diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 033992c..15d1075 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ 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
index b6554e6..c330baa 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/test_project/README.md
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/README.md
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ Minimal test project for manual validation of `reqstool-python-poetry-plugin`.
 ## Prerequisites
 
 A `.venv` must exist in the repository root with both the plugin and Poetry installed.
-If it is missing, recreate it from the repository root:
+If it is missing, recreate it from the repository root (`reqstool-python-poetry-plugin/`):
 
 ```bash
 python3.13 -m venv .venv
 .venv/bin/pip install -e .
-.venv/bin/pip install poetry
+.venv/bin/pip install poetry reqstool
 ```
 
 Point Poetry at Python 3.13 (once per machine):
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ cd tests/fixtures/test_project
 
 Run all commands from `tests/fixtures/test_project/`.
 
-### 1 — Install
+### 1 — Install (adds `include` entries to pyproject.toml)
 
 ```bash
 ../../../.venv/bin/poetry install
@@ -36,7 +36,15 @@ Expected: plugin prints its version, then adds three entries to `pyproject.toml`
 include = ["reqstool_config.yml", "docs/reqstool/**/*", "build/reqstool/**/*"]
 ```
 
-### 2 — Build
+### 2 — Run tests
+
+```bash
+../../../.venv/bin/pytest tests/ --junit-xml=build/test-results/junit.xml -v
+```
+
+Expected: `test_hello` passes.
+
+### 3 — Build
 
 ```bash
 ../../../.venv/bin/poetry build
@@ -45,18 +53,19 @@ include = ["reqstool_config.yml", "docs/reqstool/**/*", "build/reqstool/**/*"]
 Expected output (in order):
 1. `[reqstool] plugin version <x.y.z>`
 2. `[reqstool] added to reqstool_config.yml: docs/reqstool/requirements.yml`
-3. `[reqstool] added to reqstool_config.yml: build/reqstool/annotations.yml`
-4. `[reqstool] Created reqstool_config.yml in project root`
-5. Poetry builds sdist + wheel
-6. `[reqstool] Removed reqstool_config.yml from project root`
+3. `[reqstool] added to reqstool_config.yml: docs/reqstool/software_verification_cases.yml`
+4. `[reqstool] added to reqstool_config.yml: build/reqstool/annotations.yml`
+5. `[reqstool] Created reqstool_config.yml in project root`
+6. Poetry builds sdist + wheel
+7. `[reqstool] Removed reqstool_config.yml from project root`
 
-### 3 — Verify
+### 4 — Check artefacts
 
 ```bash
 # annotations.yml must exist
 test -f build/reqstool/annotations.yml && echo "OK: annotations.yml"
 
-# reqstool_config.yml must be gone from project root after build
+# reqstool_config.yml must be gone after build
 test ! -f reqstool_config.yml && echo "OK: reqstool_config.yml cleaned up"
 
 # sdist must contain all reqstool files
@@ -67,5 +76,17 @@ Expected entries in the sdist:
 - `mypackage-0.1.0/reqstool_config.yml`
 - `mypackage-0.1.0/build/reqstool/annotations.yml`
 - `mypackage-0.1.0/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml`
+- `mypackage-0.1.0/docs/reqstool/software_verification_cases.yml`
+
+### 5 — Run reqstool status
+
+Extract the sdist and merge in the local test results, then run `reqstool status`:
+
+```bash
+mkdir -p /tmp/mypackage-reqstool
+tar -xzf dist/mypackage-0.1.0.tar.gz -C /tmp/mypackage-reqstool
+cp -r build/test-results /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0/build/
+../../../.venv/bin/reqstool status local -p /tmp/mypackage-reqstool/mypackage-0.1.0
+```
 
-`annotations.yml` must contain `REQ_001` mapped to `src.mypackage.main.hello`.
+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
index 5040328..91bb93d 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/docs/reqstool/requirements.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-document:
-  id: mypackage
+# 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-poetry-plugin
 
@@ -8,6 +11,5 @@ requirements:
     title: Hello function
     significance: shall
     description: The hello function shall return "hello".
-    categories:
-      - category: functional
+    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
index 151931c..82f0bf9 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/test_project/pyproject.toml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test_project/pyproject.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@ include = ["reqstool_config.yml", "docs/reqstool/**/*", "build/reqstool/**/*"]
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = "^3.13"
 
+[tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
+pytest = "*"
+pytest-cov = "*"
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+addopts = ["--import-mode=importlib"]
+pythonpath = ["src"]
+testpaths = ["tests"]
+junit_family = "xunit2"
+
 [tool.reqstool]
 sources = ["src", "tests"]
 test_results = ["build/**/junit.xml"]
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"