diff --git a/dev/merge_livy_pr.py b/dev/merge_livy_pr.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9db5c56c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/merge_livy_pr.py
@@ -0,0 +1,444 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+#
+# 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.
+#
+
+# Utility for creating well-formed pull request merges and pushing them to Apache.
+#   usage: ./merge_livy_pr.py    (see config env vars below)
+#
+# This utility assumes you already have local a incubator-livy git folder and that you
+# have added remotes corresponding to both (i) the github apache incubator-livy
+# mirror and (ii) the apache git repo.
+
+import json
+import os
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import urllib2
+
+try:
+    import jira.client
+    JIRA_IMPORTED = True
+except ImportError:
+    JIRA_IMPORTED = False
+
+# Location of your incubator-livy git development area
+LIVY_HOME = os.environ.get("LIVY_HOME", os.getcwd())
+# Remote name which points to the Gihub site
+PR_REMOTE_NAME = os.environ.get("PR_REMOTE_NAME", "apache-github")
+# Remote name which points to Apache git
+PUSH_REMOTE_NAME = os.environ.get("PUSH_REMOTE_NAME", "apache")
+# ASF JIRA username
+JIRA_USERNAME = os.environ.get("JIRA_USERNAME", "")
+# ASF JIRA password
+JIRA_PASSWORD = os.environ.get("JIRA_PASSWORD", "")
+# OAuth key used for issuing requests against the GitHub API. If this is not defined, then requests
+# will be unauthenticated. You should only need to configure this if you find yourself regularly
+# exceeding your IP's unauthenticated request rate limit. You can create an OAuth key at
+# https://github.com/settings/tokens. This script only requires the "public_repo" scope.
+GITHUB_OAUTH_KEY = os.environ.get("GITHUB_OAUTH_KEY")
+
+
+GITHUB_BASE = "https://github.com/apache/incubator-livy/pull"
+GITHUB_API_BASE = "https://api.github.com/repos/apache/incubator-livy"
+JIRA_BASE = "https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse"
+JIRA_API_BASE = "https://issues.apache.org/jira"
+# Prefix added to temporary branches
+BRANCH_PREFIX = "PR_TOOL"
+
+
+def get_json(url):
+    try:
+        request = urllib2.Request(url)
+        if GITHUB_OAUTH_KEY:
+            request.add_header('Authorization', 'token %s' % GITHUB_OAUTH_KEY)
+        return json.load(urllib2.urlopen(request))
+    except urllib2.HTTPError as e:
+        if "X-RateLimit-Remaining" in e.headers and e.headers["X-RateLimit-Remaining"] == '0':
+            print("Exceeded the GitHub API rate limit; see the instructions in " +
+                  "dev/merge_livy_pr.py to configure an OAuth token for making authenticated " +
+                  "GitHub requests.")
+        else:
+            print("Unable to fetch URL, exiting: %s" % url)
+        sys.exit(-1)
+
+
+def fail(msg):
+    print(msg)
+    clean_up()
+    sys.exit(-1)
+
+
+def run_cmd(cmd):
+    print(cmd)
+    if isinstance(cmd, list):
+        return subprocess.check_output(cmd)
+    else:
+        return subprocess.check_output(cmd.split(" "))
+
+
+def continue_maybe(prompt):
+    result = raw_input("\n%s (y/n): " % prompt)
+    if result.lower() != "y":
+        fail("Okay, exiting")
+
+
+def clean_up():
+    print("Restoring head pointer to %s" % original_head)
+    run_cmd("git checkout %s" % original_head)
+
+    branches = run_cmd("git branch").replace(" ", "").split("\n")
+
+    for branch in filter(lambda x: x.startswith(BRANCH_PREFIX), branches):
+        print("Deleting local branch %s" % branch)
+        run_cmd("git branch -D %s" % branch)
+
+
+# merge the requested PR and return the merge hash
+def merge_pr(pr_num, target_ref, title, body, pr_repo_desc):
+    pr_branch_name = "%s_MERGE_PR_%s" % (BRANCH_PREFIX, pr_num)
+    target_branch_name = "%s_MERGE_PR_%s_%s" % (BRANCH_PREFIX, pr_num, target_ref.upper())
+    run_cmd("git fetch %s pull/%s/head:%s" % (PR_REMOTE_NAME, pr_num, pr_branch_name))
+    run_cmd("git fetch %s %s:%s" % (PUSH_REMOTE_NAME, target_ref, target_branch_name))
+    run_cmd("git checkout %s" % target_branch_name)
+
+    had_conflicts = False
+    try:
+        run_cmd(['git', 'merge', pr_branch_name, '--squash'])
+    except Exception as e:
+        msg = "Error merging: %s\nWould you like to manually fix-up this merge?" % e
+        continue_maybe(msg)
+        msg = "Okay, please fix any conflicts and 'git add' conflicting files... Finished?"
