diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre_merge_build.yml b/.github/workflows/pre_merge_build.yml
index 4f71175e..2d6d1507 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pre_merge_build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre_merge_build.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 name: pre_merge_build
-run-name: Pre Merge Build (PR:${{ github.event.pull_request.number }})
+run-name: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number && 'Pre Merge Build PR:' || 'Pre Merge Build:' }}${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.run_number }}
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
       build_matrix: ${{ needs.load_parameters.outputs.build_matrix }}
       pr_ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
       pr_repo: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
-      
+
   filter_test_matrix:
     needs: load_parameters
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
             MATRIX='${{ needs.load_parameters.outputs.build_matrix }}'
-        
+
             echo "RAW build_matrix:"
             echo "$MATRIX"
-        
+
             echo "Validating JSON..."
             echo "$MATRIX" | jq . >/dev/null
-        
+
             # Supports:
             # 1) object keyed by name: { "name": {testing_enabled:true}, ... }
             # 2) array of entries: [ {Testing_enabled:true,...}, ... ]  (will convert to include list)
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@ jobs:
                 end
               '
             )
-        
+
             echo "Filtered matrix (pretty):"
             echo "$FILTERED" | jq .
-        
+
             echo "test_matrix=$FILTERED" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          
+
   trigger_lava:
     needs: [ process_image, filter_test_matrix ]
     uses: Audioreach/audioreach-workflows/.github/workflows/test.yml@master
diff --git a/ci/build.sh b/ci/build.sh
index 2a215f13..424d3a51 100644
--- a/ci/build.sh
+++ b/ci/build.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,19 @@
 #
 # Copyright (c) 2025 Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
 set -ex
+
+PREBUILD_SCRIPT_PATH="${PREBUILD_SCRIPT:-$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/pre_build.sh}"
+source "$PREBUILD_SCRIPT_PATH"
+
+KERNEL_VERSION="$(basename "$(find "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/install/sysroots/armv8-2a-poky-linux/usr/lib/modules" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d)")"
+
+# load build args from file if environment variable is not set
+if [ -z "${BUILD_ARGS}" ]; then
+    BUILD_OPTIONS_FILE="${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/ci/build_options.txt"
+    BUILD_ARGS="$(sed -E 's/#.*$//' "$BUILD_OPTIONS_FILE" | sed '/^[[:space:]]*$/d' | tr '\n' ' ')"
+fi
+
+
 echo "Running build script..."
 # Build/Compile audioreach-graphmgr
 source ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/install/environment-setup-armv8-2a-qcom-linux
diff --git a/ci/pre_build.sh b/ci/pre_build.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5d2499e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/pre_build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+#
+# Copyright (c) Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
+set -euo pipefail
+echo "Running pre-build script..."
+
+# Define target_image.json url
+url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AudioReach/audioreach-workflows/master/.github/actions/loading/target_image.json"
+
+# Download <sdk>.sh from aws s3 bucket and install the sdk
+if [ ! -d "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/install" ]; then
+    if [ -z "${SDK_NAME}" ]; then
+        echo "SDK_NAME environment variable is not set. Fetching from JSON."
+        if curl -fsSL -o target_image.json "${url}"; then
+            SDK=$(jq -r 'to_entries[0].value.SDK_name' target_image.json)
+            if [ -n "$SDK" ] && [ "$SDK" != "null" ]; then
+                export SDK_NAME="$SDK"
+                echo "SDK_NAME set to ${SDK_NAME}"
+            else
+                echo "Error: SDK_name not found in JSON." >&2
+                exit 3
+            fi
+        else
+            echo "Failed to fetch target_image.json from $url" >&2
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    fi
+    if aws s3 cp s3://qli-prd-audior-gh-artifacts/AudioReach/meta-audioreach/post_merge_build/${SDK_NAME} "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}"; then
+        echo "SDK downloaded successfully."
+        chmod 777 "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/${SDK_NAME}"
+    else
+        echo "Failed to download SDK from S3. Exiting."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    # Setup directory for sdk installation
+    mkdir -p "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/install"
+    orig_dir=$(pwd)
+    cd "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}"
+    # Install the sdk
+    echo "Running SDK script..."
+    if echo "./install" | ./"${SDK_NAME}" ; then
+        echo "SDK Script ran successfully."
+    else
+        echo "Error running SDK script. Exiting."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    cd "$orig_dir"
+else
+    echo "SDK already installed. Skipping download and installation."
+fi