diff --git a/.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test/action.yml b/.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4b588c9a265f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+
+name: check PR readiness for running CI
+description: >
+  Fails the workflow when a pull request isn't ready for consuming the shared CI resources of the
+  apache/pulsar repository. Draft pull requests and stacked pull requests which aren't at the bottom
+  of the stack are expected to be tested in the contributor's own fork. The check is overridden by
+  adding the ready-to-test label to the pull request.
+inputs:
+  github-token:
+    description: "Token used for reading the pull request state"
+    required: false
+    default: ${{ github.token }}
+  ready-to-test-label:
+    description: "Label which overrides the readiness check"
+    required: false
+    default: 'ready-to-test'
+  trunk-branches:
+    description: >
+      Comma separated glob patterns of the branches that are considered trunk branches. Used for
+      detecting stacked pull requests when the GitHub stack API isn't available.
+    required: false
+    default: 'master,branch-*,pulsar-*'
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - uses: actions/github-script@v8
+      env:
+        # github.action_path is passed in an environment variable since a relative require would be
+        # resolved against the github-script action's own directory instead of this action's directory
+        ACTION_PATH: ${{ github.action_path }}
+        READY_TO_TEST_LABEL: ${{ inputs.ready-to-test-label }}
+        TRUNK_BRANCHES: ${{ inputs.trunk-branches }}
+      with:
+        github-token: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
+        script: |
+          const checkPrReadyToTest = require(`${process.env.ACTION_PATH}/check-pr-ready-to-test.js`);
+          await checkPrReadyToTest({ github, context, core });
diff --git a/.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test/check-pr-ready-to-test.js b/.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test/check-pr-ready-to-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d3c66f0a758e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test/check-pr-ready-to-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+const DEFAULT_READY_TO_TEST_LABEL = 'ready-to-test';
+const DEFAULT_TRUNK_BRANCHES = 'master,branch-*,pulsar-*';
+
+// GitHub stacked pull requests: https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/how-tos/stacked-pull-requests
+// The entries keep their position when a pull request of the stack is merged, so the bottom of the
+// stack is the lowest entry which is still open, not necessarily the entry at position 1.
+const STACK_QUERY = `
+  query($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $number: Int!) {
+    repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
+      pullRequest(number: $number) {
+        stackEntry {
+          position
+        }
+        stack {
+          number
+          size
+          baseRefName
+          entries(first: 100) {
+            nodes {
+              position
+              pullRequest {
+                number
+                url
+                state
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }`;
+
+function parsePatterns(value) {
+  return (value || '').split(/[\s,]+/).filter(pattern => pattern.length > 0);
+}
+
+function matchesAnyPattern(branch, patterns) {
+  return patterns.some(pattern => {
+    const regex = new RegExp(`^${pattern.split('*').map(escapeRegExp).join('.*')}$`);
+    return regex.test(branch);
+  });
+}
+
+function escapeRegExp(value) {
+  return value.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolves the place of the pull request within a GitHub stack.
+ * The stack fields aren't available in all GitHub deployments, in that case `available` is false and
+ * the caller falls back to inspecting the base branch of the pull request.
+ */
+async function resolveStack({ github, core, owner, repo, number, baseRef }) {
+  let response;
+  try {
+    response = await github.graphql(STACK_QUERY, { owner, repo, number });
+  } catch (error) {
+    core.warning(`Couldn't resolve GitHub stack information for #${number}: ${error.message}`);
+    return { available: false };
+  }
+  const stack = response?.repository?.pullRequest?.stack;
+  if (!stack) {
+    return { available: true, inStack: false };
+  }
+  const entries = (stack.entries?.nodes || []).filter(entry => entry?.pullRequest);
+  const openEntries = entries.filter(entry => entry.pullRequest.state === 'OPEN');
+  const bottomEntry = openEntries.reduce(
+    (bottom, entry) => (bottom == null || entry.position < bottom.position ? entry : bottom), null);
+  const position = response.repository.pullRequest.stackEntry?.position;
+  // The pull request is at the bottom of the stack when every pull request below it has been merged
+  // or closed. When such a pull request is merged, GitHub retargets the one above it to the branch
+  // that was merged into, so targeting the trunk branch of the stack means the same thing. Either
+  // condition is enough: the retargeting and the stack entries aren't necessarily updated at once.
