diff --git a/lib/tests.nix b/lib/tests.nix
index ee4950e15..74afb8238 100644
--- a/lib/tests.nix
+++ b/lib/tests.nix
@@ -212,6 +212,57 @@ in
       };
     };
 
+  test_get_var_machine =
+    let
+      varsLib = import ./vars.nix { };
+    in
+    {
+      expr = varsLib.getPublicValue {
+        backend = "in_repo";
+        default = "test";
+        shared = false;
+        generator = "test-generator";
+        machine = "test-machine";
+        file = "test-file";
+        flake = ./vars-test-flake;
+      };
+      expected = "foo-machine";
+    };
+
+  test_get_var_shared =
+    let
+      varsLib = import ./vars.nix { };
+    in
+    {
+      expr = varsLib.getPublicValue {
+        backend = "in_repo";
+        default = "test";
+        shared = true;
+        generator = "test-generator";
+        machine = "test-machine";
+        file = "test-file";
+        flake = ./vars-test-flake;
+      };
+      expected = "foo-shared";
+    };
+
+  test_get_var_default =
+    let
+      varsLib = import ./vars.nix { };
+    in
+    {
+      expr = varsLib.getPublicValue {
+        backend = "in_repo";
+        default = "test-default";
+        shared = true;
+        generator = "test-generator-wrong";
+        machine = "test-machine";
+        file = "test-file";
+        flake = ./vars-test-flake;
+      };
+      expected = "test-default";
+    };
+
   test_clan_all_machines_laziness =
     let
       eval = clan {
diff --git a/lib/vars-test-flake/vars/per-machine/test-machine/test-generator/test-file/value b/lib/vars-test-flake/vars/per-machine/test-machine/test-generator/test-file/value
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a78fe08b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vars-test-flake/vars/per-machine/test-machine/test-generator/test-file/value
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+foo-machine
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/vars-test-flake/vars/shared/test-generator/test-file/value b/lib/vars-test-flake/vars/shared/test-generator/test-file/value
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b77bf5c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vars-test-flake/vars/shared/test-generator/test-file/value
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+foo-shared
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/vars_test.nix b/lib/vars_test.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0db3279e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vars_test.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+
+}