diff --git a/.vsts-ci.yml b/.vsts-ci.yml
index 5d81c61f2b5b..5407579179c2 100644
--- a/.vsts-ci.yml
+++ b/.vsts-ci.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 trigger:
   branches:
     include:
-    - master
+    - artifact_commit_hash
   tags:
     include:
     - v*
@@ -44,16 +44,6 @@ jobs:
         PYTHON_VERSION: '3.8'
       inference:
         TASK: if-else
-      mpi_source:
-        TASK: mpi
-        METHOD: source
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.8'
-      gpu_source:
-        TASK: gpu
-        METHOD: source
-        # on Ubuntu 14.04, gpu_source build segfaults with newer version of Python
-        # (and newer version of scipy as a consequence)
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.7'
       swig:
         TASK: swig
   steps:
@@ -80,325 +70,3 @@ jobs:
       pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
       artifactName: PackageAssets
       artifactType: container
-###########################################
-- job: Linux_latest
-###########################################
-  variables:
-    COMPILER: clang
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND: 'noninteractive'
-    IN_UBUNTU_LATEST_CONTAINER: 'true'
-    OS_NAME: 'linux'
-    SETUP_CONDA: 'true'
-  pool: sh-ubuntu
-  container: ubuntu-latest
-  strategy:
-    matrix:
-      regular:
-        TASK: regular
-      sdist:
-        TASK: sdist
-      bdist:
-        TASK: bdist
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.8'
-      inference:
-        TASK: if-else
-      mpi_source:
-        TASK: mpi
-        METHOD: source
-      mpi_pip:
-        TASK: mpi
-        METHOD: pip
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.9'
-      mpi_wheel:
-        TASK: mpi
-        METHOD: wheel
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.7'
-      gpu_source:
-        TASK: gpu
-        METHOD: source
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.9'
-      gpu_pip:
-        TASK: gpu
-        METHOD: pip
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.8'
-      gpu_wheel:
-        TASK: gpu
-        METHOD: wheel
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.7'
-      cpp_tests:
-        TASK: cpp-tests
-        METHOD: with-sanitizers
-  steps:
-  - script: |
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=BUILD_DIRECTORY]$BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY"
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=LGB_VER]$(head -n 1 VERSION.txt)"
-      CONDA=$HOME/miniforge
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=CONDA]$CONDA"
-      echo "##vso[task.prependpath]$CONDA/bin"
-      AMDAPPSDK_PATH=$BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY/AMDAPPSDK
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=AMDAPPSDK_PATH]$AMDAPPSDK_PATH"
-      LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$AMDAPPSDK_PATH/lib/x86_64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=LD_LIBRARY_PATH]$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=OPENCL_VENDOR_PATH]$AMDAPPSDK_PATH/etc/OpenCL/vendors"
-    displayName: 'Set variables'
-  # https://github.com/microsoft/azure-pipelines-agent/issues/2043#issuecomment-687983301
-  - script: |
-      /tmp/docker exec -t -u 0 ci-container \
-      sh -c "apt-get update && apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" -y install sudo"
-    displayName: 'Install sudo'
-  - bash: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/.ci/setup.sh
-    displayName: Setup
-  - bash: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/.ci/test.sh
-    displayName: Test
-###########################################
-- job: QEMU_multiarch
-###########################################
-  variables:
-    COMPILER: gcc
-    OS_NAME: 'linux'
-    PRODUCES_ARTIFACTS: 'true'
-  pool:
-    vmImage: ubuntu-latest
-  timeoutInMinutes: 180
-  strategy:
-    matrix:
-      bdist:
-        TASK: bdist
-        ARCH: aarch64
-  steps:
-  - script: |
-      sudo apt-get update
-      sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
-        binfmt-support \
-        qemu \
-        qemu-user \
-        qemu-user-static
-    displayName: 'Install QEMU'
-  - script: |
-      docker run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes
-    displayName: 'Enable Docker multi-architecture support'
-  - script: |
-      export ROOT_DOCKER_FOLDER=/LightGBM
-      cat > docker.env <<EOF
-      AZURE=$AZURE
-      OS_NAME=$OS_NAME
-      COMPILER=$COMPILER
-      TASK=$TASK
-      METHOD=$METHOD
-      CONDA_ENV=$CONDA_ENV
-      PYTHON_VERSION=$PYTHON_VERSION
-      BUILD_DIRECTORY=$ROOT_DOCKER_FOLDER
-      LGB_VER=$(head -n 1 VERSION.txt)
