--- a/bidsschematools/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/bidsschematools/tests/conftest.py
@@ -35,29 +35,38 @@ BIDS_ERROR_SELECTION = [
 def get_gitrepo_fixture(url, whitelist):
     @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
     def fixture():
-        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as path:
-            assert os.path.exists(path)
-            lgr.debug("Cloning %r into %r", url, path)
-            runout = run(
-                [
-                    "git",
-                    "clone",
-                    "--depth=1",
-                    "--filter=blob:none",
-                    "--sparse",
-                    url,
-                    path,
-                ],
-                capture_output=True,
-            )
-            if runout.returncode:
-                raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to clone {url} into {path}")
-            # cwd specification is VERY important, not only to achieve the correct
-            # effects, but also to avoid dropping files from your repository if you
-            # were to run `git sparse-checkout` inside the software repo.
-            _ = run(["git", "sparse-checkout", "init", "--cone"], cwd=path)
-            _ = run(["git", "sparse-checkout", "set"] + whitelist, cwd=path)
-            yield path
+        archive_name = url.rsplit("/",1)[-1]
+        testdata_archive = os.path.join(os.getcwd(),"testdata",archive_name)
+        if os.path.isdir(testdata_archive):
+            lgr.info("Found static testdata archive under `%s`. "
+                "Not downloading latest data from version control.", testdata_archive)
+            yield testdata_archive
+        else:
+            lgr.info("No static testdata available under `%s`. "
+                "Attempting to fetch live data from version control.", testdata_archive)
+            with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as path:
+                assert os.path.exists(path)
+                lgr.debug("Cloning %r into %r", url, path)
+                runout = run(
+                    [
+                        "git",
+                        "clone",
+                        "--depth=1",
+                        "--filter=blob:none",
+                        "--sparse",
+                        url,
+                        path,
+                    ],
+                    capture_output=True,
+                )
+                if runout.returncode:
+                    raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to clone {url} into {path}")
+                # cwd specification is VERY important, not only to achieve the correct
+                # effects, but also to avoid dropping files from your repository if you
+                # were to run `git sparse-checkout` inside the software repo.
+                _ = run(["git", "sparse-checkout", "init", "--cone"], cwd=path)
+                _ = run(["git", "sparse-checkout", "set"] + whitelist, cwd=path)
+                yield path

     return fixture


--- a/bidsschematools/tests/test_validator.py
+++ b/bidsschematools/tests/test_validator.py
@@ -377,7 +377,6 @@ def test_bids_datasets(bids_examples, tmp_path, dataset):
     result = validate_bids(
         target,
         schema_version=schema_path,
-        report_path=True,
     )
     # Have all files been validated?
     assert len(result["path_tracking"]) == 0
--- a/bidsschematools/validator.py
+++ b/bidsschematools/validator.py
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ def validate_all(

 def write_report(
     validation_result,
-    report_path="/var/tmp/bids-validator/report_{datetime}-{pid}.log",
+    report_path="~/.cache/bidsschematools/validator-report_{datetime}-{pid}.log",
     datetime_format="%Y%m%d%H%M%SZ",
 ):
     """Write a human-readable report based on the validation result.
@@ -481,8 +481,9 @@ def write_report(
         pid=os.getpid(),
     )
     report_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.expanduser(report_path))
+    report_dir = os.path.dirname(report_path)
     try:
-        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(report_path))
+        os.makedirs(report_dir)
     except OSError:
         pass