+  const isLowestOpen = position != null
+    ? !entries.some(entry => entry.position < position && entry.pullRequest.state === 'OPEN')
+    : bottomEntry?.pullRequest?.number === number;
+  return {
+    available: true,
+    inStack: true,
+    isBottom: isLowestOpen || baseRef === stack.baseRefName,
+    position,
+    number: stack.number,
+    size: stack.size,
+    trunkBranch: stack.baseRefName,
+    bottomPullRequest: bottomEntry?.pullRequest
+  };
+}
+
+function renderSummary({ pullRequestUrl, blockers, label }) {
+  const steps = [
+    ...blockers.map(blocker => blocker.remedy),
+    `Test the change in your own fork in the meantime. The full CI pipeline runs in a fork without `
+      + `maintainer approval and GitHub Actions provides separate quota for it. See the `
+      + `[Personal CI documentation](https://pulsar.apache.org/contribute/personal-ci/) for enabling `
+      + `it: push the branch to your fork and let the CI run against the pull request opened in your `
+      + `own fork. As the pull request author, you are responsible for following up on test failures. `
+      + `Please report any flaky tests as new issues at https://github.com/apache/pulsar/issues after `
+      + `checking that the flaky test isn't already reported.`,
+    `An Apache Pulsar committer can add the \`${label}\` label to ${pullRequestUrl} to run the CI in `
+      + `apache/pulsar regardless of the checks above.`,
+    `This workflow doesn't restart on its own when the pull request is marked as ready for review, `
+      + `when the \`${label}\` label is added or when the pull request below this one in a stack is `
+      + `merged. Once the checks above are addressed, start a new run by pushing to the branch, by `
+      + `adding a "/pulsarbot rerun" comment to the pull request, or by re-running the failed jobs in `
+      + `the GitHub Actions UI.`
+  ];
+  return `
+## Pulsar CI didn't run for this pull request
+
+The apache/pulsar CI based on GitHub Actions has constrained resources and quota which are shared by
+all contributors, so CI in apache/pulsar is reserved for pull requests that are ready to be tested:
+draft pull requests, and the pull requests of a stack above the bottom one, are expected to be tested
+with [Personal CI](https://pulsar.apache.org/contribute/personal-ci/) in the contributor's own fork.
+
+### Why this run was stopped
+
+${blockers.map(blocker => `- ${blocker.reason}`).join('\n')}
+
+### How to proceed
+
+${steps.map((step, index) => `${index + 1}. ${step}`).join('\n')}
+
+If you have any trouble you can get support in multiple ways:
+* by sending email to the [dev mailing list](mailto:dev@pulsar.apache.org) ([subscribe](mailto:dev-subscribe@pulsar.apache.org))
+* on the [#dev channel on Pulsar Slack](https://apache-pulsar.slack.com/channels/dev) ([join](https://pulsar.apache.org/community#section-discussions))
+* in apache/pulsar [GitHub discussions Q&A](https://github.com/apache/pulsar/discussions/categories/q-a)
+`;
+}
+
+module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
+  const eventPullRequest = context.payload.pull_request;
+  if (!eventPullRequest) {
+    core.info(`The '${context.eventName}' event isn't a pull request event, skipping the check.`);
+    return;
+  }
+  const { owner, repo } = context.repo;
+  const number = eventPullRequest.number;
+  const label = process.env.READY_TO_TEST_LABEL || DEFAULT_READY_TO_TEST_LABEL;
+  const trunkBranches = parsePatterns(process.env.TRUNK_BRANCHES || DEFAULT_TRUNK_BRANCHES);
+
+  // The event payload is a snapshot of the pull request from the time the workflow run was triggered.
+  // Refresh the state so that re-running the workflow picks up changes made after that, such as
+  // adding the label or marking the pull request as ready for review.
+  const { data: pullRequest } = await github.rest.pulls.get({ owner, repo, pull_number: number });
+
+  if ((pullRequest.labels || []).some(prLabel => prLabel.name === label)) {
+    core.info(`Found the '${label}' label on #${number}.`);
+    return;
+  }
+  core.info(`There is no '${label}' label on #${number}.`);
+
+  // Each blocker explains why the CI didn't run and what to do about it. The remedies are rendered as
+  // the first steps of the instructions so that they match the checks which actually failed.
+  const stackRemedy = 'Wait for this pull request to reach the bottom of the stack: once the pull '
+    + 'requests below it have been merged or closed, it becomes the lowest open pull request of the '
+    + 'stack and its CI runs in apache/pulsar.';
+  const blockers = [];
+  if (pullRequest.draft) {
+    blockers.push({
+      reason: 'The pull request is a **draft**, so it isn\'t ready to be reviewed and tested yet.',
+      remedy: 'Mark the pull request as ready for review once it is ready to be tested and reviewed.'
+    });
+  }
+
+  const stack = await resolveStack({ github, core, owner, repo, number, baseRef: pullRequest.base.ref });
+  if (stack.available && stack.inStack) {
+    const positionText = stack.position != null
+      ? `entry ${stack.position} of ${stack.size} in stack #${stack.number}`
+      : `part of stack #${stack.number}`;
+    core.info(`#${number} is ${positionText}. At the bottom of the stack: ${stack.isBottom}.`);
+    if (!stack.isBottom) {
+      const bottom = stack.bottomPullRequest;
+      const bottomLink = bottom ? ` ([#${bottom.number}](${bottom.url}))` : '';
+      blockers.push({
+        reason: `The pull request is ${positionText}. Only the pull request at the bottom of the `
+          + `stack, that is the lowest one which hasn't been merged or closed yet${bottomLink}, runs `
+          + `the CI in apache/pulsar.`,
+        remedy: stackRemedy
+      });
+    }
+  } else if (!matchesAnyPattern(pullRequest.base.ref, trunkBranches)) {
+    // Not resolved as a GitHub stack: a pull request that targets a branch which isn't a trunk branch
+    // is a dependent pull request stacked on top of another one.
+    core.info(`#${number} targets the '${pullRequest.base.ref}' branch which isn't a trunk branch.`);
+    blockers.push({
+      reason: `The pull request targets the \`${pullRequest.base.ref}\` branch instead of a trunk `
+        + `branch (${trunkBranches.map(pattern => `\`${pattern}\``).join(', ')}), so it is stacked on `
+        + `top of another pull request. Only the pull request at the bottom of a stack runs the CI in `
+        + `apache/pulsar.`,
+      remedy: stackRemedy
+    });
+  }
+
+  if (blockers.length === 0) {
+    core.info(`#${number} is ready for running the CI.`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  await core.summary
+    .addRaw(renderSummary({ pullRequestUrl: eventPullRequest.html_url, blockers, label }))
+    .write();
+  core.setFailed(`#${number} isn't ready for running the CI in ${owner}/${repo}. `
+    + `See the job summary for instructions on how to proceed.`);
+};
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-go-functions.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-go-functions.yaml
index 772b8521763b8..7fc882020823f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-go-functions.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-go-functions.yaml
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ jobs:
             echo docs_only=false >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           fi
 
+      - name: Check if the PR is ready for running CI
+        if: ${{ steps.check_changes.outputs.docs_only != 'true' && github.repository == 'apache/pulsar' && github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test
+
   check-style:
     needs: preconditions
     if: ${{ needs.preconditions.outputs.docs_only != 'true' }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci-flaky.yaml b/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci-flaky.yaml
index 105fa508b49fb..94a375dd50c49 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci-flaky.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci-flaky.yaml
@@ -134,6 +134,10 @@ jobs:
             echo docs_only=false >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           fi
 
+      - name: Check if the PR is ready for running CI
+        if: ${{ steps.check_changes.outputs.docs_only != 'true' && github.repository == 'apache/pulsar' && github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test
+
       - name: Check if coverage should be collected
         id: check_coverage
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci.yaml
index 68feda3776a1b..b6fd17d166aef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pulsar-ci.yaml
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ jobs:
             echo docs_only=false >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           fi
 
+      - name: Check if the PR is ready for running CI
+        if: ${{ steps.check_changes.outputs.docs_only != 'true' && github.repository == 'apache/pulsar' && github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/check-pr-ready-to-test
+
       - name: Set Netty leak detection mode
         id: netty_leak_detection
         run: |