diff --git a/GRID/utils/grid_submit.sh b/GRID/utils/grid_submit.sh
index 7dddd5e80..b3d6372d2 100755
--- a/GRID/utils/grid_submit.sh
+++ b/GRID/utils/grid_submit.sh
@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ] ; do
         --prodsplit) PRODSPLIT=$2; shift 2 ;; # allows to set JDL production split level (useful to easily replicate workflows)
         --singularity) SINGULARITY=ON; shift 1 ;; # run everything inside singularity
         --wait) WAITFORALIEN=ON; shift 1 ;; #wait for alien jobs to finish
+        --wait-any) WAITFORALIENANY=ON; WAITFORALIEN=ON; shift 1 ;; #wait for any good==done alien jobs to return
         --outputspec) OUTPUTSPEC=$2; shift 2 ;; #provide comma separate list of JDL file specs to be put as part of JDL Output field (example '"*.log@disk=1","*.root@disk=2"')
 	-h) Usage ; exit ;;
         --help) Usage ; exit ;;
@@ -227,6 +228,7 @@ export JOBTTL
 export JOBLABEL
 export MATTERMOSTHOOK
 export CONTROLSERVER
+
 [[ $PRODSPLIT -gt 100 ]] && echo "Production split needs to be smaller than 100 for the moment" && exit 1
 
 # check for presence of jq (needed in code path to fetch output files)
@@ -270,9 +272,10 @@ pok "Set the job name by running $0 <scriptname> <jobname>"
 # Generate local workdir
 #
 if [[ "${ONGRID}" == "0" ]]; then
-  WORKDIR=${WORKDIR:-/tmp/alien_work/$(basename "$MY_JOBWORKDIR")}
-  [ ! -d "${WORKDIR}" ] && mkdir -p ${WORKDIR}
-  [ ! "${CONTINUE_WORKDIR}" ] && cp "${MY_JOBSCRIPT}" "${WORKDIR}/alien_jobscript.sh"
+  GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR=${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR:-/tmp/alien_work/$(basename "$MY_JOBWORKDIR")}
+  echo "WORKDIR FOR THIS JOB IS ${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}"
+  [ ! -d "${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}" ] && mkdir -p ${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}
+  [ ! "${CONTINUE_WORKDIR}" ] && cp "${MY_JOBSCRIPT}" "${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}/alien_jobscript.sh"
 fi
 
 # 
@@ -349,7 +352,7 @@ if [[ "${IS_ALIEN_JOB_SUBMITTER}" ]]; then
   cd "$(dirname "$0")"
   THIS_SCRIPT="$PWD/$(basename "$0")"
 
-  cd "${WORKDIR}"
+  cd "${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}"
 
   QUOT='"'
   # ---- Generate JDL ----------------
@@ -436,11 +439,18 @@ EOF
       continue
     fi
     let counter=0 # reset counter
-    JOBSTATUS=$(alien.py ps -j ${MY_JOBID} | awk '//{print $3}')
-    # echo -ne "Waiting for jobs to return; Last status ${JOBSTATUS}"
+
+    # this is the global job status (a D here means the production is done)
+    JOBSTATUS=$(alien.py ps -j ${MY_JOBID} | awk '//{print $3}') # this is the global job status
+    # in addition we may query individual splits
+    if [ "${WAITFORANY}" ]; then
+      if ALIENPY_JSON=true alien.py ps -a -m "${MY_JOBID}" | grep "status" | grep -q "DONE"; then
+        JOBSTATUS="D"  # a D here means == some job finished successfully
+      fi
+    fi
 
     if [ "${JOBSTATUS}" == "D" ]; then
-      echo "Job done"
+      echo "${WAITFORALIENANY:+At least one }Job(s) done"
       WAITFORALIEN=""  # guarantees to go out of outer while loop
 
       if [ "${FETCHOUTPUT}" ]; then
@@ -473,10 +483,6 @@ EOF
           done
       fi
     fi
-    if [[ "${FOO:0:1}" == [EK] ]]; then
-      echo "Job error occured"
-      exit 1
-    fi
   done
   # get the job data products locally if requested
 
