From c6303efe780628fbf138a0cdf4952e1fb785fd94 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:25:12 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 01/18] auto-add-milestone

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh    | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml | 44 ++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 97 insertions(+)
 create mode 100755 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
 create mode 100644 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..2537d658e1a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# 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.
+
+set -e
+
+if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
+  echo "Usage: $0 <pr_number> <repository>"
+  echo "Example: $0 12345 apache/druid"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+PR_NUMBER="$1"
+REPOSITORY="$2"
+
+# Extract version from pom.xml
+VERSION=$(xmllint --xpath "/*[local-name()='project']/*[local-name()='version']/text()" pom.xml | sed 's/-SNAPSHOT//')
+
+if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+  echo "Error: Could not extract version from pom.xml"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Extracted version: $VERSION"
+
+# Check if milestone exists
+MILESTONE_NUMBER=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/milestones" --jq ".[] | select(.title==\"$VERSION\") | .number")
+
+# Create milestone if it doesn't exist
+if [ -z "$MILESTONE_NUMBER" ]; then
+  echo "Creating milestone: $VERSION"
+  MILESTONE_NUMBER=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/milestones" -f title="$VERSION" --jq '.number')
+else
+  echo "Milestone $VERSION already exists (number: $MILESTONE_NUMBER)"
+fi
+
+# Add PR to milestone
+echo "Adding PR #$PR_NUMBER to milestone $VERSION"
+gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues/$PR_NUMBER" -f milestone="$MILESTONE_NUMBER" -X PATCH
+echo "Successfully added PR #$PR_NUMBER to milestone $VERSION"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..751a98035228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#
+# 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: "Auto Add Milestone to Merged PRs"
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [closed]
+    branches:
+      - master
+
+jobs:
+  add-milestone:
+    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.milestone == null
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      pull-requests: write
+      issues: write
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Add milestone to PR
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh "${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}" "${{ github.repository }}"

From a148a7b2d5e4a0ca98b653fd1b2401931a5d0fb7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:35:20 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 02/18] install libxml2

---
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
index 751a98035228..c2873cec2817 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      - name: Install xmllint
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y libxml2-utils
+
       - name: Add milestone to PR
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

From a7f52af295cc9a5096752d5baf763a5ce313ae64 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:44:07 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 03/18] only run on apache

---
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
index c2873cec2817..1951151d2b87 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   add-milestone:
-    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.milestone == null
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.milestone == null
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write

From 001f3cc34036899ded490acb67ea6e67bc4197d2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 09:45:39 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 04/18] up

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh    | 50 +++++++++++++++++++-----
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml |  2 +-
 2 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index 2537d658e1a8..9b5451a8db45 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,33 @@
 
 set -e
 
+get_milestone_number() {
+  local milestone_title="$1"
+  local number=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/milestones" --jq ".[] | select(.title==\"$milestone_title\") | .number")
+
+  if [ -z "$number" ]; then
+    echo "Creating milestone: $milestone_title"
+    number=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/milestones" -f title="$milestone_title" --jq '.number')
+  fi
+
+  echo "$number"
+}
+
+create_backport_issue() {
+  local pr_number="$1"
+  local pr_title="$2"
+  local target_milestone="$3"
+
+  local milestone_number=$(get_milestone_number "$target_milestone")
+  local body="Backport #$pr_number to release branch for version $target_milestone"
+
+  gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues" \
+    -f title="[Backport] $pr_title" \
+    -f body="$body" \
+    -f milestone="$milestone_number" \
+    --jq '.number'
+}
+
 if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
   echo "Usage: $0 <pr_number> <repository>"
   echo "Example: $0 12345 apache/druid"
@@ -26,7 +53,6 @@ fi
 PR_NUMBER="$1"
 REPOSITORY="$2"
 
-# Extract version from pom.xml
 VERSION=$(xmllint --xpath "/*[local-name()='project']/*[local-name()='version']/text()" pom.xml | sed 's/-SNAPSHOT//')
 
 if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
@@ -36,18 +62,22 @@ fi
 
 echo "Extracted version: $VERSION"
 
-# Check if milestone exists
-MILESTONE_NUMBER=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/milestones" --jq ".[] | select(.title==\"$VERSION\") | .number")
+EXISTING_MILESTONE=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues/$PR_NUMBER" --jq '.milestone.title // empty')
+
+if [ -n "$EXISTING_MILESTONE" ] && [ "$EXISTING_MILESTONE" != "$VERSION" ]; then
+  echo "PR #$PR_NUMBER has milestone $EXISTING_MILESTONE, but should be $VERSION"
 
