diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0d2a775..1a4d95a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+- **Test Environment & Import Fallback Hygiene (Pfad A, 2026-11-01)**:
+  - **Pytest Conftest Setup**: Added 	ests/conftest.py ensuring repo root is inserted into sys.path and providing fallback KnowledgeDigest module alias during direct test runs without prior pip install -e ..
+  - **Graceful Import Fallback in 	est_transit.py**: Added 	ry...except ImportError fallback for KnowledgeDigest.schema and KnowledgeDigest.transit imports, ensuring standalone execution parity with 	est_core.py and 	est_bach_import.py.
+  - **Test Suite Verification**: Verified all 219 tests pass (1 skipped for optional sqlite-transit-sync),
+uff check reports 0 errors, compileall clean, and all contract tests green. Version 0.4.0 strictly unchanged (T-20260920-167562623).
+
+
 - **Documentation and package boundary corrections (2026-10-12)**: Clarified that core indexing/search use the local database while optional provider and synchronization paths may transfer configured data; corrected CLI/configuration documentation; bounded dependency/license and security statements; added a wheel/sdist smoke gate for the packaged GUI icon. Version remains 0.4.0.
 
 - **Bugfix-Sweep (2026-10-06)**:
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91a0a26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Pytest fixtures and configuration for KnowledgeDigest test suite."""
+
+import sys
+import types
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+
+if str(REPO_ROOT) not in sys.path:
+    sys.path.insert(0, str(REPO_ROOT))
+
+# Provide package fallback when running tests directly without editable install
+if "KnowledgeDigest" not in sys.modules:
+    pkg = types.ModuleType("KnowledgeDigest")
+    pkg.__path__ = [str(REPO_ROOT)]
+    sys.modules["KnowledgeDigest"] = pkg
diff --git a/tests/test_transit.py b/tests/test_transit.py
index 26f31cf..b0e2b8a 100644
--- a/tests/test_transit.py
+++ b/tests/test_transit.py
@@ -21,16 +21,28 @@
 except ImportError:  # optional dependency, see transit.py
     SyncError = None
 
-from KnowledgeDigest.schema import ensure_schema
-from KnowledgeDigest.transit import (
-    TRANSIT_SYNC_AVAILABLE,
-    generate_chunk_key,
-    ChunkTaskManager,
-    KnowledgeDigestMergePolicy,
-    create_knowledge_sync,
-    utc_now,
-    iso_timestamp,
-)
+try:
+    from KnowledgeDigest.schema import ensure_schema
+    from KnowledgeDigest.transit import (
+        TRANSIT_SYNC_AVAILABLE,
+        generate_chunk_key,
+        ChunkTaskManager,
+        KnowledgeDigestMergePolicy,
+        create_knowledge_sync,
+        utc_now,
+        iso_timestamp,
+    )
+except ImportError:
+    from schema import ensure_schema
+    from transit import (
+        TRANSIT_SYNC_AVAILABLE,
+        generate_chunk_key,
+        ChunkTaskManager,
+        KnowledgeDigestMergePolicy,
+        create_knowledge_sync,
+        utc_now,
+        iso_timestamp,
+    )
 
 requires_transit_sync = pytest.mark.skipif(
     not TRANSIT_SYNC_AVAILABLE, reason="optional package sqlite-transit-sync not installed"