@@ -490,7 +496,7 @@ if [[ ${SINGULARITY} ]]; then
   # if singularity was asked we restart this script within a container
   # it's actually much like the GRID mode --> which is why we set JALIEN_TOKEN_CERT
   set -x
-  cp $0 ${WORKDIR}
+  cp $0 ${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}
 
   # detect architecture (ARM or X86)
   ARCH=$(uname -i)
@@ -508,15 +514,15 @@ if [[ ${SINGULARITY} ]]; then
   APPTAINER_EXEC="/cvmfs/alice.cern.ch/containers/bin/apptainer/${ARCH}/current/bin/apptainer"
 
   # we can actually analyse the local JDL to find the package and set it up for the container
-  ${APPTAINER_EXEC} exec -C -B /cvmfs:/cvmfs,${WORKDIR}:/workdir --pwd /workdir -C ${CONTAINER} /workdir/grid_submit.sh \
+  ${APPTAINER_EXEC} exec -C -B /cvmfs:/cvmfs,${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}:/workdir --pwd /workdir -C ${CONTAINER} /workdir/grid_submit.sh \
   ${CONTINUE_WORKDIR:+"-c ${CONTINUE_WORKDIR}"} --local ${O2TAG:+--o2tag ${O2TAG}} --ttl ${JOBTTL} --label ${JOBLABEL:-label} ${MATTERMOSTHOOK:+--mattermost ${MATTERMOSTHOOK}} ${CONTROLSERVER:+--controlserver ${CONTROLSERVER}}
   set +x
   exit $?
 fi
 
 if [[ "${ONGRID}" == 0 ]]; then
-  banner "Executing job in directory ${WORKDIR}"
-  cd "${WORKDIR}" 2> /dev/null
+  banner "Executing job in directory ${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}"
+  cd "${GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR}" 2> /dev/null
 fi
 
 exec &> >(tee -a alien_log_${ALIEN_PROC_ID:-0}.txt)
diff --git a/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_anchor_2tag_template.sh b/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_anchor_2tag_template.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f97e7f233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_anchor_2tag_template.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#JDL_OUTPUT=*.txt@disk=1,AO2D.root@disk=2,*.log@disk=1,*stat*@disk=1,*.json@disk=1,debug*tgz@disk=2
+#JDL_ERROROUTPUT=*.txt@disk=1,AO2D.root@disk=2,*.log@disk=1,*.json@disk=1,debug*tgz@disk=2
+#JDL_PACKAGE=%{SOFTWARETAG_SIM}
+#JDL_REQUIRE=%{JDL_REQUIREMENT}
+
+#
+# A template anchoring script to test various anchoring setups
+# and software combinations
+#
+
+# only relevant if executed locally
+if [ ! ${O2_ROOT} ]; then
+  source <(/cvmfs/alice.cern.ch/bin/alienv printenv %{SOFTWARETAG_SIM})
+fi
+
+# meta configuration of the job (influences reco config)
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMPRODUCTIONTYPE=MC
+export ALIEN_JDL_CPULIMIT=8
+
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMANCHORPASSNAME=%{PASSNAME}
+export ALIEN_JDL_MCANCHOR=%{PASSNAME}
+export ALIEN_JDL_COLLISIONSYSTEM=%{COL_SYSTEM}
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMPASSNAME=%{PASSNAME}
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMRUNNUMBER=%{RUN_NUMBER}
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMANCHORRUN=%{RUN_NUMBER}
+
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMINTERACTIONTYPE=%{INTERACTIONTYPE}
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMPRODUCTIONTAG=%{PRODUCTION_TAG}
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMANCHORPRODUCTION=%{ANCHOR_PRODUCTION}
+export ALIEN_JDL_LPMANCHORYEAR=%{ANCHORYEAR}
+export ALIEN_JDL_O2DPG_ASYNC_RECO_TAG="%{SOFTWARETAG_ASYNC}"
+
+# get custom O2DPG for 2tag treatment (could be used to test different O2DPG branches)
+# git clone https://github.com/AliceO2Group/O2DPG O2DPG
+# export O2DPG_ROOT=${PWD}/O2DPG
+# export ALIEN_JDL_O2DPG_OVERWRITE=${PWD}/O2DPG
+
+# dimension the job
+export NTIMEFRAMES=1
+
+# further configuration of the job
+export ALIEN_JDL_ADDTIMESERIESINMC=0
+export DISABLE_QC=1
+export ALIEN_JDL_MC_ORBITS_PER_TF=10000:10000000:2 # puts just 2 orbit for large enough interaction rates
+export ALIEN_JDL_O2DPGWORKFLOWTARGET="aod"
+
+# select anchoring points
+export PRODSPLIT=${ALIEN_O2DPG_GRIDSUBMIT_PRODSPLIT:-100}
+export SPLITID=${ALIEN_O2DPG_GRIDSUBMIT_SUBJOBID:-50}
+export CYCLE=0
+
+# generator and other sim configuration
+export ALIEN_JDL_ANCHOR_SIM_OPTIONS="%{SIM_OPTIONS}"
+
+# execute MC
+# ${O2DPG_ROOT}/MC/run/ANCHOR/anchorMC.sh
diff --git a/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_anchor_cases.csv b/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_anchor_cases.csv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..490b7bba5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_anchor_cases.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# comment (no empty lines allowed)
+%{SOFTWARETAG_SIM},%{SOFTWARETAG_ASYNC},%{PASSNAME},%{COL_SYSTEM},%{RUN_NUMBER},%{INTERACTIONTYPE},%{ANCHOR_PRODUCTION},%{ANCHORYEAR},%{SIM_OPTIONS},%{PRODUCTION_TAG}
+#O2sim::v20250306-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-v1-01-08-slc9-alidist-async-v1-01-01-1,apass7,p-p,526641,pp,LHC25a9_Plus10,LHC22o,2022,-gen pythia8
+#O2sim::v20250305-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-v1-01-12-slc9-alidist-async-v1-01-01-1,apass1,p-p,551398,pp,LHC25a7_Plus10,LHC24ag,2024,-gen pythia8
