diff --git a/surfsense_backend/pyproject.toml b/surfsense_backend/pyproject.toml
index 7f52d4881..af3abc457 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/pyproject.toml
+++ b/surfsense_backend/pyproject.toml
@@ -70,6 +70,21 @@ dependencies = [
 [dependency-groups]
 dev = [
     "ruff>=0.12.5",
+    "pytest>=8.0",
+    "pytest-asyncio>=0.25",
+    "pytest-mock>=3.14",
+]
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+asyncio_mode = "auto"
+asyncio_default_fixture_loop_scope = "session"
+testpaths = ["tests"]
+markers = [
+    "unit: pure logic tests, no DB or external services",
+    "integration: tests that require a real PostgreSQL database",
+]
+filterwarnings = [
+    "ignore::UserWarning:chonkie",
 ]
 
 [tool.ruff]
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df36827b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def sample_user_id() -> str:
+    return "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001"
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def sample_search_space_id() -> int:
+    return 1
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def sample_connector_id() -> int:
+    return 42
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f36649c5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+
+import os
+
+import pytest_asyncio
+from sqlalchemy import text
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession, async_sessionmaker, create_async_engine
+from sqlalchemy.pool import NullPool
+
+from app.db import Base
+
+_DEFAULT_TEST_DB = "postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/surfsense_test"
+TEST_DATABASE_URL = os.environ.get("TEST_DATABASE_URL", _DEFAULT_TEST_DB)
+
+
+@pytest_asyncio.fixture(scope="session")
+async def async_engine():
+    engine = create_async_engine(TEST_DATABASE_URL, poolclass=NullPool, echo=False)
+
+    async with engine.begin() as conn:
+        await conn.execute(text("CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector"))
+        await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all)
+
+    yield engine
+
+    async with engine.begin() as conn:
+        await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.drop_all)
+
+    await engine.dispose()
+
+
+@pytest_asyncio.fixture
+async def db_session(async_engine) -> AsyncSession:
+    # Bind the session to a connection that holds an outer transaction.
+    # join_transaction_mode="create_savepoint" makes session.commit() release
+    # a SAVEPOINT instead of committing the outer transaction, so the final
+    # transaction.rollback() undoes everything — including commits made by the
+    # service under test — leaving the DB clean for the next test.
+    async with async_engine.connect() as conn:
+        transaction = await conn.begin()
+        async with AsyncSession(
+            bind=conn,
+            expire_on_commit=False,
+            join_transaction_mode="create_savepoint",
+        ) as session:
+            yield session
+        await transaction.rollback()
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/indexing_pipeline/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/indexing_pipeline/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/adapters/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/adapters/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/conftest.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..98fcfc147
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock
+
+import pytest
+
+_EMBEDDING_DIM = 4  # keep vectors tiny in tests; real model uses 768+
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_session() -> AsyncMock:
+    session = AsyncMock()
+    session.add = MagicMock()  # synchronous in real SQLAlchemy
+    session.execute = AsyncMock()
+    session.scalar = AsyncMock()
+    session.scalars = AsyncMock()
+    session.flush = AsyncMock()
+    session.commit = AsyncMock()
+    session.rollback = AsyncMock()
+    session.refresh = AsyncMock()
+    return session
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_llm() -> AsyncMock:
+    llm = AsyncMock()
+    llm.ainvoke = AsyncMock(return_value=MagicMock(content="Mocked summary."))
+    return llm
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_embedding_model() -> MagicMock:
+    model = MagicMock()
+    model.embed = MagicMock(
+        side_effect=lambda texts: [[0.1] * _EMBEDDING_DIM for _ in texts]
+    )
+    return model
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_chunker() -> MagicMock:
+    chunker = MagicMock()
+    chunker.chunk = MagicMock(return_value=["chunk one", "chunk two"])
+    return chunker
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_code_chunker() -> MagicMock:
+    chunker = MagicMock()
+    chunker.chunk = MagicMock(return_value=["chunk one", "chunk two"])
+    return chunker
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/indexing_pipeline/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/indexing_pipeline/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb