diff --git a/tests/lint/git-black.sh b/tests/lint/git-black.sh
index 48029a43a5b0..647aba9540f8 100755
--- a/tests/lint/git-black.sh
+++ b/tests/lint/git-black.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # under the License.
 set -euo pipefail
 
-INPLACE_FORMAT=false
+INPLACE_FORMAT=${INPLACE_FORMAT:=false}
 LINT_ALL_FILES=true
 REVISION=
 
diff --git a/tests/lint/git-clang-format.sh b/tests/lint/git-clang-format.sh
index c75eb754a676..a9788437b3b2 100755
--- a/tests/lint/git-clang-format.sh
+++ b/tests/lint/git-clang-format.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ set -u
 set -o pipefail
 
 
-INPLACE_FORMAT=false
+INPLACE_FORMAT=${INPLACE_FORMAT:=false}
 LINT_ALL_FILES=true
-REVISION=
+REVISION=$(git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD)
 
 while (( $# )); do
     case "$1" in
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ while (( $# )); do
     esac
 done
 
+
 cleanup()
 {
   rm -rf /tmp/$$.clang-format.txt
@@ -78,8 +79,7 @@ fi
 if [[ "$LINT_ALL_FILES" == "true" ]]; then
     echo "Running git-clang-format against all C++ files"
     FILES=$(git ls-files | grep -E '\.(c|cc|cpp|mm|h|hpp)$')
-    BASE_COMMIT=$(git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD)
-    git-${CLANG_FORMAT} --diff --extensions h,mm,c,cc --binary=${CLANG_FORMAT} "$BASE_COMMIT" ${FILES[@]} 1> /tmp/$$.clang-format.txt
+    git-${CLANG_FORMAT} --diff --extensions h,mm,c,cc --binary=${CLANG_FORMAT} "$REVISION" ${FILES[@]} 1> /tmp/$$.clang-format.txt
 else
     echo "Running git-clang-format against $REVISION"
     git-${CLANG_FORMAT} --diff --extensions h,mm,c,cc --binary=${CLANG_FORMAT} "$REVISION" 1> /tmp/$$.clang-format.txt
diff --git a/tests/scripts/ci.py b/tests/scripts/ci.py
index 5f2034b190ee..c0ce085ff215 100755
--- a/tests/scripts/ci.py
+++ b/tests/scripts/ci.py
@@ -319,18 +319,24 @@ def serve_docs(directory: str = "_docs") -> None:
     cmd([sys.executable, "-m", "http.server"], cwd=directory_path)
 
 
-def lint(interactive: bool = False) -> None:
+def lint(interactive: bool = False, fix: bool = False) -> None:
     """
     Run CI's Sanity Check step
 
     arguments:
     interactive -- start a shell after running build / test scripts
+    fix -- where possible (currently black and clang-format) edit files in place with formatting fixes
     """
+    env = {}
+    if fix:
+        env["IS_LOCAL"] = "true"
+        env["INPLACE_FORMAT"] = "true"
+
     docker(
         name=gen_name(f"ci-lint"),
         image="ci_lint",
         scripts=["./tests/scripts/task_lint.sh"],
-        env={},
+        env=env,
         interactive=interactive,
     )
 
diff --git a/tests/scripts/task_lint.sh b/tests/scripts/task_lint.sh
index c0f1311dbb06..11ba773fbf31 100755
--- a/tests/scripts/task_lint.sh
+++ b/tests/scripts/task_lint.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ echo "Linting the C++ code..."
 tests/lint/cpplint.sh
 
 echo "clang-format check..."
-./tests/lint/git-clang-format.sh
+tests/lint/git-clang-format.sh
 
 echo "Rust check..."
 tests/lint/rust_format.sh