diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f78322
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+shellcheck:
+ifeq ($(shell shellcheck > /dev/null 2>&1 ; echo $$?),127)
+ifeq ($(shell uname),Darwin)
+		brew install shellcheck
+else
+		sudo add-apt-repository 'deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse'
+		sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y shellcheck
+endif
+endif
+
+bats:
+	git clone https://github.com/sstephenson/bats.git /tmp/bats
+	cd /tmp/bats && sudo ./install.sh /usr/local
+	rm -rf /tmp/bats
+
+ci-dependencies: shellcheck bats
+
+lint:
+	# these are disabled due to their expansive existence in the codebase. we should clean it up though
+	# SC2046: Quote this to prevent word splitting. - https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2046
+	# SC2086: Double quote to prevent globbing and word splitting - https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2086
+	# SC2068: Double quote array expansions, otherwise they're like $* and break on spaces. - https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2068
+	@echo linting...
+	@$(QUIET) find . -not -path '*/\.*' | xargs file | egrep "shell|bash" | awk '{ print $$1 }' | sed 's/://g' | xargs shellcheck -e SC2046,SC2086,SC2068
+
+unit-tests:
+	@echo running unit tests...
+	@$(QUIET) bats tests/unit
+
+test: ci-dependencies lint unit-tests
diff --git a/tests/unit/service.bats b/tests/unit/service.bats
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..671cca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/service.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+export SERVICE=redis
+
+flunk() {
+  { if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then cat -
+    else echo "$*"
+    fi
+  }
+  return 1
+}
+
+assert_success() {
+  if [ "$status" -ne 0 ]; then
+    flunk "command failed with exit status $status"
+  elif [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; then
+    assert_output "$1"
+  fi
+}
+
+assert_equal() {
+  if [ "$1" != "$2" ]; then
+    { echo "expected: $1"
+      echo "actual:   $2"
+    } | flunk
+  fi
+}
+
+assert_output() {
+  local expected
+  if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then expected="$(cat -)"
+  else expected="$1"
+  fi
+  assert_equal "$expected" "$output"
+}
+
+@test "(service) dokku" {
+  dokku $SERVICE:create l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku $SERVICE:info l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku $SERVICE:stop l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku $SERVICE:stop l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku $SERVICE:expose l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku $SERVICE:restart l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku $SERVICE:info l
+  assert_success
+
+  dokku --force $SERVICE:destroy l
+  assert_success
+}