diff --git a/tests/unit/test_validators.py b/tests/unit/test_validators.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08ccb54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_validators.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+"""Unit tests for validation logic."""
+
+import json
+import tempfile
+
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+from jsonschema import ValidationError, validate
+
+from configforge.commands.validate import validate as validate_cmd
+
+
+def validate_against_schema(config: dict, schema: dict):
+    """Validate configuration against a schema and return errors."""
+    errors = []
+    try:
+        validate(instance=config, schema=schema)
+    except ValidationError as e:
+        path = list(e.absolute_path) if e.absolute_path else []
+        errors.append({
+            "path": path,
+            "message": e.message,
+            "validator": e.validator,
+            "validator_value": e.validator_value,
+        })
+    return errors
+
+
+def format_validation_error(error: ValidationError):
+    """Format a jsonschema ValidationError."""
+    path = list(error.absolute_path) if error.absolute_path else []
+    return {
+        "path": path,
+        "message": error.message,
+        "validator": error.validator,
+        "validator_value": e.validator_value,
+    }
+
+
+class TestValidateCommand:
+    """Tests for the validate command."""
+
+    def test_validate_valid_config(self, temp_config_file, temp_schema_file):
+        """Test validating a valid configuration."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(validate_cmd, [temp_config_file, temp_schema_file])
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_validate_invalid_config(self, sample_json_config, temp_schema_file):
+        """Test validating an invalid configuration."""
+        invalid_config = sample_json_config.copy()
+        invalid_config["database"]["port"] = "invalid"
+
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w', suffix='.json', delete=False) as f:
+            json.dump(invalid_config, f)
+            filepath = f.name
+
+        try:
+            runner = CliRunner()
+            result = runner.invoke(validate_cmd, [filepath, temp_schema_file])
+            assert result.exit_code == 1
+            assert "error" in result.output.lower() or result.exit_code == 1
+        finally:
+            pass
+
+    def test_validate_dry_run(self, temp_config_file, temp_schema_file):
+        """Test dry-run mode always exits with 0."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(validate_cmd, [temp_config_file, temp_schema_file, "--dry-run"])
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_validate_json_format(self, temp_config_file, temp_schema_file):
+        """Test validation with JSON output format."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(validate_cmd, [temp_config_file, temp_schema_file, "--format", "json"])
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+        assert "valid" in result.output
+
+    def test_validate_table_format(self, temp_config_file, temp_schema_file):
+        """Test validation with table output format."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(validate_cmd, [temp_config_file, temp_schema_file, "--format", "table"])
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+
+class TestValidationLogic:
+    """Tests for validation logic functions."""
+
+    def test_validate_against_schema_valid(self, sample_json_config, sample_json_schema):
+        """Test validating valid config against schema."""
+        errors = validate_against_schema(sample_json_config, sample_json_schema)
+        assert len(errors) == 0
+
+    def test_validate_against_schema_invalid_type(self, sample_json_schema):
+        """Test validation catches type errors."""
+        invalid_config = {
+            "database": {
+                "host": "localhost",
+                "port": "should_be_number",
+                "name": "test"
+            },
+            "server": {
+                "host": "0.0.0.0",
+                "port": 8080
+            }
+        }
+        errors = validate_against_schema(invalid_config, sample_json_schema)
+        assert len(errors) > 0
+
+    def test_validate_against_schema_missing_required(self, sample_json_schema):
+        """Test validation catches missing required fields."""
+        invalid_config = {
+            "database": {
+                "host": "localhost"
+            }
+        }
+        errors = validate_against_schema(invalid_config, sample_json_schema)
+        assert len(errors) > 0
+
+    def test_format_validation_error(self):
+        """Test formatting validation errors."""
+        schema = {"type": "string"}
+        try:
+            validate(instance=123, schema=schema)
+        except ValidationError as e:
+            formatted = format_validation_error(e)
+            assert "path" in formatted
+            assert "message" in formatted
+            assert "validator" in formatted