diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_tests_ubuntu.yml b/.github/workflows/run_tests_ubuntu.yml
index 6b78cb478b..c797c38216 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_tests_ubuntu.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_tests_ubuntu.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 name: Run Ubuntu/Linux netCDF Tests
 
-on: [workflow_dispatch]
+on: [pull_request,workflow_dispatch]
 
 env:
   REMOTETESTDOWN: ${{ vars.REMOTETESTDOWN }}
@@ -14,7 +14,16 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
- 
+  
+  build-python-tools:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.12'
+      
   build-deps-serial:
 
     strategy:
@@ -243,7 +252,9 @@ jobs:
   ## Serial, Static
   nc-ac-tests-oneoff-serial-static:
 
-    needs: build-deps-serial
+    needs:
+      - build-deps-serial
+      - build-python-tools
 
     strategy:
       matrix:
@@ -314,7 +325,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash -l {0}
         run: CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} LDFLAGS=${LDFLAGS} LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH} make check TESTS="" -j
         if: ${{ success() }}
-
+      
       - name: Run Tests
         shell: bash -l {0}
         run: |
@@ -332,7 +343,10 @@ jobs:
   ##
   nc-ac-tests-oneoff-parallel:
 
-    needs: build-deps-parallel
+    needs: 
+      - build-deps-parallel
+      - build-python-tools
+
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
 
     strategy:
@@ -488,7 +502,7 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{ failure() }}
 
  ##
-  # Serial, Shared
+  # Serial, Static
   ##
   nc-cmake-tests-oneoff-serial-static:
 
diff --git a/cmake/dependencies.cmake b/cmake/dependencies.cmake
index d06a276d73..c100dc65ef 100644
--- a/cmake/dependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/dependencies.cmake
@@ -510,3 +510,10 @@ endif()
 if (NETCDF_PACKAGE)
   find_program(NC_DPKG NAMES dpkg)
 endif()
+
+################################
+# Python for testing tools
+################################ 
+if (NETCDF_ENABLE_NCZARR AND NETCDF_ENABLE_TESTS)
+  find_package (Python COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+endif()
diff --git a/nczarr_test/CMakeLists.txt b/nczarr_test/CMakeLists.txt
index ad6fde8c8b..38a526bbac 100644
--- a/nczarr_test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/nczarr_test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -198,6 +198,21 @@ IF(NETCDF_ENABLE_TESTS)
 #    if(NOT ISCMAKE)
       add_sh_test(nczarr_test run_interop)
 #    ENDIF()
+    IF(NETCDF_ENABLE_TESTS AND NETCDF_ENABLE_NCZARR AND Python_EXECUTABLE)
+      add_custom_target(build_python_tools ALL
+          COMMAND ${Python_EXECUTABLE} -m venv ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/venv
+          COMMAND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/venv/bin/pip install --upgrade pip
+          COMMAND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/venv/bin/pip install .
+          WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
+          COMMENT "Creating virtual environment and installing Python netcdf-c-testing-tools"
+      )
+      add_sh_test(nczarr_test run_interop_python)
+
+    ENDIF()
+    add_custom_target(clean_python_tools
+        COMMAND rm -rfv ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/venv
+        COMMENT "Cleaning up Python virtual environment"
+    )
     
