diff --git a/contrib/testnet/genconf.py b/contrib/testnet/genconf.py
index 715d32dce..370a28d0e 100755
--- a/contrib/testnet/genconf.py
+++ b/contrib/testnet/genconf.py
@@ -51,11 +51,11 @@ def main():
         }
         if args.netid:
             config['router']['netid'] = args.netid
-            
+
         if args.ip:
             config['router']['public-ip'] = args.ip
             config['router']['public-port'] = str(args.baseport + nodeid)
-            
+
         config['bind'] = {
             args.ifname: str(args.baseport + nodeid)
         }
diff --git a/contrib/testnet/readme.md b/contrib/testnet/readme.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cb95b3334
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/testnet/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+loopback testnet scripts
+
+requirements:
+
+* bash
+* python3
+* supervisord
+
+
+setup:
+
+make a testnet compatable lokinet build:
+
+    $ cmake -DWITH_TESTNET=ON -B build-testnet -S .
+    $ make -C build-testnet lokinet
+
+usage:
+
+from root of repo run:
+
+    $ ./contrib/testnet/testnet.sh build-testnet/daemon/lokinet 20 200
+    
+this will spin up 20 service nodes and 200 clients
diff --git a/contrib/testnet/testnet.sh b/contrib/testnet/testnet.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..86d55e832
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/testnet/testnet.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+for arg in "$1" "$2" "$3" ; do
+    test x = "x$arg" && echo "usage: $0 path/to/lokinet num_svc num_clients" && exit 1;
+done
+
+script_root=$(dirname $(readlink -e $0))
+testnet_dir=/tmp/lokinet-testnet
+
+mkdir -p $testnet_dir
+
+set -x
+
+$script_root/genconf.py --bin $1 --netid=testnet --out=$testnet_dir/testnet.ini --svc $2 --dir=$testnet_dir --clients $3 || exit 1
+supervisord -n -c $testnet_dir/testnet.ini