diff --git a/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/package.json b/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/package.json
index 34a03d26fc..c249783cf5 100644
--- a/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/package.json
+++ b/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/package.json
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@backstage/backend-test-utils": "workspace:^",
-    "@backstage/cli": "workspace:^"
+    "@backstage/cli": "workspace:^",
+    "msw": "^1.2.1"
   },
   "files": [
     "dist"
diff --git a/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/src/collators/ToolDocumentCollatorFactory.test.ts b/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/src/collators/ToolDocumentCollatorFactory.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..498a4d9fbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/search-backend-module-explore/src/collators/ToolDocumentCollatorFactory.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+import {
+  getVoidLogger,
+  PluginEndpointDiscovery,
+  TokenManager,
+} from '@backstage/backend-common';
+import { ConfigReader } from '@backstage/config';
+import { TestPipeline } from '@backstage/plugin-search-backend-node';
+import { setupRequestMockHandlers } from '@backstage/backend-test-utils';
+import { rest } from 'msw';
+import { setupServer } from 'msw/node';
+import { Readable } from 'stream';
+import { ToolDocumentCollatorFactory } from './ToolDocumentCollatorFactory';
+
+const logger = getVoidLogger();
+
+const mockTools = {
+  tools: [
+    {
+      title: 'tool1',
+      description: 'tool 1 description',
+      url: 'https://some-url.com',
+      image: 'https://some-url.com/image.png',
+      tags: ['one'],
+    },
+    {
+      title: 'tool2',
+      description: 'tool 2 description',
+      url: 'https://some-url.com',
+      image: 'https://some-url.com/image.png',
+      tags: ['two'],
+    },
+    {
+      title: 'tool3',
+      description: 'tool 3 description',
+      url: 'https://some-url.com',
+      image: 'https://some-url.com/image.png',
+      tags: ['three'],
+    },
+  ],
+};
+
+describe('ToolDocumentCollatorFactory', () => {
+  const config = new ConfigReader({});
+  const mockDiscoveryApi: jest.Mocked<PluginEndpointDiscovery> = {
+    getBaseUrl: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue('http://test-backend/api/explore'),
+    getExternalBaseUrl: jest.fn(),
+  };
+  const mockTokenManager: jest.Mocked<TokenManager> = {
+    getToken: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ token: '' }),
+    authenticate: jest.fn(),
+  };
+  const options = {
+    discovery: mockDiscoveryApi,
+    logger,
+    tokenManager: mockTokenManager,
+  };
+
+  it('has expected type', () => {
+    const factory = ToolDocumentCollatorFactory.fromConfig(config, options);
+    expect(factory.type).toBe('tools');
+  });
+
+  describe('getCollator', () => {
+    let factory: ToolDocumentCollatorFactory;
+    let collator: Readable;
+
+    const worker = setupServer();
+    setupRequestMockHandlers(worker);
+
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      factory = ToolDocumentCollatorFactory.fromConfig(config, options);
+      collator = await factory.getCollator();
+
+      worker.use(
+        rest.get('http://test-backend/api/explore/tools', (_, res, ctx) =>
+          res(ctx.status(200), ctx.json(mockTools)),
+        ),
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('returns a readable stream', async () => {
+      expect(collator).toBeInstanceOf(Readable);
+    });
+
+    it('runs against mock tools', async () => {
+      const pipeline = TestPipeline.fromCollator(collator);
+      const { documents } = await pipeline.execute();
+      expect(mockDiscoveryApi.getBaseUrl).toHaveBeenCalledWith('explore');
+      expect(documents).toHaveLength(mockTools.tools.length);
+    });
+
+    it('non-authenticated backend', async () => {