+        continue_maybe(msg)
+        had_conflicts = True
+
+    commit_authors = run_cmd(['git', 'log', 'HEAD..%s' % pr_branch_name,
+                             '--pretty=format:%an <%ae>']).split("\n")
+    distinct_authors = sorted(set(commit_authors),
+                              key=lambda x: commit_authors.count(x), reverse=True)
+    primary_author = raw_input(
+        "Enter primary author in the format of \"name <email>\" [%s]: " %
+        distinct_authors[0])
+    if primary_author == "":
+        primary_author = distinct_authors[0]
+
+    commits = run_cmd(['git', 'log', 'HEAD..%s' % pr_branch_name,
+                      '--pretty=format:%h [%an] %s']).split("\n\n")
+
+    merge_message_flags = []
+
+    merge_message_flags += ["-m", title]
+    if body is not None:
+        # We remove @ symbols from the body to avoid triggering e-mails
+        # to people every time someone creates a public fork of incubator-livy.
+        merge_message_flags += ["-m", body.replace("@", "")]
+
+    authors = "\n".join(["Author: %s" % a for a in distinct_authors])
+
+    merge_message_flags += ["-m", authors]
+
+    if had_conflicts:
+        committer_name = run_cmd("git config --get user.name").strip()
+        committer_email = run_cmd("git config --get user.email").strip()
+        message = "This patch had conflicts when merged, resolved by\nCommitter: %s <%s>" % (
+            committer_name, committer_email)
+        merge_message_flags += ["-m", message]
+
+    # The string "Closes #%s" string is required for GitHub to correctly close the PR
+    merge_message_flags += ["-m", "Closes #%s from %s." % (pr_num, pr_repo_desc)]
+
+    run_cmd(['git', 'commit', '--author="%s"' % primary_author] + merge_message_flags)
+
+    continue_maybe("Merge complete (local ref %s). Push to %s?" % (
+        target_branch_name, PUSH_REMOTE_NAME))
+
+    try:
+        run_cmd('git push %s %s:%s' % (PUSH_REMOTE_NAME, target_branch_name, target_ref))
+    except Exception as e:
+        clean_up()
+        fail("Exception while pushing: %s" % e)
+
+    merge_hash = run_cmd("git rev-parse %s" % target_branch_name)[:8]
+    clean_up()
+    print("Pull request #%s merged!" % pr_num)
+    print("Merge hash: %s" % merge_hash)
+    return merge_hash
+
+
+def cherry_pick(pr_num, merge_hash, default_branch):
+    pick_ref = raw_input("Enter a branch name [%s]: " % default_branch)
+    if pick_ref == "":
+        pick_ref = default_branch
+
+    pick_branch_name = "%s_PICK_PR_%s_%s" % (BRANCH_PREFIX, pr_num, pick_ref.upper())
+
+    run_cmd("git fetch %s %s:%s" % (PUSH_REMOTE_NAME, pick_ref, pick_branch_name))
+    run_cmd("git checkout %s" % pick_branch_name)
+
+    try:
+        run_cmd("git cherry-pick -sx %s" % merge_hash)
+    except Exception as e:
+        msg = "Error cherry-picking: %s\nWould you like to manually fix-up this merge?" % e
+        continue_maybe(msg)
+        msg = "Okay, please fix any conflicts and finish the cherry-pick. Finished?"
+        continue_maybe(msg)
+
+    continue_maybe("Pick complete (local ref %s). Push to %s?" % (
+        pick_branch_name, PUSH_REMOTE_NAME))
+
+    try:
+        run_cmd('git push %s %s:%s' % (PUSH_REMOTE_NAME, pick_branch_name, pick_ref))
+    except Exception as e:
+        clean_up()
+        fail("Exception while pushing: %s" % e)
+
+    pick_hash = run_cmd("git rev-parse %s" % pick_branch_name)[:8]
+    clean_up()
+
+    print("Pull request #%s picked into %s!" % (pr_num, pick_ref))
+    print("Pick hash: %s" % pick_hash)
+    return pick_ref
+
+
+def fix_version_from_branch(branch, versions):
+    # Note: Assumes this is a sorted (newest->oldest) list of un-released versions
+    if branch == "master":
+        return versions[0]
+    else:
+        branch_ver = branch.replace("branch-", "")
+        return filter(lambda x: x.name.startswith(branch_ver), versions)[-1]
+
+
+def resolve_jira_issue(merge_branches, comment, default_jira_id=""):
+    asf_jira = jira.client.JIRA({'server': JIRA_API_BASE},
+                                basic_auth=(JIRA_USERNAME, JIRA_PASSWORD))
+
+    jira_id = raw_input("Enter a JIRA id [%s]: " % default_jira_id)
+    if jira_id == "":
+        jira_id = default_jira_id
+
+    try:
+        issue = asf_jira.issue(jira_id)
+    except Exception as e:
+        fail("ASF JIRA could not find %s\n%s" % (jira_id, e))
+
+    cur_status = issue.fields.status.name
+    cur_summary = issue.fields.summary
+    cur_assignee = issue.fields.assignee
+    if cur_assignee is None:
+        cur_assignee = "NOT ASSIGNED!!!"
