diff --git a/tasks/mock-github b/tasks/mock-github
index 9759968e..1391a512 100755
--- a/tasks/mock-github
+++ b/tasks/mock-github
@@ -19,10 +19,15 @@ from task.test_mock_server import MockHandler, MockServer
 
 repo = None
 sha = None
+log = None
 
 
 class Handler(MockHandler):
     def do_GET(self):
+        if log is not None:
+            print("GET", self.path, file=log)
+            log.flush()
+
         if self.path in self.server.data:
             self.replyJson(self.server.data[self.path])
         elif self.path.startswith(f'/repos/{repo}/pulls?'):
@@ -39,6 +44,10 @@ class Handler(MockHandler):
             self.send_error(404, 'Mock Not Found: ' + self.path)
 
     def do_POST(self):
+        if log is not None:
+            print("POST", self.path, self.rfile.read1().decode(), file=log)
+            log.flush()
+
         if self.path.startswith(f'/repos/{repo}/statuses/{sha}'):
             self.replyJson({})
         # new SHA from mock-pushed PR #2 for image-refresh
@@ -63,6 +72,7 @@ argparser.add_argument('--print-pr-event', action='store_true',
                        help="Print GitHub webhook pull_request event and exit")
 argparser.add_argument('--print-image-refresh-event', action='store_true',
                        help="Print GitHub webhook issue event for an image-refresh and exit")
+argparser.add_argument('--log', metavar="PATH", help="Log requests to this file")
 argparser.add_argument('repo', metavar='USER/PROJECT', help="GitHub user/org and project name")
 argparser.add_argument('sha', help="SHA to test in repo for the mock PR")
 args = argparser.parse_args()
@@ -125,6 +135,8 @@ if args.print_image_refresh_event:
     }, indent=4))
     exit(0)
 
+if args.log:
+    log = open(args.log, 'w')
 temp = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
 cache_dir = os.path.join(temp.name, 'cache')
 os.environ['XDG_CACHE_HOME'] = cache_dir
diff --git a/tasks/run-local.sh b/tasks/run-local.sh
index 26a4c04a..16666fc5 100755
--- a/tasks/run-local.sh
+++ b/tasks/run-local.sh
@@ -301,19 +301,21 @@ test_image() {
 test_mock_pr() {
     podman cp "$MYDIR/mock-github" cockpituous-tasks:/work/bots/mock-github
     create_job_runner_config mock
+
+    # test mock PR against our checkout, so that cloning will work
+    SHA=$(podman exec -i cockpituous-tasks git -C bots rev-parse HEAD)
+
     podman exec -i cockpituous-tasks sh -euxc "
         cd bots
-        # test mock PR against our checkout, so that cloning will work
-        SHA=\$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 
         # start mock GH server
-        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github cockpit-project/bots \$SHA &
+        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github --log /tmp/mock.log cockpit-project/bots $SHA &
         GH_MOCK_PID=\$!
         export GITHUB_API=$GHAPI_URL_POD
         until curl --silent --fail \$GITHUB_API/repos/cockpit-project/bots; do sleep 0.1; done
 
         # simulate GitHub webhook event, put that into the webhook queue
-        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github --print-pr-event cockpit-project/bots \$SHA | \
+        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github --print-pr-event cockpit-project/bots $SHA | \
             ./publish-queue --amqp $AMQP_POD --create --queue webhook
 
         ./inspect-queue --amqp $AMQP_POD
@@ -337,6 +339,13 @@ test_mock_pr() {
     echo "--------------- mock PR test log end -------------"
     assert_in 'Test run finished, return code: 0\|Job ran successfully' "$LOG"
     assert_in 'Running on:.*cockpituous' "$LOG"
+
+    # 3 status updates posted
+    # FIXME: assert JSON more precisely once we rewrite in Python
+    GH_MOCK_LOG="$(podman  exec cockpituous-tasks cat /tmp/mock.log)"
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/$SHA .*description.*Not yet tested" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/$SHA .*description.*In progress \\[cockpituous\\]" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/$SHA .*state.*success" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
 }
 
 test_pr() {
@@ -400,19 +409,19 @@ test_mock_image_refresh() {
     podman cp "$MYDIR/mock-git-push" cockpituous-tasks:/usr/local/bin/git
     create_job_runner_config mock
 
+    # test mock PR against our checkout, so that cloning will work
+    SHA=$(podman exec -i cockpituous-tasks git -C bots rev-parse HEAD)
+
     podman exec -i cockpituous-tasks sh -euxc "
         cd bots
-        # test mock PR against our checkout, so that cloning will work
-        SHA=\$(git rev-parse HEAD)
-
         # start mock GH server
-        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github cockpit-project/bots \$SHA &
+        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github --log /tmp/mock.log cockpit-project/bots $SHA &
         GH_MOCK_PID=\$!
         export GITHUB_API=$GHAPI_URL_POD
         until curl --silent --fail \$GITHUB_API/repos/cockpit-project/bots; do sleep 0.1; done
 
         # simulate GitHub webhook event, put that into the webhook queue
-        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github --print-image-refresh-event cockpit-project/bots \$SHA | \
+        PYTHONPATH=. ./mock-github --print-image-refresh-event cockpit-project/bots $SHA | \
             ./publish-queue --amqp $AMQP_POD --create --queue webhook
 
         ./inspect-queue --amqp $AMQP_POD
@@ -460,6 +469,20 @@ test_mock_image_refresh() {
         grep "^fakeimage" /tmp/foonux.raw
         rm /tmp/foonux.raw
     '
+
+    # status updates posted to original bots SHA on which the image got triggered
+    # FIXME: assert JSON more precisely once we rewrite in Python (unpredictable JSON order)
+    GH_MOCK_LOG="$(podman  exec cockpituous-tasks cat /tmp/mock.log)"
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/$SHA .*image-refresh/foonux" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/$SHA .*In progress \\[cockpituous\\]" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/$SHA .*success" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+
+    # and forwarded to the converted PR (new SHA)
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/statuses/a1b2c3 .*success.*Forwarded status.*target_url" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+
+    # posts new comment with log
+    assert_in "POST /repos/cockpit-project/bots/issues/2/comments .*Success. Log: https.*" "$GH_MOCK_LOG"
+
 }
 
 test_queue() {