diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 231b874..ce68a02 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -9,3 +9,7 @@ Work in a separate source checkout. Describe the problem, resulting behavior, af
 Official branches and release artifacts are maintainer-controlled. Changes enter them through review; official packages are built from identified source revisions and signed through the release process. A pull request does not itself become an official binary. See [OFFICIAL-RELEASES.md](OFFICIAL-RELEASES.md).
 
 Preserve the historical RC7 installer and source evidence. New executable or payload changes require a separately identifiable build. Do not present a modified artifact as the unchanged certified RC7 release.
+
+## Run source tests
+
+From a fresh clone, run `python3 tools/run_tests.py` as your normal Linux user. The runner creates the private `source/qa` fixture directory and a temporary test home, clears inherited FrameBridge profile variables, and tests the repository source. It requires the native tools used by the tests, including `tmux`, `openssl`, `dpkg` and `systemd` command-line utilities. Test fixtures are generated from tracked source; no previous build directory or installed profile is copied.
diff --git a/tools/run_tests.py b/tools/run_tests.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..aa5c5f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/run_tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Run source tests with generated fixtures and an isolated application environment."""
+from pathlib import Path
+import os
+import stat
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+
+
+def main():
+    root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+    qa = root / "source/qa"
+    qa.mkdir(mode=0o700, exist_ok=True)
+    info = qa.lstat()
+    if not stat.S_ISDIR(info.st_mode) or info.st_uid != os.getuid() or info.st_mode & 0o077:
+        raise SystemExit("The generated source/qa directory must be private and owned by the test user.")
+    environment = {key: value for key, value in os.environ.items()
+                   if not key.startswith(("FRAMEBRIDGE_", "FBTERM_", "FB_"))}
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="unit-test-home-", dir=qa) as home:
+        environment.update(
+            HOME=home, XDG_DATA_HOME=str(Path(home) / ".local/share"),
+            XDG_CONFIG_HOME=str(Path(home) / ".config"),
+            PYTHONPATH=str(root / "source/expanded"), PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE="1")
+        result = subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-m", "unittest", "discover", "-s",
+                                 str(root / "source/tests")], cwd=root, env=environment)
+        return result.returncode
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())