diff --git a/contrib/scaffolder/README.md b/contrib/scaffolder/README.md
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/contrib/scaffolder/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Scaffolder contrib tools
+
+## Testing Templates with Dry-run
+
+Scaffolder templates support anything that backstage.io and custom actions can do, so testing them is hard without actually running the instance of Backstage that they're designed for.
+
+Please leave [feedback on the RFC](https://github.com/backstage/backstage/issues/14280) on your experience with this approach.
+
+The [command line script](template-testing-dry-run.md) might offer a way for you to do so using the dry-run API used for the Template Editor. Run it against a running instance, either locally or remote, and use it like
+
+```sh
+scaffolder-dry http://localhost:7007/ template-directory values.yml output-directory
+```
+
+If you're using backend permissions, pass a front-end auth token from a current browser session via `--token $FRONTEND_TOKEN`.
diff --git a/contrib/scaffolder/template-testing-dry-run.md b/contrib/scaffolder/template-testing-dry-run.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..70e0c572ab
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+++ b/contrib/scaffolder/template-testing-dry-run.md
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+```js
+/*
+ * Copyright 2022 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * A CLI that helps you test Backstage software templates
+ *
+ * @packageDocumentation
+ */
+
+import { dirname, join, relative } from 'node:path';
+import { readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { gzipSync } from 'node:zlib';
+import { ensureDir } from 'fs-extra';
+import { program } from 'commander';
+import fetch from 'node-fetch';
+import ora from 'ora';
+import readdir from 'recursive-readdir';
+import { parse } from 'yaml';
+import { version } from '../../../package.json';
+import type { ScaffolderDryRunResponse } from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder';
+
+const loadDirectoryContents = async (template_path: string) => {
+  const spinner = ora('Loading template').start();
+  const files = await await readdir(template_path, ['.git']);
+  const contents = await Promise.all(
+    files.map(async p => {
+      return {
+        path: relative(template_path, p),
+        base64Content: (await readFile(p)).toString('base64'),
+      };
+    }),
+  );
+  spinner.succeed();
+  return contents;
+};
+
+const writeResultContents = async (
+  root: string,
+  directoryContents: ScaffolderDryRunResponse['directoryContents'],
+) => {
+  const directories = new Set(
+    directoryContents.map(({ path }) => dirname(join(root, path))),
+  );
+  await Promise.all(Array.from(directories).map(d => ensureDir(d)));
+  await Promise.all(
+    directoryContents.map(async ({ path, base64Content, executable }) =>
+      writeFile(join(root, path), Buffer.from(base64Content, 'base64'), {
+        mode: executable ? 0o755 : 0o644,
+      }),
+    ),
+  );
+};
+
+const api = async (
+  bodyObj: Record<string, any>,
+  { baseURL, token }: { baseURL: string; token: string | false },
+) => {
+  const body = gzipSync(JSON.stringify(bodyObj));
+  return fetch(new URL('/api/scaffolder/v2/dry-run', baseURL), {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: {
+      Authorization: `Bearer ${token || ''}`,
+      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+      'Content-Encoding': 'gzip',
+    },
+    body,
+  });
+};
+
+const handle = async (
+  baseURL: string,
+  template_path: string,
+  data: string,
+  target: string,
+  { token }: { token: string | false },
+) => {
+  const directoryContents = await loadDirectoryContents(template_path);
+  const values = parse(await readFile(data, 'utf-8'));
+  const secrets = {};
+  const template = parse(
+    await readFile(`${template_path}/template.yaml`, 'utf-8'),
+  );
+  const response = await api(
+    {
+      directoryContents,
+      values,
+      secrets,
+      template,
+    },
+    { baseURL, token },
+  );
+  if (!response.ok) {
+    const contentType = response.headers.get('content-type');
+    if (contentType?.startsWith('application/json')) {
+      const responseData = await response.json();
+      if (responseData.error) {
+        throw responseData.error;
+      }
+      if (responseData.errors) {
+        throw responseData.errors;
+      }
+      throw responseData;
+    }
+    throw await response.text();
+  }
+  const { log, directoryContents: resultContents } =
+    (await response.json()) as ScaffolderDryRunResponse;
+  for (const logEntry of log) {
+    console.log(logEntry.body.message);
+  }
+  await writeResultContents(target, resultContents);
+};
+
+const main = async (argv: string[]) => {
+  program
+    .name('backstage-scaffolder')
+    .version(version)
+    .description('Creates a dry-run output of a given template')
+    .option('-t, --token <value>', 'JWT to use for auth')
+    .argument('url', 'URL of your Backstage instance')
+    .argument('template-path', 'Source directory of template')
+    .argument('data-path', 'YAML file with input to render')
+    .argument('target', 'Output directory')
+    .action(handle);
+
+  await program.parseAsync(argv);
+  process.exit();
+};
+
+process.on('unhandledRejection', rejection => {
+  console.error(rejection);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
+
+main(process.argv);
+```