diff --git a/xCAT-test/quick-servicenode.txt b/xCAT-test/quick-servicenode.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0311a82f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-test/quick-servicenode.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# The fast oracle of the service node change set: one test per fix, each written with its fix.
+#
+# Run it with:  xCAT-test/quick.sh -f xCAT-test/quick-servicenode.txt
+#
+# These are the tests that failed before their fix landed. Together they stand in for the
+# end-to-end service node suite, which provisions a management node, a service node and a
+# compute node on two families and takes 45 to 90 minutes a run.
+#
+# What each one covers:
+#   check_provisioning_source   the compute node was served by the service node, not the MN
+#   makenamed_forwarders        a Debian service node does not forward DNS to its own stub
+#   otherpkgs_apt_source_trusted  the staged apt source apt will accept
+#   stage_sn_apt_repo           the Debian repository index, where createrepo does not exist
+#   servicenode_builder_repo    the builder repository per EL release: crb, powertools, codeready
+#   svrutils_nfs_export_line    a service node that mounts /install still exports it
+#   ubuntu_service_subiquity_template  the service profile resolves a Subiquity template
+#
+# A SKIP is not a PASS. otherpkgs_apt_source_trusted skips its two resolving assertions where
+# apt-get is absent, so on an EL builder that file proves less than it does on a Debian one. Run
+# this list on the builder of the family the candidate touches, or read the skips.
+#
+# NOT covered, and known: the xdsh PATH fix, and the named working directory and reload fixes.
+# A candidate that removes those passes this list and fails the end-to-end suite. Fill these in
+# before trusting the list for a minimization.
+
+xCAT-test/bats/check_provisioning_source.bats
+xCAT-test/bats/makenamed_forwarders.bats
+xCAT-test/bats/otherpkgs_apt_source_trusted.bats
+xCAT-test/bats/stage_sn_apt_repo.bats
+xCAT-test/unit/servicenode_builder_repo.t
+xCAT-test/unit/svrutils_nfs_export_line.t
+xCAT-test/unit/ubuntu_service_subiquity_template.t
diff --git a/xCAT-test/quick.sh b/xCAT-test/quick.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e061de80d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-test/quick.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Run a fast subset of the unit tests: the Perl .t files with prove and the shell .bats files
+# with bats, in one command, from the source tree. No build, no installed xCAT, no cluster.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS. Delta debugging a change set runs the suite once per candidate. The
+# end-to-end suite provisions machines and costs 45 to 90 minutes a run, so the rounds run on a
+# fast oracle instead, and the slow suite runs once on the set that settles. This is that fast
+# oracle, and it is useful on its own: it is the same two commands CI runs, without the wait.
+#
+#   xCAT-test/quick.sh                      every unit test and every bats file
+#   xCAT-test/quick.sh path/a.t path/b.bats only those, in the order given
+#   xCAT-test/quick.sh -f list.txt          the files named in list.txt, one per line
+#
+# Exit status is 0 only when every file passed. A missing file is an error, not a skip: a fast
+# oracle that silently runs nothing reports PASS for a tree that contains none of the tests.
+
+set -u -o pipefail
+
+usage() { sed -n '3,20p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//'; exit "${1:-0}"; }
+
+root=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)
+files=()
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        -h|--help) usage 0 ;;
+        -f|--from) shift; [ -r "${1:-}" ] || { echo "quick: cannot read list '${1:-}'" >&2; exit 2; }
+                   while read -r line; do
+                       case "$line" in ''|\#*) continue ;; esac
+                       files+=("$line")
+                   done < "$1" ;;
+        -*) echo "quick: unknown option '$1'" >&2; usage 2 ;;
+        *)  files+=("$1") ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
+cd "$root" || exit 2
+
+if [ "${#files[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "[quick] whole fast suite: prove -r xCAT-test/unit, then bats -r xCAT-test/bats"
+    rc=0
+    prove -r xCAT-test/unit || rc=1
+    bats  -r xCAT-test/bats || rc=1
+    exit $rc
+fi
+
+# A named file that is absent means the caller asked for a test this tree does not have. Say so
+# and fail: reporting PASS here is how a minimization drops the commit that adds a test.
+missing=()
+for f in "${files[@]}"; do [ -e "$f" ] || missing+=("$f"); done
+if [ "${#missing[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    printf '[quick] MISSING from this tree, refusing to report a result:\n' >&2
+    printf '  %s\n' "${missing[@]}" >&2
+    exit 2
+fi
+
+perl_tests=(); bats_tests=()
+for f in "${files[@]}"; do
+    case "$f" in
+        *.t)    perl_tests+=("$f") ;;
+        *.bats) bats_tests+=("$f") ;;
+        *)      echo "quick: '$f' is neither a .t nor a .bats" >&2; exit 2 ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+rc=0
+if [ "${#perl_tests[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo "[quick] prove ${#perl_tests[@]} Perl test(s)"
+    prove "${perl_tests[@]}" || rc=1
+fi
+if [ "${#bats_tests[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo "[quick] bats ${#bats_tests[@]} shell test(s)"
+    bats "${bats_tests[@]}" || rc=1
+fi
+
+[ $rc -eq 0 ] && echo "[quick] PASS (${#files[@]} file(s))" || echo "[quick] FAIL"
+exit $rc