diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 09bd209..ebf1865 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,13 +62,15 @@ docker exec -it mast-api python -m src.api.create /code/data/metadata/mini
 ### Running Unit Tests
 Verify everything is setup correctly by running the unit tests.
 
-To run the unit tests you may use `pytest` like so:
+To run the unit tests, input the following command inside your environment:
 
 ```bash
-python -m pytest tests
+pytest -rsx tests/ --data-path="INSERT FULL PATH TO DATA HERE"
 ```
 
-This will run some unit tests for the REST and GraphQL APIs against the data in the database.
+The data path will be will be along the lines of `~/fair-mast/data/metadata/mini`.
+
+This will run some unit tests for the REST and GraphQL APIs against a testing database, created from the data in `--data-path`. 
 
 ### Uploading Data to the Minio Storage
 
diff --git a/src/api/create.py b/src/api/create.py
index d8250bb..ac53c22 100644
--- a/src/api/create.py
+++ b/src/api/create.py
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ def create_database(self):
         SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)
         # recreate the engine/metadata object
         self.metadata_obj, self.engine = connect(self.uri)
+        return engine
 
     def create_cpf_summary(self, data_path: Path):
         """Create the CPF summary table"""
diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/archive/conftest.py b/tests/archive/conftest.py
index 2503ac0..462af3c 100644
--- a/tests/archive/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/archive/conftest.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 import xarray as xr
 
-
 @pytest.fixture
 def fake_dataset():
     return xr.Dataset(
diff --git a/tests/archive/test_reader.py b/tests/archive/test_reader.py
index f2ec7e6..3527737 100644
--- a/tests/archive/test_reader.py
+++ b/tests/archive/test_reader.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import xarray as xr
+import pytest
+pyuda_import = pytest.importorskip("pyuda") 
 from src.archive.reader import DatasetReader
 
-
 def test_list_signals():
     shot = 30420
     reader = DatasetReader(shot)
diff --git a/tests/archive/test_task.py b/tests/archive/test_task.py
index 5dcc7ca..696b9d3 100644
--- a/tests/archive/test_task.py
+++ b/tests/archive/test_task.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import pytest
+pyuda_import = pytest.importorskip("pyuda") 
 import subprocess
 import zarr
 import xarray as xr
diff --git a/tests/archive/test_writer.py b/tests/archive/test_writer.py
index 6d668d6..bf9c014 100644
--- a/tests/archive/test_writer.py
+++ b/tests/archive/test_writer.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import pytest
+pyuda_import = pytest.importorskip("pyuda") 
 import zarr
 import xarray as xr
 import numpy as np
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8febbfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import pytest
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+from src.api.main import app
+from src.api.database import get_db
+import os
+from sqlmodel import SQLModel, create_engine
+from pathlib import Path
+from sqlalchemy_utils.functions import (
+    drop_database,
+    database_exists,
+    create_database,
+)
+from src.api.create import DBCreationClient
+from os.path import exists
+import sys
+
+# Fixture to get data path from command line
+def pytest_addoption(parser):
+    parser.addoption(
+        "--data-path",
+        action="store",
+        default="~/data/metadata/mini",
+        help="Path to mini data directory",
+    )
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def data_path(request):
+    return request.config.getoption("--data-path")
+
+# Set up the database URL
+host = os.environ.get("DATABASE_HOST", "localhost")
+SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_TEST_URL = f"postgresql://root:root@{host}:5432/test_db"
+
+# Fixture to create and drop the database
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def test_db(data_path):
+    data_path = Path(data_path)
+    client = DBCreationClient(SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_TEST_URL)
+    engine = client.create_database()
+    client.create_cpf_summary(data_path)
+    client.create_scenarios(data_path)
+    client.create_shots(data_path)
+    client.create_signals(data_path)
+    client.create_sources(data_path)
+    client.create_shot_source_links(data_path)
+
+    TestingSessionLocal = sessionmaker(autocommit=False, autoflush=False, bind=engine)        
+
+    yield TestingSessionLocal()
+
+    drop_database(SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_TEST_URL)
+
+# Fixture to override the database dependency
+@pytest.fixture
+def override_get_db(test_db):
+    def override():
+        try:
+            db = test_db
+            yield db
+        finally:
+            db.close()
+
+    app.dependency_overrides[get_db] = override
+
+# Fixture to create a client for testing
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def client():
+    with TestClient(app) as client:
+        yield client
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test_archive.py b/tests/test_archive.py
index 08dae77..52e98f6 100644
--- a/tests/test_archive.py
+++ b/tests/test_archive.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 from pathlib import Path
+import pytest
+pyuda_import = pytest.importorskip("pyuda") 
 from src.archive.main import _do_write_signal, DatasetReader, DatasetWriter, read_config, get_file_system
 
