diff --git a/acceptance/acceptance_test.go b/acceptance/acceptance_test.go
index e293388dc6..060cf1cae5 100644
--- a/acceptance/acceptance_test.go
+++ b/acceptance/acceptance_test.go
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ var (
 	UseVersion      string
 	WorkspaceTmpDir bool
 	OnlyOutTestToml bool
+	Subset          bool
 )
 
 // In order to debug CLI running under acceptance test, search for TestInprocessMode and update
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ func init() {
 	// to simulate an identical environment.
 	flag.BoolVar(&WorkspaceTmpDir, "workspace-tmp-dir", false, "Run tests on the workspace file system (For DBR testing).")
 	flag.BoolVar(&OnlyOutTestToml, "only-out-test-toml", false, "Only regenerate out.test.toml files without running tests")
+	flag.BoolVar(&Subset, "subset", false, "Select a subset of EnvMatrix variants that cover all output files. Auto-enabled on -update.")
 }
 
 const (
@@ -156,7 +158,32 @@ func setReplsForTestEnvVars(t *testing.T, repls *testdiff.ReplacementsContext) {
 	}
 }
 
+// helperScriptUsesEngineCache caches whether a _script helper in a given directory
+// (or any of its ancestors) references $DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE.
+// Since _script helpers are shared across many tests, caching avoids redundant reads.
+var helperScriptUsesEngineCache sync.Map
+
+// anyHelperScriptUsesEngine returns true if any _script helper in dir or its ancestors
+// contains $DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE.
+func anyHelperScriptUsesEngine(dir string) bool {
+	if dir == "" || dir == "." {
+		return false
+	}
+	if v, ok := helperScriptUsesEngineCache.Load(dir); ok {
+		return v.(bool)
+	}
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "_script"))
+	result := (err == nil && strings.Contains(string(content), "$DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE")) ||
+		anyHelperScriptUsesEngine(filepath.Dir(dir))
+	helperScriptUsesEngineCache.Store(dir, result)
+	return result
+}
+
 func testAccept(t *testing.T, inprocessMode bool, singleTest string) int {
+	if testdiff.OverwriteMode {
+		Subset = true
+	}
+
 	repls := testdiff.ReplacementsContext{}
 	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -366,6 +393,12 @@ func testAccept(t *testing.T, inprocessMode bool, singleTest string) int {
 			}
 
 			expanded := internal.ExpandEnvMatrix(config.EnvMatrix, config.EnvMatrixExclude, extraVars)
+			if Subset {
+				scriptContent, _ := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, EntryPointScript))
+				scriptUsesEngine := strings.Contains(string(scriptContent), "$DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE") ||
+					anyHelperScriptUsesEngine(dir)
+				expanded = internal.SubsetExpanded(expanded, dir, scriptUsesEngine)
+			}
 
 			for ind, envset := range expanded {
 				envname := strings.Join(envset, "/")
diff --git a/acceptance/internal/config.go b/acceptance/internal/config.go
index 23981e7093..e14bddae68 100644
--- a/acceptance/internal/config.go
+++ b/acceptance/internal/config.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package internal
 
 import (
+	"hash/fnv"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
@@ -427,17 +428,66 @@ func filterExcludedEnvSets(envSets [][]string, exclude map[string][]string) [][]
 	return filtered
 }
 
+// SubsetExpanded selects one variant per DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE value (if scriptUsesEngine)
+// or one variant total from an already-expanded and exclusion-filtered list.
+// DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct has weight 10; all other variants have weight 1.
+func SubsetExpanded(expanded [][]string, testDir string, scriptUsesEngine bool) [][]string {
+	if len(expanded) <= 1 {
+		return expanded
+	}
+	if scriptUsesEngine {
+		// Collect candidates per engine key, preserving first-seen order.
+		// keyToIdx maps engine value -> index in result/groups slices.
+		var result [][]string
+		var groups [][][]string
+		keyToIdx := make(map[string]int)
+		for _, envset := range expanded {
+			engine := ""
+			for _, kv := range envset {
+				if v, ok := strings.CutPrefix(kv, "DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE="); ok {
+					engine = v
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			idx, ok := keyToIdx[engine]
+			if !ok {
+				idx = len(result)
+				keyToIdx[engine] = idx
+				result = append(result, nil)
+				groups = append(groups, nil)
+			}
+			groups[idx] = append(groups[idx], envset)
+		}
+		for i, group := range groups {
+			result[i] = weightedSelect(group, testDir)
+		}
+		return result
+	}
+	return [][]string{weightedSelect(expanded, testDir)}
+}
+
+// weightedSelect picks one envset using weighted consistent hashing.
+// DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct has weight 10; all other envsets have weight 1.
+func weightedSelect(envsets [][]string, testDir string) []string {
+	var weighted [][]string
+	for _, envset := range envsets {
+		weight := 1
+		if slices.Contains(envset, "DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct") {
+			weight = 10
+		}
+		for range weight {
+			weighted = append(weighted, envset)
+		}
+	}
+	h := fnv.New64a()
+	h.Write([]byte(testDir))
+	return weighted[h.Sum64()%uint64(len(weighted))]
+}
+
 // matchesExclusionRule returns true if envSet contains all KEY=value pairs from excludeRule.
 func matchesExclusionRule(envSet, excludeRule []string) bool {
 	for _, excludePair := range excludeRule {
-		found := false
-		for _, envPair := range envSet {
-			if envPair == excludePair {
-				found = true
-				break
-			}
-		}
-		if !found {
+		if !slices.Contains(envSet, excludePair) {
 			return false
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/acceptance/internal/config_test.go b/acceptance/internal/config_test.go
index d21c4bcb6c..a81345ed57 100644
--- a/acceptance/internal/config_test.go
+++ b/acceptance/internal/config_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package internal
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -201,6 +203,45 @@ func TestExpandEnvMatrix(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSubsetExpanded_DirectBias(t *testing.T) {
+	// Across many test dirs, DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct should be selected ~10/11 of the time.
+	expanded := [][]string{
+		{"DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=terraform"},
+		{"DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct"},
+	}
+	directCount := 0
+	total := 1000
+	for i := range total {
+		r := SubsetExpanded(expanded, fmt.Sprintf("test/dir%d", i), false)
+		if r[0][0] == "DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct" {
+			directCount++
+		}
+	}
+	ratio := float64(directCount) / float64(total)
+	assert.InDelta(t, float64(10)/11, ratio, 0.05, "expected ~10/11 direct, got %.1f%%", ratio*100)
+}
+
+func TestSubsetExpanded_ScriptUsesEngine(t *testing.T) {
+	// When script uses $DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE, one combo per engine value is returned.
+	expanded := [][]string{
+		{"DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=terraform", "READPLAN="},
+		{"DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct", "READPLAN="},
+		{"DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct", "READPLAN=1"},
+	}
+	result := SubsetExpanded(expanded, "test/dir", true)
+	require.Len(t, result, 2)
+	engines := make(map[string]bool)
+	for _, envset := range result {
+		for _, kv := range envset {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(kv, "DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=") {
+				engines[kv] = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	assert.True(t, engines["DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=terraform"])
+	assert.True(t, engines["DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE=direct"])
+}
+
 func TestLoadConfigPhaseIsNotInherited(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name       string
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/_script b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/_script
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0836732d6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/_script
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+echo "engine=$DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE" > "out.$DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE.txt"
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.direct.txt b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.direct.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..163862caec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.direct.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+engine=direct
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.terraform.txt b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.terraform.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2618d93f70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.terraform.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+engine=terraform
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.test.toml b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.test.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d560f1de04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/out.test.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Local = true
+Cloud = false
+
+[EnvMatrix]
+  DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE = ["terraform", "direct"]
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/output.txt b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/output.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/script b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/script
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3c2588f2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/script
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# This script does not directly reference $DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE.
+# Engine detection happens via the ancestor _script helper,
+# exercising the anyHelperScriptUsesEngine() path in subset selection.
+source "$TESTDIR/../_script"
diff --git a/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/test.toml b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/test.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9b64b4605a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/selftest/subset_ancestor_engine/child/test.toml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+EnvVaryOutput = "DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE"