diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0bc8691..2a86944 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ El núcleo no cambia; solo el adaptador.
 - Guía breve: `HOWTO.md`
 - Starter pack: `starter-pack/README.md`
 - Adaptación del template: `TEMPLATE.md`
+- Índice de docs: `docs/README.md`
 - Layout del repo: `docs/repository-layout.md`
 - Referencia de scripts: `docs/scripts-reference.md`
 - Manual Skeleton (uso + mejoras): `docs/skeleton-manual.md`
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21ff374
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# Docs index
+
+## Core docs
+- `../README.md` — framework overview
+- `../HOWTO.md` — quick start
+- `../HOWTO-FEATURE.md` — feature workflow
+- `../TEMPLATE.md` — how to adapt ARNES
+
+## Reference docs
+- `repository-layout.md` — repo structure and separation rules
+- `scripts-reference.md` — start/verify/ticket/publish/install scripts
+- `skeleton-manual.md` — default Skeleton UI notes
+
+## Harness source of truth
+- `../harness/agents.matrix.yml` — roles and edit boundaries
+- `../harness/workflow.stages.yml` — ordered workflow stages
+- `../harness/policies/` — governance, security, quality, language, model routing
diff --git a/docs/repository-layout.md b/docs/repository-layout.md
index 3abbfd5..1a3434c 100644
--- a/docs/repository-layout.md
+++ b/docs/repository-layout.md
@@ -13,15 +13,17 @@
 - `harness/` — workflow, roles, policies, contracts
 - `spec/` — product, tech, acceptance, SDD, BDD source docs
 - `features/` — optional executable BDD runner assets
-- `scripts/` — start, verify, ticket creation, runtime status
+- `scripts/` — start, verify, ticket creation, publish, install, runtime status
 - `platforms/` — platform adapters (pi, opencode)
 - `defaults/` — optional starter assets
+- `tests/` — self-tests for the ARNES source repo only
 
 ## Recommended separation
 - Core ARNES should stay generic.
 - Domain checks go in `scripts/verify.local.sh`.
 - Domain rules go in `AGENTS.local.md`.
 - Real code should not be mixed into `harness/`, `work/`, `backlog/`, or `spec/`.
+- Source-repo self-tests under `tests/` are not part of installed project repos.
 
 ## Default project shape
 ```text
diff --git a/docs/scripts-reference.md b/docs/scripts-reference.md
index 320d06a..2b8c023 100644
--- a/docs/scripts-reference.md
+++ b/docs/scripts-reference.md
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ Interactive bootstrap wizard.
 What it does:
 - asks project metadata
 - chooses default app directory (`project/` by default)
+- defaults Python/Flask projects to `python3 -m unittest discover -s project/tests -v`
+- seeds a minimal bootstrap smoke test under `project/tests/` for Python/Flask
 - writes `harness/project.config.json`
 - creates `scripts/verify.local.sh`
 - can seed one bootstrap ticket
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ What it checks:
 - only one feature is `in_progress`
 - done features have all required artifacts, including publish evidence
 - runtime status JSON is valid
+- source-repo self-tests run automatically if `tests/` exists
 - optional local overlay runs if present
 
 ## `python3 scripts/new_ticket.py`
diff --git a/scripts/__pycache__/agent_status.cpython-313.pyc b/scripts/__pycache__/agent_status.cpython-313.pyc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee1ed32
Binary files /dev/null and b/scripts/__pycache__/agent_status.cpython-313.pyc differ
diff --git a/scripts/__pycache__/new_ticket.cpython-313.pyc b/scripts/__pycache__/new_ticket.cpython-313.pyc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b460d1
Binary files /dev/null and b/scripts/__pycache__/new_ticket.cpython-313.pyc differ
diff --git a/scripts/__pycache__/publish_ticket.cpython-313.pyc b/scripts/__pycache__/publish_ticket.cpython-313.pyc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88ca8dc
Binary files /dev/null and b/scripts/__pycache__/publish_ticket.cpython-313.pyc differ
diff --git a/scripts/start.sh b/scripts/start.sh
index d13b053..e508d20 100755
--- a/scripts/start.sh
+++ b/scripts/start.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,12 @@ else
   CSSFW="skeleton"
 fi
 
-TEST_CMD="$(ask 'Test command' 'make test')"
+DEFAULT_TEST_CMD="echo TODO-set-test-command"
+if [ "$BACKEND" = "python/flask" ]; then
+  DEFAULT_TEST_CMD="python3 -m unittest discover -s $APP_DIR/tests -v"
+fi
+
+TEST_CMD="$(ask 'Test command' "$DEFAULT_TEST_CMD")"
 LINT_CMD="$(ask 'Lint command (optional)' '')"
 MODEL_MODE="$(ask 'Model mode (lean/balanced/power)' 'lean')"
 ADD_BOOTSTRAP="$(ask 'Create bootstrap ticket F-001 now? (y/n)' 'y')"
@@ -52,7 +57,19 @@ Configured by ARNES start wizard.