+#O2sim::v20250305-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-v1-02-10-slc9-alidist-async-v1-02-01-1,apass1,Pb-Pb,559544,PbPb,LHC25c5b,LHC24ar,2024,-gen pythia8 -confKey 'SimCutParams.globalDensityFactor=0.9f'
+#O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2024-PbPb-apass1-v2-slc9-alidist-async-2024-PbPb-apass1-v2-1,apass1,Pb-Pb,559544,PbPb,LHC25c5b,LHC24ar,2024,-gen pythia8
+# 2022
+# O2PDPSuite::async-async-2022-pp-apass7-v1,apass7,    | 526641
+# 2023
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2023-PbPb-apass5-v5-slc9-alidist-async-2023-PbPb-apass5-v5-1,apass5,Pb-Pb,544091,PbPb,LHC23zzh,2023,-gen pythia8
+# 2024
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2024-pp-apass1-v7-slc9-alidist-async-2024-pp-apass1-v7-1,apass1,p-p,553185,pp,LHC24al,2024,-gen pythia8
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2024-ppRef-apass1-v1-slc9-alidist-async-2024-ppRef-apass1-v1-1,apass1,p-p,559348,pp,LHC24ap,2024,-gen pythia8
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2024-pbpb-apass2-v3-slc9-alidist-async-2024-pbpb-apass2-v3-1,apass2,Pb-Pb,559545,PbPb,LHC24ar,2024,-gen pythia8
+# 2025
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2025-pO-apass1-v2-slc9-alidist-async-2025-pO-apass1-v2-1,apass1,p-O,564251,pO,LHC25ad,2025,-gen pythia8
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2025-OO-apass1-v2-slc9-alidist-async-2025-OO-apass1-v2-1,apass1,O-O,564356,OO,LHC25ae,2025,-gen pythia8
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2025-NeNe-apass1-v2-slc9-alidist-async-2025-NeNe-apass1-v2-1,apass1,Ne-Ne,564468,NeNe,LHC25af,2025,-gen pythia8
+# apass2
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2025-pO-apass2-v1-slc9-alidist-async-2025-pO-apass2-v1-1,apass2,p-O,564251,pO,LHC25ad,2025,-gen pythia8
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2025-OO-apass2-v1-slc9-alidist-async-2025-OO-apass2-v1-1,apass2,O-O,564356,OO,LHC25ae,2025,-gen pythia8
+O2sim::v20250806-1,O2PDPSuite::async-async-2025-NeNe-apass2-v1-slc9-alidist-async-2025-NeNe-apass2-v1-1,apass2,Ne-Ne,564468,NeNe,LHC25af,2025,-gen pythia8
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_looper.sh b/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_looper.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7a243746b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MC/run/ANCHOR/tests/test_looper.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# loops over all test cases and executes them
+
+# Read the CSV file
+INPUT_FILE="test_anchor_cases.csv"
+TEMPLATE_FILE="test_anchor_2tag_template.sh"
+OUTPUT_FILE="test_anchor_generated"
+
+DAILYTAGTOTEST=${1:-O2sim::v20250804-1}
+
+SITES_FILE="test_GRID_sites.dat"
+
+WORKING_DIR="${PWD}/workdir_$(date +%s)_$RANDOM"
+echo "WORKING DIR ${WORKING_DIR}"
+mkdir -p ${WORKING_DIR}
+
+INPUT_FILE_STRIPPED=${WORKING_DIR}/${INPUT_FILE}_clean
+
+REQUIRE_STRING=""
+{
+  while read -r -a values; do
+    if [ ! "${REQUIRE_STRING}" == "" ]; then
+      REQUIRE_STRING="${REQUIRE_STRING} ||"
+    fi
+    REQUIRE_STRING="${REQUIRE_STRING} (other.CE == \"${values}\")"
+  done
+} < ${SITES_FILE}
+REQUIRE_STRING="(${REQUIRE_STRING});"
+
+echo "REQUIRE STRING ${REQUIRE_STRING}"
+
+# strip comments from CSV file
+grep -v '#' ${INPUT_FILE} > ${INPUT_FILE_STRIPPED}
+
+# Read the header line and convert it into variable names
+IFS=',' read -r -a headers < "$INPUT_FILE_STRIPPED"
+
+# Replace placeholders in the header (e.g., %{VAR} → VAR)
+for i in "${!headers[@]}"; do
+    headers[$i]=$(echo "${headers[$i]}" | sed -E 's/#?%\{//;s/\}//g')
+done
+
+# Read and process each subsequent line
+{
+    read  # Skip the header line
+
