diff --git a/go/catalogue/catalogue_check_test.go b/go/catalogue/catalogue_check_test.go
index a0d13fd..ffc7cf8 100644
--- a/go/catalogue/catalogue_check_test.go
+++ b/go/catalogue/catalogue_check_test.go
@@ -22,16 +22,12 @@ func catalogueRoot(t *testing.T) string {
 }
 
 func TestEveryCatalogueManifestParses(t *testing.T) {
-	root := catalogueRoot(t)
-	found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
-	if err != nil || len(found) == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
-	}
+	_, found := catalogueManifests(t)
 	named, routed := 0, 0
-	for _, p := range found {
-		m, err := ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(p))
+	for _, r := range found {
+		m, err := r.manifest, r.err
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("%s: %v", filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(p)), err)
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(r.path)), err)
 			continue
 		}
 		for _, l := range m.Listens {
@@ -54,16 +50,12 @@ func TestEveryCatalogueManifestParses(t *testing.T) {
 // definition names a domain or a public address the mesh acts on, and every value that must for now
 // carries its reason (novox/hq ADR 0155, issue 134). The list it prints is the one that shrinks.
 func TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAnInstallation(t *testing.T) {
-	root := catalogueRoot(t)
-	found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
-	if err != nil || len(found) == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
-	}
+	_, found := catalogueManifests(t)
 	var named []string
-	for _, p := range found {
-		m, err := ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(p))
+	for _, r := range found {
+		m, err := r.manifest, r.err
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("%s: %v", p, err)
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", r.path, err)
 			continue
 		}
 		named = append(named, InstallationProblems(m)...)
@@ -78,15 +70,11 @@ func TestNoCatalogueManifestNamesAnInstallation(t *testing.T) {
 // backup line by hand, every directory a container writes is declared, and every irreplaceable item is
 // backed up — so a store added is a store backed up, without a list of stores to keep in step.
 func TestEveryCatalogueModuleDeclaresItsData(t *testing.T) {
-	root := catalogueRoot(t)
-	found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
-	if err != nil || len(found) == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
-	}
+	_, found := catalogueManifests(t)
 	shelf := Shelf{}
 	granting := 0
-	for _, p := range found {
-		m, err := ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(p))
+	for _, r := range found {
+		m, err := r.manifest, r.err
 		if err != nil {
 			continue // TestEveryCatalogueManifestParses says why
 		}
@@ -108,16 +96,12 @@ func TestEveryCatalogueModuleDeclaresItsData(t *testing.T) {
 // overflow fails here, in the pull request that introduces it, rather than on the provider's machine
 // the first time a real machine's name meets the module's (issue 263).
 func TestEveryCatalogueIdentityFitsWhatItRequires(t *testing.T) {
-	root := catalogueRoot(t)
-	found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
-	if err != nil || len(found) == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s: %v", root, err)
-	}
+	_, found := catalogueManifests(t)
 	shelf := Shelf{}
-	for _, p := range found {
-		m, err := ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(p))
+	for _, r := range found {
+		m, err := r.manifest, r.err
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", p, err)
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", r.path, err)
 		}
 		shelf[m.Module] = m
 	}
diff --git a/go/catalogue/catalogue_read_test.go b/go/catalogue/catalogue_read_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50ca38a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go/catalogue/catalogue_read_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// readManifest is one manifest of the catalogue as ReadTreeManifest read it.
+type readManifest struct {
+	path     string // the module.json
+	manifest Manifest
+	err      error
+}
+
+var (
+	readOnce sync.Once
+	readAll  []readManifest
+	readRoot string
+)
+
+// catalogueManifests is every manifest of the catalogue (catalogueRoot), read through ReadTreeManifest once
+// per test binary and not once per test: the checks over the real catalogue each read and parsed every
+// manifest again, and together took 1.5 s of mesh-sdk's unit bound of 2 s (issue 1756). What it returns is
+// shared and read-only: a test that changes a manifest copies it first.
+func catalogueManifests(t *testing.T) (string, []readManifest) {
+	t.Helper()
+	root := catalogueRoot(t)
+	readOnce.Do(func() {
+		readRoot = root
+		found, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(root, "modules", "*", "module.json"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+		for _, p := range found {
+			m, err := ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(p))
+			readAll = append(readAll, readManifest{path: p, manifest: m, err: err})
+		}
+	})
+	if len(readAll) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("no manifests under %s", root)
+	}
+	return readRoot, readAll
+}
diff --git a/go/catalogue/mounts_test.go b/go/catalogue/mounts_test.go
index d13c6dc..1e0a3df 100644
--- a/go/catalogue/mounts_test.go
+++ b/go/catalogue/mounts_test.go
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
-
-	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/internal/beside"
 )
 
 // A bind mount the module never declared is refused where it is written (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/026,
@@ -71,14 +69,10 @@ func TestTheRuntimeSocketIsGrantedByTheCapabilityAndNotOtherwise(t *testing.T) {
 // **Every manifest in the catalogue (internal/beside) passes**, so the rule is not one the catalogue
 // is already breaking.
 func TestEveryCatalogueManifestDeclaresWhatItMounts(t *testing.T) {
-	files, _ := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(beside.Catalogue(t), "*", "module.json"))
-	if len(files) == 0 {
-		t.Fatal("no manifests in the catalogue, so this proved nothing")
-	}
-	root := beside.Dir(t, "mesh-catalog") // once: it copies the captured tree
-	for _, file := range files {
-		if _, err := ReadTreeManifest(root, filepath.Dir(file)); err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("%s: %v", filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(file)), err)
+	_, files := catalogueManifests(t)
+	for _, f := range files {
+		if f.err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %v", filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(f.path)), f.err)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/go/forgekey/runner_test.go b/go/forgekey/runner_test.go
index 9c26b65..13f3669 100644
--- a/go/forgekey/runner_test.go
+++ b/go/forgekey/runner_test.go
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+//go:build integration
+
 package forgekey
 
 import (