-      PRODUCES_ARTIFACTS=$PRODUCES_ARTIFACTS
-      BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY=$BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY
-      EOF
-      cat > docker-script.sh <<EOF
-      export CONDA=\$HOME/miniforge
-      export PATH=\$CONDA/bin:\$PATH
-      $ROOT_DOCKER_FOLDER/.ci/setup.sh || exit -1
-      $ROOT_DOCKER_FOLDER/.ci/test.sh || exit -1
-      EOF
-      IMAGE_URI="quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_${ARCH}"
-      docker pull "${IMAGE_URI}" || exit -1
-      PLATFORM=$(docker inspect --format='{{.Os}}/{{.Architecture}}' "${IMAGE_URI}") || exit -1
-      echo "detected image platform: ${PLATFORM}"
-      docker run \
-        --platform "${PLATFORM}" \
-        --rm \
-        --env-file docker.env \
-        -v "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)":"$ROOT_DOCKER_FOLDER" \
-        -v "$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)":"$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)" \
-        "${IMAGE_URI}" \
-        /bin/bash $ROOT_DOCKER_FOLDER/docker-script.sh
-    displayName: 'Setup and run tests'
-  - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
-    condition: and(succeeded(), in(variables['TASK'], 'bdist'), not(startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/pull/')))
-    inputs:
-      pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
-      artifactName: PackageAssets
-      artifactType: container
-###########################################
-- job: macOS
-###########################################
-  variables:
-    COMPILER: clang
-    OS_NAME: 'macos'
-    PRODUCES_ARTIFACTS: 'true'
-  pool:
-    vmImage: 'macOS-10.15'
-  strategy:
-    matrix:
-      regular:
-        TASK: regular
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.7'
-      sdist:
-        TASK: sdist
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.8'
-      bdist:
-        TASK: bdist
-      swig:
-        TASK: swig
-      cpp_tests:
-        TASK: cpp-tests
-        METHOD: with-sanitizers
-        SANITIZERS: "address;undefined"
-  steps:
-  - script: |
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=BUILD_DIRECTORY]$BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY"
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=LGB_VER]$(head -n 1 VERSION.txt)"
-      CONDA=$AGENT_HOMEDIRECTORY/miniforge
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=CONDA]$CONDA"
-      echo "##vso[task.prependpath]$CONDA/bin"
-      echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=JAVA_HOME]$JAVA_HOME_8_X64"
-    displayName: 'Set variables'
-  - bash: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/.ci/setup.sh
-    displayName: Setup
-  - bash: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/.ci/test.sh
-    displayName: Test
-  - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
-    condition: and(succeeded(), in(variables['TASK'], 'regular', 'bdist', 'swig'), not(startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/pull/')))
-    inputs:
-      pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
-      artifactName: PackageAssets
-      artifactType: container
-###########################################
-- job: Windows
-###########################################
-  pool:
-    vmImage: 'windows-2019'
-  strategy:
-    matrix:
-      regular:
-        TASK: regular
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.9'
-      sdist:
-        TASK: sdist
-        PYTHON_VERSION: '3.8'
-      bdist:
-        TASK: bdist
-      swig:
-        TASK: swig
-      cpp_tests:
-        TASK: cpp-tests
-  steps:
-  - powershell: |
-      Write-Host "##vso[task.prependpath]$env:CONDA\Scripts"
-    displayName: 'Set Variables'
-  - script: |
-      cmd /c "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File %BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY%/.ci/install_opencl.ps1"
-    condition: eq(variables['TASK'], 'bdist')
-    displayName: 'Install OpenCL'
-  - script: |
-      cmd /c "conda config --add channels conda-forge"
-      cmd /c "conda config --set channel_priority strict"
-      cmd /c "conda init powershell"
-      cmd /c "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File %BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY%/.ci/test_windows.ps1"
-    displayName: Test
-  - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
-    condition: and(succeeded(), in(variables['TASK'], 'regular', 'bdist', 'swig'), not(startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/pull/')))
-    inputs:
-      pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
-      artifactName: PackageAssets
-      artifactType: container
-###########################################
