diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 324d022..6f7eada 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ addopts = [
 ]
 pythonpath = [".", "src", "tests"]
 testpaths = ["tests"]
+norecursedirs = ["tests/fixtures"]
 markers = [
     "flaky: tests that can randomly fail through no change to the code",
     "slow: marks tests as slow (deselect with '-m \"not slow\"')",
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/README.md b/tests/fixtures/test_project/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff62544
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# mypackage
+
+Minimal test project for manual validation of `reqstool-python-hatch-plugin`.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+A `.venv` must exist inside this directory with the plugin, Hatch, pytest, and reqstool installed.
+If it is missing, recreate it from `tests/fixtures/test_project/`:
+
+```bash
+python3.13 -m venv .venv
+.venv/bin/pip install -e ../../../   # install plugin in editable mode
+.venv/bin/pip install hatch pytest reqstool
+```
+
+## Validation
+
+Run all commands from `tests/fixtures/test_project/`.
+
+### 1 — Run tests
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/pytest tests/ --junit-xml=build/test-results/junit.xml -v
+```
+
+Expected: `test_hello` passes.
+
+### 2 — Build
+
+```bash
+HATCH_ENV_TYPE_VIRTUAL_PATH=.venv .venv/bin/hatch build
+```
+
+Expected output (sdist phase):
+1. `[reqstool] plugin <x.y.z> loaded`
+2. `[reqstool] added reqstool_config.yml to dist/mypackage-0.1.0.tar.gz`
+
+### 3 — Check artefacts
+
+```bash
+# annotations.yml must exist locally
+test -f build/reqstool/annotations.yml && echo "OK: annotations.yml"
+
+# reqstool_config.yml must NOT be in project root (injected directly into tarball)
+test ! -f reqstool_config.yml && echo "OK: no loose reqstool_config.yml"
+
+# sdist must contain reqstool_config.yml and dataset files
+tar -tzf dist/mypackage-0.1.0.tar.gz | sort
+```
+
+Expected entries in the sdist:
+- `mypackage-0.1.0/reqstool_config.yml`
+- `mypackage-0.1.0/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml`
+- `mypackage-0.1.0/docs/reqstool/software_verification_cases.yml`
+
+Note: unlike the poetry plugin, hatch injects `reqstool_config.yml` directly into the tarball
+and does not bundle `annotations.yml` — those are generated locally in `build/reqstool/`.
+
+### 4 — Run reqstool status
+
+Extract the sdist and merge in the local build outputs, then run `reqstool status`:
+
+```bash
+mkdir -p /tmp/mypackage-reqstool
+tar -xzf dist/mypackage-0.1.0.tar.gz -C /tmp/mypackage-reqstool
+mkdir -p /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0/build/reqstool
+mkdir -p /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0/build/test-results
+cp build/reqstool/annotations.yml /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0/build/reqstool/
+cp build/test-results/junit.xml    /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0/build/test-results/
+.venv/bin/reqstool status local -p /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0
+```
+
+Expected: all green — `REQ_001` implemented, `T1 P1`, no missing tests or SVCs.
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml b/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5eb6310
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/reqstool/reqstool-client/main/src/reqstool/resources/schemas/v1/requirements.schema.json
+
+metadata:
+  urn: mypackage
+  variant: microservice
+  title: Mypackage Requirements
+  url: https://github.com/reqstool/reqstool-python-hatch-plugin
+
+requirements:
+  - id: REQ_001
+    title: Hello function
+    significance: shall
+    description: The hello function shall return "hello".
+    categories: ["functional-suitability"]
+    revision: "0.1.0"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/software_verification_cases.yml b/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/software_verification_cases.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da083ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/software_verification_cases.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/reqstool/reqstool-client/main/src/reqstool/resources/schemas/v1/software_verification_cases.schema.json
+
+cases:
+  - id: SVC_001
+    requirement_ids: ["REQ_001"]
+    title: "Hello function returns hello"
+    verification: automated-test
+    revision: "0.1.0"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/pyproject.toml b/tests/fixtures/test_project/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5847f6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[build-system]
+build-backend = "hatchling.build"
+requires = ["hatchling"]
+
+[project]
+name = "mypackage"
+version = "0.1.0"
+description = "Minimal test project for reqstool-python-hatch-plugin"
+requires-python = ">=3.13"
+
+[tool.hatch.build.targets.sdist]
+include = ["src", "docs/reqstool"]
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+addopts = ["--import-mode=importlib"]
+pythonpath = ["src"]
+testpaths = ["tests"]
+junit_family = "xunit2"
+
+[tool.hatch.build.hooks.reqstool]
+dependencies = ["reqstool-python-hatch-plugin"]
+sources = ["src", "tests"]
+test_results = ["build/**/junit.xml"]
+dataset_directory = "docs/reqstool"
+output_directory = "build/reqstool"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/src/mypackage/__init__.py b/tests/fixtures/test_project/src/mypackage/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/src/mypackage/main.py b/tests/fixtures/test_project/src/mypackage/main.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..09b2484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/src/mypackage/main.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+from reqstool_python_decorators.decorators.decorators import Requirements
+
+
+@Requirements("REQ_001")
+def hello():
+    return "hello"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test_project/tests/test_main.py b/tests/fixtures/test_project/tests/test_main.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..72e7562
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/tests/test_main.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+from reqstool_python_decorators.decorators.decorators import SVCs
+
+from mypackage.main import hello
+
+
+@SVCs("SVC_001")
+def test_hello():
+    assert hello() == "hello"