diff --git a/examples/server/tests/.gitignore b/examples/server/tests/.gitignore
index 1d17dae13b53a..90ee7fe6d971a 100644
--- a/examples/server/tests/.gitignore
+++ b/examples/server/tests/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 .venv
+tmp
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/conftest.py b/examples/server/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2c2c8e37b75c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/server/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import pytest
+from utils import *
+
+
+# ref: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22627659/run-code-before-and-after-each-test-in-py-test
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+def stop_server_after_each_test():
+    # do nothing before each test
+    yield
+    # stop all servers after each test
+    instances = set(
+        server_instances
+    )  # copy the set to prevent 'Set changed size during iteration'
+    for server in instances:
+        server.stop()
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/requirements.txt b/examples/server/tests/requirements.txt
index 5539548720ff1..935a79114b45e 100644
--- a/examples/server/tests/requirements.txt
+++ b/examples/server/tests/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 aiohttp~=3.9.3
-behave~=1.2.6
+pytest~=8.3.3
 huggingface_hub~=0.23.2
 numpy~=1.26.4
 openai~=1.30.3
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/tests.sh b/examples/server/tests/tests.sh
index 72a0fbad827db..7d285c73fda71 100755
--- a/examples/server/tests/tests.sh
+++ b/examples/server/tests/tests.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@ set -eu
 
 if [ $# -lt 1 ]
 then
-    # Start @llama.cpp scenario
-    behave --summary --stop --no-capture --exclude 'issues|wrong_usages|passkey' --tags llama.cpp
+    pytest -v -s
 else
-    behave "$@"
+    pytest "$@"
 fi
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/unit/test_basic.py b/examples/server/tests/unit/test_basic.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3cf556e64fb83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/server/tests/unit/test_basic.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import pytest
+from utils import *
+
+server = ServerProcess()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module", autouse=True)
+def create_server():
+    global server
+    server = ServerProcess()
+    server.model_hf_repo = "ggml-org/models"
+    server.model_hf_file = "tinyllamas/stories260K.gguf"
+    server.n_ctx = 256
+    server.n_batch = 32
+    server.n_slots = 2
+    server.n_predict = 64
+
+
+def test_server_start_simple():
+    global server
+    server.start()
+    res = server.make_request("GET", "/health")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+
+
+def test_server_props():
+    global server
+    server.start()
+    res = server.make_request("GET", "/props")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    assert res.body["total_slots"] == server.n_slots
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/utils.py b/examples/server/tests/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69498dcb5280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/server/tests/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+import subprocess
+import os
+import sys
+import threading
+import requests
+import time
+from typing import (
+    Any,
+    Callable,
+    ContextManager,
+    Iterable,
+    Iterator,
+    Literal,
+    Sequence,
+    Set,
+)
+
+
+class ServerResponse:
+    headers: dict
+    status_code: int
+    body: dict
+
+
+class ServerProcess:
+    # default options
+    debug: bool = False
+    server_port: int = 8080
+    server_host: str = "127.0.0.1"
+    model_hf_repo: str = "ggml-org/models"
+    model_hf_file: str = "tinyllamas/stories260K.gguf"
+
+    # custom options
+    model_alias: str | None = None
+    model_url: str | None = None
+    model_file: str | None = None
+    n_threads: int | None = None
+    n_gpu_layer: str | None = None
+    n_batch: int | None = None
+    n_ubatch: int | None = None
+    n_ctx: int | None = None
+    n_ga: int | None = None
+    n_ga_w: int | None = None
+    n_predict: int | None = None
+    n_prompts: int | None = 0
+    n_server_predict: int | None = None
+    slot_save_path: str | None = None
+    id_slot: int | None = None
+    cache_prompt: bool | None = None
+    n_slots: int | None = None
+    server_api_key: str | None = None
+    server_continuous_batching: bool | None = False
+    server_embeddings: bool | None = False
+    server_reranking: bool | None = False
+    server_metrics: bool | None = False
+    seed: int | None = None
+    draft: int | None = None
+    server_seed: int | None = None
+    user_api_key: str | None = None
+    response_format: str | None = None
+    temperature: float | None = None
+    lora_file: str | None = None
+    disable_ctx_shift: int | None = False
+
+    # session variables
+    process: subprocess.Popen | None = None
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
+
+    def start(self, timeout_seconds: int = 10) -> None:
+        if "LLAMA_SERVER_BIN_PATH" in os.environ:
+            server_path = os.environ["LLAMA_SERVER_BIN_PATH"]
+        elif os.name == "nt":
+            server_path = "../../../build/bin/Release/llama-server.exe"
+        else:
+            server_path = "../../../build/bin/llama-server"
+        server_args = [
+            "--slots",  # requires to get slot status via /slots endpoint
+            "--host",
+            self.server_host,
+            "--port",
+            self.server_port,
+        ]
+        if self.model_file:
+            server_args.extend(["--model", self.model_file])
+        if self.model_url:
+            server_args.extend(["--model-url", self.model_url])
+        if self.model_hf_repo:
+            server_args.extend(["--hf-repo", self.model_hf_repo])
+        if self.model_hf_file:
+            server_args.extend(["--hf-file", self.model_hf_file])
+        if self.n_batch:
+            server_args.extend(["--batch-size", self.n_batch])
+        if self.n_ubatch:
+            server_args.extend(["--ubatch-size", self.n_ubatch])
+        if self.n_threads:
+            server_args.extend(["--threads", self.n_threads])
+        if self.n_gpu_layer:
+            server_args.extend(["--n-gpu-layers", self.n_gpu_layer])
+        if self.draft is not None:
+            server_args.extend(["--draft", self.draft])
+        if self.server_continuous_batching:
+            server_args.append("--cont-batching")
+        if self.server_embeddings:
+            server_args.append("--embedding")
+        if self.server_reranking:
+            server_args.append("--reranking")
+        if self.server_metrics:
+            server_args.append("--metrics")
+        if self.model_alias:
+            server_args.extend(["--alias", self.model_alias])
+        if self.n_ctx:
+            server_args.extend(["--ctx-size", self.n_ctx])
+        if self.n_slots:
+            server_args.extend(["--parallel", self.n_slots])
+        if self.n_server_predict:
+            server_args.extend(["--n-predict", self.n_server_predict])
+        if self.slot_save_path:
+            server_args.extend(["--slot-save-path", self.slot_save_path])
+        if self.server_api_key:
+            server_args.extend(["--api-key", self.server_api_key])
+        if self.n_ga:
+            server_args.extend(["--grp-attn-n", self.n_ga])
+        if self.n_ga_w:
+            server_args.extend(["--grp-attn-w", self.n_ga_w])
+        if self.debug:
+            server_args.append("--verbose")
+        if self.lora_file:
+            server_args.extend(["--lora", self.lora_file])
+        if self.disable_ctx_shift:
+            server_args.extend(["--no-context-shift"])
+
+        args = [str(arg) for arg in [server_path, *server_args]]
+        print(f"bench: starting server with: {' '.join(args)}")
+
+        flags = 0
+        if "nt" == os.name:
+            flags |= subprocess.DETACHED_PROCESS
+            flags |= subprocess.CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP
+            flags |= subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW
+
+        self.process = subprocess.Popen(
+            [str(arg) for arg in [server_path, *server_args]],
+            creationflags=flags,
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+            env={**os.environ, "LLAMA_CACHE": "tmp"},
+        )
+        server_instances.add(self)
+
+        def server_log(in_stream, out_stream):
+            for line in iter(in_stream.readline, b""):
+                print(line.decode("utf-8"), end="", file=out_stream)
+
+        thread_stdout = threading.Thread(
+            target=server_log, args=(self.process.stdout, sys.stdout), daemon=True
+        )
+        thread_stdout.start()
+
+        thread_stderr = threading.Thread(
+            target=server_log, args=(self.process.stderr, sys.stderr), daemon=True
+        )
+        thread_stderr.start()
+
+        print(f"server pid={self.process.pid}, behave pid={os.getpid()}")
+
+        # wait for server to start
+        start_time = time.time()
+        while time.time() - start_time < timeout_seconds:
+            try:
+                response = self.make_request("GET", "/slots")
+                if response.status_code == 200:
+                    self.ready = True
+                    return  # server is ready
+            except Exception as e:
+                pass
+            print(f"Waiting for server to start...")
+            time.sleep(0.5)
+        raise TimeoutError(f"Server did not start within {timeout_seconds} seconds")
+
+    def stop(self) -> None:
+        server_instances.remove(self)
+        if self.process:
+            print(f"Stopping server with pid={self.process.pid}")
+            self.process.kill()
+            self.process = None
+
+    def make_request(
+        self,
+        method: str,
+        path: str,
+        data: dict | None = None,
+        headers: dict | None = None,
+    ) -> ServerResponse:
+        url = f"http://{self.server_host}:{self.server_port}{path}"
+        headers = {}
+        if self.user_api_key:
+            headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {self.user_api_key}"
+        if self.response_format:
+            headers["Accept"] = self.response_format
+        if method == "GET":
+            response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
+        elif method == "POST":
+            response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=data)
+        elif method == "OPTIONS":
+            response = requests.options(url, headers=headers)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(f"Unimplemented method: {method}")
+        result = ServerResponse()
+        result.headers = dict(response.headers)
+        result.status_code = response.status_code
+        result.body = response.json()
+        return result
+
+
+server_instances: Set[ServerProcess] = set()
+
+
+def multiple_post_requests(
+    server: ServerProcess, path: str, data: Sequence[dict], headers: dict | None = None
+) -> Sequence[ServerResponse]:
+    def worker(data_chunk):
+        try:
+            return server.make_request("POST", path, data=data_chunk, headers=headers)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"Error occurred: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+            os._exit(1)  # terminate main thread
+
+    threads = []
+    results = []
+
+    def thread_target(data_chunk):
+        result = worker(data_chunk)
+        results.append(result)
+
+    for chunk in data:
+        thread = threading.Thread(target=thread_target, args=(chunk,))
+        threads.append(thread)
+        thread.start()
+
+    for thread in threads:
+        thread.join()
+
+    return results