-- job: R_artifact
-###########################################
-  condition: not(startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/pull/'))
-  pool:
-    vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
-  container: rbase
-  steps:
-  - script: |
-      LGB_VER=$(head -n 1 VERSION.txt | sed "s/rc/-/g")
-      R_LIB_PATH=~/Rlib
-      export R_LIBS=${R_LIB_PATH}
-      mkdir -p ${R_LIB_PATH}
-      RDscript -e "install.packages(c('R6', 'data.table', 'jsonlite', 'knitr', 'Matrix', 'rmarkdown'),  lib = '${R_LIB_PATH}', dependencies = c('Depends', 'Imports', 'LinkingTo'), repos = 'https://cran.r-project.org', Ncpus = parallel::detectCores())" || exit -1
-      sh build-cran-package.sh --r-executable=RD || exit -1
-      mv lightgbm_${LGB_VER}.tar.gz $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/lightgbm-${LGB_VER}-r-cran.tar.gz
-    displayName: 'Build CRAN R-package'
-  - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
-    condition: succeeded()
-    inputs:
-      pathtoPublish: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)
-      artifactName: R-package
-      artifactType: container
-
-###########################################
-- job: Package
-###########################################
-  dependsOn:
-  - Linux
-  - Linux_latest
-  - QEMU_multiarch
-  - macOS
-  - Windows
-  - R_artifact
-  condition: and(succeeded(), not(startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/pull/')))
-  pool:
-    vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
-  steps:
-  # Create archives with complete source code included (with git submodules)
-  - task: ArchiveFiles@2
-    displayName: Create zip archive
-    condition: and(succeeded(), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/tags/v'))
-    inputs:
-      rootFolderOrFile: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)
-      includeRootFolder: false
-      archiveType: zip
-      archiveFile: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/archives/LightGBM-complete_source_code_zip.zip'
-      replaceExistingArchive: true
-  - task: ArchiveFiles@2
-    displayName: Create tar.gz archive
-    condition: and(succeeded(), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/tags/v'))
-    inputs:
-      rootFolderOrFile: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)
-      includeRootFolder: false
-      archiveType: tar
-      tarCompression: gz
-      archiveFile: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/archives/LightGBM-complete_source_code_tar_gz.tar.gz'
-      replaceExistingArchive: true
-  # Download all agent packages from all previous phases
-  - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
-    displayName: Download package assets
-    inputs:
-      artifactName: PackageAssets
-      downloadPath: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/binaries
-  - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
-    displayName: Download R-package
-    condition: and(succeeded(), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/tags/v'))
-    inputs:
-      artifactName: R-package
-      downloadPath: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/R
-  - script: |
-      python "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/.nuget/create_nuget.py" "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/binaries/PackageAssets"
-    displayName: 'Create NuGet configuration files'
-  - task: NuGetCommand@2
-    inputs:
-      command: pack
-      packagesToPack: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/.nuget/*.nuspec'
-      packDestination: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/nuget'
-  - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
-    inputs:
-      pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/nuget'
-      artifactName: NuGet
-      artifactType: container
-  - task: GitHubRelease@0
-    displayName: 'Create GitHub Release'
-    condition: and(succeeded(), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/tags/v'))
-    inputs:
-      gitHubConnection: guolinke
-      repositoryName: '$(Build.Repository.Name)'
-      action: 'create'
-      target: '$(Build.SourceVersion)'
-      tagSource: 'auto'
-      title: '$(Build.SourceBranchName)'
-      assets: |
-        $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/binaries/PackageAssets/*
-        $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/R/R-package/*
-        $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/nuget/*.nupkg
-        $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/archives/*
-      assetUploadMode: 'delete'
-      isDraft: true
-      isPreRelease: false
-      addChangeLog: false