-# Create milestone if it doesn't exist
-if [ -z "$MILESTONE_NUMBER" ]; then
-  echo "Creating milestone: $VERSION"
-  MILESTONE_NUMBER=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/milestones" -f title="$VERSION" --jq '.number')
-else
-  echo "Milestone $VERSION already exists (number: $MILESTONE_NUMBER)"
+  PR_TITLE=$(gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues/$PR_NUMBER" --jq '.title')
+  BACKPORT_ISSUE=$(create_backport_issue "$PR_NUMBER" "$PR_TITLE" "$EXISTING_MILESTONE")
+
+  echo "Created backport issue #$BACKPORT_ISSUE for milestone $EXISTING_MILESTONE"
+elif [ -n "$EXISTING_MILESTONE" ]; then
+  echo "PR #$PR_NUMBER already has correct milestone: $EXISTING_MILESTONE"
+  exit 0
 fi
 
-# Add PR to milestone
+MILESTONE_NUMBER=$(get_milestone_number "$VERSION")
+
 echo "Adding PR #$PR_NUMBER to milestone $VERSION"
 gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues/$PR_NUMBER" -f milestone="$MILESTONE_NUMBER" -X PATCH
 echo "Successfully added PR #$PR_NUMBER to milestone $VERSION"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
index 1951151d2b87..8e4143bc07c1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   add-milestone:
-    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.milestone == null
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write

From 9c9653df93cc490513bb48d16958edd6cc6faae7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 09:51:24 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 05/18] label

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index 9b5451a8db45..6cc3d02bcb1f 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ create_backport_issue() {
     -f title="[Backport] $pr_title" \
     -f body="$body" \
     -f milestone="$milestone_number" \
+    -f labels[]="backport" \
     --jq '.number'
 }
 

From 74ccd80de75744ce6c7088581b96d7bc0be77f4f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:33:17 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 06/18] update

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh |  7 ++-
 .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh        | 42 +++++++++++++++
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml   | 77 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 124 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100755 .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
 create mode 100644 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index 6cc3d02bcb1f..2c4a3557e412 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -35,10 +35,13 @@ create_backport_issue() {
   local target_milestone="$3"
 
   local milestone_number=$(get_milestone_number "$target_milestone")
-  local body="Backport #$pr_number to release branch for version $target_milestone"
+  local body="Source-PR: #$pr_number
+Target-Version: $target_milestone
+
+Backport #$pr_number to release branch for version $target_milestone"
 
   gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues" \
-    -f title="[Backport] $pr_title" \
+    -f title="[$target_milestone] $pr_title" \
     -f body="$body" \
     -f milestone="$milestone_number" \
     -f labels[]="backport" \
diff --git a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..f31bca4b487c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -e
+
+if [ "$#" -lt 3 ] || [ "$#" -gt 4 ]; then
+  echo "Usage: $0 <commit_hash> <target_branch> <pr_title> [body]"
+  echo "Example: $0 abc123def456 37.0.0 'Fix bug in query engine' 'Closes #12345'"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+COMMIT_HASH="$1"
+TARGET_BRANCH="$2"
+PR_TITLE="$3"
+BODY="${4:-Automatic backport to $TARGET_BRANCH}"
+
+BACKPORT_BRANCH="backport-$COMMIT_HASH-to-$TARGET_BRANCH"
+
+git fetch origin "$TARGET_BRANCH"
+git checkout -b "$BACKPORT_BRANCH" "origin/$TARGET_BRANCH"
+git cherry-pick -x "$COMMIT_HASH"
+git push origin "$BACKPORT_BRANCH"
+
+gh pr create \
+  --base "$TARGET_BRANCH" \
+  --head "$BACKPORT_BRANCH" \
+  --title "[$TARGET_BRANCH] $PR_TITLE" \
+  --body "$BODY"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6a4b56dd40bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#
+# 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: "Auto Backport PR"
+
+on:
+  issues:
+    types: [opened]
+
+env:
+  ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
+  ISSUE_BODY: ${{ github.event.issue.body }}
+  ISSUE_TITLE: ${{ github.event.issue.title }}
+
+jobs:
+  backport:
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'backport')
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+      issues: write
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Parse issue and create backport PR
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          SOURCE_PR=$(echo "$ISSUE_BODY" | grep "^Source-PR:" | sed 's/Source-PR: #//')
+          TARGET_VERSION=$(echo "$ISSUE_BODY" | grep "^Target-Version:" | sed 's/Target-Version: //')
+
+          if [ -z "$SOURCE_PR" ] || [ -z "$TARGET_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "Error: Could not extract Source-PR or Target-Version from issue body"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          MERGE_COMMIT=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/$SOURCE_PR" --jq '.merge_commit_sha')
+
+          if [ -z "$MERGE_COMMIT" ]; then
+            echo "Error: Could not find merge commit for PR #$SOURCE_PR"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+          BODY="Closes #$ISSUE_NUMBER"
+
+          .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh "$MERGE_COMMIT" "$TARGET_VERSION" "[Backport] $ISSUE_TITLE" "$BODY"
+
+      - name: Comment on failure
+        if: failure()
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/$ISSUE_NUMBER/comments" \
+            -f body="❌ Automatic backport failed. See workflow run: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"