+    else:
+        cur_assignee = cur_assignee.displayName
+
+    if cur_status == "Resolved" or cur_status == "Closed":
+        fail("JIRA issue %s already has status '%s'" % (jira_id, cur_status))
+    print("=== JIRA %s ===" % jira_id)
+    print("summary\t\t%s\nassignee\t%s\nstatus\t\t%s\nurl\t\t%s/%s\n" %
+          (cur_summary, cur_assignee, cur_status, JIRA_BASE, jira_id))
+
+    versions = asf_jira.project_versions("LIVY")
+    versions = sorted(versions, key=lambda x: x.name, reverse=True)
+    versions = filter(lambda x: x.raw['released'] is False, versions)
+    # Consider only x.y.z versions
+    versions = filter(lambda x: re.match('\d+\.\d+\.\d+', x.name), versions)
+
+    default_fix_versions = map(lambda x: fix_version_from_branch(x, versions).name, merge_branches)
+    for v in default_fix_versions:
+        # Handles the case where we have forked a release branch but not yet made the release.
+        # In this case, if the PR is committed to the master branch and the release branch, we
+        # only consider the release branch to be the fix version. E.g. it is not valid to have
+        # both 1.1.0 and 1.0.0 as fix versions.
+        (major, minor, patch) = v.split(".")
+        if patch == "0":
+            previous = "%s.%s.%s" % (major, int(minor) - 1, 0)
+            if previous in default_fix_versions:
+                default_fix_versions = filter(lambda x: x != v, default_fix_versions)
+    default_fix_versions = ",".join(default_fix_versions)
+
+    fix_versions = raw_input("Enter comma-separated fix version(s) [%s]: " % default_fix_versions)
+    if fix_versions == "":
+        fix_versions = default_fix_versions
+    fix_versions = fix_versions.replace(" ", "").split(",")
+
+    def get_version_json(version_str):
+        return filter(lambda v: v.name == version_str, versions)[0].raw
+
+    jira_fix_versions = map(lambda v: get_version_json(v), fix_versions)
+
+    resolve = filter(lambda a: a['name'] == "Resolve Issue", asf_jira.transitions(jira_id))[0]
+    resolution = filter(lambda r: r.raw['name'] == "Fixed", asf_jira.resolutions())[0]
+    asf_jira.transition_issue(
+        jira_id, resolve["id"], fixVersions=jira_fix_versions,
+        comment=comment, resolution={'id': resolution.raw['id']})
+
+    print("Successfully resolved %s with fixVersions=%s!" % (jira_id, fix_versions))
+
+
+def resolve_jira_issues(title, merge_branches, comment):
+    jira_ids = re.findall("LIVY-[0-9]{3,6}", title)
+
+    if len(jira_ids) == 0:
+        resolve_jira_issue(merge_branches, comment)
+    for jira_id in jira_ids:
+        resolve_jira_issue(merge_branches, comment, jira_id)
+
+
+def standardize_jira_ref(text):
+    """
+    Standardize the LIVY-XXXX. prefix
+    Converts "[LIVY-XXX] Issue", "LIVY-XXX Issue", "LIVY XXX: Issue" or "LIVY-XXX: Issue" to
+    "LIVY-XXX. Issue"
+    """
+    jira_refs = []
+    components = []
+
+    # If the string is compliant, no need to process any further
+    if (re.search(r'^LIVY-[0-9]{3,6}\. \S+', text)):
+        return text
+
+    # Extract JIRA ref(s):
+    pattern = re.compile(r'(LIVY[-\s]*[0-9]{3,6})+', re.IGNORECASE)
+    for ref in pattern.findall(text):
+        # Add brackets, replace spaces with a dash, & convert to uppercase
+        jira_refs.append(re.sub(r'\s+', '-', ref.upper()))
+        text = text.replace(ref, '')
+
+    # Cleanup any remaining symbols:
+    pattern = re.compile(r'^\W+(.*)', re.IGNORECASE)
+    if (pattern.search(text) is not None):
+        text = pattern.search(text).groups()[0]
+
+    # Assemble full text (JIRA ref(s), remaining text)
+    clean_text = ''.join(jira_refs).strip() + ". " + text.strip()
+
+    # Replace multiple spaces with a single space, e.g. if no jira refs and/or components were
+    # included
+    clean_text = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', clean_text.strip())
+
+    return clean_text
+
+
+def get_current_ref():
+    ref = run_cmd("git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD").strip()
+    if ref == 'HEAD':
+        # The current ref is a detached HEAD, so grab its SHA.