+      factory = ToolDocumentCollatorFactory.fromConfig(config, {
+        discovery: mockDiscoveryApi,
+        logger,
+      });
+      collator = await factory.getCollator();
+
+      const pipeline = TestPipeline.fromCollator(collator);
+      const { documents } = await pipeline.execute();
+
+      expect(mockDiscoveryApi.getBaseUrl).toHaveBeenCalledWith('explore');
+      expect(documents).toHaveLength(mockTools.tools.length);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 8415e4b6ae..4d68a81566 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -8653,6 +8653,7 @@ __metadata:
     "@backstage/plugin-explore-common": "workspace:^"
     "@backstage/plugin-search-backend-node": "workspace:^"
     "@backstage/plugin-search-common": "workspace:^"
+    msw: ^1.2.1
     node-fetch: ^2.6.7
     winston: ^3.2.1
   languageName: unknown
@@ -26448,10 +26449,10 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
-"headers-polyfill@npm:^3.1.0":
-  version: 3.1.0
-  resolution: "headers-polyfill@npm:3.1.0"
-  checksum: a95257065684653b7185efbb9a380c547ea832002991b5adf0d90cd222073da2701be9dc2849d1970ecf15e8c35b383984358566afe6e76ca8ff1dbd7cdce3af
+"headers-polyfill@npm:^3.1.0, headers-polyfill@npm:^3.1.2":
+  version: 3.1.2
+  resolution: "headers-polyfill@npm:3.1.2"
+  checksum: 510ca9637ef652404dbd432e680418f8d418ba18094ef2f64c3d8de955ebf6e68d553c7f0aeaa5fc937d130b139c1e2d7c2066cd4cf0f740a4627924eaaee9db
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
@@ -27578,10 +27579,10 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
-"is-node-process@npm:^1.0.1":
-  version: 1.0.1
-  resolution: "is-node-process@npm:1.0.1"
-  checksum: 3ddb8a892a00f6eb9c2aea7e7e1426b8683512d9419933d95114f4f64b5455e26601c23a31c0682463890032136dd98a326988a770ab6b4eed54a43ade8bed50
+"is-node-process@npm:^1.2.0":
+  version: 1.2.0
+  resolution: "is-node-process@npm:1.2.0"
+  checksum: 930765cdc6d81ab8f1bbecbea4a8d35c7c6d88a3ff61f3630e0fc7f22d624d7661c1df05c58547d0eb6a639dfa9304682c8e342c4113a6ed51472b704cee2928
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
@@ -31783,9 +31784,9 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
-"msw@npm:^1.0.0, msw@npm:^1.0.1":
-  version: 1.2.0
-  resolution: "msw@npm:1.2.0"
+"msw@npm:^1.0.0, msw@npm:^1.0.1, msw@npm:^1.2.1":
+  version: 1.2.1
+  resolution: "msw@npm:1.2.1"
   dependencies:
     "@mswjs/cookies": ^0.2.2
     "@mswjs/interceptors": ^0.17.5
@@ -31796,12 +31797,12 @@ __metadata:
     chokidar: ^3.4.2
     cookie: ^0.4.2
     graphql: ^15.0.0 || ^16.0.0
-    headers-polyfill: ^3.1.0
+    headers-polyfill: ^3.1.2
     inquirer: ^8.2.0
-    is-node-process: ^1.0.1
+    is-node-process: ^1.2.0
     js-levenshtein: ^1.1.6
     node-fetch: ^2.6.7
-    outvariant: ^1.3.0
+    outvariant: ^1.4.0
     path-to-regexp: ^6.2.0
     strict-event-emitter: ^0.4.3
     type-fest: ^2.19.0
@@ -31813,7 +31814,7 @@ __metadata:
       optional: true
   bin:
     msw: cli/index.js
-  checksum: 2cea7fe0f2ebb59b11534896cbaa91dca65f4fb2272402549079cc4190847fc42f5367f331c552d576d59a3521f498da0384d53cf4960beaebd6165bbc44593b
+  checksum: 97b9c5ffc81b4380dd24ff40ac52ca02f406c88f86d8209ba991da19aad0bcfc37e807794aa1b9bf29f89cd86fd31e492bf4418c5ff02559b4f80d6ce4fb417b
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
@@ -32942,10 +32943,10 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
-"outvariant@npm:^1.2.1, outvariant@npm:^1.3.0":
-  version: 1.3.0
-  resolution: "outvariant@npm:1.3.0"
-  checksum: ac76ca375c1c642989e1c74f0e9ebac84c05bc9fdc8f28be949c16fae1658e9f1f2fb1133fe3cc1e98afabef78fe4298fe9360b5734baf8e6ad440c182680848
+"outvariant@npm:^1.2.1, outvariant@npm:^1.4.0":
+  version: 1.4.0
+  resolution: "outvariant@npm:1.4.0"
+  checksum: ec32dfc315c464bb6e4906b2f450d259ce0b86caf70b70b249054359d9af21a7fccf53a8b6aa232f8d718449e31c1cfa594e6ebffaafe7bf908b502495256d7b
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard