diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 365cef232..8cdf9fdb1 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 * Never export symbols that's not needed outside of the package.
 * Avoid global state at (almost) all cost.
 * This is a project with a long history; assume that a similiar problem has been solved before, look hard for helper functions before creating new ones.
-* Use `go test ./somepackage/...` when iterating.
-* Use `mage check` when you're done.
+* Use `./check.sh ./somepackage/...` when iterating.
+* Use `./check.sh` when you're done.
+
 
 [^1]: CI build fail if you forget to remove the debug printing.
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 3cefd04c4..c672637ce 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ To make the contribution process as seamless as possible, we ask for the followi
     * Run `go fmt`.
     * Add documentation if you are adding new features or changing functionality.  The docs site lives in `/docs`.
     * Squash your commits into a single commit. `git rebase -i`. It’s okay to force update your pull request with `git push -f`.
-    * Ensure that `mage check` succeeds. [Travis CI](https://travis-ci.org/gohugoio/hugo) (Windows, Linux and macOS) will fail the build if `mage check` fails.
+    * Ensure that `./check.sh` succeeds. Note that some tests are skipped when running locally, some because they are slow. To run these locally,  do `CI_LOCAL=true ./check.sh ./somepackage/...`.
     * Follow the **Git Commit Message Guidelines** below.
 
 ## AI Assistance Notice
diff --git a/check.sh b/check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..53d4fe6a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+# Default to all packages if none specified
+PACKAGES="${1:-./...}"
+
+echo "==> Checking packages: $PACKAGES"
+
+# Timing arrays
+declare -a STEP_NAMES
+declare -a STEP_TIMES
+
+time_step() {
+    local name="$1"
+    shift
+    local start=$(date +%s.%N)
+    "$@"
+    local end=$(date +%s.%N)
+    local elapsed=$(echo "$end - $start" | bc)
+    STEP_NAMES+=("$name")
+    STEP_TIMES+=("$elapsed")
+}
+
+# Check gofmt
+run_gofmt() {
+    echo "==> Running gofmt..."
+    # Convert package pattern to path (e.g., ./hugolib/... -> ./hugolib)
+    local path="${PACKAGES%/...}"
+    GOFMT_OUTPUT=$(gofmt -l "$path" 2>&1) || true
+    if [ -n "$GOFMT_OUTPUT" ]; then
+        echo "gofmt found issues in:"
+        echo "$GOFMT_OUTPUT"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    echo "    OK"
+}
+
+# Run go vet
+run_govet() {
+    echo "==> Running go vet..."
+    go vet $PACKAGES
+    echo "    OK"
+}
+
+# Run staticcheck
+run_staticcheck() {
+    # Check if staticcheck is installed, install if not
+    if ! command -v staticcheck &> /dev/null; then
+        echo "==> Installing staticcheck..."
+        go install honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@latest
+    fi
+    echo "==> Running staticcheck..."
+    staticcheck $PACKAGES
+    echo "    OK"
+}
+
+# Run tests
+run_tests() {
+    echo "==> Running tests..."
+    local output
+    if ! output=$(go test $PACKAGES 2>&1); then
+        echo "$output"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    echo "    OK"
+}
+
+# Run all steps with timing
+TOTAL_START=$(date +%s.%N)
+
+time_step "gofmt" run_gofmt
+time_step "go vet" run_govet
+time_step "staticcheck" run_staticcheck
+time_step "tests" run_tests
+
+TOTAL_END=$(date +%s.%N)
+TOTAL_ELAPSED=$(echo "$TOTAL_END - $TOTAL_START" | bc)
+
+# Print timing summary
+echo ""
+echo "==> All checks passed!"
+echo ""
+echo "Timing summary:"
+echo "---------------"
+for i in "${!STEP_NAMES[@]}"; do
+    printf "  %-15s %6.2fs\n" "${STEP_NAMES[$i]}" "${STEP_TIMES[$i]}"
+done
+echo "---------------"
+printf "  %-15s %6.2fs\n" "Total" "$TOTAL_ELAPSED"
diff --git a/resources/images/images_golden_integration_test.go b/resources/images/images_golden_integration_test.go
index ac147a287..6b6b41e41 100644
--- a/resources/images/images_golden_integration_test.go
+++ b/resources/images/images_golden_integration_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/htesting"
 	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources/images/imagetesting"
 )
 
@@ -36,7 +35,6 @@ const goldenProcess = `
 // Note, if you're enabling writeGoldenFiles on a MacOS ARM 64 you need to run the test with GOARCH=amd64, e.g.
 func TestImagesGoldenFiltersMisc(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")
@@ -113,7 +111,6 @@ Home.
 
 func TestImagesGoldenFiltersMask(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")
@@ -175,7 +172,6 @@ the last entry will win.
 
 // Issue 13272, 13273.
 func TestImagesGoldenFiltersMaskCacheIssues(t *testing.T) {
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")
 	}
@@ -352,7 +348,6 @@ Home.
 
 func TestImagesGoldenProcessWebP(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")
@@ -427,7 +422,6 @@ Home.
 
 func TestImagesGoldenWebPAnimation(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")
@@ -463,7 +457,6 @@ Home.
 
 func TestImagesGoldenMethods(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")
@@ -535,7 +528,6 @@ Home.
 
 func TestImagesGoldenConfigLossyVsQuality(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	htesting.SkipSlowTestUnlessCI(t)
 
 	if imagetesting.SkipGoldenTests {
 		t.Skip("Skip golden test on this architecture")