diff --git a/backend/Cargo.lock b/backend/Cargo.lock
index 08dc5f6..184164a 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.lock
+++ b/backend/Cargo.lock
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing-subscriber",
  "url",
  "uuid",
+ "wiremock",
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
@@ -161,6 +162,16 @@ version = "1.0.102"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7f202df86484c868dbad7eaa557ef785d5c66295e41b460ef922eca0723b842c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "assert-json-diff"
+version = "2.0.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "47e4f2b81832e72834d7518d8487a0396a28cc408186a2e8854c0f98011faf12"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "async-trait"
 version = "0.1.89"
@@ -549,6 +560,24 @@ dependencies = [
  "parking_lot_core",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "deadpool"
+version = "0.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0be2b1d1d6ec8d846f05e137292d0b89133caf95ef33695424c09568bdd39b1b"
+dependencies = [
+ "deadpool-runtime",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "num_cpus",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "deadpool-runtime"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "092966b41edc516079bdf31ec78a2e0588d1d0c08f78b91d8307215928642b2b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "der"
 version = "0.7.10"
@@ -992,6 +1021,12 @@ version = "0.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2304e00983f87ffb38b55b444b5e3b60a884b5d30c0fca7d82fe33449bbe55ea"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hermit-abi"
+version = "0.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fc0fef456e4baa96da950455cd02c081ca953b141298e41db3fc7e36b1da849c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hex"
 version = "0.4.3"
@@ -1664,6 +1699,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "libm",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "num_cpus"
+version = "1.17.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "91df4bbde75afed763b708b7eee1e8e7651e02d97f6d5dd763e89367e957b23b"
+dependencies = [
+ "hermit-abi",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "once_cell"
 version = "1.21.4"
@@ -2021,6 +2066,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "regex"
+version = "1.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e10754a14b9137dd7b1e3e5b0493cc9171fdd105e0ab477f51b72e7f3ac0e276"
+dependencies = [
+ "aho-corasick",
+ "memchr",
+ "regex-automata",
+ "regex-syntax",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "regex-automata"
 version = "0.4.14"
@@ -3587,6 +3644,29 @@ version = "0.52.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "589f6da84c646204747d1270a2a5661ea66ed1cced2631d546fdfb155959f9ec"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wiremock"
+version = "0.6.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "08db1edfb05d9b3c1542e521aea074442088292f00b5f28e435c714a98f85031"
+dependencies = [
+ "assert-json-diff",
+ "base64",
+ "deadpool",
+ "futures",
+ "http",
+ "http-body-util",
+ "hyper",
+ "hyper-util",
+ "log",
+ "once_cell",
+ "regex",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "tokio",
+ "url",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "wit-bindgen"
 version = "0.51.0"
diff --git a/backend/Cargo.toml b/backend/Cargo.toml
index b94ba2b..5958aca 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -86,3 +86,4 @@ serde_json = "1"
 uuid = { version = "1", features = ["v4"] }
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] }
 sqlx = { version = "0.8", features = ["runtime-tokio", "tls-rustls", "postgres", "uuid", "chrono", "json", "migrate"] }
+wiremock = "0.6"
diff --git a/backend/tests/pipeline_test.rs b/backend/tests/pipeline_test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9eba57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/pipeline_test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+mod common;
+
+use ai_synth_backend::services::llm::mock::MockLlmProvider;
+use ai_synth_backend::services::synthesis;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use tokio::sync::watch;
+use wiremock::matchers::{method, path};
+use wiremock::{Mock, MockServer, ResponseTemplate};
+
+async fn setup_mock_server() -> MockServer {
