diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index dcf6de4c8..4ed06e25f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   "test": "jest",
   "scripts": {
     "test-unit": "jest ./src/tests/unit_tests",
-    "test": "ava",
+    "test": "ts-node ./testing/check-integration-env.ts && ava",
     "docker-dev": "nodemon ./app.js",
     "build": "tsc",
     "start-ts": "ts-node ./app.ts",
diff --git a/src/tests/types/index.ts b/src/tests/types/index.ts
index c493c3bc1..bb7baf8be 100644
--- a/src/tests/types/index.ts
+++ b/src/tests/types/index.ts
@@ -25,4 +25,5 @@ export interface Headers {
 export interface RequestArgs {
   headers: Headers
   body: RequestBody
+  timeout?: number
 }
diff --git a/src/tests/utils/helpers.ts b/src/tests/utils/helpers.ts
index 9c53ef051..488af5608 100644
--- a/src/tests/utils/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/tests/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import { NodeConfig, RequestArgs, RequestBody } from '../types'
 import { config } from '../config'
 import * as hmac from '../../crypto/hmac'
 
+export const TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS = Number(
+  process.env.SPHINX_TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS || 10000
+)
+
 export const makeArgs = (
   node: NodeConfig,
   body: RequestBody = {},
@@ -27,7 +31,7 @@ export const makeArgs = (
   } else {
     headers['x-user-token'] = node.authToken
   }
-  return { body, headers }
+  return { body, headers, timeout: TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS }
 }
 
 export const makeRelayRequest = async (
@@ -100,7 +104,9 @@ export async function getToken(t, node) {
 
   const protocol = memeProtocol(config.memeHost)
   //get authentication challenge from meme server
-  const r = await http.get(`${protocol}://${config.memeHost}/ask`)
+  const r = await http.get(`${protocol}://${config.memeHost}/ask`, {
+    timeout: TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS,
+  })
   t.truthy(r, 'r should exist')
   t.truthy(r.challenge, 'r.challenge should exist')
 
@@ -115,6 +121,7 @@ export async function getToken(t, node) {
   //get server token
   const r3 = await http.post(`${protocol}://${config.memeHost}/verify`, {
     form: { id: r.id, sig: r2.response.sig, pubkey: node.pubkey },
+    timeout: TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS,
   })
   t.truthy(r3, 'r3 should exist')
   t.truthy(r3.token, 'r3.token should exist')
@@ -141,6 +148,7 @@ export function makeJwtArgs(jwt, body) {
   return {
     headers: { 'x-jwt': jwt },
     body,
+    timeout: TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS,
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/testing/README.md b/testing/README.md
index 7da362e9e..21d4cd93d 100644
--- a/testing/README.md
+++ b/testing/README.md
@@ -48,5 +48,11 @@ Once you've done the above, you can run the tests with [ava](https://github.com/
 npm run test
 ```
 
+`npm run test` first checks that every relay in `src/tests/configs/nodes.json`
+responds to `/contacts`. If the stack is not ready, it fails before starting
+AVA and prints the unreachable node aliases. Use `SPHINX_TEST_ENV_TIMEOUT_MS`
+to adjust the readiness timeout and `SPHINX_TEST_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS` to adjust
+the per-request timeout used by test helpers.
+
 The tests expect both the relay server and sphinx-stack from the setup steps above
 to be running.
diff --git a/testing/check-integration-env.ts b/testing/check-integration-env.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6dbb51076
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/check-integration-env.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+import * as fs from 'fs'
+import * as http from 'http'
+import * as https from 'https'
+import * as path from 'path'
+
+interface TestNode {
+  alias?: string
+  external_ip?: string
+  authToken?: string
+}
+
+const nodesPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'src/tests/configs/nodes.json')
+const timeoutMs = Number(process.env.SPHINX_TEST_ENV_TIMEOUT_MS || 5000)
+
+function readNodes(): TestNode[] {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(nodesPath)) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Missing ${nodesPath}. Start the sphinx-stack test environment and copy relay/NODES.json into src/tests/configs/nodes.json before running integration tests.`
+    )
+  }
+
+  const nodes = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(nodesPath, 'utf8'))
+  if (!Array.isArray(nodes) || nodes.length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(`${nodesPath} must contain at least one relay node config.`)
+  }
+
+  return nodes
+}
+
+function checkNode(node: TestNode): Promise<void> {
+  if (!node.external_ip) {
+    return Promise.reject(new Error('missing external_ip'))
+  }
+
+  const url = new URL('/contacts', node.external_ip)
+  const client = url.protocol === 'https:' ? https : http
+
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const req = client.request(
+      url,
+      {
+        method: 'GET',
+        headers: {
+          'x-user-token': node.authToken || '',
+        },
+        timeout: timeoutMs,
+      },
+      (res) => {
+        res.resume()
+        res.on('end', () => {
+          if (res.statusCode && res.statusCode >= 200 && res.statusCode < 300) {
+            resolve()
+          } else {
+            reject(new Error(`HTTP ${res.statusCode}`))
+          }
+        })
+      }
+    )
+
+    req.on('timeout', () => {
+      req.destroy(new Error(`timed out after ${timeoutMs}ms`))
+    })
+    req.on('error', reject)
+    req.end()
+  })
+}
+
+function formatError(error: unknown): string {
+  if (error && typeof error === 'object') {
+    const err = error as {
+      address?: string
+      code?: string
+      message?: string
+      port?: number
+    }
+    const details = [err.code, err.message, err.address, err.port]
+      .filter((detail) => detail !== undefined && detail !== '')
+      .join(' ')
+
+    if (details) return details
+  }
+
+  return error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  const nodes = readNodes()
+  const failures: string[] = []
+
+  await Promise.all(
+    nodes.map(async (node, index) => {
+      const label = node.alias || `node ${index + 1}`
+      try {
+        await checkNode(node)
+      } catch (error) {
+        const message = formatError(error)
+        failures.push(
+          `${label} (${node.external_ip || 'missing external_ip'}): ${message}`
+        )
+      }
+    })
+  )
+
+  if (failures.length > 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      [
+        'Sphinx integration test environment is not ready.',
+        ...failures.map((failure) => `- ${failure}`),
+        'Start sphinx-stack/relay test services or refresh src/tests/configs/nodes.json, then rerun npm test.',
+      ].join('\n')
+    )
+  }
+
+  console.log(
+    `Sphinx integration test environment ready: ${nodes.length} relay node(s) responded within ${timeoutMs}ms.`
+  )
+}
+
+main().catch((error) => {
+  console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : error)
+  process.exit(1)
+})