diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-frontend-unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-frontend-unit-tests.yml
index 25d2450e002..283a186c50d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-frontend-unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-frontend-unit-tests.yml
@@ -107,6 +107,24 @@ jobs:
     - run: yarn install --immutable --check-cache
     - run: yarn run plugin:test:ci
 
+  frontend-packages-unit-tests:
+    needs: detect-changes
+    if: needs.detect-changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest-8-cores
+    name: "Packages unit tests"
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        persist-credentials: false
+    - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+      with:
+        node-version-file: '.nvmrc'
+        cache: 'yarn'
+        cache-dependency-path: 'yarn.lock'
+    - run: yarn install --immutable --check-cache
+    - run: yarn run packages:test:ci
+
+
   # This is the job that is actually required by rulesets.
   # We need to require EITHER the OSS or the Enterprise job to pass.
   # However, if one is skipped, GitHub won't flat-map the shards,
@@ -116,6 +134,7 @@ jobs:
       - frontend-unit-tests
       - frontend-unit-tests-enterprise
       - frontend-decoupled-plugin-tests
+      - frontend-packages-unit-tests
     # always() is the best function here.
     # success() || failure() will skip this function if any need is also skipped.
     # That means conditional test suites will fail the entire requirement check.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 79bbdd20cbe..278ffb6efcc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     "packages:prepare": "lerna version --no-push --no-git-tag-version --force-publish --exact",
     "packages:pack": "mkdir -p ./npm-artifacts && lerna exec --no-private -- yarn pack --out \"../../npm-artifacts/%s-%v.tgz\"",
     "packages:typecheck": "nx run-many -t typecheck --projects='tag:scope:package'",
+    "packages:test:ci": "nx run-many -t test:ci --projects='tag:scope:package'",
     "prettier:check": "prettier --check --ignore-path .prettierignore --list-different=false --log-level=warn \"**/*.{ts,tsx,scss,md,mdx,json,js,cjs}\"",
     "prettier:checkDocs": "prettier --check --list-different=false --log-level=warn \"docs/**/*.md\" \"*.md\" \"packages/**/*.{ts,tsx,scss,md,mdx,json,js,cjs}\"",
     "prettier:write": "prettier --ignore-path .prettierignore --list-different \"**/*.{js,ts,tsx,scss,md,mdx,json,cjs}\" --write",
diff --git a/packages/grafana-plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js b/packages/grafana-plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js
index 00a84b42b68..05a2b03634c 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js
+++ b/packages/grafana-plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import '@testing-library/jest-dom';
 import { TextEncoder, TextDecoder } from 'util';
 
+import { matchers } from '@grafana/test-utils/matchers';
+
+expect.extend(matchers);
+
 Object.assign(global, { TextDecoder, TextEncoder });
 
 // https://jestjs.io/docs/manual-mocks#mocking-methods-which-are-not-implemented-in-jsdom
diff --git a/packages/grafana-test-utils/README.md b/packages/grafana-test-utils/README.md
index 2e864d4ad7b..370987a8931 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-test-utils/README.md
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,24 @@
 # Grafana test utils
 
 This package is a collection of test utils and a mock API (using MSW) for use with core Grafana UI development.
+
+## Matchers
+
+To add the matchers to your Jest config, import them then extend `expect`. This should be done in the `setupFilesAfterEnv` file declared in `jest.config.{js,ts}`.
+
+```ts
+// setupTests.ts
+import { matchers } from '@grafana/test-utils';
+
+expect.extend(matchers);
+```
+
+Included in this package are the following matchers:
+
+### `toEmitValues`
+
+Tests that an Observable emits the expected values in the correct order. This matcher collects all emitted values (including errors) and compares them against the expected array using deep equality.
+
+### `toEmitValuesWith`
+
+Tests that an Observable emits values that satisfy custom expectations. This matcher collects all emitted values and passes them to a callback function where you can perform custom assertions.
diff --git a/packages/grafana-test-utils/jest-setup.js b/packages/grafana-test-utils/jest-setup.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..57d87c0c2ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/jest-setup.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+import { matchers } from '@grafana/test-utils/matchers';
+
+expect.extend(matchers);
diff --git a/packages/grafana-test-utils/jest.config.js b/packages/grafana-test-utils/jest.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..468cf6bae51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/jest.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+process.env.TZ = 'Pacific/Easter'; // UTC-06:00 or UTC-05:00 depending on daylight savings
+
+export default {
+  moduleFileExtensions: ['ts', 'tsx', 'js', 'jsx'],
+  setupFilesAfterEnv: ['<rootDir>/jest-setup.js'],
+  testMatch: ['<rootDir>/**/__tests__/**/*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}', '<rootDir>/**/*.{spec,test,jest}.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}'],
+  testEnvironment: 'node',
+  transform: {
+    '^.+\\.(t|j)sx?$': [
+      '@swc/jest',
+      {
+        sourceMaps: 'inline',
+        jsc: {
+          parser: {
+            syntax: 'typescript',
+            tsx: true,
+            decorators: false,
+            dynamicImport: true,
+          },
+          transform: {
+            react: {
+              runtime: 'automatic',
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+};
diff --git a/packages/grafana-test-utils/package.json b/packages/grafana-test-utils/package.json
index 7f58c62ac0d..9a9f5998621 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-test-utils/package.json
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/package.json
@@ -40,17 +40,28 @@
     "./unstable": {
       "import": "./src/unstable.ts",
       "require": "./src/unstable.ts"
+    },
+    "./matchers": {
+      "types": "./src/matchers/index.ts",
+      "import": "./src/matchers/index.ts",
+      "require": "./src/matchers/index.ts"
     }
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "typecheck": "tsc --emitDeclarationOnly false --noEmit"
+    "typecheck": "tsc --emitDeclarationOnly false --noEmit",
+    "test": "jest --watch --onlyChanged",
+    "test:ci": "jest --maxWorkers 4"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "msw": "2.10.4"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@grafana/tsconfig": "^2.0.0",
+    "@swc/core": "1.10.12",
+    "@swc/jest": "^0.2.26",
+    "@types/jest": "29.5.14",
     "@types/node": "22.16.5",
+    "jest": "29.7.0",
     "typescript": "5.8.3"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/index.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/index.ts
index f5d42f308b0..55005c34d54 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/index.ts
@@ -5,4 +5,6 @@
  * @packageDocumentation
  */
 
