diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index dddb6fcff05..2e84e19dea9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ name: Pull request
 on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [main]
+    # Draft PRs skip CI; marking a PR ready runs the full suite. Converting a
+    # PR back to draft starts a run whose jobs all skip, which cancels any
+    # in-progress run through the concurrency group below.
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened, ready_for_review, converted_to_draft]
 # Concurrency: auto-cancels previous runs when new commits are pushed
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
@@ -9,6 +13,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   ReleaseLock:
     name: Check committed registry lock
+    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
@@ -26,6 +31,7 @@ jobs:
         run: python .github/release_lock.py --rehearse
   ReleaseLockTests:
     name: Release lock guard tests
+    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
@@ -122,6 +128,7 @@ jobs:
         run: uv run --no-sync ruff format --check .
   check-changelog:
     name: Check changelog fragment
+    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
diff --git a/changelog.d/ci-skip-draft-prs.changed.md b/changelog.d/ci-skip-draft-prs.changed.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e145a96706b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/ci-skip-draft-prs.changed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Skip the pull request workflow for draft PRs; marking a PR ready for review runs the full suite, and converting it back to draft cancels any run in progress.
diff --git a/policyengine_us/tests/code_health/test_pr_workflow_skips_drafts.py b/policyengine_us/tests/code_health/test_pr_workflow_skips_drafts.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..77d61c87857
--- /dev/null
+++ b/policyengine_us/tests/code_health/test_pr_workflow_skips_drafts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+"""Draft pull requests must not run the PR workflow; ready ones run all of it."""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import yaml
+
+WORKFLOW = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[3] / ".github" / "workflows" / "pr.yaml"
+GUARD = "github.event.pull_request.draft == false"
+
+
+def _workflow():
+    data = yaml.safe_load(WORKFLOW.read_text())
+    # PyYAML reads the bare `on` key as True.
+    return data[True]["pull_request"], data["jobs"]
+
+
+def _needs(job):
+    needs = job.get("needs", [])
+    return [needs] if isinstance(needs, str) else needs
+
+
+def test_ready_for_review_and_converted_to_draft_trigger_the_workflow():
+    trigger, _ = _workflow()
+    assert {"opened", "synchronize", "reopened", "ready_for_review"} <= set(
+        trigger["types"]
+    )
+    # Converting back to draft starts a skipped run that cancels the old one.
+    assert "converted_to_draft" in trigger["types"]
+
+
+def test_every_job_is_skipped_for_drafts():
+    _, jobs = _workflow()
+    roots = [name for name, job in jobs.items() if not _needs(job)]
+    assert roots, "the workflow must have at least one job without needs"
+    for name in roots:
+        assert jobs[name].get("if") == GUARD, name
+
+    def reaches_guarded_root(name, seen=()):
+        if name in seen:
+            raise AssertionError(f"cycle at {name}")
+        job = jobs[name]
+        if not _needs(job):
+            return job.get("if") == GUARD
+        return all(reaches_guarded_root(n, seen + (name,)) for n in _needs(job))
+
+    for name, job in jobs.items():
+        # A job-level status function other than success() (always(),
+        # !cancelled(), failure(), cancelled()) runs the job even when a
+        # needed job was skipped, which would defeat the guard.
+        condition = str(job.get("if", "")).replace(" ", "")
+        for status_function in ("always()", "cancelled()", "failure()"):
+            assert status_function not in condition, (name, condition)
+        assert reaches_guarded_root(name), name