+    let server = MockServer::start().await;
+
+    // Article pages
+    for i in 1..=5 {
+        Mock::given(method("GET"))
+            .and(path(format!("/article-{}", i)))
+            .respond_with(ResponseTemplate::new(200).set_body_string(format!(
+                r#"<html>
+                    <head><title>Test Article {i}</title></head>
+                    <body><p>This is the content of test article {i} about artificial intelligence.</p></body>
+                </html>"#
+            )))
+            .mount(&server)
+            .await;
+    }
+
+    server
+}
+
+async fn setup_user_with_settings(
+    app: &common::TestApp,
+    categories: Vec<&str>,
+    max_items: i32,
+    use_llm_for_links: bool,
+) -> (uuid::Uuid, String) {
+    let email = format!("pipeline-{}@test.com", uuid::Uuid::new_v4());
+    let (user_id, session) = app.create_authenticated_user(&email).await;
+
+    let categories_json: Vec<serde_json::Value> = categories.iter().map(|c| serde_json::json!(c)).collect();
+    let settings = serde_json::json!({
+        "theme": "Intelligence Artificielle",
+        "max_age_days": 365,
+        "categories": categories_json,
+        "max_items_per_category": max_items,
+        "max_articles_per_source": 10,
+        "use_llm_for_source_links": use_llm_for_links,
+        "use_brave_search": false,
+        "article_history_days": 90,
+        "batch_size": 5,
+        "search_agent_behavior": "",
+        "ai_provider": "",
+        "ai_model": "",
+        "ai_model_websearch": "",
+        "rate_limit_max_requests": null,
+        "rate_limit_time_window_seconds": null
+    });
+    let (status, _) = app.put_with_session("/api/v1/settings", &settings, &session).await;
+    assert_eq!(status.as_u16(), 200, "Settings save should succeed");
+
+    (user_id, session)
+}
+
+fn make_progress_channel() -> (Arc<watch::Sender<synthesis::ProgressEvent>>, watch::Receiver<synthesis::ProgressEvent>) {
+    let (tx, rx) = watch::channel(synthesis::ProgressEvent::Progress {
+        step: "init".into(),
+        message: "Starting...".into(),
+        percent: 0,
+    });
+    (Arc::new(tx), rx)
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn phase1_with_llm_link_extraction_classifies_articles() {
+    let app = common::TestApp::new().await;
+    let mock_server = setup_mock_server().await;
+
+    // Use LLM link extraction to bypass SSRF on source page
+    let (user_id, session) = setup_user_with_settings(&app, vec!["AI News"], 4, true).await;
+
+    // Add a source (URL doesn't matter much — LLM mock will return article URLs)
+    let source = serde_json::json!({"title": "Test Source", "url": "https://example.com/blog"});
+    let (status, _) = app.post_with_session("/api/v1/sources", &source, &session).await;
+    assert!(status.is_success());
+
+    // Mock provider: LLM link extraction returns wiremock article URLs
+    let article_urls: Vec<String> = (1..=3)
+        .map(|i| format!("{}/article-{}", mock_server.uri(), i))
+        .collect();
+
+    let mock_provider = MockLlmProvider::new()
+        .with_default_category("AI News")
+        .with_link_urls(article_urls)
+        .into_arc();
+
+    let job_id = uuid::Uuid::new_v4();
+    let (tx, _rx) = make_progress_channel();
+
+    let state = ai_synth_backend::app_state::AppState::new(
+        app.config.clone(), app.pool.clone(), reqwest::Client::new(),
+    );
+
+    let result = synthesis::run_generation_inner(
+        job_id, &state, user_id, &tx, Some(mock_provider),
+    ).await;
+
+    assert!(result.is_ok(), "Generation should succeed: {:?}", result.err());
+
+    let synthesis_id = result.unwrap();
+
+    // Verify synthesis was saved with articles
+    let row: (serde_json::Value,) = sqlx::query_as(
+        "SELECT sections FROM syntheses WHERE id = $1"
+    )
+    .bind(synthesis_id)
+    .fetch_one(&app.pool)
+    .await
+    .expect("Synthesis should exist");
+
+    let sections: Vec<serde_json::Value> = serde_json::from_value(row.0).unwrap();
+    assert!(!sections.is_empty(), "Should have at least one section");
+
+    let first_section = &sections[0];
+    assert_eq!(first_section["title"], "AI News");
+    let items = first_section["items"].as_array().unwrap();
+    assert!(!items.is_empty(), "AI News section should have articles");
+
+    // Verify article history was recorded
+    let history_count: (i64,) = sqlx::query_as(
+        "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM article_history WHERE user_id = $1 AND job_id = $2"
+    )
+    .bind(user_id)
+    .bind(job_id)
+    .fetch_one(&app.pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+    assert!(history_count.0 > 0, "Article history should have entries");
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn phase2_search_fills_gaps_when_no_sources() {
+    let app = common::TestApp::new().await;
+    let mock_server = setup_mock_server().await;
+
+    // No sources — Phase 1 produces nothing
+    let (user_id, _session) = setup_user_with_settings(&app, vec!["AI News"], 2, false).await;
+
+    let mock_provider = MockLlmProvider::new()
+        .with_default_category("AI News")
+        .with_search_urls(vec![
+            format!("{}/article-1", mock_server.uri()),
+            format!("{}/article-2", mock_server.uri()),
+        ])
+        .into_arc();
+
+    let job_id = uuid::Uuid::new_v4();
+    let (tx, _rx) = make_progress_channel();
+
+    let state = ai_synth_backend::app_state::AppState::new(
+        app.config.clone(), app.pool.clone(), reqwest::Client::new(),
+    );
+
+    let result = synthesis::run_generation_inner(
+        job_id, &state, user_id, &tx, Some(mock_provider),
+    ).await;
+
+    assert!(result.is_ok(), "Generation should succeed: {:?}", result.err());
+
+    // Verify synthesis has articles from Phase 2
+    let synthesis_id = result.unwrap();
+    let row: (serde_json::Value,) = sqlx::query_as(
+        "SELECT sections FROM syntheses WHERE id = $1"
+    )
+    .bind(synthesis_id)
+    .fetch_one(&app.pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+
+    let sections: Vec<serde_json::Value> = serde_json::from_value(row.0).unwrap();
+    assert!(!sections.is_empty(), "Should have sections from Phase 2 search");
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn category_overflow_spills_to_autre() {
+    let app = common::TestApp::new().await;
+    let mock_server = setup_mock_server().await;
+
+    // max_items_per_category=1, but LLM classifies all articles to "AI News"
+    let (user_id, session) = setup_user_with_settings(&app, vec!["AI News"], 1, true).await;
+
+    let source = serde_json::json!({"title": "Test Source", "url": "https://example.com/blog"});
+    app.post_with_session("/api/v1/sources", &source, &session).await;
+
+    let article_urls: Vec<String> = (1..=3)
+        .map(|i| format!("{}/article-{}", mock_server.uri(), i))
+        .collect();
+
+    let mock_provider = MockLlmProvider::new()
+        .with_default_category("AI News")
+        .with_link_urls(article_urls)
+        .into_arc();
+
+    let job_id = uuid::Uuid::new_v4();
+    let (tx, _rx) = make_progress_channel();
+
+    let state = ai_synth_backend::app_state::AppState::new(
+        app.config.clone(), app.pool.clone(), reqwest::Client::new(),
+    );
+
+    let result = synthesis::run_generation_inner(
+        job_id, &state, user_id, &tx, Some(mock_provider),
+    ).await;
+
+    assert!(result.is_ok(), "Generation should succeed");
+
+    let synthesis_id = result.unwrap();
+    let row: (serde_json::Value,) = sqlx::query_as(
+        "SELECT sections FROM syntheses WHERE id = $1"
+    )
+    .bind(synthesis_id)
+    .fetch_one(&app.pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+
+    let sections: Vec<serde_json::Value> = serde_json::from_value(row.0).unwrap();
+
+    // With max_items_per_category=1 and 3 articles all classified as "AI News":
+    // - 1 goes to AI News
+    // - Overflow goes to Autre
+    let ai_section = sections.iter().find(|s| s["title"] == "AI News");
+    let autre_section = sections.iter().find(|s| s["title"] == "Autre");
+
+    assert!(ai_section.is_some(), "Should have AI News section");
+    let ai_items = ai_section.unwrap()["items"].as_array().unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(ai_items.len(), 1, "AI News should have exactly 1 item (max)");
+
+    if sections.len() > 1 {
+        assert!(autre_section.is_some(), "Overflow should create Autre section");
+    }
+}