diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index 54723d22..052aa524 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ if opt_tests.disabled()
 endif
 
 test_incdir = include_directories('.')
+
+subdir('renderer')
diff --git a/test/renderer/meson.build b/test/renderer/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42c8cb99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/renderer/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+
+tests = [
+    'triangle',
+]
+
+foreach test : tests
+    executable(
+        test, '@0@.c'.format(test),
+        dependencies : libtaisei_dep,
+        include_directories : test_incdir,
+        install : false,
+    )
+endforeach
diff --git a/test/renderer/test_renderer.h b/test/renderer/test_renderer.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8aa82e3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/renderer/test_renderer.h
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+
+#include "taisei.h"
+
+#include "renderer/api.h"
+#include "events.h"
+#include "log.h"
+#include "util/compat.h"
+#include "video.h"
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include <locale.h>
+
+static void test_init_log(void) {
+	log_init(LOG_ALL);
+	log_add_output(LOG_ALL, SDL_RWFromFP(stderr, false), log_formatter_console);
+}
+
+static void test_init_sdl(void) {
+	mem_install_sdl_callbacks();
+
+	if(SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_EVENTS) < 0) {
+		log_fatal("SDL_Init() failed: %s", SDL_GetError());
+	}
+
+	events_init();
+}
+
+static void test_init_basic(void) {
+	setlocale(LC_ALL, "C");
+	test_init_log();
+	test_init_sdl();
+}
+
+static ShaderObject *test_renderer_load_glsl(ShaderStage stage, const char *src) {
+	// TODO: This is mostly copypasted from resource/shader_object; add a generic API for this
+
+	ShaderSource s = {
+		.content = (char*)src,
+		.content_size = strlen(src),
+		.stage = stage,
+		.lang = {
+			.lang = SHLANG_GLSL,
+			.glsl.version = { 330, GLSL_PROFILE_CORE }
+		},
+	};
+
+	ShaderLangInfo altlang = { SHLANG_INVALID };
+
+	if(!r_shader_language_supported(&s.lang, &altlang)) {
+		if(altlang.lang == SHLANG_INVALID) {
+			log_fatal("Shading language not supported by backend");
+		}
+
+		log_warn("Shading language not supported by backend, attempting to translate");
+		assert(r_shader_language_supported(&altlang, NULL));
+
+		spirv_init_compiler();
+
+		ShaderSource newsrc;
+		bool result = spirv_transpile(&s, &newsrc, &(SPIRVTranspileOptions) {
+			.lang = &altlang,
+			.optimization_level = SPIRV_OPTIMIZE_NONE,
+			.filename = "<embedded>",
+		});
+
+		if(!result) {
+			log_fatal("Shader translation failed");
+		}
+
+		s = newsrc;
+	}
+
+	ShaderObject *obj = r_shader_object_compile(&s);
+
+	if(!obj) {
+		log_fatal("Failed to compile shader");
+	}
+
+	if(s.content != src) {
+		shader_free_source(&s);
+	}
+
+	return obj;
+}
+
+static void test_init_renderer(void) {
+	test_init_basic();
+
+	config_set_int(CONFIG_VSYNC, 1);
+	config_set_int(CONFIG_VID_RESIZABLE, 1);
+
+	video_init(&(VideoInitParams) {
+		.width = 800,
+		.height = 600,
+	});
+}
diff --git a/test/renderer/triangle.c b/test/renderer/triangle.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a31e7a60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/renderer/triangle.c
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+
+#include "taisei.h"
+
+#include "test_renderer.h"
+#include "resource/model.h"
+#include "global.h"
+
+typedef struct Vertex2D {
+	vec2 pos;
+	Color color;
+} Vertex2D;
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv) {
+	test_init_renderer();
+
+	const char *vert_shader_src =
+		"#version 330\n"
+		"layout(location = 0) in vec2 a_position;\n"
+		"layout(location = 1) in vec4 a_color;\n"
+		"out vec4 v_color;\n"
+		"void main(void) {\n"
+		"	gl_Position = vec4(a_position, 0, 1);\n"
+		"	v_color = a_color;\n"
+		"}\n";
+
+	const char *frag_shader_src =
+		"#version 330\n"
+		"in vec4 v_color;\n"
+		"layout(location = 0) out vec4 o_color;\n"
+		"void main(void) {\n"
+		"	o_color = v_color;\n"
+		"}\n";
+
+	ShaderObject *vert_obj = test_renderer_load_glsl(SHADER_STAGE_VERTEX, vert_shader_src);
+	ShaderObject *frag_obj = test_renderer_load_glsl(SHADER_STAGE_FRAGMENT, frag_shader_src);
+	ShaderProgram *prog = r_shader_program_link(2, (ShaderObject*[]) { vert_obj, frag_obj });
+	r_shader_object_destroy(vert_obj);
+	r_shader_object_destroy(frag_obj);
+
+	VertexAttribSpec va_spec[] = {
+		{ 2, VA_FLOAT, VA_CONVERT_FLOAT },
+		{ 4, VA_FLOAT, VA_CONVERT_FLOAT },
+	};
+
+	VertexAttribFormat va_format[ARRAY_SIZE(va_spec)];
+	r_vertex_attrib_format_interleaved(ARRAY_SIZE(va_spec), va_spec, va_format, 0);
+
+	Vertex2D vertices[] = {
+		{ { -1.0f, -1.0f }, { 1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f } },
+		{ {  0.0f,  1.0f }, { 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f } },
+		{ {  1.0f, -1.0f }, { 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f } },
+	};
+
+	VertexBuffer *vert_buf = r_vertex_buffer_create(sizeof(vertices), vertices);
+	r_vertex_buffer_set_debug_label(vert_buf, "Triangle vertex buffer");
+
+	VertexArray *vert_array = r_vertex_array_create();
+	r_vertex_array_set_debug_label(vert_array, "Triangle vertex array");
+	r_vertex_array_layout(vert_array, ARRAY_SIZE(va_format), va_format);
+	r_vertex_array_attach_vertex_buffer(vert_array, vert_buf, 0);
+
+	Model triangle = {
+		.primitive = PRIM_TRIANGLES,
+		.vertex_array = vert_array,
+		.num_vertices = ARRAY_SIZE(vertices),
+		.offset = 0,
+	};
+
+	r_shader_ptr(prog);
+
+	while(!taisei_quit_requested()) {
+		r_clear(BUFFER_COLOR, RGB(0, 0, 0), 1);
+		r_draw_model_ptr(&triangle, 1, 0);
+		events_poll(NULL, 0);
+		video_swap_buffers();
+	}
+
+	r_vertex_buffer_destroy(vert_buf);
+	r_vertex_array_destroy(vert_array);
+
+	// FIXME doesn't work when "default" shader is not loaded
+	// r_shader_program_destroy(prog);
+
+	return 0;
+}