diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 84a91c0..8a99cde 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ streamlib_modules/
 *.slpkg
 
 # Cargo `[patch]` scratch a `streamlib link` may drop
-.cargo/config.toml
+**/.cargo/config.toml
 
 # Python
 __pycache__/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index da8f615..9ce5e6b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -78,3 +78,35 @@ These packages were extracted from the
 2026-07-14 as a source snapshot. **Git history prior to 2026-07-14 lives in
 tatolab/streamlib** — this repo starts fresh and does not carry the pre-split
 commit history.
+
+## Running the package tests
+
+Each package's self-contained tests (`packages/network/tests/network_packet_serde_bytes_wire_format.rs`,
+`packages/vadr-vision/tests/reassembly_integration.rs`) build against a
+linked streamlib checkout. Packages whose schemas reference other
+packages (`mavlink`, `vadr-vision` → `@tatolab/network`; `vadr-vision` →
+`@tatolab/jpeg`) additionally need a registry for schema resolution,
+because sibling-directory resolution is not a thing — schemas resolve by
+version from the link checkout's `packages/` tree or a registry, and
+`@tatolab/network` no longer lives in the streamlib checkout.
+
+The local dev-registry flow (no hosting required):
+
+```bash
+# 1. Emit a registry tree from a streamlib checkout (core, jpeg, …):
+cd <streamlib-checkout>
+cargo run -p xtask -- static-registry emit --out /tmp/dev-registry
+
+# 2. Publish this repo's packages into the same tree:
+export STREAMLIB_REGISTRY_URL="file:///tmp/dev-registry"
+cd <this-repo>/packages/network && streamlib pkg publish
+
+# 3. Link + test any package:
+cd ../mavlink
+streamlib link --engine <streamlib-checkout>
+STREAMLIB_REGISTRY_URL="file:///tmp/dev-registry" cargo test
+```
+
+`legacy-tests/` holds inherited test files that predate the engine-free
+conversion and need a rewrite against the module-loading flow before
+they can run again — see `legacy-tests/README.md`.
diff --git a/legacy-tests/README.md b/legacy-tests/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce61661
--- /dev/null
+++ b/legacy-tests/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Legacy tests — pre-engine-free relics (not compiled)
+
+These test files were inherited from the streamlib monorepo snapshot but
+predate the packages' conversion to the engine-free plugin SDK. They are
+**not wired into any crate** and do not compile as written, for a
+structural reason, not a missing-dependency reason:
+
+Each of them registers the package processors **in-process** via
+`PROCESSOR_REGISTRY.register::<streamlib_network::UdpSourceProcessor::Processor>()`
+and then drives a `Runner` in the same process. That model only worked
+when these packages compiled against the `streamlib` engine facade. As
+engine-free packages, their processor types implement the plugin SDK's
+traits — not the engine's — so in-process typed registration is
+impossible by design (that is the capability split working as intended).
+
+The correct rewrite is the **module-loading flow**: build/link the
+package into a host's `streamlib_modules/` and let the runtime dlopen it
+(`runtime.add_processor(processor_type_ref!(...))` with lazy module
+discovery), the same shape as streamlib's `load_project_dylib_*`
+integration tests. Until someone does that rewrite, the files are parked
+here so the test logic (scenarios, assertions, fixtures) isn't lost:
+
+| File | Original home | Pipeline exercised |
+|---|---|---|
+| `udp_loopback.rs` | packages/network | UdpSource → UdpSink loopback |
+| `udp_burst_stress.rs` | packages/network | burst/overflow behavior |
+| `udp_throughput_bench.rs` | packages/network | throughput measurement |
+| `mavlink_over_udp.rs` | packages/mavlink | UdpSource → MavlinkDecoder → MavlinkEncoder → UdpSink round-trip |
+| `udp_vadr_jpeg_e2e.rs` (+ `fixtures/`) | packages/vadr-vision | UDP chunks → depayloader → reassembly → JpegDecoder → frame counter (needs a GPU) |
+
+The self-contained tests that survived the conversion still live in
+their packages: `packages/network/tests/network_packet_serde_bytes_wire_format.rs`
+and `packages/vadr-vision/tests/reassembly_integration.rs`.
diff --git a/packages/vadr-vision/tests/fixtures/test_320x180.jpg b/legacy-tests/fixtures/test_320x180.jpg
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/vadr-vision/tests/fixtures/test_320x180.jpg
rename to legacy-tests/fixtures/test_320x180.jpg
diff --git a/packages/vadr-vision/tests/fixtures/test_640x360_spec.jpg b/legacy-tests/fixtures/test_640x360_spec.jpg
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/vadr-vision/tests/fixtures/test_640x360_spec.jpg
rename to legacy-tests/fixtures/test_640x360_spec.jpg
diff --git a/packages/vadr-vision/examples/jpeg_pipeline_demo.rs b/legacy-tests/jpeg_pipeline_demo.example.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/vadr-vision/examples/jpeg_pipeline_demo.rs
rename to legacy-tests/jpeg_pipeline_demo.example.rs
diff --git a/packages/mavlink/tests/mavlink_over_udp.rs b/legacy-tests/mavlink_over_udp.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/mavlink/tests/mavlink_over_udp.rs
rename to legacy-tests/mavlink_over_udp.rs
diff --git a/packages/network/tests/udp_burst_stress.rs b/legacy-tests/udp_burst_stress.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/network/tests/udp_burst_stress.rs
rename to legacy-tests/udp_burst_stress.rs
diff --git a/packages/network/tests/udp_loopback.rs b/legacy-tests/udp_loopback.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/network/tests/udp_loopback.rs
rename to legacy-tests/udp_loopback.rs
diff --git a/packages/network/tests/udp_throughput_bench.rs b/legacy-tests/udp_throughput_bench.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/network/tests/udp_throughput_bench.rs
rename to legacy-tests/udp_throughput_bench.rs
diff --git a/packages/vadr-vision/tests/udp_vadr_jpeg_e2e.rs b/legacy-tests/udp_vadr_jpeg_e2e.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/vadr-vision/tests/udp_vadr_jpeg_e2e.rs
rename to legacy-tests/udp_vadr_jpeg_e2e.rs
diff --git a/packages/network/Cargo.toml b/packages/network/Cargo.toml
index 8b353f2..cb48d52 100644
--- a/packages/network/Cargo.toml
+++ b/packages/network/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,4 +36,8 @@ socket2 = "0.5"
 libc = "0.2.177"
 tracing = { version = "0.1.41", features = ["release_max_level_debug"] }
 
+[dev-dependencies]
+# The wire-format test decodes NetworkPacket from msgpack directly.
+rmp-serde = "1.3"
+
 [workspace]