 def test_write_diagnostic_signal(benchmark):
diff --git a/tests/test_json.py b/tests/test_json.py
index 0811804..bdebcde 100644
--- a/tests/test_json.py
+++ b/tests/test_json.py
@@ -1,41 +1,35 @@
-import pytest
-import pandas as pd
-from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
-from src.api.main import app, get_db, add_pagination
-
-
-@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
-def client():
-    get_db()
-    client = TestClient(app)
-    # Need to re-add pagination after creating the client
-    add_pagination(app)
-    return client
+# ========= Tests ==========
 
+def test_get_cpf(client, override_get_db):
+    response = client.get("/json/cpf_summary")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    data = response.json()
+    assert len(data['items']) == 50
+    assert "description" in data['items'][0]
 
-def test_get_shots(client):
+def test_get_shots(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/shots")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data['items']) == 50
-    assert data['previous_page'] == None
+    assert data['previous_page'] is None
 
 
-def test_get_shots_filter_shot_id(client):
+def test_get_shots_filter_shot_id(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/shots?filters=shot_id$geq:30000")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data['items']) == 50
 
 
-def test_get_shot(client):
+def test_get_shot(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/shots/30420")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert data["shot_id"] == 30420
 
 
-def test_get_shot_aggregate(client):
+def test_get_shot_aggregate(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get(
         "json/shots/aggregate?data=shot_id$min:,shot_id$max:&groupby=campaign&sort=-min_shot_id"
     )
@@ -45,22 +39,21 @@ def test_get_shot_aggregate(client):
     assert data[0]["campaign"] == "M9"
 
 
-def test_get_signals_aggregate(client):
+def test_get_signals_aggregate(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/signals/aggregate?data=shot_id$count:&groupby=quality")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data) == 1
 
-
-def test_get_signals_for_shot(client):
+def test_get_signals_for_shot(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/shots/30471/signals")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data['items']) == 50
-    assert data['previous_page'] == None
+    assert data['previous_page'] is None
 
 
-def test_get_signals(client):
+def test_get_signals(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/signals")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
@@ -69,27 +62,27 @@ def test_get_signals(client):
     assert len(data['items']) == 50
 
 
-def test_get_cpf_summary(client):
+def test_get_cpf_summary(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/cpf_summary")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data['items']) == 50
 
 
-def test_get_scenarios(client):
+def test_get_scenarios(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/scenarios")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data['items']) == 34
 
 
-def test_get_sources(client):
+def test_get_sources(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/sources")
     data = response.json()
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert len(data['items']) == 50
 
-def test_get_cursor(client):
+def test_get_cursor(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/signals")
     first_page_data = response.json()
     next_cursor = first_page_data['next_page']
@@ -97,7 +90,8 @@ def test_get_cursor(client):
     next_page_data = next_response.json()
     assert next_page_data['current_page'] == next_cursor
 
-def test_cursor_response(client):
+def test_cursor_response(client, override_get_db):
     response = client.get("json/signals")
     data = response.json()
-    assert data['previous_page'] == None
\ No newline at end of file
+    assert data['previous_page'] is None
+