     IF(USE_HDF5)
     add_sh_test(nczarr_test run_fillonlyz)
diff --git a/nczarr_test/run_interop_python.sh b/nczarr_test/run_interop_python.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..e3645172c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nczarr_test/run_interop_python.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+if test "x$srcdir" = x ; then srcdir=`pwd`; fi 
+. ../test_common.sh
+
+. "$srcdir/test_nczarr.sh"
+
+set -e
+
+metaonly="-h"
+
+s3isolate "testdir_interop_python"
+THISDIR=`pwd`
+cd $ISOPATH
+
+# Running python means activate the virtual environment
+if [ -d "${TOPBUILDDIR}/venv" ]; then
+    . ${TOPBUILDDIR}/venv/bin/activate
+    trap "deactivate" EXIT
+else
+    echo "Error: Virtual environment not found. Did you run the build step?"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+testxarray() {
+  # Create a dataset with xarray and convert it to both:
+  # 1. netcdf4
+  # 2. zarr
+  # Then compare the output of ncdump on both files
+  # to make sure they are the same
+  
+  echo "	o Running xarray Testcase:	(${@})"
+  # Create files
+  testing-tools create xarray $1 
+
+  ${NCDUMP} -n same ${PWD}/xarray-$1.nc > nc.out
+  ${NCDUMP} -n same file://${PWD}/xarray-$1.zarr/#mode=zarr,file > zarr.out
+  diff -b nc.out zarr.out
+}
+
+# This shell script tests compatibility between
+# this implementation and other implementations
+# by means of files constructed by that other implementation
+
+testallcases() {
+zext=$1
+case "$zext" in 
+    file)
+      testxarray "filename"
+	;;
+    zip)
+	;;
+    s3)
+ 	;;
+    *) echo "unimplemented kind: $1" ; exit 1;;
+esac
+}
+
+
+testallcases file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82ff73f508
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+requires = ["setuptools", "wheel"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "netcdf-c-testing-tools"
+version = "0.1.0"
+description = "Script to create Zarr datasets using zarr-python"
+authors = [{name = "Your Name", email = "your.email@example.com"}]
+license = {text = "MIT"}
+requires-python = ">= 3.10"
+dependencies = [
+    "argparse",
+    "zarr==2.18.2",
+    "xarray==2025.1.1",
+    "numcodecs",
+    "scipy",
+]
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+packages = ["pythontools"]
+
+[project.scripts]
+testing-tools = "pythontools.main:run"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pythontools/__init__.py b/pythontools/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/pythontools/main.py b/pythontools/main.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d0453e1f0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pythontools/main.py
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+Script to create Zarr datasets using zarr-python"
+"""
+from sys import version as python_version
+import zarr, xarray as xr, numpy as np
+import numcodecs
+import argparse
+from pathlib import Path
+
+def xarray_create_zarr_vs_netcdf(name):
+    ds = xr.Dataset({'var':np.int8(2**7-1)})
+    ds.to_netcdf(f'{name}.nc')
+    ds.to_zarr(f'{name}.zarr', mode='w', consolidated=True)
+
+def zarr_create_dataset(name):
+    ds = zarr.open(f'{name}.zarr','w')
+    # Attributes
+    ds.attrs['Description'] = 'Zarr dataset created using zarr-python'
+    ds.attrs['python'] = python_version
+    ds.attrs['zarr-python'] = zarr.__version__
+    ds.attrs[1] = 1
+    
+    scalars = ds.create_group('scalars')
+    scalars.attrs['Description'] = "'Scalar' data types or unlimited arrays with size 1"
+
+    # # scalar like arrays
+    scalars.ones('pi',shape=())
+    scalars.pi.fill_value = 3.1415
+    scalars.create(name='int-b',shape=(),dtype='uint8')
+    scalars.array(name='int-c',data=(3))
+    # scalars with fill-in
+    scalars.create(name='int-fillin',shape=(),fill_value=3.1415)
+
+    
+    arrays= ds.create_group('arrays')
+    arrays.attrs['Description'] = 'Arrays groups by data type, int or float'
+    
+    # # Arrays
+    ints = arrays.create_group('ints')
+    arrays.attrs['Description'] = 'Integer arrays with different int sizes'
+    for t in ('int8', 'int16', 'int32', 'int64', 'uint8', 'uint16', 'uint32', 'uint64'):
+        ints.create(name=f'{t}-2x3',shape=(2,3),chunks=(2,2),dtype=t)
+    
+    floats = arrays.create_group('floats')
+    arrays.attrs['Description'] = 'Float arrays with different float sizes'
+    for t in ('float32', 'float64'):
+        floats.create(name=f'{t}-2x3',shape=(2,3),chunks=(2,2),dtype=t)
+    
+    # Misc
+    misc = arrays.create_group('misc')
+    misc.attrs['Description'] = 'Miscellaneous arrays, with other types'
+    misc['string'] = 'string'
+    misc['byte-string'] = b'string'
+
+    zarr.consolidate_metadata(ds.store)
+
+def argument_parser():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Create Zarr datasets using python tooling')
+    parser.add_argument('operation', choices=('create',), help='Use xarray or zarr to create the Zarr dataset')
+    parser.add_argument('type', default='zarr', choices=['zarr','xarray'], help='Use xarray or zarr to create the Zarr dataset')
+    parser.add_argument('filename', nargs='?', type=Path, default=f'python-{zarr.__version__}', help=f'Name of the Zarr dataset (defaults to `zarr-python-{zarr.__version__}.zarr`')
+    parser.add_argument('--consolidate', action='store_true', help='Consolidate metadata')
+    return parser
+
+def sanitize_filename(args):
+    filename = Path(args.filename)
+    if filename.is_dir():
+        filename = filename / Path(f'python-{zarr.__version__}')
+    filename = filename.parent / Path(args.type +'-' + filename.name)
+    while filename.suffix in ('.zarr', '.nc'):
+        filename = filename.with_suffix('')
+    return filename
+
+def run ():
+    
+    args = argument_parser().parse_args()
+
+    print(f"""Testing zarr-python compatibility using:
+               python = {python_version} 
+                 zarr = {zarr.__version__} 
+               xarray = {xr.__version__} 
+                numpy = {np.__version__} 
+            numcodecs = {numcodecs.__version__}""")
+    filename = sanitize_filename(args)    
+    
+    if args.type == 'xarray':
+        xarray_create_zarr_vs_netcdf(filename)
+        print(f"Datasets {filename}.zarr and {filename}.nc created") 
+    elif args.type == 'zarr':
+        zarr_create_dataset(filename)
+        print(f"Zarr dataset {filename}.zarr created") 
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    run()
\ No newline at end of file