diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4c54fc98e91f9b151f447059816f34f9c7f3f454..20ff683569dc7418e70959141bbacd5fa948c278 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 stages:
+  - check
   - build
   - publish
   - docker
@@ -10,6 +11,57 @@ variables:
   # NPM registry URL for GitLab packages
   NPM_REGISTRY: "${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/${CI_PROJECT_ID}/packages/npm/"
 
+# Check that package version is bumped when package files change
+check-version-bump:
+  stage: check
+  script:
+    - |
+      echo "Checking if package version needs to be bumped..."
+
+      # Get the target branch (main for MRs, or compare with previous commit)
+      TARGET_BRANCH="${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME:-main}"
+
+      # Fetch the target branch to compare against
+      git fetch origin "$TARGET_BRANCH" --depth=1
+
+      # Get current version
+      CURRENT_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+      echo "Current version: $CURRENT_VERSION"
+
+      # Get target branch version
+      TARGET_VERSION=$(git show "origin/${TARGET_BRANCH}:package.json" | node -p "JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync('/dev/stdin', 'utf8')).version")
+      echo "Target branch version: $TARGET_VERSION"
+
+      # Define files that require a version bump when changed
+      PACKAGE_FILES="src/ package.json webpack.config.js tsconfig.json"
+
+      # Check if any package files changed
+      CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only "origin/${TARGET_BRANCH}" -- $PACKAGE_FILES || true)
+
+      if [ -n "$CHANGED_FILES" ]; then
+        echo "Package files changed:"
+        echo "$CHANGED_FILES"
+
+        if [ "$CURRENT_VERSION" = "$TARGET_VERSION" ]; then
+          echo ""
+          echo "ERROR: Package files have changed but version was not bumped!"
+          echo "Current version ($CURRENT_VERSION) is the same as $TARGET_BRANCH branch."
+          echo "Please update the version in package.json before merging."
+          exit 1
+        else
+          echo "Version was bumped from $TARGET_VERSION to $CURRENT_VERSION. OK!"
+        fi
+      else
+        echo "No package files changed. Version bump not required."
+      fi
+  rules:
+    # Run on merge requests
+    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
+    # Also run on branches (not main) to catch issues early
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME != "main" && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"'
+  tags:
+    - public-runner-docker
+
 # Install dependencies once and cache them
 .node_dependencies:
   cache: