diff --git a/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go b/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae1e66b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+// Package e2e cross-validates the emitted Zeta artifacts against the REAL
+// Zeta Lua loaders: the arch-binary package.lua through ZETA/lib/manifest.lua
+// and the arch-src .recipe through zeta-toolchain/toolchain/lib/recipe.lua.
+//
+// The converters are driven as packages (not via the CLI), so this runs
+// under plain `go test` with no built binary. Everything lands in
+// t.TempDir(); the only absolute paths are the two loader library roots,
+// which live in sibling repositories and cannot be expressed relative to
+// this module.
+package e2e
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.spectoria.dev/huntedbytheirs/zeta-reconstruct/internal/arch/binary"
+	"git.spectoria.dev/huntedbytheirs/zeta-reconstruct/internal/arch/src"
+	"git.spectoria.dev/huntedbytheirs/zeta-reconstruct/internal/registry"
+)
+
+const (
+	// manifestLibRoot lets a Lua probe require("manifest") from the ZETA
+	// library checkout.
+	manifestLibRoot = "/home/specter/Public/ZETA/lib/?.lua"
+	// recipeLibRoot lets a Lua probe require("recipe") from the
+	// zeta-toolchain library checkout.
+	recipeLibRoot = "/home/specter/Public/zeta-toolchain/toolchain/lib/?.lua"
+)
+
+// runLua executes script with the `lua` interpreter and returns its output.
+// The whole suite is skipped when lua is not installed.
+func runLua(t *testing.T, script string) (string, error) {
+	t.Helper()
+	lua, err := exec.LookPath("lua")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("lua not installed: %v", err)
+	}
+	out, err := exec.Command(lua, "-e", script).Output()
+	return string(out), err
+}
+
+// manifestProbe returns a Lua script that loads the manifest at path through
+// the real ZETA manifest.load. assert makes a nil,nil-err result a hard
+// failure (non-zero exit), so exit code 0 proves load+normalize succeeded.
+// The trailing ";" separates our component from the default package.path.
+func manifestProbe(path string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(
+		`package.path=%q..package.path; local m=require("manifest"); assert(m.load(%q))`,
+		manifestLibRoot+";", path,
+	)
+}
+
+// recipeProbe returns a Lua script that loads the recipe at path through the
+// real zeta-makepkg recipe.load, with the same assert semantics.
+func recipeProbe(path string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(
+		`package.path=%q..package.path; local r=require("recipe"); assert(r.load(%q))`,
+		recipeLibRoot+";", path,
+	)
+}
+
+// TestEndToEnd runs both converters into one temp dir and validates every
+// emitted artifact through the real Lua loaders.
+func TestEndToEnd(t *testing.T) {
+	out := t.TempDir()
+
+	// arch-binary: committed fixture -> packages/hello/package.lua.
+	if err := binary.Convert(
+		filepath.Join("..", "..", "testdata", "hello-1.0-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst"),
+		registry.Options{Output: out, Repo: "https://example.org/repo"},
+	); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("binary.Convert: %v", err)
+	}
+	manifestPath := filepath.Join(out, "packages", "hello", "package.lua")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(manifestPath); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected manifest at %s: %v", manifestPath, err)
+	}
+	if stdout, err := runLua(t, manifestProbe(manifestPath)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("manifest probe failed: %v\nlua output: %s", err, stdout)
+	}
+
+	// arch-src: committed fixture -> <out>/mytool.recipe.
+	if err := src.Convert(
+		filepath.Join("..", "..", "testdata", "srcinfo", "mytool"),
+		registry.Options{Output: out, Arch: "x86_64"},
+	); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("src.Convert: %v", err)
+	}
+	recipePath := filepath.Join(out, "mytool.recipe")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(recipePath); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected recipe at %s: %v", recipePath, err)
+	}
+	if stdout, err := runLua(t, recipeProbe(recipePath)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("recipe probe failed: %v\nlua output: %s", err, stdout)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestEndToEndRejectsBrokenManifest proves the manifest probe is real, not a
+// no-op: corrupting the emitted sha256 must make manifest.load (and thus the
+// probe) fail. A probe that ignored the file would let this test fail.
+func TestEndToEndRejectsBrokenManifest(t *testing.T) {
+	out := t.TempDir()
+
+	if err := binary.Convert(
+		filepath.Join("..", "..", "testdata", "hello-1.0-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst"),
+		registry.Options{Output: out, Repo: "https://example.org/repo"},
+	); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("binary.Convert: %v", err)
+	}
+	manifestPath := filepath.Join(out, "packages", "hello", "package.lua")
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(manifestPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read manifest: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	sha256Re := regexp.MustCompile(`[0-9a-fA-F]{64}`)
+	broken := sha256Re.ReplaceAllString(string(content), "zzz")
+	if broken == string(content) || !strings.Contains(broken, "zzz") {
+		t.Fatal("could not corrupt the manifest: no 64-hex sha256 found")
+	}
+	brokenPath := filepath.Join(out, "broken-package.lua")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(brokenPath, []byte(broken), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write broken manifest: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	stdout, err := runLua(t, manifestProbe(brokenPath))
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("probe unexpectedly accepted broken manifest\nlua output: %s", stdout)
+	}
+}