diff --git a/.asf.yaml b/.asf.yaml
index 6185dac1c4..3a2806912c 100644
--- a/.asf.yaml
+++ b/.asf.yaml
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ github:
 
       required_linear_history: true
 
+      required_status_checks:
+        # strict means "Require branches to be up to date before merging".
+        strict: false
+        # Contexts are the names of checks that must pass. This is the value
+        # of the job's `name` property if it's present.
+        contexts:
+          - "Required Checks"
+
   features:
     wiki: false
     issues: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-md-link.yml b/.github/workflows/check-md-link.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e42b6a59b7..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/check-md-link.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-#
-# 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.
-#
-
-# This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub.
-# They are provided by a third-party and are governed by
-# separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support
-# documentation.
-# This workflow will find markdown links in the folder paths
-# specified, and confirm the links are valid
-
-name: Check Markdown links
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-
-jobs:
-  markdown-link-check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@master
-    - name: Setup test environment
-      uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-    - uses: tcort/github-action-markdown-link-check@e7c7a18363c842693fadde5d41a3bd3573a7a225
-      with:
-        use-quiet-mode: 'yes'
-        config-file: '.github/workflows/check-md-link-config.json'
-        folder-path: 'regtests, .github, build-logic, polaris-core, runtime, persistence, spec, getting-started, helm'
-        file-path: 'CHAT_BYLAWS.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, README.md, SECURITY.md'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ad37556eaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#
+# 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: CI/main
+run-name: CI/${{github.ref_name}}
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  ci-main:
+    name: CI/${{ github.ref_name }}
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/ci.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-pr.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f7a39a42cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-pr.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+
+name: CI/PR
+run-name: PR#${{ github.event.number }} ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  ci-pr:
+    name: PR#${{ github.event.number }} ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/ci.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2498dbbdea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,386 @@
+#
+# 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: CI
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    # Called from ci-main.yml and ci-pr.yml, which define different concurrency groups.
+
+jobs:
+  build-checks:
+    name: Gradle Build Checks
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: &setup-java-vars
+          java-version: '21'
+          distribution: 'temurin'
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Run Checks
+        env: &gradle_env_vars
+          GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED: ${{ vars.GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED }}
+          DEVELOCITY_SERVER: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_SERVER }}
+          DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID }}
+          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          ./gradlew check sourceTarball distTar distZip publishToMavenLocal \
+            -x :polaris-runtime-service:test \
+            -x :polaris-admin:test \
+            -x intTest \
+            --continue
+      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
+      - name: Archive test results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
+        if: failure()
+        with:
+          name: upload-${{ github.job }}-artifacts
+          path: &test-archive-path |
+            **/build/test-results/**
+            **/build/reports/tests/**
+
+  runtime-service-tests:
+    name: Runtime Service Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Run Quarkus runtime tests
+        env: *gradle_env_vars
+        run: ./gradlew :polaris-runtime-service:test --continue
+      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
+      - name: Archive test results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
+        if: failure()
+        with:
+          name: upload-${{ github.job }}-artifacts
+          path: *test-archive-path
+
+  runtime-service-int-tests:
+    name: Runtime Service Integration Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Run Quarkus runtime tests
+        env: *gradle_env_vars
+        run: ./gradlew :polaris-runtime-service:intTest --continue
+      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
+      - name: Archive test results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
+        if: failure()
+        with:
+          name: upload-${{ github.job }}-artifacts
+          path: *test-archive-path
+
+  admin-tool-tests:
+    name: Admin Tool Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Run Quarkus admin tests
+        env: *gradle_env_vars
+        run: ./gradlew :polaris-admin:test --continue
+      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
+      - name: Archive test results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
+        if: failure()
+        with:
+          name: upload-${{ github.job }}-artifacts
+          path: *test-archive-path
+
+  integration-tests:
+    name: Other Integration Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Run integration tests
+        env: *gradle_env_vars
+        run: |
+          ./gradlew \
+            intTest \
+            -x :polaris-runtime-service:intTest \
+            --continue
+      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
+      - name: Archive test results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
+        if: failure()
+        with:
+          name: upload-${{ github.job }}-artifacts
+          path: *test-archive-path
+
+  helm-tests:
+    name: Helm Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 60
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Set up Helm
+        uses: azure/setup-helm@1a275c3b69536ee54be43f2070a358922e12c8d4 # v4.3.1
+        with:
+          version: 'v3.16.0'
+      - name: Set up chart-testing
+        uses: helm/chart-testing-action@6ec842c01de15ebb84c8627d2744a0c2f2755c9f # v2.8.0
+      - name: Run 'helm template' validation
+        run: |
+          cd helm/polaris
+          for f in values.yaml ci/*.yaml; do
+            echo "::group::helm template $f"
+            helm template --debug --namespace polaris-ns --values $f .
+            echo "::endgroup::"
+          done
+      - name: Run Helm unit tests
+        run: |
+          # Pin version to 1.0.2 due to https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest/issues/790
+          helm plugin install https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest.git --version 1.0.2 || true
+          helm unittest helm/polaris
+      - name: Run chart-testing (lint)
+        run: ct lint --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} --debug --charts ./helm/polaris
+      - name: Set up Minikube
+        uses: medyagh/setup-minikube@e9e035a86bbc3caea26a450bd4dbf9d0c453682e # v0.0.21
+      - name: Print Docker info
+        run: |
+          docker -v
+          minikube docker-env
+      - name: Image build
+        env: *gradle_env_vars
+        run: |
+          eval $(minikube -p minikube docker-env)
+          ./gradlew \
+            :polaris-server:assemble \
+            :polaris-server:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
+            :polaris-admin:assemble \
+            :polaris-admin:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
+            -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
+          minikube image ls
+      - name: Install fixtures
+        run: |
+          kubectl create namespace polaris-ns
+          kubectl apply --namespace polaris-ns -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures
+      - name: Run chart-testing (install)
+        run: |
+          ct install --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} \
+            --namespace polaris-ns \
+            --debug --charts ./helm/polaris
+
+  python-client:
+    name: Polaris Python Client Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        python-version: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405 # v6
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+      - name: Lint
+        run: make client-lint
+      - name: License Compliance Check
+        run: make client-license-check
+      - name: Generated Client Tests
+        run: make client-unit-test
+      - name: Integration Tests
+        run: make client-integration-test
+      - name: Run Polaris Client help manual
+        run: ./polaris --help
+
+  regtest:
+    name: Regression Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Free disk space
+        uses: ./.github/actions/free-disk-space
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+      - name: Fix permissions
+        run: mkdir -p regtests/output && chmod 777 regtests/output && chmod 777 regtests/t_*/ref/*
+      - name: Image build
+        env: *gradle_env_vars
+        run: |
+          ./gradlew \
+              publishToMavenLocal \
+              :polaris-server:assemble \
+              :polaris-server:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
+              -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
+      - name: Regression Test
+        env:
+          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}}
+          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}}
+        run: docker compose -f regtests/docker-compose.yml up --build --exit-code-from regtest
+      - name: Spark Plugin Regression Test
+        # NOTE: the regression test runs with spark 3.5.6 and scala 2.12 in Java 17. We also have integration
+        # tests runs with the existing gradle.yml, which only runs on Java 21. Since spark Java compatibility
+        # for 3.5 is 8, 11, and 17, we should run spark client with those compatible java versions.
+        # TODO: add separate spark client CI and run with Java 8, 11 and 17.
