diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0152ffb9..c245e67a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ loc-author:
    	uniq -ic | \
    	sort -n
 
-e2e:
+int-core:
 	@docker run \
 		-v $$(pwd):/src \
 		--env-file .e2e.env \
@@ -53,5 +53,5 @@ e2e:
 			apt update && apt install -y wget curl git; echo ""; echo ""; \
 			git config --global user.email 'e2e@coopcloud.tech'; \
 			git config --global user.name 'e2e'; \
-			cd /src/tests && bash e2e.sh -- --dev \
+			cd /src/tests/integration && bash core.sh -- --dev \
 		"
diff --git a/tests/integration/core.sh b/tests/integration/core.sh
index a7b38d8f..00062d7d 100755
--- a/tests/integration/core.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/core.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 # before we make new releases. we try to make a balance between manual testing
 # and automated testing, i.e. we don't invest too much time in a fragile
 # automation that costs us more time to maintain and instead just do the test
-# manually. it is a balance which we figure out together.
+# manually (see `../manual/manual.md` for more). it is a balance which we
+# figure out together.
 
 set -ex
 
diff --git a/tests/manual/manual.md b/tests/manual/manual.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..445a7bbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/manual/manual.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# manual test plan
+
+Best served after running `make int-core` which assures most core functionality
+is still working. These manual tests are for testing things that are hard to
+wire up for testing in an automated way.
+
+## recipe publish
+
+## automagic traefik deploy
+
+## deploy, upgrade, rollback
+
+## backup & restore
+
+## app manage commands