diff --git a/licensing-service/Cargo.lock b/licensing-service/Cargo.lock
index d38def9..54510c4 100644
--- a/licensing-service/Cargo.lock
+++ b/licensing-service/Cargo.lock
@@ -1299,6 +1299,26 @@ version = "2.3.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9b4f627cb1b25917193a259e49bdad08f671f8d9708acfd5fe0a8c1455d87220"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pin-project"
+version = "1.1.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f1749c7ed4bcaf4c3d0a3efc28538844fb29bcdd7d2b67b2be7e20ba861ff517"
+dependencies = [
+ "pin-project-internal",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "pin-project-internal"
+version = "1.1.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d9b20ed30f105399776b9c883e68e536ef602a16ae6f596d2c473591d6ad64c6"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.117",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-project-lite"
 version = "0.2.17"
@@ -2424,6 +2444,10 @@ version = "0.4.13"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b8fa9be0de6cf49e536ce1851f987bd21a43b771b09473c3549a6c853db37c1c"
 dependencies = [
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-util",
+ "pin-project",
+ "pin-project-lite",
  "tower-layer",
  "tower-service",
  "tracing",
diff --git a/licensing-service/Cargo.toml b/licensing-service/Cargo.toml
index bc74d56..b553254 100644
--- a/licensing-service/Cargo.toml
+++ b/licensing-service/Cargo.toml
@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ mime_guess = "2"
 # us NamedTempFile so the OS cleans up if a test panics mid-run.
 tempfile = "3"
 
+# tower in main deps is feature-minimal (only what axum needs). Tests use
+# `ServiceExt::oneshot` to drive the router without bringing up an HTTP
+# listener — that lives behind the `util` feature.
+tower = { version = "0.4", features = ["util"] }
+
 [profile.release]
 opt-level = 3
 lto = "thin"
diff --git a/licensing-service/src/lib.rs b/licensing-service/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..471b792
--- /dev/null
+++ b/licensing-service/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+//! Keysat library — the daemon's internal modules, exposed as a library
+//! so integration tests under `tests/` can drive the API directly without
+//! re-implementing the bootstrap.
+//!
+//! The binary at `src/main.rs` is a thin wrapper that loads runtime config
+//! from environment variables, starts the HTTP server, and spawns
+//! background tasks. Tests bypass that wrapper and construct `AppState`
+//! programmatically.
+
+pub mod api;
+pub mod btcpay;
+pub mod config;
+pub mod crypto;
+pub mod db;
+pub mod error;
+pub mod license_self;
+pub mod models;
+pub mod payment;
+pub mod rate_limit;
+pub mod reconcile;
+pub mod tipping;
+pub mod webhooks;
+
+/// Hex-encoded SHA-256 of a string — used everywhere we need a deterministic
+/// id from a raw value (machine fingerprints, admin key hashes).
+pub fn hex_sha256(s: &str) -> String {
+    use sha2::{Digest, Sha256};
+    let mut hasher = Sha256::new();
+    hasher.update(s.as_bytes());
+    hex::encode(hasher.finalize())
+}
diff --git a/licensing-service/src/main.rs b/licensing-service/src/main.rs
index 9110ee6..97c11be 100644
--- a/licensing-service/src/main.rs
+++ b/licensing-service/src/main.rs
@@ -1,29 +1,12 @@
 //! Entry point. Wires config → logging → DB → keypair → HTTP server.
-
-mod api;
-mod btcpay;
-mod config;
-mod crypto;
-mod db;
-mod error;
-mod license_self;
-mod models;
-mod payment;
-mod rate_limit;
-mod reconcile;
-mod tipping;
-mod webhooks;
-
-/// Hex-encoded SHA-256 of a string — used everywhere we need a deterministic
-/// id from a raw value (machine fingerprints, admin key hashes).
-pub fn hex_sha256(s: &str) -> String {
-    use sha2::{Digest, Sha256};
-    let mut hasher = Sha256::new();
-    hasher.update(s.as_bytes());
-    hex::encode(hasher.finalize())
-}
+//!
+//! The actual modules (api, btcpay, db, etc.) live in `src/lib.rs` so that
+//! integration tests under `tests/` can also reach them. Both the binary
+//! and the library compile from the same source files; nothing here
+//! changes between targets.
 
 use anyhow::Context;
+use keysat::{api, btcpay, config, crypto, db, license_self, payment, reconcile, webhooks};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use tower_http::trace::TraceLayer;
 use tracing_subscriber::{fmt, prelude::*, EnvFilter};
diff --git a/licensing-service/tests/api.rs b/licensing-service/tests/api.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdc5093
--- /dev/null
+++ b/licensing-service/tests/api.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,364 @@
+//! API endpoint integration tests.
+//!
+//! Drives real HTTP requests through the daemon's `axum::Router` against
+//! a real SQLite database (per-test tempfile, identical pool options to
+//! `src/db/mod.rs::init`). Companion to `tests/migrations.rs`: that file
+//! tested schema correctness; this one tests endpoint correctness.
+//!
+//! These tests bypass `main.rs`'s env-var bootstrap and skip background
+//! workers (reconcile, webhook delivery, session reaper). They construct
+//! `AppState` programmatically with deterministic values so the same
+//! pool, signing key, and admin token are reachable from inside the test
+//! body.
+
+use axum::body::{to_bytes, Body};
+use axum::http::{Request, StatusCode};
+use axum::response::Response;
+use chrono::Utc;
+use keysat::api::{self, AppState};
+use keysat::config::Config;
+use keysat::crypto::{self, LicensePayload};
+use keysat::db::repo;
+use keysat::license_self::Tier;
+use serde_json::{json, Value};
+use sqlx::sqlite::{
+    SqliteConnectOptions, SqliteJournalMode, SqlitePool, SqlitePoolOptions, SqliteSynchronous,
+};
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::time::Duration;
+use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
+use tokio::sync::RwLock;
+use tower::ServiceExt;
+use uuid::Uuid;
+
+/// Deterministic admin token used by every test that exercises an admin
+/// endpoint. ≥32 chars to satisfy `Config::from_env`'s validation rule
+/// (we don't go through that path here, but matching the constraint
+/// keeps fixtures realistic).
+const TEST_ADMIN_KEY: &str = "test_admin_api_key_with_at_least_32_chars_present";
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Fixtures
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Open a fresh pool against a throwaway tempfile, mirroring
+/// `src/db/mod.rs::init` exactly. `NamedTempFile` is returned so the
+/// caller keeps it alive for the test's lifetime — when it drops, the
+/// OS reclaims the file.
+async fn make_pool() -> (SqlitePool, NamedTempFile) {
+    let tmp = NamedTempFile::new().expect("create tempfile");
+    let url = format!("sqlite://{}", tmp.path().display());
+    let opts = SqliteConnectOptions::from_str(&url)
+        .expect("parse sqlite url")
+        .create_if_missing(true)
+        .journal_mode(SqliteJournalMode::Wal)
+        .synchronous(SqliteSynchronous::Normal)
+        .foreign_keys(true)
+        .busy_timeout(Duration::from_secs(5));
+    let pool = SqlitePoolOptions::new()
+        .max_connections(2)
+        .connect_with(opts)
+        .await
+        .expect("connect to sqlite");
+    sqlx::migrate!("./migrations")
+        .run(&pool)
+        .await
+        .expect("run migrations");
+    (pool, tmp)
+}
+
+/// Build a fully-populated `AppState` ready to serve requests. Skips
+/// `main.rs`'s env-var bootstrap and never spawns background workers —
+/// these tests only exercise the request/response handler chain.
+///
+/// - `payment` is `None`. Endpoints that require a payment provider
+///   (e.g. `POST /v1/purchase`) will return 503; tests below don't drive
+///   those paths.
+/// - `self_tier = Tier::Unlicensed` inherits Creator-tier caps (5
+///   products, 5 codes, etc.). Plenty for the small fixtures here.
+async fn make_test_state() -> (AppState, NamedTempFile) {
+    let (pool, tmp) = make_pool().await;
+    let keypair = crypto::keys::load_or_generate(&pool)
+        .await
+        .expect("load_or_generate keypair");
+
+    let cfg = Config {
+        bind: "127.0.0.1:0".parse().unwrap(),
+        db_path: PathBuf::from(":memory:"),
+        admin_api_key: TEST_ADMIN_KEY.to_string(),
+        btcpay_url: "http://btcpay.test:23000".to_string(),
+        btcpay_browser_url: None,
+        btcpay_public_url: None,
+        btcpay_api_key: None,
+        btcpay_store_id: None,
+        btcpay_webhook_secret: None,
+        public_base_url: "http://keysat.test".to_string(),
+        operator_name: Some("Test Operator".into()),
+    };
+
+    let state = AppState {
+        db: pool,
+        keypair: Arc::new(keypair),
+        payment: Arc::new(RwLock::new(None)),
+        config: Arc::new(cfg),
+        self_tier: Arc::new(RwLock::new(Tier::Unlicensed {
+            reason: "test fixture".into(),
+        })),
+    };
+    (state, tmp)
+}
+
+/// Issue one request through the router. Clones state per call (cheap;
+/// the DB pool, Arc'd config and keypair are all `Clone`) so multiple
+/// requests in a single test share the same backend.
+async fn send(state: &AppState, req: Request<Body>) -> Response {
+    api::router(state.clone())
+        .oneshot(req)
+        .await
+        .expect("router::oneshot")
+}
+
+async fn body_json(resp: Response) -> Value {
+    let bytes = to_bytes(resp.into_body(), 1024 * 1024)
+        .await
+        .expect("read body");
+    serde_json::from_slice(&bytes).expect("response body should be JSON")
+}
+
+fn build_request(
+    method: &str,
+    uri: &str,
+    headers: &[(&str, &str)],
+    body: Option<Value>,
+) -> Request<Body> {
+    let mut b = Request::builder().method(method).uri(uri);
+    for (k, v) in headers {
+        b = b.header(*k, *v);
+    }
+    let body = match body {
+        Some(v) => {
+            b = b.header("content-type", "application/json");
+            Body::from(serde_json::to_vec(&v).expect("serialize JSON body"))
+        }
+        None => Body::empty(),
+    };
+    b.body(body).expect("build request")
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tests
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Smoke test for the framework. If this passes, we know the
+/// state-construction + router-dispatch + response-parsing pipeline
+/// works; tests below can focus on real assertions.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn health_endpoint_returns_200() {
+    let (state, _tmp) = make_test_state().await;
+    let req = build_request("GET", "/healthz", &[], None);
+    let resp = send(&state, req).await;
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::OK);
+}
+
+/// Admin endpoints reject calls that lack a valid admin token. The
+/// distinction between 401 (no/malformed header) and 403 (header present
+/// but token doesn't match) matters — the SPA renders different UI for
+/// each ("you're not logged in" vs "you don't have permission").
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn admin_endpoint_rejects_missing_or_wrong_auth() {
+    let (state, _tmp) = make_test_state().await;
+    let body = json!({"slug": "x", "name": "X", "price_sats": 100});
+
+    // No Authorization header → 401 unauthorized.
+    let req = build_request("POST", "/v1/admin/products", &[], Some(body.clone()));
+    let resp = send(&state, req).await;
+    assert_eq!(
+        resp.status(),
+        StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED,
+        "missing auth header should be 401"
+    );
+
+    // Wrong token → 403 forbidden. (The constant-time compare in
+    // require_admin returns Forbidden, not Unauthorized, when a token
+    // is present but doesn't match.)
+    let req = build_request(
+        "POST",
+        "/v1/admin/products",
+        &[(
+            "authorization",
+            "Bearer wrong_token_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
+        )],
+        Some(body),
+    );
+    let resp = send(&state, req).await;
+    assert_eq!(
+        resp.status(),
+        StatusCode::FORBIDDEN,
+        "wrong token should be 403"
+    );
+}
+
+/// The full happy path for an admin write: auth → handler → DB insert
+/// → audit log → response. If a refactor ever breaks one of those
+/// links, this fails loudly.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn admin_creates_product_with_correct_token() {
+    let (state, _tmp) = make_test_state().await;
+    let auth = format!("Bearer {}", TEST_ADMIN_KEY);
+
+    let req = build_request(
+        "POST",
+        "/v1/admin/products",
+        &[("authorization", &auth)],
+        Some(json!({
+            "slug": "test-product",
+            "name": "Test Product",
+            "description": "for tests",
+            "price_sats": 10_000
+        })),
+    );
+    let resp = send(&state, req).await;
+    assert_eq!(
+        resp.status(),
+        StatusCode::OK,
+        "expected 200; got {}",
+        resp.status()
+    );
+
+    let body = body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(body["slug"], "test-product");
+    assert_eq!(body["name"], "Test Product");
+    assert_eq!(body["price_sats"], 10_000);
+    let id = body["id"]
+        .as_str()
+        .expect("response body should contain product id")
+        .to_string();
+
+    // Row landed in DB.
+    let count: i64 = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM products WHERE id = ?")
+        .bind(&id)
+        .fetch_one(&state.db)
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(count, 1, "exactly one product row should exist");
+
+    // Audit row was written for the create.
+    let audit_count: i64 = sqlx::query_scalar(
+        "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM audit_log WHERE action = 'product.create' AND target_id = ?",
+    )
+    .bind(&id)
+    .fetch_one(&state.db)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(audit_count, 1, "audit log should record one create");
+}
+
+/// `/v1/validate` always returns HTTP 200 (per the documented contract);
+/// failures are surfaced via `ok: false` + a machine-readable `reason`.
+/// Bogus input returns `bad_format` — the parser couldn't even decode
+/// the base32 envelope. This exercises the rate-limit pre-check and
+/// the early parse-fail path.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn validate_rejects_unsigned_garbage() {
+    let (state, _tmp) = make_test_state().await;
+    let req = build_request(
+        "POST",
+        "/v1/validate",
+        &[],
+        Some(json!({"key": "not-a-real-license"})),
+    );
+    let resp = send(&state, req).await;
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::OK);
+    let body = body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(body["ok"], false);
+    assert_eq!(body["reason"], "bad_format");
+}
+
+/// End-to-end license validation:
+///   - seed a product
+///   - issue a license tied to it
+///   - sign a matching `LicensePayload` with the daemon's actual key
+///   - encode to the base32 wire format
+///   - POST /v1/validate
+///   - assert `ok: true` plus the populated metadata fields
+///
+/// This is the most complex of the first round — it ties together DB
+/// writes, the crypto module, and the validate handler. If anything in
+/// any of those layers regresses, this fails.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn validate_accepts_well_formed_license() {
+    let (state, _tmp) = make_test_state().await;
+
+    // Seed a product directly via the repo (skip the admin endpoint —
+    // this test is about /v1/validate, not product creation).
+    let product = repo::create_product(
+        &state.db,
+        "validate-test",
+        "Validate Test",
+        "",
+        100,
+        &json!({}),
+    )
+    .await
+    .expect("create_product");
+
+    // Issue a license tied to that product. Perpetual, single-machine,
+    // no entitlements — the simplest valid license shape.
+    let license_id = Uuid::new_v4();
+    let issued_at = Utc::now();
+    repo::create_license(
+        &state.db,
+        &license_id.to_string(),
+        &product.id,
+        None,                      // invoice_id (manual issuance — no invoice)
+        &issued_at.to_rfc3339(),
+        &json!({}),                // metadata
+        None,                      // policy_id
+        None,                      // expires_at — perpetual
+        0,                         // grace_seconds
+        1,                         // max_machines
+        &[],                       // entitlements
+        false,                     // is_trial
+        None,                      // buyer_email
+        None,                      // nostr_npub
+    )
+    .await
+    .expect("create_license");
+
+    // Build the matching signed payload. Must use the same product_id
+    // and license_id as the DB row, because validate() looks the row up
+    // by license_id and verifies product_id matches.
+    let product_uuid = Uuid::parse_str(&product.id).expect("product id is a uuid");
+    let payload = LicensePayload {
+        version: 2,
+        flags: 0,
+        product_id: product_uuid,
+        license_id,
+        issued_at: issued_at.timestamp(),
+        expires_at: 0,
+        fingerprint_hash: [0; 32],
+        entitlements: vec![],
+    };
+    let signature = crypto::sign_payload(&state.keypair.signing, &payload);
+    let key_string = crypto::encode_key(&payload, &signature);
+
+    let req = build_request(
+        "POST",
+        "/v1/validate",
+        &[],
+        Some(json!({"key": key_string})),
+    );
+    let resp = send(&state, req).await;
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::OK);
+
+    let body = body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(
+        body["ok"], true,
+        "validation rejected a known-good license: {body:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(body["license_id"], license_id.to_string());
+    assert_eq!(body["product_id"], product.id);
+    assert_eq!(body["status"], "active");
+}