-export {};
+// This is also exported as `@grafana/test-utils/matchers` but we cannot use that in places
+// where the tsconfig is not set to moduleResolution: bundler so we export it here also.
+export { matchers } from './matchers';
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/index.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/index.ts
similarity index 86%
rename from public/test/matchers/index.ts
rename to packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/index.ts
index b62de8d6974..11a1891accd 100644
--- a/public/test/matchers/index.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
+import type { Observable } from 'rxjs';
 
 import { toEmitValues } from './toEmitValues';
 import { toEmitValuesWith } from './toEmitValuesWith';
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/toEmitValues.test.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValues.test.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from public/test/matchers/toEmitValues.test.ts
rename to packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValues.test.ts
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/toEmitValues.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValues.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from public/test/matchers/toEmitValues.ts
rename to packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValues.ts
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.test.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.test.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from public/test/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.test.ts
rename to packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.test.ts
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from public/test/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.ts
rename to packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/toEmitValuesWith.ts
diff --git a/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/types.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/types.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c7c420e9355
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
+
+export const OBSERVABLE_TEST_TIMEOUT_IN_MS = 1000;
+
+export interface ObservableMatchers<R, T = {}> extends jest.ExpectExtendMap {
+  toEmitValues<T>(received: Observable<T>, expected: T[]): Promise<jest.CustomMatcherResult>;
+  toEmitValuesWith<T>(
+    received: Observable<T>,
+    expectations: (received: T[]) => void
+  ): Promise<jest.CustomMatcherResult>;
+}
+
+type ObservableType<T> = T extends Observable<infer V> ? V : never;
+
+declare global {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-namespace
+  namespace jest {
+    interface Matchers<R, T = {}> {
+      toEmitValues<E = ObservableType<T>>(expected: E[]): Promise<CustomMatcherResult>;
+      /**
+       * Collect all the values emitted by the observables (also errors) and pass them to the expectations functions after
+       * the observable ended (or emitted error). If Observable does not complete within OBSERVABLE_TEST_TIMEOUT_IN_MS the
+       * test fails.
+       */
+      toEmitValuesWith<E = ObservableType<T>>(expectations: (received: E[]) => void): Promise<CustomMatcherResult>;
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/utils.ts b/packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/utils.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from public/test/matchers/utils.ts
rename to packages/grafana-test-utils/src/matchers/utils.ts
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/azuremonitor/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/azuremonitor/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/azuremonitor/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/azuremonitor/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-postgresql-datasource/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-postgresql-datasource/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-postgresql-datasource/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-postgresql-datasource/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-pyroscope-datasource/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-pyroscope-datasource/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-pyroscope-datasource/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-pyroscope-datasource/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-testdata-datasource/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-testdata-datasource/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-testdata-datasource/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/grafana-testdata-datasource/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/jaeger/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/jaeger/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/jaeger/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/jaeger/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/mysql/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/mysql/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/mysql/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/mysql/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/parca/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/parca/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/parca/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/parca/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/zipkin/jest-setup.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/zipkin/jest-setup.js
index 60f6932753d..c85bf9d3a57 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/zipkin/jest-setup.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/zipkin/jest-setup.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup.js';
+import '@grafana/plugin-configs/jest/jest-setup';
diff --git a/public/test/matchers/types.ts b/public/test/matchers/types.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 2c8cd92ff3b..00000000000
--- a/public/test/matchers/types.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
-
-export const OBSERVABLE_TEST_TIMEOUT_IN_MS = 1000;
-
-export interface ObservableMatchers<R, T = {}> extends jest.ExpectExtendMap {
-  toEmitValues<T>(received: Observable<T>, expected: T[]): Promise<jest.CustomMatcherResult>;
-  toEmitValuesWith<T>(
-    received: Observable<T>,
-    expectations: (received: T[]) => void
-  ): Promise<jest.CustomMatcherResult>;
-}
diff --git a/public/test/setupTests.ts b/public/test/setupTests.ts
index 3f053609138..d6c97a0d1c8 100644
--- a/public/test/setupTests.ts
+++ b/public/test/setupTests.ts
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ import i18next from 'i18next';
 import failOnConsole from 'jest-fail-on-console';
 import { initReactI18next } from 'react-i18next';
 
-import getEnvConfig from '../../scripts/webpack/env-util';
+import { matchers } from '@grafana/test-utils';
 
-import { matchers } from './matchers';
+import getEnvConfig from '../../scripts/webpack/env-util';
 
 const config = getEnvConfig() as Record<string, string | boolean>;
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index dab33c9e9bc..7d72c331da7 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3714,7 +3714,11 @@ __metadata:
   resolution: "@grafana/test-utils@workspace:packages/grafana-test-utils"
   dependencies:
     "@grafana/tsconfig": "npm:^2.0.0"
+    "@swc/core": "npm:1.10.12"
+    "@swc/jest": "npm:^0.2.26"
+    "@types/jest": "npm:29.5.14"
     "@types/node": "npm:22.16.5"
+    jest: "npm:29.7.0"
     msw: "npm:2.10.4"
     typescript: "npm:5.8.3"
   languageName: unknown