+    count=1  # Counter for output files
+    datestring=$(date +"%Y%m%d_%H%M%S")
+    while IFS=',' read -r -a values; do
+        # Assign each value to its corresponding variable
+        for i in "${!headers[@]}"; do
+            declare "${headers[$i]}"="${values[$i]}"
+        done
+
+        PRODUCTION_TAG="2tagtest_${datestring}_${count}"
+        # Example: Print assigned variables
+        echo "SOFTWARETAG_SIM: $SOFTWARETAG_SIM"
+        echo "SOFTWARETAG_ASYNC: $SOFTWARETAG_ASYNC"
+        echo "PASSNAME: $PASSNAME"
+        echo "COL_SYSTEM: $COL_SYSTEM"
+        echo "RUN_NUMBER: $RUN_NUMBER"
+        echo "INTERACTIONTYPE: $INTERACTIONTYPE"
+        echo "PRODUCTION_TAG: $PRODUCTION_TAG"
+        echo "ANCHOR_PRODUCTION: $ANCHOR_PRODUCTION"
+        echo "ANCHORYEAR: $ANCHORYEAR"
+        echo "SIM_OPTIONS: $SIM_OPTIONS"
+        echo "--------------------------------"
+
+        if [ "${DAILYTAGTOTEST}" ]; then
+          SOFTWARETAG_SIM=${DAILYTAGTOTEST}
+        fi
+
+        OUTPUT_FILE_FINAL="${WORKING_DIR}/${OUTPUT_FILE}_case${count}.sh"
+        
+        # create final test script with these values
+        cp "$TEMPLATE_FILE" "${OUTPUT_FILE_FINAL}"
+        for var in "${headers[@]}"; do
+            sed -i "s|%{$var}|${!var}|g" "$OUTPUT_FILE_FINAL"
+        done
+        # put the require spec
+        sed -i "s/%{JDL_REQUIREMENT}/${REQUIRE_STRING}/g" "$OUTPUT_FILE_FINAL"
+
+        # we submit the test to the GRID (multiplicity of 4)
+        # ${WORKING_DIR}/submit_case${count}_${SOFTWARETAG_ASYNC//::/-}
+        echo "${O2DPG_ROOT}/GRID/utils/grid_submit.sh --prodsplit 4 --singularity --ttl 3600 --script ${OUTPUT_FILE_FINAL} --jobname "anchorTest_${count}" --wait-any --topworkdir 2tag_release_testing_${SOFTWARETAG_SIM}" > ${WORKING_DIR}/submit_case${count}.sh
+        # TODO: optional local execution with --local option
+
+        ((count++))  # Increment counter for next row
+    done
+} < "${INPUT_FILE_STRIPPED}" #Redirect file input here to avoid subshell issues
+
+cd ${WORKING_DIR}
+
+# now we submit all the jobs in the background and wait for them to return
+for s in `ls submit*.sh`; do
+  echo "submitting ${s}"
+  export GRID_SUBMIT_WORKDIR="${WORKING_DIR}/${s}_workdir"
+  (
+    bash ${s} &> log_${s}
+    echo "Job ${s} returned"
+  ) &
+done
+
+# for for all (GRID) jobs to return
+echo "Waiting for jobs to return/finish"
+wait
+
+# verify / validate the output produced from these jobs
+# The test is successfull if at least one subjob from each test
+# produced the AO2D output.
+echo "-- Jobs done ... validating --"
+
+FINAL_SUCCESS=0
+for s in `ls submit*.sh`; do
+  # find output path
+  TEST_OUTPUT_PATH="${WORKING_DIR}/${s}_workdir"   # $(grep "Local working directory is" log_${s} | awk '//{print $5}')
+
+  # get the Output path on JAlien from the JDL
+  ALIEN_OUTPUT_FOLDER=$(grep 'OutputDir' ${TEST_OUTPUT_PATH}/*.jdl | cut -d'"' -f2 | sed 's|/[^/]*#.*#.*$||')
+
+  # see if there is an AO2D.root and a workflow.json in one of the jobs in that folder
+  AODS_FOUND=$(alien.py find ${ALIEN_OUTPUT_FOLDER} AO2D.root)
+  WORKFLOWS_FOUND=$(alien.py find ${ALIEN_OUTPUT_FOLDER} workflow.json)
+
+  if [[ -z ${WORKFLOWS_FOUND} || -z ${AODS_FOUND} ]]; then
+    echo "❌ Missing files for case $s"
+    FINAL_SUCCESS=1  # mark as failure
+  else
+    echo "✅ Files found in $s"
+  fi
+done
+
+if [[ ${FINAL_SUCCESS} -eq 0 ]]; then
+  echo "✅ All submissions have required files."
+else
+  echo "❌ Some submissions are missing required files."
+fi
+
+#TODO: echo "-- Cleaning up ... "
+cd ..
+
+exit ${FINAL_SUCCESS}
\ No newline at end of file