+        return run_cmd("git rev-parse HEAD").strip()
+    else:
+        return ref
+
+
+def main():
+    global original_head
+
+    os.chdir(LIVY_HOME)
+    original_head = get_current_ref()
+
+    branches = get_json("%s/branches" % GITHUB_API_BASE)
+    branch_names = filter(lambda x: x.startswith("branch-"), [x['name'] for x in branches])
+    # Assumes branch names can be sorted lexicographically
+    latest_branch = sorted(branch_names, reverse=True)[0]
+
+    pr_num = raw_input("Which pull request would you like to merge? (e.g. 34): ")
+    pr = get_json("%s/pulls/%s" % (GITHUB_API_BASE, pr_num))
+    pr_events = get_json("%s/issues/%s/events" % (GITHUB_API_BASE, pr_num))
+
+    url = pr["url"]
+
+    # Decide whether to use the modified title or not
+    modified_title = standardize_jira_ref(pr["title"])
+    if modified_title != pr["title"]:
+        print("I've re-written the title as follows to match the standard format:")
+        print("Original: %s" % pr["title"])
+        print("Modified: %s" % modified_title)
+        result = raw_input("Would you like to use the modified title? (y/n): ")
+        if result.lower() == "y":
+            title = modified_title
+            print("Using modified title:")
+        else:
+            title = pr["title"]
+            print("Using original title:")
+        print(title)
+    else:
+        title = pr["title"]
+
+    body = pr["body"]
+    target_ref = pr["base"]["ref"]
+    user_login = pr["user"]["login"]
+    base_ref = pr["head"]["ref"]
+    pr_repo_desc = "%s/%s" % (user_login, base_ref)
+
+    # Merged pull requests don't appear as merged in the GitHub API;
+    # Instead, they're closed by asfgit.
+    merge_commits = \
+        [e for e in pr_events if e["actor"]["login"] == "asfgit" and e["event"] == "closed"]
+
+    if merge_commits:
+        merge_hash = merge_commits[0]["commit_id"]
+        message = get_json("%s/commits/%s" % (GITHUB_API_BASE, merge_hash))["commit"]["message"]
+
+        print("Pull request %s has already been merged, assuming you want to backport" % pr_num)
+        commit_is_downloaded = run_cmd(['git', 'rev-parse', '--quiet', '--verify',
+                                        "%s^{commit}" % merge_hash]).strip() != ""
+        if not commit_is_downloaded:
+            fail("Couldn't find any merge commit for #%s, you may need to update HEAD." % pr_num)
+
+        print("Found commit %s:\n%s" % (merge_hash, message))
+        cherry_pick(pr_num, merge_hash, latest_branch)
+        sys.exit(0)
+
+    if not bool(pr["mergeable"]):
+        msg = "Pull request %s is not mergeable in its current form.\n" % pr_num + \
+            "Continue? (experts only!)"
+        continue_maybe(msg)
+
+    print("\n=== Pull Request #%s ===" % pr_num)
+    print("title\t%s\nsource\t%s\ntarget\t%s\nurl\t%s" %
+          (title, pr_repo_desc, target_ref, url))
+    continue_maybe("Proceed with merging pull request #%s?" % pr_num)
+
+    merged_refs = [target_ref]
+
+    merge_hash = merge_pr(pr_num, target_ref, title, body, pr_repo_desc)
+
+    pick_prompt = "Would you like to pick %s into another branch?" % merge_hash
+    while raw_input("\n%s (y/n): " % pick_prompt).lower() == "y":
+        merged_refs = merged_refs + [cherry_pick(pr_num, merge_hash, latest_branch)]
+
+    if JIRA_IMPORTED:
+        if JIRA_USERNAME and JIRA_PASSWORD:
+            continue_maybe("Would you like to update an associated JIRA?")
+            jira_comment = "Issue resolved by pull request %s\n[%s/%s]" % \
+                           (pr_num, GITHUB_BASE, pr_num)
+            resolve_jira_issues(title, merged_refs, jira_comment)
+        else:
+            print("JIRA_USERNAME and JIRA_PASSWORD not set")
+            print("Exiting without trying to close the associated JIRA.")
+    else:
+        print("Could not find jira-python library. Run 'sudo pip install jira' to install.")
+        print("Exiting without trying to close the associated JIRA.")
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import doctest
+    (failure_count, test_count) = doctest.testmod()
+    if failure_count:
+        exit(-1)
+    try:
+        main()
+    except:
+        clean_up()
+        raise