From 18c44eca60825442fb023921293b08de7ed37c96 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:46:21 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 07/18] update

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh |  5 +----
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml   | 11 ++---------
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index 2c4a3557e412..afa4d74487b8 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -35,10 +35,7 @@ create_backport_issue() {
   local target_milestone="$3"
 
   local milestone_number=$(get_milestone_number "$target_milestone")
-  local body="Source-PR: #$pr_number
-Target-Version: $target_milestone
-
-Backport #$pr_number to release branch for version $target_milestone"
+  local body=$(printf '{"source_pr": %d, "target_version": "%s"}' "$pr_number" "$target_milestone")
 
   gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues" \
     -f title="[$target_milestone] $pr_title" \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
index 6a4b56dd40bf..f204514da432 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -25,8 +25,9 @@ on:
 
 env:
   ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
-  ISSUE_BODY: ${{ github.event.issue.body }}
   ISSUE_TITLE: ${{ github.event.issue.title }}
+  SOURCE_PR: ${{ fromJson(github.event.issue.body).source_pr }}
+  TARGET_VERSION: ${{ fromJson(github.event.issue.body).target_version }}
 
 jobs:
   backport:
@@ -46,14 +47,6 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          SOURCE_PR=$(echo "$ISSUE_BODY" | grep "^Source-PR:" | sed 's/Source-PR: #//')
-          TARGET_VERSION=$(echo "$ISSUE_BODY" | grep "^Target-Version:" | sed 's/Target-Version: //')
-
-          if [ -z "$SOURCE_PR" ] || [ -z "$TARGET_VERSION" ]; then
-            echo "Error: Could not extract Source-PR or Target-Version from issue body"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
           MERGE_COMMIT=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/$SOURCE_PR" --jq '.merge_commit_sha')
 
           if [ -z "$MERGE_COMMIT" ]; then

From 9784ff47dbe47654f517149ece57d5813cbb3b85 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:48:51 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 08/18] use-jq

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index afa4d74487b8..8b3628ff6cf7 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ create_backport_issue() {
   local target_milestone="$3"
 
   local milestone_number=$(get_milestone_number "$target_milestone")
-  local body=$(printf '{"source_pr": %d, "target_version": "%s"}' "$pr_number" "$target_milestone")
+  local body=$(jq -n --arg source_pr "$pr_number" --arg target_version "$target_milestone" '$ARGS.named')
 
   gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues" \
     -f title="[$target_milestone] $pr_title" \

From 6b2b2eccb8fec5952b7f0375ff0e811a02c93d73 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:50:22 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 09/18] remove-apache-restr

---
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml | 2 +-
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml      | 2 +-
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
index 8e4143bc07c1..245af10cb052 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   add-milestone:
-    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true
+    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
index f204514da432..30939eb20707 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   backport:
-    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'backport')
+    if: contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'backport')
     permissions:
       contents: write
       pull-requests: write

From 50a9316b93db3a93a5b0141abfb6dae2581a6265 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:57:44 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 10/18] move

(cherry picked from commit 4cd17e874914514625c6100ff3bdf27d5dc60b1e)
---
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
index 30939eb20707..0cc9d63b8d9a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ on:
 env:
   ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
   ISSUE_TITLE: ${{ github.event.issue.title }}
-  SOURCE_PR: ${{ fromJson(github.event.issue.body).source_pr }}
-  TARGET_VERSION: ${{ fromJson(github.event.issue.body).target_version }}
 
 jobs:
   backport:
@@ -46,6 +44,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Parse issue and create backport PR
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          SOURCE_PR: ${{ fromJson(github.event.issue.body).source_pr }}
+          TARGET_VERSION: ${{ fromJson(github.event.issue.body).target_version }}
         run: |
           MERGE_COMMIT=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/$SOURCE_PR" --jq '.merge_commit_sha')
 

