCH[4]:-1}
+
+			git_end_line=$((git_start_line + git_line_count - 1))
+
+			echo "---"
+			echo "::error file=${file},line=${git_start_line},endLine=${git_end_line},title=Fix this formatting::${file}, lines ${git_start_line}-${git_end_line}:"
+		else
+			# diff line, print it as is (with color)
+			echo "$line"
+		fi
+	done
+done
+
+[ "$exit_code" -ne 0 ] && echo "---"
+
+exit $exit_code