diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 1d044c8..580e1c5 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 
 using JuliaFEM, Test
 
+# Shared zero-allocation / LLVM IR helpers for topic tests (loaded once).
+include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "zero_alloc_helpers.jl"))
+include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "test_api_contract.jl"))
+include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "test_pkg_hygiene.jl"))
+include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "test_inference_smoke.jl"))
+
 # The active test tree mirrors `src/`. Every subdirectory below has its
 # own `runtests.jl` that bundles the topic into a single `@testset`.
 # Adding a new topic = adding the directory to `topics` below.
@@ -20,11 +26,12 @@ const TOPICS = [
     "domains/heat",
     "domains/darcy",
     "domains/thermo_elastic",
+    "domains/poroelastic",
+    "domains/thermo_poroelastic",
     "dofs",
     "interface",
     "assemblers",
     "sparse",
-    "io",
     "validation",
     "reference",
     "docs",
@@ -35,6 +42,7 @@ const TOPICS = [
 # if none match, run the full suite with a warning.
 #
 # `Pkg.test(; test_args=["assemblers", ...])` forwards those strings to ARGS.
+# Only names from `TOPICS` below are accepted (e.g. `"assemblers"`), not file paths.
 function _topics_from_args()
     requested = String[s for s in ARGS if !startswith(s, '-')]
     isempty(requested) && return TOPICS
@@ -84,6 +92,11 @@ end
         @test LocalField isa Type
     end
 
+    run_api_contract_tests(TOPICS, @__DIR__)
+
+    run_pkg_hygiene_tests()
+    run_inference_smoke_tests()
+
     for topic in _topics_from_args()
         include(joinpath(topic, "runtests.jl"))
     end
diff --git a/test/test_api_contract.jl b/test/test_api_contract.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c8cfa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_api_contract.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2026 Jukka Aho
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+"""
+Cross-cutting API contract tests for LLM-heavy workflows.
+
+1. Every `export` name listed in `src/exports.jl` resolves in `JuliaFEM`
+   after `using JuliaFEM` (catches dropped bindings / typos in exports).
+2. Every directory listed in `TOPICS` in `test/runtests.jl` contains a
+   `runtests.jl` entry point (catches forgotten wiring when adding topics).
+
+Call `run_api_contract_tests(TOPICS, test_root_dir)` from `test/runtests.jl`
+inside the main `@testset` so results nest correctly (`include` alone would
+evaluate child testsets at module scope).
+"""
+
+using Test
+
+"""
+Parse `src/exports.jl` export statements, including comma-continued blocks.
+
+Each comma-separated token is validated with `Base.Meta.parse`, so Unicode
+identifiers (for example `owned_norm²_packed`) and macro exports (`@DOFSet`)
+are accepted. Returns a `Vector{Symbol}` of unique exported names (order
+preserved).
+"""
+function _parse_exported_symbols(exports_path::String)
+    lines = readlines(exports_path)
+    names = Symbol[]
+    seen = Set{Symbol}()
+    i = 1
+    while i ≤ length(lines)
+        raw = lines[i]
+        stripped = lstrip(raw)
+        if !startswith(stripped, "export ")
+            i += 1
+            continue
+        end
+        rest = stripped[begin+length("export "):end]
+        hash = findfirst('#', rest)
+        if hash !== nothing
+            rest = rest[1:prevind(rest, hash)]
+        end
+        buf = IOBuffer()
+        print(buf, rest)
+        i += 1
+        while i ≤ length(lines)
+            cont = lines[i]
+            t = lstrip(cont)
+            isempty(t) && break
+            startswith(t, "export ") && break
+            startswith(t, '#') && break
+            print(buf, ' ')
+            h2 = findfirst('#', cont)
+            chunk = h2 === nothing ? cont : cont[1:prevind(cont, h2)]
+            print(buf, strip(chunk))
+            i += 1
+        end
+        blob = String(take!(buf))
+        for part in split(blob, ',')
+            tok = strip(part)
+            isempty(tok) && continue
+            ex = Base.Meta.parse(tok; raise = false)
+            sym = if ex isa Symbol
+                ex::Symbol
+            elseif ex isa Expr && ex.head === :macrocall && length(ex.args) ≥ 1 && ex.args[1] isa Symbol
+                ex.args[1]::Symbol
+            else
+                error("Unexpected export token in exports.jl: $(repr(tok))")
+            end
+            if !(sym in seen)
+                push!(names, sym)
+                push!(seen, sym)
+            end
+        end
+    end
+    return names
+end
+
+"""
+Run nested `@testset`s under the caller's current testset context.