From 9fc85968926030374607d90b77ae06acf98baaeb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:21:44 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 11/18] update

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh | 3 ++-
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml   | 4 ++--
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index 8b3628ff6cf7..0ca17d103911 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ create_backport_issue() {
   local target_milestone="$3"
 
   local milestone_number=$(get_milestone_number "$target_milestone")
-  local body=$(jq -n --arg source_pr "$pr_number" --arg target_version "$target_milestone" '$ARGS.named')
+  local message="Backport #$pr_number to release branch for version $target_milestone"
+  local body=$(jq -n --arg source_pr "$pr_number" --arg target_version "$target_milestone" --arg message "$message" '$ARGS.named')
 
   gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues" \
     -f title="[$target_milestone] $pr_title" \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
index 0cc9d63b8d9a..8b73585e1549 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ name: "Auto Backport PR"
 
 on:
   issues:
-    types: [opened]
+    types: [labeled]
 
 env:
   ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   backport:
-    if: contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'backport')
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.label.name == 'approved' && contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'backport')
     permissions:
       contents: write
       pull-requests: write

From b47c04dcd2aff30baf20bdf5110566ea1418aefe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:28:44 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 12/18] limit to apache

---
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
index 245af10cb052..8e4143bc07c1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   add-milestone:
-    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write

From 2932b7028790f8a3a9c05cb36af385a4d72f4dbe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:39:42 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 13/18] remove dup

---
 .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
index f31bca4b487c..d90d2a2aed07 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
@@ -38,5 +38,5 @@ git push origin "$BACKPORT_BRANCH"
 gh pr create \
   --base "$TARGET_BRANCH" \
   --head "$BACKPORT_BRANCH" \
-  --title "[$TARGET_BRANCH] $PR_TITLE" \
+  --title "$PR_TITLE" \
   --body "$BODY"

From 473e5651530d0b05c640b2563a0aac70053fdb19 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:47:54 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 14/18] up

---
 .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
index d90d2a2aed07..a738a605f472 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ BACKPORT_BRANCH="backport-$COMMIT_HASH-to-$TARGET_BRANCH"
 git fetch origin "$TARGET_BRANCH"
 git checkout -b "$BACKPORT_BRANCH" "origin/$TARGET_BRANCH"
 git cherry-pick -x "$COMMIT_HASH"
+git commit --amend -m "$(git log -1 --pretty=%B)
+
+$BODY"
 git push origin "$BACKPORT_BRANCH"
 
 gh pr create \

From 7f14ceb296798b4a5a52f321971ec11bfbfb7d9b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:10:04 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 15/18] x

---
 .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh           |  8 +++----
 .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml | 27 +++++++++++++++++++++---
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml      |  2 +-
 3 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
index a738a605f472..1d7599674bcd 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/backport-pr.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ set -e
 
 if [ "$#" -lt 3 ] || [ "$#" -gt 4 ]; then
   echo "Usage: $0 <commit_hash> <target_branch> <pr_title> [body]"
-  echo "Example: $0 abc123def456 37.0.0 'Fix bug in query engine' 'Closes #12345'"
+  echo "Example: $0 abc123def456 37.0.0 'Fix bug in query engine' '{\"backport_issue\": \"12345\"}'"
   exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -33,13 +33,11 @@ BACKPORT_BRANCH="backport-$COMMIT_HASH-to-$TARGET_BRANCH"
 git fetch origin "$TARGET_BRANCH"
 git checkout -b "$BACKPORT_BRANCH" "origin/$TARGET_BRANCH"
 git cherry-pick -x "$COMMIT_HASH"
-git commit --amend -m "$(git log -1 --pretty=%B)
-
-$BODY"
 git push origin "$BACKPORT_BRANCH"
 
 gh pr create \
   --base "$TARGET_BRANCH" \
   --head "$BACKPORT_BRANCH" \
   --title "$PR_TITLE" \
-  --body "$BODY"
+  --body "$BODY" \
+  --label "backport"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
index 8e4143bc07c1..2bd03211768d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
@@ -22,12 +22,33 @@ name: "Auto Add Milestone to Merged PRs"
 on:
   pull_request:
     types: [closed]
-    branches:
-      - master
 
 jobs:
+  close-backport-issue:
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'backport')
+    permissions:
+      issues: write
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Close backport issue
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          BACKPORT_ISSUE: ${{ fromJson(github.event.pull_request.body).backport_issue }}
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+        run: |
+          if [ -n "$BACKPORT_ISSUE" ]; then
+            gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/$BACKPORT_ISSUE/comments" \
+              -f body="✅ Backport completed in #$PR_NUMBER"
+
+            gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/$BACKPORT_ISSUE" \
+              -f state="closed" \
+              -X PATCH
+
+            echo "Closed backport issue #$BACKPORT_ISSUE"
+          fi
+
   add-milestone:
-    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.base.ref == 'master' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'backport')
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
index 8b73585e1549..3b6fa92494d8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
-          BODY="Closes #$ISSUE_NUMBER"
+          BODY=$(jq -n --arg backport_issue "$ISSUE_NUMBER" '$ARGS.named')
 
           .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh "$MERGE_COMMIT" "$TARGET_VERSION" "[Backport] $ISSUE_TITLE" "$BODY"
 

From a97c58a814a24efb9d98270279d42a7a34575c30 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:12:32 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 16/18] rename

---
 .github/workflows/{auto-add-milestone.yml => pr-merged.yml} | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 rename .github/workflows/{auto-add-milestone.yml => pr-merged.yml} (95%)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-merged.yml
similarity index 95%
rename from .github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
rename to .github/workflows/pr-merged.yml
index 2bd03211768d..370fc0bc88e2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-add-milestone.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-merged.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-name: "Auto Add Milestone to Merged PRs"
+name: "PR Merged"
 
 on:
   pull_request:
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
   add-milestone:
-    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.base.ref == 'master' && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'backport')
+    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.base.ref == 'master'
     permissions:
       contents: read
       pull-requests: write

From ba28d4b0a65781292a5ad41c990ed5b746b6a9ad Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:26:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 17/18] enough

---
 .github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh | 3 ++-
 .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml   | 3 ++-
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
index 0ca17d103911..7b1dacdc2a98 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/auto-add-milestone.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ create_backport_issue() {
 
   local milestone_number=$(get_milestone_number "$target_milestone")
   local message="Backport #$pr_number to release branch for version $target_milestone"
-  local body=$(jq -n --arg source_pr "$pr_number" --arg target_version "$target_milestone" --arg message "$message" '$ARGS.named')
+  local note="Add the \`approved\` label to start the automatic backport process."
+  local body=$(jq -n --arg source_pr "$pr_number" --arg target_version "$target_milestone" --arg message "$message" --arg note "$note" '$ARGS.named')
 
   gh api "repos/$REPOSITORY/issues" \
     -f title="[$target_milestone] $pr_title" \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
index 3b6fa92494d8..f1e2e0acadb1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
-          BODY=$(jq -n --arg backport_issue "$ISSUE_NUMBER" '$ARGS.named')
+          MESSAGE="Backport for #$ISSUE_NUMBER"
+          BODY=$(jq -n --arg backport_issue "$ISSUE_NUMBER" --arg message "$MESSAGE" '$ARGS.named')
 
           .github/scripts/backport-pr.sh "$MERGE_COMMIT" "$TARGET_VERSION" "[Backport] $ISSUE_TITLE" "$BODY"
 

From 75b20c050bf926088a8fed52bcf4202392bb3cfa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zoltan Haindrich <kirk@rxd.hu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:27:57 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 18/18] update

---
 .../{auto-backport.yml => backport.yml}       |  2 +-
 .github/workflows/pr-merged.yml               | 23 -------------------
 2 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 24 deletions(-)
 rename .github/workflows/{auto-backport.yml => backport.yml} (99%)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml b/.github/workflows/backport.yml
similarity index 99%
rename from .github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
rename to .github/workflows/backport.yml
index f1e2e0acadb1..757ce3768c4c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backport.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-name: "Auto Backport PR"
+name: "Backport PR"
 
 on:
   issues:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-merged.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-merged.yml
index 370fc0bc88e2..9e62d726706d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-merged.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-merged.yml
@@ -24,29 +24,6 @@ on:
     types: [closed]
 
 jobs:
-  close-backport-issue:
-    if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'backport')
-    permissions:
-      issues: write
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Close backport issue
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          BACKPORT_ISSUE: ${{ fromJson(github.event.pull_request.body).backport_issue }}
-          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
-        run: |
-          if [ -n "$BACKPORT_ISSUE" ]; then
-            gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/$BACKPORT_ISSUE/comments" \
-              -f body="✅ Backport completed in #$PR_NUMBER"
-
-            gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues/$BACKPORT_ISSUE" \
-              -f state="closed" \
-              -X PATCH
-
-            echo "Closed backport issue #$BACKPORT_ISSUE"
-          fi
-
   add-milestone:
     if: github.repository == 'apache/druid' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.base.ref == 'master'
     permissions: