diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 74a9d77c9..ca8925268 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -62,3 +62,9 @@ coverage
 /node_modules
 .DS_Store
 app/javascript/src/componentLoader/components/*
+
+# ignore addon features
+features/addons
+spec/addons
+!features/addons/.gitkeep
+!spec/addons/.gitkeep
diff --git a/config/initializers/load_addons_specs.rb b/config/initializers/load_addons_specs.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..27b6df7da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/load_addons_specs.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+require 'singleton'
+
+class AddonsSpecLoader
+  include Singleton
+  include AddonsHelper
+
+  # rspec will recognise symlinks in the second run
+  def mount
+    FileUtils.rm_f Dir.glob("#{Dir.pwd}/spec/addons/*")
+    available_addons.each do |addon|
+      specs_path = "addons/#{addon}/spec"
+      next unless Dir.exist? specs_path
+      File.symlink("#{Dir.pwd}/#{specs_path}",
+                   "#{Dir.pwd}/spec/addons/#{addon}")
+    end
+  end
+
+  # cucumber cannot resolve path with symlinks so we copy files from addons
+  def copy_to_features
+    FileUtils.rm_f Dir.glob("#{Dir.pwd}/features/addons/*")
+    available_addons.each do |addon|
+      feature_path = "addons/#{addon}/features"
+      next unless Dir.exist? feature_path
+      FileUtils.copy_entry("#{Dir.pwd}/#{feature_path}",
+                           "#{Dir.pwd}/features/addons/#{addon}")
+    end
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def available_addons
+    list_all_addons.map { |addon| addon.to_s.split('::').last.underscore }
+  end
+end
+
+if ENV['RAILS_ENV'].in? %w(test development)
+  begin
+    puts '[sciNote] Generating symlinks for addons!'
+    puts '[sciNote] Copying features from addons!'
+    AddonsSpecLoader.instance.mount
+    AddonsSpecLoader.instance.copy_to_features
+  rescue
+    puts '[sciNote] Unable to load specs from addons!'
+    puts '[sciNote] Your system does not support symlink!'
+  end
+end
diff --git a/features/addons/.gitkeep b/features/addons/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb