diff --git a/tests-assets/conftest.py b/tests-assets/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..82d02dc74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests-assets/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+import asyncio
+import contextlib
+import json
+import os
+import socket
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import AsyncIterator, Callable
+
+import aiohttp
+import pytest
+import pytest_asyncio
+import subprocess
+
+
+def _free_port() -> int:
+    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+        s.bind(("127.0.0.1", 0))
+        return s.getsockname()[1]
+
+
+def _make_base_dirs(root: Path) -> None:
+    for sub in ("models", "custom_nodes", "input", "output", "temp", "user"):
+        (root / sub).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+
+async def _wait_http_ready(base: str, session: aiohttp.ClientSession, timeout: float = 90.0) -> None:
+    start = time.time()
+    last_err = None
+    while time.time() - start < timeout:
+        try:
+            async with session.get(base + "/api/assets") as r:
+                if r.status in (200, 400):
+                    return
+        except Exception as e:
+            last_err = e
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.25)
+    raise RuntimeError(f"ComfyUI HTTP did not become ready: {last_err}")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def event_loop():
+    loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+    yield loop
+    loop.close()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def comfy_tmp_base_dir() -> Path:
+    tmp = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="comfyui-assets-tests-"))
+    _make_base_dirs(tmp)
+    yield tmp
+    # cleanup in a best-effort way; ComfyUI should not keep files open in this dir
+    with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+        for p in sorted(tmp.rglob("*"), reverse=True):
+            if p.is_file() or p.is_symlink():
+                p.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        for p in sorted(tmp.glob("**/*"), reverse=True):
+            with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+                p.rmdir()
+        tmp.rmdir()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def comfy_url_and_proc(comfy_tmp_base_dir: Path):
+    """
+    Boot ComfyUI subprocess with:
+      - sandbox base dir
+      - sqlite memory DB
+      - autoscan disabled
+    Returns (base_url, process, port)
+    """
+    port = 8500  # _free_port()
+    db_url = "sqlite+aiosqlite:///:memory:"
+
+    # stdout/stderr capturing for debugging if something goes wrong
+    logs_dir = comfy_tmp_base_dir / "logs"
+    logs_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    out_log = open(logs_dir / "stdout.log", "w", buffering=1)
+    err_log = open(logs_dir / "stderr.log", "w", buffering=1)
+
+    comfy_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+    if not (comfy_root / "main.py").is_file():
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f"main.py not found under {comfy_root}")
+
+    proc = subprocess.Popen(
+        args=[
+            sys.executable,
+            "main.py",
+            f"--base-directory={str(comfy_tmp_base_dir)}",
+            f"--database-url={db_url}",
+            "--disable-assets-autoscan",
+            "--listen",
+            "127.0.0.1",
+            "--port",
+            str(port),
+        ],
+        stdout=out_log,
+        stderr=err_log,
+        cwd=str(comfy_root),
+        env={**os.environ},
+    )
+
+    base_url = f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}"
+    try:
+        async def _probe():
+            async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as s:
+                await _wait_http_ready(base_url, s, timeout=90.0)
+
+        asyncio.run(_probe())
+        yield base_url, proc, port
+    except Exception as e:
+        with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+            proc.terminate()
+            proc.wait(timeout=10)
+        raise RuntimeError(f"ComfyUI did not become ready: {e}")
+
+    if proc and proc.poll() is None:
+        with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+            proc.terminate()
+            proc.wait(timeout=15)
+    out_log.close()
+    err_log.close()
+
+
+@pytest_asyncio.fixture
+async def http() -> AsyncIterator[aiohttp.ClientSession]:
+    timeout = aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=120)
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession(timeout=timeout) as s:
+        yield s
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def api_base(comfy_url_and_proc) -> str:
+    base_url, _proc, _port = comfy_url_and_proc
+    return base_url
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def make_asset_bytes() -> Callable[[str], bytes]:
+    def _make(name: str) -> bytes:
+        # Generate deterministic small content variations based on name
+        seed = sum(ord(c) for c in name) % 251
+        data = bytes((i * 31 + seed) % 256 for i in range(8192))
+        return data
+    return _make
+
+
+async def _upload_asset(session: aiohttp.ClientSession, base: str, *, name: str, tags: list[str], meta: dict) -> dict:
+    make_asset_bytes = bytes((i % 251) for i in range(4096))
+    form = aiohttp.FormData()
+    form.add_field("file", make_asset_bytes, filename=name, content_type="application/octet-stream")
+    form.add_field("tags", json.dumps(tags))
+    form.add_field("name", name)
+    form.add_field("user_metadata", json.dumps(meta))
+    async with session.post(base + "/api/assets", data=form) as r:
+        body = await r.json()
+        assert r.status in (200, 201), body
+        return body
+
+
+@pytest_asyncio.fixture
+async def seeded_asset(http: aiohttp.ClientSession, api_base: str) -> dict:
+    """
+    Upload one asset into models/checkpoints/unit-tests/<name>.
+    Returns response dict with id, asset_hash, tags, etc.
+    """
+    name = "unit_1_example.safetensors"
+    tags = ["models", "checkpoints", "unit-tests", "alpha"]
+    meta = {"purpose": "test", "epoch": 1, "flags": ["x", "y"], "nullable": None}
+    form = aiohttp.FormData()
+    form.add_field("file", b"A" * 4096, filename=name, content_type="application/octet-stream")
+    form.add_field("tags", json.dumps(tags))
+    form.add_field("name", name)
+    form.add_field("user_metadata", json.dumps(meta))
+    async with http.post(api_base + "/api/assets", data=form) as r:
+        body = await r.json()
+        assert r.status == 201, body
+        return body
diff --git a/tests-assets/test_assets.py b/tests-assets/test_assets.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dfcedc52c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests-assets/test_assets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import aiohttp
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_tags_listing_endpoint(http: aiohttp.ClientSession, api_base: str):
+    # Include zero-usage tags by default
+    async with http.get(api_base + "/api/tags", params={"limit": "50"}) as r1:
+        body1 = await r1.json()
+        assert r1.status == 200
+        names = [t["name"] for t in body1["tags"]]
+        # A few system tags from migration should exist:
+        assert "models" in names
+        assert "checkpoints" in names
+
+    # Only used tags
+    async with http.get(api_base + "/api/tags", params={"include_zero": "false"}) as r2:
+        body2 = await r2.json()
+        assert r2.status == 200
+        # Should contain no tags
+        assert not [t["name"] for t in body2["tags"]]
+
+        # TODO-1: add some asset
+        # TODO-2: check that "used" tags are now non zero amount
+
+    # TODO-3: do a global teardown, so the state of ComfyUI is clear after each test, and all test can be run solo or one-by-one without any problems.