diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/smoke.yml b/.gitea/workflows/smoke.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e254579
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/smoke.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+name: Smoke Test
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [main]
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+
+jobs:
+  smoke-test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.x'
+
+      - name: Install PyYAML
+        run: pip install pyyaml
+
+      - name: Run smoke test
+        run: bash scripts/smoke.sh
diff --git a/scripts/smoke.sh b/scripts/smoke.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4c8fd6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# The Testament — Smoke Test
+# Dead simple CI: parse check + secret scan.
+# Ref: https://forge.alexanderwhitestone.com/Timmy_Foundation/the-testament/issues/27
+set -euo pipefail
+
+PASS=0
+FAIL=0
+
+pass() { echo "  ✓ $1"; PASS=$((PASS + 1)); }
+fail() { echo "  ✗ $1"; FAIL=$((FAIL + 1)); }
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$REPO_ROOT"
+
+# ─── Section 1: Parse checks ───────────────────────────────────────
+echo "── Parse Checks ──"
+
+# 1a. Chapter validation (structure, numbering, headers)
+if python3 compile.py --validate 2>&1; then
+    pass "Chapter validation passed"
+else
+    fail "Chapter validation failed"
+fi
+
+# 1b. Build markdown combination
+if python3 build/build.py --md >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    pass "Markdown build passed"
+else
+    fail "Markdown build failed"
+fi
+
+# 1c. Verify compiled output exists and is non-empty
+if [ -s build/the-testament-full.md ]; then
+    WORDS=$(wc -w < build/the-testament-full.md | tr -d ' ')
+    if [ "$WORDS" -gt 10000 ]; then
+        pass "Compiled manuscript: $WORDS words"
+    else
+        fail "Compiled manuscript suspiciously short: $WORDS words"
+    fi
+else
+    fail "Compiled manuscript missing or empty"
+fi
+
+# 1d. Python syntax check on all .py files
+PY_OK=true
+for f in $(find . -name "*.py" -not -path "./.git/*"); do
+    if ! python3 -c "import ast; ast.parse(open('$f').read())" 2>/dev/null; then
+        fail "Python syntax error in $f"
+        PY_OK=false
+    fi
+done
+if $PY_OK; then
+    pass "All Python files parse cleanly"
+fi
+
+# 1e. YAML syntax check on workflow files
+YAML_OK=true
+for f in $(find .gitea -name "*.yml" -o -name "*.yaml" 2>/dev/null); do
+    if ! python3 -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('$f'))" 2>/dev/null; then
+        fail "YAML syntax error in $f"
+        YAML_OK=false
+    fi
+done
+if $YAML_OK; then
+    pass "All YAML files parse cleanly"
+fi
+
+# ─── Section 2: Secret scan ────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "── Secret Scan ──"
+
+# Patterns that should never appear in a book repo
+SECRET_PATTERNS=(
+    "sk-ant-"
+    "sk-or-"
+    "sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,}"
+    "ghp_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}"
+    "gho_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}"
+    "AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}"
+    "AKIA[A-Z0-9]{16}"
+    "xox[bpsa]-"
+    "SG\."
+    "-----BEGIN (RSA |EC |DSA |OPENSSH )?PRIVATE KEY"
+)
+
+FOUND_SECRETS=false
+for pattern in "${SECRET_PATTERNS[@]}"; do
+    # Search text files only, skip .git and binary files
+    HITS=$(grep -rn "$pattern"         --include="*.md" --include="*.py" --include="*.sh"         --include="*.yml" --include="*.yaml" --include="*.json"         --include="*.html" --include="*.js" --include="*.css"         --include="*.txt" --include="*.cfg" --include="*.ini"         --exclude-dir=.git         . 2>/dev/null | grep -v "scripts/smoke.sh" || true)
+    if [ -n "$HITS" ]; then
+        fail "Possible secret found: $pattern"
+        echo "$HITS" | head -5
+        FOUND_SECRETS=true
+    fi
+done
+if ! $FOUND_SECRETS; then
+    pass "No secrets detected"
+fi
+
+# ─── Summary ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Results: $PASS passed, $FAIL failed"
+
+if [ "$FAIL" -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo "SMOKE TEST FAILED"
+    exit 1
+else
+    echo "SMOKE TEST PASSED"
+    exit 0
+fi