diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index bf08f9a..31d8a8a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -99,34 +99,6 @@ add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}
    src/main.cpp
    )
 
-add_executable(test-exec-interactive
-   src/config.cpp src/config.hpp
-   src/utils.cpp src/utils.hpp
-   src/disk.cpp src/disk.hpp
-   src/drivers.cpp src/drivers.hpp
-   src/widgets.cpp src/widgets.hpp
-   src/follow_process_log.hpp src/follow_process_log.cpp
-   src/crypto.cpp src/crypto.hpp
-   src/misc.cpp src/misc.hpp
-   src/simple_tui.cpp src/simple_tui.hpp
-   src/tui.cpp src/tui.hpp
-   src/main_test.cpp
-   )
-
-add_executable(test-process-tailing
-   src/config.cpp src/config.hpp
-   src/utils.cpp src/utils.hpp
-   src/disk.cpp src/disk.hpp
-   src/drivers.cpp src/drivers.hpp
-   src/widgets.cpp src/widgets.hpp
-   src/follow_process_log.hpp src/follow_process_log.cpp
-   src/crypto.cpp src/crypto.hpp
-   src/misc.cpp src/misc.hpp
-   src/simple_tui.cpp src/simple_tui.hpp
-   src/tui.cpp src/tui.hpp
-   src/test_proccess_tailing.cpp
-   )
-
 # Link this 'library' to use the warnings specified in CompilerWarnings.cmake
 add_library(project_warnings INTERFACE)
 set_project_warnings(project_warnings)
@@ -139,9 +111,11 @@ enable_sanitizers(project_options)
 
 include_directories(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src)
 
+if(COS_INSTALLER_BUILD_TESTS)
+   add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
+
 target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE project_warnings project_options spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt ftxui::screen ftxui::dom ftxui::component cpr::cpr range-v3::range-v3)
-target_link_libraries(test-exec-interactive PRIVATE project_warnings project_options spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt ftxui::component cpr::cpr range-v3::range-v3)
-target_link_libraries(test-process-tailing PRIVATE project_warnings project_options spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt ftxui::component cpr::cpr)
 
 option(ENABLE_UNITY "Enable Unity builds of projects" OFF)
 if(ENABLE_UNITY)
diff --git a/cmake/StandardProjectSettings.cmake b/cmake/StandardProjectSettings.cmake
index 243b526..ef87531 100644
--- a/cmake/StandardProjectSettings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/StandardProjectSettings.cmake
@@ -73,3 +73,6 @@ option(ENABLE_DEVENV "Enable dev environment" ON)
 if(NOT ENABLE_DEVENV)
   add_definitions(-DNDEVENV)
 endif()
+
+# Enables tests.
+option(COS_INSTALLER_BUILD_TESTS "Enable dev environment" ON)
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 802a336..115c07c 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ project('cachyos-installer', 'cpp',
 
 is_debug_build = get_option('buildtype').startswith('debug')
 is_dev_environment = get_option('devenv')
+is_tests_build = get_option('build_tests')
 cc = meson.get_compiler('cpp')
 if cc.get_id() == 'clang'
     specific_cc_flags = [
@@ -132,19 +133,9 @@ executable(
   include_directories: [include_directories('src')],
   install: true)
 
-executable(
-  'test-exec-interactive',
-  files('src/config.cpp', 'src/tui.cpp', 'src/utils.cpp', 'src/main_test.cpp'),
-  dependencies: deps,
-  include_directories: [include_directories('src')],
-  install: false)
-
-executable(
-  'test-process-tailing',
-  files('src/config.cpp', 'src/widgets.cpp', 'src/tui.cpp', 'src/utils.cpp', 'src/follow_process_log.cpp','src/test_proccess_tailing.cpp'),
-  dependencies: deps,
-  include_directories: [include_directories('src')],
-  install: false)
+if is_tests_build
+    subdir('tests')
+endif
 
 summary(
   {
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 5591e2e..7654afb 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 option('devenv', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'enable dev environment')
+option('build_tests', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'enable tests')
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b4105a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+list(APPEND test_SOURCES
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/config.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/utils.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/disk.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/drivers.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/widgets.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/follow_process_log.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/crypto.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/misc.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/simple_tui.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/tui.cpp
+)
+
+add_library(test_libreq STATIC ${test_SOURCES})
+target_include_directories(test_libreq PRIVATE ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include ${CMAKE_CURRENT_DIR})
+target_link_libraries(test_libreq PRIVATE project_warnings project_options spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt ftxui::component cpr::cpr range-v3::range-v3)
+
+#############################################################################
+# one executable for each unit test file
+#############################################################################
+
+file(GLOB files unit-*.cpp)
+
+foreach(file ${files})
+    get_filename_component(file_basename ${file} NAME_WE)
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "unit-([^$]+)" "test-\\1" testcase ${file_basename})
+
+    add_executable(${testcase} ${file})
+    target_compile_options(${testcase} PRIVATE
+        $<$<NOT:$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:MSVC>>:-Wno-deprecated;-Wno-float-equal>
+        $<$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:GNU>:-Wno-deprecated-declarations>
+    )
+    target_include_directories(${testcase} PRIVATE ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include ${CMAKE_CURRENT_DIR})
+    target_link_libraries(${testcase} PRIVATE project_warnings project_options test_libreq spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt ftxui::component cpr::cpr range-v3::range-v3)
+endforeach()
diff --git a/tests/meson.build b/tests/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d35c5cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+source_path = '../src/'
+
+test_libreq = shared_library('test_libreq',
+    sources : [
+        source_path + 'config.cpp',
+        source_path + 'utils.cpp',
+        source_path + 'disk.cpp',
+        source_path + 'drivers.cpp',
+        source_path + 'widgets.cpp',
+        source_path + 'follow_process_log.cpp',
+        source_path + 'crypto.cpp',
+        source_path + 'misc.cpp',
+        source_path + 'simple_tui.cpp',
+        source_path + 'tui.cpp',
+    ],
+    include_directories : [include_directories(source_path)],
+    dependencies: deps
+)
+
+executable(
+  'test-exec-interactive',
+  files('unit-exec-interactive.cpp'),
+  dependencies: deps,
+  link_with: [test_libreq],
+  include_directories: [include_directories(source_path)],
+  install: false)
+
+executable(
+  'test-process-tailing',
+  files('unit-proccess-tailing.cpp'),
+  dependencies: deps,
+  link_with: [test_libreq],
+  include_directories: [include_directories(source_path)],
+  install: false)
diff --git a/src/main_test.cpp b/tests/unit-exec-interactive.cpp
similarity index 100%
rename from src/main_test.cpp
rename to tests/unit-exec-interactive.cpp
diff --git a/src/test_proccess_tailing.cpp b/tests/unit-proccess-tailing.cpp
similarity index 100%
rename from src/test_proccess_tailing.cpp
rename to tests/unit-proccess-tailing.cpp