diff --git a/spec/couchrest/design_doc_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/design_doc_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/couchrest/design_doc_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+require File.expand_path("../../spec_helper", __FILE__)
+require File.join(FIXTURE_PATH, 'base')
+require File.join(FIXTURE_PATH, 'more', 'article')
+
+describe "Design Documents" do
+
+  describe "CouchRest Extension" do
+
+    it "should have created a checksum method" do
+      ::CouchRest::Design.new.should respond_to(:checksum)
+    end
+
+    it "should calculate a consistent checksum for model" do
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.design_doc.checksum.should eql('7786018bacb492e34a38436421a728d0')
+    end
+
+    it "should calculate checksum for complex model" do
+      Article.design_doc.checksum.should eql('1e6c315853cd5ff10e5c914863aee569')
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "basics" do
+
+    it "should have been instantiated with views" do
+      d = Article.design_doc
+      d['views']['all']['map'].should include('Article')
+    end
+
+    it "should not have been saved yet" do
+      lambda { Article.database.get(Article.design_doc.id) }.should raise_error(RestClient::ResourceNotFound)
+    end
+
+    describe "after requesting a view" do
+      before :each do
+        Article.all
+      end
+      it "should have saved the design doc after view request" do
+        Article.database.get(Article.design_doc.id).should_not be_nil
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "model with simple views" do
+      before(:all) do
+        Article.all.map{|a| a.destroy(true)}
+        Article.database.bulk_delete
+        written_at = Time.now - 24 * 3600 * 7
+        @titles = ["this and that", "also interesting", "more fun", "some junk"]
+        @titles.each do |title|
+          a = Article.new(:title => title)
+          a.date = written_at
+          a.save
+          written_at += 24 * 3600
+        end
+      end
+      it "should have generated a design doc" do
+        Article.design_doc["views"]["by_date"].should_not be_nil
+      end
+      it "should save the design doc when view requested" do
+        Article.by_date
+        doc = Article.database.get Article.design_doc.id
+        doc['views']['by_date'].should_not be_nil
+      end
+      it "should save design doc if a view changed" do
+        Article.by_date
+        orig = Article.stored_design_doc
+        design = Article.design_doc
+        view = design['views']['by_date']['map']
+        design['views']['by_date']['map'] = view + '  ' # little bit of white space
+        Article.req_design_doc_refresh
+        Article.by_date
+        orig = Article.stored_design_doc
+        orig['views']['by_date']['map'].should eql(Article.design_doc['views']['by_date']['map'])
+      end
+      it "should not save design doc if not changed" do
+        Article.by_date
+        orig = Article.stored_design_doc['_rev']
+        Article.req_design_doc_refresh
+        Article.by_date
+        Article.stored_design_doc['_rev'].should eql(orig)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "lazily refreshing the design document" do
+    before(:all) do
+      @db = reset_test_db!
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.new('important-field' => '1').save
+    end
+    it "should not save the design doc twice" do
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.all
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.req_design_doc_refresh
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.refresh_design_doc
+      rev = WithTemplateAndUniqueID.design_doc['_rev']
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.req_design_doc_refresh
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.refresh_design_doc
+      WithTemplateAndUniqueID.design_doc['_rev'].should eql(rev)
+    end
+  end
+
+
+end