+"""
+function run_api_contract_tests(topics, test_root_dir::String)
+    @testset "TOPICS directories have runtests.jl" begin
+        for topic in topics
+            p = joinpath(test_root_dir, topic, "runtests.jl")
+            @test isfile(p)
+        end
+        @test length(topics) == length(unique(topics))
+    end
+
+    @testset "exports.jl names are defined on JuliaFEM" begin
+        exports_path = joinpath(test_root_dir, "..", "src", "exports.jl")
+        @test isfile(exports_path)
+        syms = _parse_exported_symbols(exports_path)
+        @test length(syms) ≥ 200
+        missing = [s for s in syms if !isdefined(JuliaFEM, s)]
+        if !isempty(missing)
+            @error "exports.jl lists symbols not defined on JuliaFEM" missing = missing
+        end
+        @test isempty(missing)
+    end
+    return nothing
+end
diff --git a/test/test_inference_smoke.jl b/test/test_inference_smoke.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..587d712
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_inference_smoke.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2026 Jukka Aho
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+"""
+Curated `@inferred` checks on small, stable API entry points.
+
+These catch accidental type-instability regressions on hot metadata paths
+without running a whole-package abstract interpretation tool.
+"""
+
+using JuliaFEM
+using Tensors: SymmetricTensor, Tensor
+using Test
+
+function run_inference_smoke_tests()
+    @testset "dof_size inferrable" begin
+        @test (@inferred dof_size(Float64)) === 1
+        @test (@inferred dof_size(Vec{2})) === 2
+        @test (@inferred dof_size(Vec{3})) === 3
+        @test (@inferred dof_size(Tensor{2, 3})) === 9
+        @test (@inferred dof_size(SymmetricTensor{2, 3})) === 6
+    end
+
+    @testset "topology counts inferrable" begin
+        @test (@inferred nnodes(Hex8)) === 8
+        @test (@inferred nnodes(Tet4)) === 4
+        @test (@inferred dim(Hex8())) === 3
+        @test (@inferred dim(Tet4())) === 3
+    end
+
+    @testset "DOF set metadata inferrable" begin
+        S = @DOFSet{u::DOF{Displacement{3}, Vertex}}
+        @test (@inferred field_count(S)) === 1
+        @test (@inferred is_single_field(S)) === true
+        Sm = @DOFSet{
+            T::DOF{Temperature, Vertex},
+            u::DOF{Displacement{3}, Vertex},
+        }
+        @test (@inferred field_count(Sm)) === 2
+        @test (@inferred is_single_field(Sm)) === false
+    end
+
+    return nothing
+end
diff --git a/test/test_pkg_hygiene.jl b/test/test_pkg_hygiene.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4205d40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_pkg_hygiene.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2026 Jukka Aho
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+"""
+Test-only package hygiene via Aqua.jl.
+
+Ambiguities, unbound-args scanning, piracy detection, and persistent-task
+audits are disabled here: they are either too noisy or too slow for a large
+numerical codebase on every `Pkg.test`.
+
+`stale_deps` ignores `CSV`: it is a direct dependency for optional I/O paths
+but is not loaded by `using JuliaFEM` alone, which is what Aqua probes.
+
+`deps_compat` skips compat requirements for standard-library packages listed
+in `[deps]` and turns off the extras table: adding compat entries for every
+stdlib and test-only extra is policy noise for this repository.
+"""
+
+using Aqua
+using Test
+
+function run_pkg_hygiene_tests(m::Module = JuliaFEM)
+    Aqua.test_all(
+        m;
+        ambiguities = false,
+        unbound_args = false,
+        undefined_exports = true,
+        project_extras = true,
+        stale_deps = (; ignore = [:CSV]),
+        deps_compat = (;
+            ignore = [:LinearAlgebra, :Logging, :SparseArrays],
+            check_extras = false,
+        ),
+        piracies = false,
+        persistent_tasks = false,
+        undocumented_names = false,
+    )
+    return nothing
+end
diff --git a/test/testdata/cantilever_beam.msh b/test/testdata/cantilever_beam.msh
deleted file mode 100644
index e46d778..0000000
--- a/test/testdata/cantilever_beam.msh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,989 +0,0 @@
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-$EndElements
diff --git a/test/zero_alloc_helpers.jl b/test/zero_alloc_helpers.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb6c0d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/zero_alloc_helpers.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2015-2026 Jukka Aho
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+"""
+Shared helpers for zero-allocation regression tests.
+
+`@allocated` can miss some paths or mask one-shot caches; scanning optimized
+LLVM IR for Julia GC entrypoints catches heap traffic inside compiled code.
+Names differ across Julia versions (`jl_*` vs `ijl_*`, `julia.gc_alloc`, …);
+`count_llvm_gc_alloc_sites` tracks the union used in practice.
+
+Note: `Pkg.test` runs Julia with `--check-bounds=yes` (`JLOptions().check_bounds == 1`).
+Some small indexed kernels then show GC-related `call` lines in optimized IR even when
+`@allocated` is zero. Prefer `@allocated` plus LLVM scans for large stable kernels
+(`assemble!`, `apply_K!`, …); for tight index loops, gate IR scans or accept that CI
+skips the IR assertion.
+"""
+
+using InteractiveUtils: code_llvm
+
+# Every needle must appear only inside a `call` line in IR we care about.
+const _LLVM_GC_ALLOC_MARKERS = (
+    "julia.gc_alloc",
+    "jl_gc_pool_alloc",
+    "jl_gc_big_alloc",
+    "jl_gc_alloc_typed",
+    "jl_gc_small_alloc",
+    "ijl_gc_pool_alloc",
+    "ijl_gc_big_alloc",
+    "ijl_gc_alloc_typed",
+    "ijl_gc_small_alloc",
+)
+
+"""
+    count_llvm_gc_alloc_sites(ir::AbstractString) -> Int
+
+Count LLVM `call` lines that invoke a Julia GC allocation runtime function.
+Used on the output of `llvm_ir` / `InteractiveUtils.code_llvm`.
+"""
+function count_llvm_gc_alloc_sites(ir::AbstractString)
+    n = 0
+    for line in eachsplit(ir, '\n')
+        occursin("call ", line) || continue
+        for needle in _LLVM_GC_ALLOC_MARKERS
+            if occursin(needle, line)
+                n += 1
+                break
+            end
+        end
+    end
+    return n
+end
+
+"""
+    llvm_ir(f, ::Type{<:Tuple}; optimize::Bool=true) -> String
+
+Optimized LLVM IR for `f` at argument tuple type `T`, as a single string.
+"""
+function llvm_ir(@nospecialize(f), @nospecialize(T::Type{<:Tuple}); optimize::Bool = true)
+    io = IOBuffer()
+    code_llvm(io, f, T; optimize = optimize)
+    return String(take!(io))
+end
+
+"""
+    llvm_gc_alloc_site_count(f, ::Type{<:Tuple}; optimize::Bool=true) -> Int
+
+Convenience: `count_llvm_gc_alloc_sites` ∘ `llvm_ir`.
+"""
+function llvm_gc_alloc_site_count(
+    @nospecialize(f),
+    @nospecialize(T::Type{<:Tuple});
+    optimize::Bool = true,
+)
+    return count_llvm_gc_alloc_sites(llvm_ir(f, T; optimize = optimize))
+end