diff --git a/ai/etl/ingest_test.go b/ai/etl/ingest_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c6731922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ai/etl/ingest_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package etl
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func writeIngestConfig(t *testing.T, contents string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "config.json")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(contents), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write config fixture: %v", err)
+	}
+	return path
+}
+
+func TestIngestAgent_MissingConfigFileReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "does-not-exist.json")
+
+	err := IngestAgent(context.Background(), path, "", "")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected an error for a missing config file")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to load config") {
+		t.Errorf("expected a 'failed to load config' error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestAgent_InvalidJSONReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
+	path := writeIngestConfig(t, `{not valid json`)
+
+	err := IngestAgent(context.Background(), path, "", "")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected an error for invalid config JSON")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to load config") {
+		t.Errorf("expected a 'failed to load config' error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestAgent_UnknownTargetAgentIDReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
+	path := writeIngestConfig(t, `{"id":"root-agent","name":"Root"}`)
+
+	err := IngestAgent(context.Background(), path, "", "no-such-agent")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected an error for a target agent ID absent from both the inline agents list and the root config")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "agent 'no-such-agent' not found in configuration file") {
+		t.Errorf("expected an 'agent not found' error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestAgent_UnknownEmbedderDependencyReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
+	path := writeIngestConfig(t, `{
+		"id": "root-agent",
+		"name": "Root",
+		"embedder": {"type": "agent", "agent_id": "missing-dep"}
+	}`)
+
+	err := IngestAgent(context.Background(), path, "", "")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected an error when the embedder's agent dependency can't be resolved")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "dependency agent 'missing-dep' not found in inline agents or as a file") {
+		t.Errorf("expected a 'dependency agent not found' error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}