diff --git a/.github/workflows/browser-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/browser-tests.yml
index b9191641..c74c7f4c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/browser-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/browser-tests.yml
@@ -40,10 +40,18 @@ jobs:
       - name: Verify a Chrome/Chromium binary is available
         # chromedp (used by the browsertest-tagged tests) discovers Chrome on
         # PATH or in a standard install location; GitHub's ubuntu-latest
-        # runner image ships Google Chrome preinstalled. Fail fast with a
-        # clear message here instead of a cryptic chromedp allocator error
-        # if that image ever stops including it.
+        # runner image ships Google Chrome preinstalled. Fail fast here with a
+        # clear message instead of a cryptic chromedp allocator error if that
+        # image ever stops including it.
         run: google-chrome --version
 
       - name: Run browser-level player compatibility tests
         run: make test-browser
+
+      - name: Set up Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@820762786026740c76f36085b0efc47a31fe5020 # v7.0.0
+        with:
+          node-version: '24'
+
+      - name: Run frontend unit tests
+        run: make test-frontend
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3bc3e361..38814782 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: all build build-cli test test-coverage test-browser test-http-client test-http-client-rotate check fmt vet lint clean dev help screenshots build-stockholm-image prepare-stockholm update-static-deps dev-docs dev-docs-tidy hugo
+.PHONY: all build build-cli test test-coverage test-browser test-frontend test-http-client test-http-client-rotate check fmt vet lint clean dev help screenshots build-stockholm-image prepare-stockholm update-static-deps dev-docs dev-docs-tidy hugo
 
 # Load .env if present (simple KEY=VALUE format, no shell quoting)
 -include .env
@@ -156,6 +156,14 @@ test-browser:
 	@echo "Running browser-level compatibility tests..."
 	$(GOTEST) -tags browsertest -v ./pkg/service/soundtouchweb/...
 
+# Unit tests for the embedded player's static JS modules (see
+# pkg/service/soundtouchweb/frontend_test/), run via Node's built-in test
+# runner. Not part of `test`/`check`, since they need a Node binary matching
+# package.json's engines field, same reasoning as test-browser needing Chrome.
+test-frontend:
+	@echo "Running frontend unit tests..."
+	node --test pkg/service/soundtouchweb/frontend_test/*.test.mjs
+
 check: fmt vet test test-http-client
 
 # Archive any existing tests/integration/testdata/ to a timestamped sibling
@@ -516,6 +524,7 @@ help:
 	@echo "  test          - Run tests"
 	@echo "  test-coverage - Run tests with coverage report"
 	@echo "  test-browser             - Run browser-level (chromedp) player compatibility tests"
+	@echo "  test-frontend            - Run player static JS unit tests (Node's test runner)"
 	@echo "  test-http-client         - Run .http integration tests via Docker Compose"
 	@echo "  test-http-client-rotate  - Archive tests/integration/testdata/ before a fresh run (non-destructive)"
 	@echo "  check         - Run fmt, vet, and tests"