 EOF
 
 if [ "$BACKEND" = "python/flask" ]; then
-  mkdir -p "$APP_DIR/templates" "$APP_DIR/static/js" "$APP_DIR/static/css" "$APP_DIR/static/images"
+  mkdir -p "$APP_DIR/templates" "$APP_DIR/static/js" "$APP_DIR/static/css" "$APP_DIR/static/images" "$APP_DIR/tests"
+  [ -f "$APP_DIR/tests/test_bootstrap.py" ] || cat > "$APP_DIR/tests/test_bootstrap.py" <<'PY'
+import unittest
+
+
+class BootstrapSmokeTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_bootstrap(self):
+        self.assertTrue(True)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
+PY
 fi
 
 if [ "$CSSFW" = "skeleton" ]; then
@@ -195,3 +212,4 @@ echo "- Ticket tool: python3 scripts/new_ticket.py"
 echo "- Publish tool: python3 scripts/publish_ticket.py --feature-id F-001"
 echo "- Verify: ./scripts/verify.sh"
 echo "- Runtime: python3 scripts/agent_status.py show"
+echo "- Reminder: configure git remote before final publish if missing"
diff --git a/scripts/verify.sh b/scripts/verify.sh
index 4e2d87a..8586534 100755
--- a/scripts/verify.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ required=(
   "README.md"
   "HOWTO.md"
   "TEMPLATE.md"
+  "docs/README.md"
   "docs/repository-layout.md"
   "docs/scripts-reference.md"
   "harness/agents.matrix.yml"
diff --git a/tests/__pycache__/test_arnes_core.cpython-313.pyc b/tests/__pycache__/test_arnes_core.cpython-313.pyc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca8895a
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/__pycache__/test_arnes_core.cpython-313.pyc differ
diff --git a/tests/test_arnes_core.py b/tests/test_arnes_core.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a19a176
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_arnes_core.py
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import json
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+INSTALL = ROOT / 'scripts' / 'install_into_repo.sh'
+
+
+class ArnesCoreTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def run_cmd(self, args, cwd=None, input_text=None, check=True):
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            args,
+            cwd=cwd or ROOT,
+            input=input_text,
+            text=True,
+            capture_output=True,
+        )
+        if check and result.returncode != 0:
+            raise AssertionError(
+                f"Command failed: {args}\nSTDOUT:\n{result.stdout}\nSTDERR:\n{result.stderr}"
+            )
+        return result
+
+    def test_install_refuses_source_repo(self):
+        result = self.run_cmd([str(INSTALL), str(ROOT)], check=False)
+        self.assertNotEqual(result.returncode, 0)
+        self.assertIn('Refusing to install ARNES into its own source repository', result.stdout)
+
+    def test_install_start_verify_and_publish_in_external_repo(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            target = tmp_path / 'project-repo'
+            remote = tmp_path / 'remote.git'
+
+            self.run_cmd([str(INSTALL), str(target)])
+            self.assertTrue((target / 'scripts' / 'start.sh').is_file())
+            self.assertFalse((target / 'tests').exists(), 'source self-tests must not be installed into project repo')
+
+            self.run_cmd(['git', 'config', 'user.name', 'ARNES Bot'], cwd=target)
+            self.run_cmd(['git', 'config', 'user.email', 'arnes@example.com'], cwd=target)
+            self.run_cmd(['git', 'init', '--bare', str(remote)])
+            self.run_cmd(['git', 'remote', 'add', 'origin', str(remote)], cwd=target)
+
+            wizard_input = '\n'.join([
+                'demo-project',
+                'Demo project',
+                'project',
+                '1',
+                '',
+                '',
+                '',
+                '',
+            ]) + '\n'
+            self.run_cmd(['./scripts/start.sh'], cwd=target, input_text=wizard_input)
+
+            self.assertTrue((target / 'project' / 'tests').is_dir())
+            cfg = json.loads((target / 'harness' / 'project.config.json').read_text(encoding='utf-8'))
+            self.assertEqual(cfg['app_dir'], 'project')
+            self.assertEqual(cfg['commands']['test'], 'python3 -m unittest discover -s project/tests -v')
+
+            verify_result = self.run_cmd(['./scripts/verify.sh'], cwd=target)
+            self.assertIn('Harness verificado', verify_result.stdout)
+
+            self.run_cmd(['python3', 'scripts/new_ticket.py'], cwd=target, input_text='\n'.join([
+                'fix',
+                'Repair docs',
+                'Need docs repair',
+                'Make docs clear',
+                'Docs flow',
+                'No redesign',
+                'low',
+                'med',
+                'Docs clear',
+                'Verify green',
+                '',
+            ]) + '\n')
+
+            with (target / 'project' / 'README.md').open('a', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
+                fh.write('\nchange\n')
+
+            publish_result = self.run_cmd(
+                ['python3', 'scripts/publish_ticket.py', '--feature-id', 'F-001'],
+                cwd=target,
+            )
+            self.assertIn('done ->', publish_result.stdout)
+
+            publish_path = target / 'work' / 'artifacts' / 'F-001' / 'publish.json'
+            payload = json.loads(publish_path.read_text(encoding='utf-8'))
+            self.assertEqual(payload['verdict'], 'PUBLISHED')
+            self.assertTrue(payload['pushed'])
+            self.assertEqual(payload['remote'], 'origin')
+
+            status_result = self.run_cmd(['git', 'status', '--short'], cwd=target)
+            self.assertEqual(status_result.stdout.strip(), '')
+
+            remote_refs = self.run_cmd(['git', 'ls-remote', 'origin'], cwd=target)
+            self.assertIn('refs/heads/master', remote_refs.stdout)
+
+    def test_agent_status_rejects_invalid_agent(self):
+        result = self.run_cmd(
+            ['python3', 'scripts/agent_status.py', 'set', '--agent', 'nope'],
+            check=False,
+        )
+        self.assertNotEqual(result.returncode, 0)
+        combined = (result.stdout + result.stderr)
+        self.assertIn('Invalid agent: nope', combined)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()