+        run: docker compose -f plugins/spark/v3.5/regtests/docker-compose.yml up --build --exit-code-from regtest
+
+  markdown-link-check:
+    name: "Markdown Link Check"
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Markdown link check
+        uses: tcort/github-action-markdown-link-check@e7c7a18363c842693fadde5d41a3bd3573a7a225
+        with:
+          use-quiet-mode: 'yes'
+          config-file: '.github/workflows/check-md-link-config.json'
+          folder-path: 'regtests, .github, build-logic, polaris-core, runtime, persistence, spec, getting-started, helm'
+          file-path: 'CHAT_BYLAWS.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, README.md, SECURITY.md'
+
+  site:
+    name: "Site Generation"
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Checkout Versioned Docs
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+        with:
+          ref: "versioned-docs"
+          path: site/content/releases
+      - name: Setup test environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
+      - name: Install docker-compose
+        run: |
+          sudo curl --fail-with-body -SL \
+            https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.29.2/docker-compose-linux-x86_64 \
+            -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
+          sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
+          sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/docker-compose /usr/bin/docker-compose
+      - name: Build Apache Site
+        run: site/bin/create-static-site.sh
+
+  store-gradle-cache:
+    name: Store Gradle Cache
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
+    needs:
+      - build-checks
+      - runtime-service-tests
+      - runtime-service-int-tests
+      - admin-tool-tests
+      - integration-tests
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
+        with: *setup-java-vars
+      - name: Collect partial Gradle build caches
+        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
+        with:
+          cache-read-only: false
+
+  required-checks:
+    name: "Required Checks"
+    needs:
+      - build-checks
+      - runtime-service-tests
+      - runtime-service-int-tests
+      - admin-tool-tests
+      - integration-tests
+      - helm-tests
+      - python-client
+      - regtest
+      - markdown-link-check
+      - site
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    steps:
+      - run: echo "All checks passed"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index be596532c7..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,224 +0,0 @@
-#
-# 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.
-#
-
-# This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub.
-# They are provided by a third-party and are governed by
-# separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support
-# documentation.
-# This workflow will build a Java project with Gradle and cache/restore any dependencies to improve the workflow execution time
-# For more information see: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/automating-builds-and-tests/building-and-testing-java-with-gradle
-
-name: Java CI with Gradle
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-
-env:
-  GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED: ${{ vars.GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED }}
-  DEVELOCITY_SERVER: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_SERVER }}
-  DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID }}
-
-jobs:
-
-  # Durations (approximates from GH CI):
-  # (all):test 16m
-  unit-tests:
-    name: Unit Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with: &setup-java-vars
-          java-version: '21'
-          distribution: 'temurin'
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-      - name: Run unit tests
-        env:
-          # publishToMavenLocal causes a GH API requests, use the token for those requests
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew check sourceTarball distTar distZip publishToMavenLocal \
-            -x :polaris-runtime-service:test \
-            -x :polaris-admin:test \
-            -x intTest --continue
-      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
-      - name: Archive test results
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: upload-unit-test-artifacts
-          path: &test-archive-path |
-            **/build/test-results/**
-            **/build/reports/tests/**
-
-  # Durations (approximates from GH CI):
-  # - :polaris-runtime-service:test 22m
-  quarkus-tests:
-    name: Quarkus Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with: *setup-java-vars
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-      - name: Run Quarkus runtime tests
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew :polaris-runtime-service:test --continue
-      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
-      - name: Archive test results
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: upload-quarkus-runtime-test-artifacts
-          path: *test-archive-path
-
-  # Durations (approximates from GH CI):
-  # - :polaris-runtime-service:intTest 15m
-  quarkus-int-tests:
-    name: Quarkus Integration Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with: *setup-java-vars
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-      - name: Run Quarkus runtime tests
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew :polaris-runtime-service:intTest --continue
-      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
-      - name: Archive test results
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: upload-quarkus-runtime-inttest-artifacts
-          path: *test-archive-path
-
-  # Durations (approximates from GH CI):
-  # - :polaris-admin:test 6m
-  quarkus-admin-tests:
-    name: Quarkus Admin Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with: *setup-java-vars
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-      - name: Run Quarkus admin tests
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew :polaris-admin:test --continue
-      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
-      - name: Archive test results
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: upload-quarkus-admin-test-artifacts
-          path: *test-archive-path
-
-  # Durations (approximates from GH CI):
-  # - :polaris-spark-integration-*:intTest 6m (2x)
-  # - :polaris-runtime-spark-tests:intTest 4m
-  # - :polaris-persistence-nosql-mongodb:intTest 1m
-  integration-tests:
-    name: Integration Tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with: *setup-java-vars
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-      - name: Run integration tests
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew \
-            intTest \
-            -x :polaris-runtime-service:intTest \
-            --continue
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-      - name: Save partial Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-save
-      - name: Archive test results
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@b7c566a772e6b6bfb58ed0dc250532a479d7789f # v6
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: upload-integration-test-artifacts
-          path: *test-archive-path
-
-  store-gradle-cache:
-    name: Store Gradle Cache
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
-    timeout-minutes: 30
-    if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
-    needs:
-      - unit-tests
-      - quarkus-tests
-      - quarkus-admin-tests
-      - quarkus-int-tests
-      - integration-tests
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with: *setup-java-vars
-      - name: Collect partial Gradle build caches
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-        with:
-          cache-read-only: false
-
-      # Note: the "Post Collect partial Gradle build caches"-step cleans up stale cache entries
-      # and archives the updated build cache.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/helm.yml b/.github/workflows/helm.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 93e11c6771..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/helm.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,116 +0,0 @@
-#
-# 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.
-#
-
-# This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub.
-# They are provided by a third-party and are governed by
-# separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support
-# documentation.
-
-name: Helm tests
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-
-env:
-  GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED: ${{ vars.GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED }}
-  DEVELOCITY_SERVER: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_SERVER }}
-  DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID }}
-
-jobs:
-
-  helm-tests:
-    name: Helm tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with:
-          java-version: '21'
-          distribution: 'temurin'
-
-      - name: Set up Helm
-        uses: azure/setup-helm@1a275c3b69536ee54be43f2070a358922e12c8d4 # v4.3.1
-        with:
-          version: 'v3.16.0'
-
-      - name: Set up chart-testing
-        uses: helm/chart-testing-action@6ec842c01de15ebb84c8627d2744a0c2f2755c9f # v2.8.0
-
-      - name: Run 'helm template' validation
-        run: |
-          cd helm/polaris
-          for f in values.yaml ci/*.yaml; do
-            echo "::group::helm template $f"
-            helm template --debug --namespace polaris-ns --values $f .
-            echo "::endgroup::"
-          done
-
-      - name: Run Helm unit tests
-        run: |
-          # Pin version to 1.0.2 due to https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest/issues/790
-          helm plugin install https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest.git --version 1.0.2 || true
-          helm unittest helm/polaris
-
-      - name: Run chart-testing (lint)
-        run: ct lint --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} --debug --charts ./helm/polaris
-
-      - name: Set up Minikube
-        uses: medyagh/setup-minikube@e9e035a86bbc3caea26a450bd4dbf9d0c453682e # v0.0.21
-
-      - name: Print Docker info
-        run: |
-          docker -v
-          minikube docker-env
-
-      - name: Image build
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          eval $(minikube -p minikube docker-env)
-          ./gradlew \
-            :polaris-server:assemble \
-            :polaris-server:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
-            :polaris-admin:assemble \
-            :polaris-admin:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
-            -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
-          minikube image ls
-
-      - name: Install fixtures
-        run: |
-          kubectl create namespace polaris-ns
-          kubectl apply --namespace polaris-ns -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures 
-
-      - name: Run chart-testing (install)
-        run: |
-          ct install --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} \
-            --namespace polaris-ns \
-            --debug --charts ./helm/polaris
diff --git a/.github/workflows/python-client.yml b/.github/workflows/python-client.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 8267776af1..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/python-client.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,84 +0,0 @@
-#
-# 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.
-#
-
-# This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub.
-# They are provided by a third-party and are governed by
-# separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support
-# documentation.
-# This workflow will build a Python project with UV and cache/restore any dependencies to improve the workflow execution time
-# For more information see: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/building-and-testing/building-and-testing-python
-
-name: Python Client CI
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-
-env:
-  GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED: ${{ vars.GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED }}
-  DEVELOCITY_SERVER: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_SERVER }}
-  DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID }}
-
-jobs:
-  build:
-
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    strategy:
-      matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout Polaris project
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-
-      - name: Set up JDK for Gradle
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with:
-          distribution: 'temurin'
-          java-version: '21'
-
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405 # v6
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-
-      - name: Lint
-        run: |
-          make client-lint
-
-      - name: License Compliance Check
-        run: |
-          make client-license-check
-
-      - name: Generated Client Tests
-        run: |
-          make client-unit-test
-
-      - name: Integration Tests
-        run: |
-          make client-integration-test
-
-      - name: Run Polaris Client help manual
-        run: |
-          ./polaris --help
diff --git a/.github/workflows/regtest.yml b/.github/workflows/regtest.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index cdc1be84f2..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/regtest.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-#
-# 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: Regression Tests
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-
-env:
-  GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED: ${{ vars.GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED }}
-  DEVELOCITY_SERVER: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_SERVER }}
-  DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID }}
-
-jobs:
-  regtest:
-
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-
-      - name: Free disk space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/free-disk-space
-
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with:
-          java-version: '21'
-          distribution: 'temurin'
-
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-
-      - name: Fix permissions
-        run: mkdir -p regtests/output && chmod 777 regtests/output && chmod 777 regtests/t_*/ref/*
-
-      - name: Image build
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew \
-              :polaris-server:assemble \
-              :polaris-server:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
-              -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
-
-      - name: Regression Test
-        env:
-          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}}
-          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}}
-        run: |
-          docker compose -f regtests/docker-compose.yml up --build --exit-code-from regtest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/site.yml b/.github/workflows/site.yml
index 5c83f2aca1..72db31ea8e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/site.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/site.yml
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
+# Site publishing workflow, not for pull-request CI
+
 name: "Hugo Site"
 on:
   push:
     branches: [ "main" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main" ]
   workflow_call:
     # The workflow is programmatically "protected" to be only callable from the 'apache/polaris' repo.
     # Beware: this workflow will be called with the `github` context from the 'versioned-docs' branch,
diff --git a/.github/workflows/spark_client_regtests.yml b/.github/workflows/spark_client_regtests.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 8a0881d720..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/spark_client_regtests.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
-#
-# 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: Spark Client Regression Tests
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [ "main", "release/*" ]
-
-env:
-  GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED: ${{ vars.GRADLE_TOS_ACCEPTED }}
-  DEVELOCITY_SERVER: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_SERVER }}
-  DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.DEVELOCITY_PROJECT_ID }}
-
-jobs:
-  spark-plugin-regtest:
-
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
-
-      - name: Free disk space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/free-disk-space
-
-      - name: Set up JDK 21
-        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5
-        with:
-          java-version: '21'
-          distribution: 'temurin'
-
-      - name: Setup test environment
-        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-test-env
-      - name: Prepare Gradle build cache
-        uses: ./.github/actions/ci-incr-build-cache-prepare
-
-      - name: Fix permissions
-        run: mkdir -p regtests/output && chmod 777 regtests/output && chmod 777 regtests/t_*/ref/*
-
-      - name: Project build without testing
-        env:
-          # publishToMavenLocal causes a GH API requests, use the token for those requests
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: ./gradlew assemble publishToMavenLocal
-
-      - name: Image build
-        env:
-          DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./gradlew \
-              :polaris-server:assemble \
-              :polaris-server:quarkusAppPartsBuild --rerun \
-              -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
-
-      # NOTE: the regression test runs with spark 3.5.6 and scala 2.12 in Java 17. We also have integration
-      # tests runs with the existing gradle.yml, which only runs on Java 21. Since spark Java compatibility
-      # for 3.5 is 8, 11, and 17, we should run spark client with those compatible java versions.
-      # TODO: add separate spark client CI and run with Java 8, 11 and 17.
-      - name: Regression Test
-        run: |
-          docker compose -f plugins/spark/v3.5/regtests/docker-compose.yml up --build --exit-code-from regtest