diff --git a/csl/spec/csl_spec.lua b/csl/spec/csl_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea75c0255
--- /dev/null
+++ b/csl/spec/csl_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+SILE = require("core.sile")
+
+local CslLocale = require("csl.core.locale").CslLocale
+local CslStyle = require("csl.core.style").CslStyle
+local CslEngine = require("csl.core.engine").CslEngine
+
+describe("CSL engine", function ()
+   local locale, err1 = CslLocale.read("csl/locales/locales-en-US.xml")
+   local style, err2 = CslStyle.read("csl/styles/chicago-author-date.csl")
+
+   -- The expected internal representation of the CSL entry is similar to CSL-JSON
+   -- but with some differences:
+   --    Date fields are structured tables (not an array of numbers as in CSL-JSON).
+   --    citation-number (mandatory) is supposed to have been added by the citation processor.
+   --    locator (optional, also possibly added by the citation processor) is a table with label and value fields.
+   local cslentrySmith2024 = {
+      type = "paper-conference",
+      ["citation-key"] = "smith2024",
+      ["citation-number"] = 1,
+      author = {
+         {
+            family = "Smith",
+            ["family-short"] = "S",
+            given = "George",
+            ["given-short"] = "G",
+         }
+      },
+      title = "Article title",
+      page = "30-50",
+      issued = {
+         year = "2024"
+      },
+      publisher = "Publisher",
+      ["publisher-place"] = "Place",
+      volume = "10",
+      editor = {
+         {
+            family = "Doe",
+            ["family-short"] = "D",
+            given = "Jane",
+            ["given-short"] = "J",
+         }
+      },
+      locator = {
+         label = "page",
+         value = "30-35"
+      },
+      ["collection-number"] = "3",
+      ["collection-title"] = "Series",
+      ["container-title"] = "Book Title",
+   }
+
+   it("should parse locale and style", function ()
+      assert.is.falsy(err1)
+      assert.is.falsy(err2)
+      assert.is.truthy(locale)
+      assert.is.truthy(style)
+   end)
+
+   it("should render a citation", function ()
+      local engine = CslEngine(style, locale)
+      local citation = engine:cite(cslentrySmith2024)
+      assert.is.equal("(Smith 2024, 30–35)", citation)
+   end)
+
+   it ("should render a reference", function ()
+      local engine = CslEngine(style, locale)
+      local reference = engine:reference(cslentrySmith2024)
+      assert.is.equal(
+         "Smith, George. 2024. “Article title.” In <em>Book Title,</em> edited by Jane Doe, 10:30–50. Series 3. Place: Publisher.",
+         reference)
+   end)
+end)