diff --git a/packages/backend/src/managers/playground.spec.ts b/packages/backend/src/managers/playground.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bdbc24f86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend/src/managers/playground.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+import { beforeEach, expect, test, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { PlayGroundManager } from './playground';
+import { ImageInfo, Webview } from '@podman-desktop/api';
+
+const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  postMessage: vi.fn(),
+  getContainerConnections: vi.fn(),
+  pullImage: vi.fn(),
+  createContainer: vi.fn(),
+  stopContainer: vi.fn(),
+  getFreePort: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+vi.mock('@podman-desktop/api', async () => {
+  return {
+    provider: {
+      getContainerConnections: mocks.getContainerConnections,
+    },
+    containerEngine: {
+      pullImage: mocks.pullImage,
+      createContainer: mocks.createContainer,
+      stopContainer: mocks.stopContainer,
+    },
+  };
+});
+
+vi.mock('../utils/ports', async () => {
+  return {
+    getFreePort: mocks.getFreePort,
+  };
+});
+
+let manager: PlayGroundManager;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  vi.resetAllMocks();
+
+  manager = new PlayGroundManager({
+    postMessage: mocks.postMessage,
+  } as unknown as Webview);
+});
+
+test('startPlayground should fail if no provider', async () => {
+  mocks.getContainerConnections.mockReturnValue([]);
+  await expect(manager.startPlayground('model1', '/path/to/model')).rejects.toThrowError(
+    'Unable to find an engine to start playground',
+  );
+});
+
+test('startPlayground should download image if not present then create container', async () => {
+  mocks.getContainerConnections.mockReturnValue([
+    {
+      connection: {
+        type: 'podman',
+        status: () => 'started',
+      },
+    },
+  ]);
+  vi.spyOn(manager, 'selectImage')
+    .mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined)
+    .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      Id: 'image1',
+      engineId: 'engine1',
+    } as ImageInfo);
+  mocks.createContainer.mockReturnValue({
+    id: 'container1',
+  });
+  mocks.getFreePort.mockResolvedValue(8085);
+  await manager.startPlayground('model1', '/path/to/model');
+  expect(mocks.pullImage).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  expect(mocks.createContainer).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 'engine1', {
+    Cmd: ['--models-path', '/models', '--context-size', '700', '--threads', '4'],
+    Detach: true,
+    Env: ['MODEL_PATH=/models/model'],
+    ExposedPorts: {
+      '8085': {},
+    },
+    HostConfig: {
+      AutoRemove: true,
+      Mounts: [
+        {
+          Source: '/path/to',
+          Target: '/models',
+          Type: 'bind',
+        },
+      ],
+      PortBindings: {
+        '8000/tcp': [
+          {
+            HostPort: '8085',
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    },
+    Image: 'image1',
+    Labels: {
+      'ia-studio-model': 'model1',
+    },
+  });
+});
+
+test('stopPlayground should fail if no playground is running', async () => {
+  await expect(manager.stopPlayground('unknown-model')).rejects.toThrowError('model is not running');
+});
+
+test('stopPlayground should stop a started playground', async () => {
+  mocks.getContainerConnections.mockReturnValue([
+    {
+      connection: {
+        type: 'podman',
+        status: () => 'started',
+      },
+    },
+  ]);
+  vi.spyOn(manager, 'selectImage').mockResolvedValue({
+    Id: 'image1',
+    engineId: 'engine1',
+  } as ImageInfo);
+  mocks.createContainer.mockReturnValue({
+    id: 'container1',
+  });
+  mocks.stopContainer.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+  mocks.getFreePort.mockResolvedValue(8085);
+  await manager.startPlayground('model1', '/path/to/model');
+  await manager.stopPlayground('model1');
+  expect(mocks.stopContainer).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 'engine1', 'container1');
+});