diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.slnx b/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.slnx
index d43c521..779b37f 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.slnx
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.slnx
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
   <Folder Name="/tests/" />
   <Folder Name="/tests/Core/">
     <Project Path="tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions.Tests.csproj" />
+    <Project Path="tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests.csproj" />
     <Project Path="tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Configuration.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Configuration.Tests.csproj" />
     <Project Path="tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Tests.csproj" />
     <Project Path="tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Scripting.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Scripting.Tests.csproj" />
diff --git a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/HoconLoaderTests.cs b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/HoconLoaderTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e28aa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/HoconLoaderTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+using Akka.Configuration;
+using Shouldly;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests;
+
+public sealed class HoconLoaderTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public void LoadBaseConfig_returns_nonempty_string()
+    {
+        var hocon = HoconLoader.LoadBaseConfig();
+        hocon.ShouldNotBeNullOrWhiteSpace();
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Base_config_parses_to_cluster_provider()
+    {
+        var cfg = ConfigurationFactory.ParseString(HoconLoader.LoadBaseConfig());
+        cfg.GetString("akka.actor.provider").ShouldBe("cluster");
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Split_brain_resolver_is_keep_oldest()
+    {
+        var cfg = ConfigurationFactory.ParseString(HoconLoader.LoadBaseConfig());
+        cfg.GetString("akka.cluster.split-brain-resolver.active-strategy").ShouldBe("keep-oldest");
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Stable_after_is_15_seconds()
+    {
+        var cfg = ConfigurationFactory.ParseString(HoconLoader.LoadBaseConfig());
+        cfg.GetTimeSpan("akka.cluster.split-brain-resolver.stable-after")
+            .ShouldBe(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Failure_detector_threshold_is_10()
+    {
+        var cfg = ConfigurationFactory.ParseString(HoconLoader.LoadBaseConfig());
+        cfg.GetDouble("akka.cluster.failure-detector.threshold").ShouldBe(10.0);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Opcua_synchronized_dispatcher_is_pinned()
+    {
+        var cfg = ConfigurationFactory.ParseString(HoconLoader.LoadBaseConfig());
+        cfg.GetString("opcua-synchronized-dispatcher.type").ShouldBe("PinnedDispatcher");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/RoleParserTests.cs b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/RoleParserTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b82671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/RoleParserTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+using Shouldly;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests;
+
+public sealed class RoleParserTests
+{
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData(null)]
+    [InlineData("")]
+    [InlineData("   ")]
+    public void Empty_input_yields_empty_array(string? raw)
+    {
+        RoleParser.Parse(raw).ShouldBeEmpty();
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Single_role_admin()
+    {
+        RoleParser.Parse("admin").ShouldBe(new[] { "admin" });
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Two_roles_csv()
+    {
+        RoleParser.Parse("admin,driver").ShouldBe(new[] { "admin", "driver" });
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Whitespace_tolerant()
+    {
+        RoleParser.Parse(" admin , driver ").ShouldBe(new[] { "admin", "driver" });
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Case_insensitive_normalizes_to_lower()
+    {
+        RoleParser.Parse("ADMIN,Driver").ShouldBe(new[] { "admin", "driver" });
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Duplicate_roles_deduped()
+    {
+        RoleParser.Parse("admin,admin,driver").ShouldBe(new[] { "admin", "driver" });
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Unknown_role_throws()
+    {
+        Should.Throw<ArgumentException>(() => RoleParser.Parse("admin,master"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests.csproj b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests.csproj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d4d4b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests.csproj
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
+
+    <PropertyGroup>
+        <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
+        <IsTestProject>true</IsTestProject>
+        <RootNamespace>ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests</RootNamespace>
+        <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+
+    <ItemGroup>
+        <PackageReference Include="xunit.v3"/>
+        <PackageReference Include="Shouldly"/>
+        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk"/>
+        <PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio">
+            <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
+            <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
+        </PackageReference>
+    </ItemGroup>
+
+    <ItemGroup>
+        <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\src\Core\ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster\ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.csproj"/>
+        <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\src\Core\ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Commons\ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Commons.csproj"/>
+    </ItemGroup>
+
+    <ItemGroup>
+        <!-- OpenTelemetry.Api advisory inherits from Akka.Cluster.Hosting (see Cluster.csproj). -->
+        <NuGetAuditSuppress Include="https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-g94r-2vxg-569j"/>
+    </ItemGroup>
+
+</Project>