diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml
index 4b7b4c11..b2392781 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ jobs:
           python-version: "3.11"
 
     steps:
+      # these libraries enable testing on Qt on linux
+      - uses: pyvista/setup-headless-display-action@v2
+        with:
+          qt: true
       - name: Cache Test Data
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 0fbedce8..d4a32d4d 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 include LICENSE
 include *.md
 include CITATION.CFF
+include movement/napari/napari.yaml
 exclude .pre-commit-config.yaml
 exclude .cruft.json
 
diff --git a/docs/source/user_guide/installation.md b/docs/source/user_guide/installation.md
index 404acceb..e813ac98 100644
--- a/docs/source/user_guide/installation.md
+++ b/docs/source/user_guide/installation.md
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Create and activate an environment with movement installed:
 conda create -n movement-env -c conda-forge movement
 conda activate movement-env
 ```
+This will install all dependencies, including [napari](napari:),
+which provides the GUI for movement.
 :::
 :::{tab-item} Pip
 Create and activate an environment with some prerequisites:
@@ -27,10 +29,15 @@ Create and activate an environment with some prerequisites:
 conda create -n movement-env -c conda-forge python=3.11 pytables
 conda activate movement-env
 ```
-Install the latest movement release from PyPI:
+Install the core package from the latest release on PyPI:
 ```sh
 pip install movement
 ```
+If you wish to use the GUI, which additionally requires [napari](napari:),
+you should instead run:
+```sh
+pip install movement[napari]
+```
 :::
 ::::
 
@@ -45,6 +52,16 @@ movement info
 You should see a printout including the version numbers of movement
 and some of its dependencies.
 
+To test the GUI installation, you can run:
+
+```sh
+napari -w movement
+```
+
+This should open a new `napari` window with the `movement` plugin loaded
+on the right side.
+
+
 ## Update the package
 To update movement to the latest version, we recommend installing it in a new environment,
 as this prevents potential compatibility issues caused by changes in dependency versions.
diff --git a/movement/napari/__init__.py b/movement/napari/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/movement/napari/_loader_widget.py b/movement/napari/_loader_widget.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7da5c3ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/movement/napari/_loader_widget.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from napari.utils.notifications import show_info
+from napari.viewer import Viewer
+from qtpy.QtWidgets import (
+    QFormLayout,
+    QPushButton,
+    QWidget,
+)
+
+
+class Loader(QWidget):
+    """Widget for loading data from files."""
+
+    def __init__(self, napari_viewer: Viewer, parent=None):
+        """Initialize the loader widget."""
+        super().__init__(parent=parent)
+        self.viewer = napari_viewer
+        self.setLayout(QFormLayout())
+        # Create widgets
+        self._create_hello_widget()
+
+    def _create_hello_widget(self):
+        """Create the hello widget.
+
+        This widget contains a button that, when clicked, shows a greeting.
+        """
+        hello_button = QPushButton("Say hello")
+        hello_button.clicked.connect(self._on_hello_clicked)
+        self.layout().addRow("Greeting", hello_button)
+
+    def _on_hello_clicked(self):
+        """Show a greeting."""
+        show_info("Hello, world!")
diff --git a/movement/napari/_meta_widget.py b/movement/napari/_meta_widget.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ed09575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/movement/napari/_meta_widget.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+"""The main napari widget for the ``movement`` package."""
+
+from brainglobe_utils.qtpy.collapsible_widget import CollapsibleWidgetContainer
+from napari.viewer import Viewer
+
+from movement.napari._loader_widget import Loader
+
+
+class MovementMetaWidget(CollapsibleWidgetContainer):
+    """The widget to rule all ``movement`` napari widgets.
+
+    This is a container of collapsible widgets, each responsible
+    for handing specific tasks in the movement napari workflow.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, napari_viewer: Viewer, parent=None):
+        """Initialize the meta-widget."""
+        super().__init__()
+
+        self.add_widget(
+            Loader(napari_viewer, parent=self),
+            collapsible=True,
+            widget_title="Load data",
+        )
+
+        self.loader = self.collapsible_widgets[0]
+        self.loader.expand()  # expand the loader widget by default
diff --git a/movement/napari/napari.yaml b/movement/napari/napari.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..15d956fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/movement/napari/napari.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+name: movement
+display_name: movement
+contributions:
+  commands:
+    - id: movement.make_widget
+      python_name: movement.napari._meta_widget:MovementMetaWidget
+      title: movement
+  widgets:
+    - command: movement.make_widget
+      display_name: movement
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 27348c29..c805d72e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ classifiers = [
   "License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License",
 ]
 
+# Entry point for napari plugin
+entry-points."napari.manifest".movement = "movement.napari:napari.yaml"
+
 [project.urls]
 "Homepage" = "https://github.com/neuroinformatics-unit/movement"
 "Bug Tracker" = "https://github.com/neuroinformatics-unit/movement/issues"
@@ -43,9 +46,18 @@ classifiers = [
 "User Support" = "https://neuroinformatics.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/406001-Movement"
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
+napari = [
+  "napari[all]>=0.4.19",
+  # the rest will be replaced by brainglobe-utils[qt]>=0.6 after release
+  "brainglobe-atlasapi>=2.0.7",
+  "brainglobe-utils>=0.5",
+  "qtpy",
+  "superqt",
+]
 dev = [
   "pytest",
   "pytest-cov",
+  "pytest-mock",
   "coverage",
   "tox",
   "mypy",
@@ -58,6 +70,8 @@ dev = [
   "check-manifest",
   "types-PyYAML",
   "types-requests",
+  "pytest-qt",
+  "movement[napari]",
 ]
 
 [project.scripts]
@@ -156,6 +170,13 @@ conda_deps =
     pytables
 conda_channels =
     conda-forge
+passenv =
+    CI
+    GITHUB_ACTIONS
+    DISPLAY
+    XAUTHORITY
+    NUMPY_EXPERIMENTAL_ARRAY_FUNCTION
+    PYVISTA_OFF_SCREEN
 extras =
     dev
 commands =
diff --git a/tests/test_integration/test_napari_plugin.py b/tests/test_integration/test_napari_plugin.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7225dc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_integration/test_napari_plugin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import pytest
+from qtpy.QtWidgets import QPushButton, QWidget
+
+from movement.napari._loader_widget import Loader
+from movement.napari._meta_widget import MovementMetaWidget
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def meta_widget(make_napari_viewer_proxy) -> MovementMetaWidget:
+    """Fixture to expose the MovementMetaWidget for testing.
+    Simultaneously acts as a smoke test that the widget
+    can be instantiated without crashing.
+    """
+    viewer = make_napari_viewer_proxy()
+    return MovementMetaWidget(viewer)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def loader_widget(meta_widget) -> QWidget:
+    """Fixture to expose the Loader widget for testing."""
+    loader = meta_widget.loader.content()
+    return loader
+
+
+def test_meta_widget(meta_widget):
+    """Test that the meta widget is properly instantiated."""
+    assert meta_widget is not None
+    assert len(meta_widget.collapsible_widgets) == 1
+
+    first_widget = meta_widget.collapsible_widgets[0]
+    assert first_widget._text == "Load data"
+    assert first_widget.isExpanded()
+
+
+def test_loader_widget(loader_widget):
+    """Test that the loader widget is properly instantiated."""
+    assert loader_widget is not None
+    assert loader_widget.layout().rowCount() == 1
+
+
+def test_hello_button_calls_on_hello_clicked(make_napari_viewer_proxy, mocker):
+    """Test that clicking the hello button calls _on_hello_clicked.
+
+    Here we have to create a new Loader widget after mocking the method.
+    We cannot reuse the existing widget fixture because then it would be too
+    late to mock (the widget has already "decided" which method to call).
+    """
+    mock_method = mocker.patch(
+        "movement.napari._loader_widget.Loader._on_hello_clicked"
+    )
+    loader = Loader(make_napari_viewer_proxy)
+    hello_button = loader.findChildren(QPushButton)[0]
+    hello_button.click()
+    mock_method.assert_called_once()
+
+
+def test_on_hello_clicked_outputs_message(loader_widget, capsys):
+    """Test that _on_hello_clicked outputs the expected message."""
+    loader_widget._on_hello_clicked()
+    captured = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert "INFO: Hello, world!" in captured.out