diff --git a/source/test/SingleFile.hpp b/source/test/SingleFile.hpp
index 59a27f483..2d2613627 100644
--- a/source/test/SingleFile.hpp
+++ b/source/test/SingleFile.hpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
+#include "TestConfig.hpp"
 
 namespace clang {
 namespace mrdox {
@@ -25,22 +26,29 @@ class SingleFile
     : public tooling::CompilationDatabase
 {
     std::vector<tooling::CompileCommand> cc_;
-
 public:
     SingleFile(
         llvm::StringRef dir,
-        llvm::StringRef file)
+        llvm::StringRef file,
+        const TestConfig &tc)
     {
         std::vector<std::string> cmds;
         cmds.emplace_back("clang");
-        cmds.emplace_back("-std=c++20");
+        {
+            char buf[64];
+            snprintf(buf, 63, "-std=%s", tc.cxxstd.c_str());
+            cmds.emplace_back(buf);
+        }
+        for (const auto & fl : tc.compile_flags)
+            cmds.emplace_back(fl);
+
         cmds.emplace_back(file);
         cc_.emplace_back(
             dir,
             file,
             std::move(cmds),
             dir);
-        cc_.back().Heuristic = "unit test";
+        cc_.back().Heuristic = tc.heuristics;
     }
 
     std::vector<tooling::CompileCommand>
diff --git a/source/test/TestConfig.cpp b/source/test/TestConfig.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c27ac5293
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/test/TestConfig.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+`// This is a derivative work. originally part of the LLVM Project.
+// Licensed under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2023 Klemens D. Morgenstern
+//
+
+#include "TestConfig.hpp"
+#include <mrdox/Error.hpp>
+#include <llvm/Support/FileSystem.h>
+#include <llvm/Support/Path.h>
+#include <llvm/Support/YAMLParser.h>
+#include <llvm/Support/YAMLTraits.h>
+
+
+template<>
+struct llvm::yaml::MappingTraits<
+    clang::mrdox::TestConfig>
+{
+    static void mapping(IO &io,
+                        clang::mrdox::TestConfig& f)
+    {
+        io.mapOptional("cxxstd", f.cxxstd);
+        io.mapOptional("compile-flags", f.compile_flags);
+        io.mapOptional("should-fail", f.should_fail);
+        io.mapOptional("heuristics", f.heuristics);
+    }
+};
+
+namespace clang {
+namespace mrdox {
+
+llvm::Expected<std::vector<TestConfig>>
+TestConfig::loadForTest(
+    llvm::StringRef dir,
+    llvm::StringRef file)
+{
+    namespace fs = llvm::sys::fs;
+    namespace path = llvm::sys::path;
+
+    llvm::SmallString<256> filePath = file;
+    path::replace_extension(filePath, "yml");
+
+    if (!fs::exists(filePath))
+    {
+        filePath = dir;
+        filePath.append("/mrdox-test.yml");
+    }
+
+    if (fs::exists(filePath))
+    {
+        auto fileText = llvm::MemoryBuffer::getFile(filePath);
+        if(! fileText)
+            return makeError(fileText.getError().message(), " when loading file '", filePath, "' ");
+        llvm::yaml::Input yin(**fileText);
+
+        std::vector<TestConfig> res;
+        do
+        {
+            yin >> res.emplace_back();
+            if (auto ec = yin.error())
+                return makeError(ec.message(), " when parsing file '", filePath, "' ");
+        }
+        while (yin.nextDocument());
+        return res;
+    }
+    return std::vector<TestConfig>{TestConfig{}};
+}
+
+}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/source/test/TestConfig.hpp b/source/test/TestConfig.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3cacf3d97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/test/TestConfig.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// This is a derivative work. originally part of the LLVM Project.
+// Licensed under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2023 Klemens D. Morgenstern
+//
+
+#ifndef MRDOX_TEST_CONFIG_HPP
+#define MRDOX_TEST_CONFIG_HPP
+
+#include <mrdox/Platform.hpp>
+
+#include <llvm/ADT/StringRef.h>
+#include <llvm/Support/Error.h>
+
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace clang {
+namespace mrdox {
+
+struct TestConfig
+{
+  std::string cxxstd = "c++20";
+  std::vector<std::string> compile_flags;
+  bool should_fail = false;
+  std::string heuristics = "unit test";
+
+  MRDOX_DECL
+  static
+  llvm::Expected<std::vector<TestConfig>>
+  loadForTest(
+      llvm::StringRef dir,
+      llvm::StringRef file);
+};
+
+
+}
+}
+
+
+#endif //MRDOX_TEST_CONFIG_HPP
diff --git a/source/test/TestMain.cpp b/source/test/TestMain.cpp
index 573d4143f..5c456fda0 100644
--- a/source/test/TestMain.cpp
+++ b/source/test/TestMain.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 #include "Options.hpp"
 #include "SingleFile.hpp"
+#include "TestConfig.hpp"
 #include <mrdox/Config.hpp>
 #include <mrdox/Debug.hpp>
 #include <mrdox/Error.hpp>
@@ -77,6 +78,8 @@ class Instance
     Generator const* xmlGen_;
     Generator const* adocGen_;
 
+    TestConfig testConfig_;
+
     void
     setConfig(
         std::shared_ptr<Config> config);
@@ -184,11 +187,24 @@ handleFile(
 
     // Build Corpus
     std::unique_ptr<Corpus> corpus;
+
+    auto tcs = TestConfig::loadForTest(dirPath, filePath);
+    if (!tcs)
+        return tcs.takeError();
+
+    for (const auto & tc : *tcs)
     {
-        SingleFile db(dirPath, filePath);
+        SingleFile db(dirPath, filePath, tc);
         tooling::StandaloneToolExecutor ex(db, { std::string(filePath) });
         auto result = Corpus::build(ex, config_, R_);
-        if(R_.error(result, "build Corpus for '", filePath, "'"))
+
+        if (tc.should_fail && result)
+        {
+            R_.failed("build Corpus for '", filePath, "' should have failed");
+            results_.numberOfErrors++;
+            return llvm::Error::success(); // keep going
+        }
+        else if (R_.error(result, "build Corpus for '", filePath, "'"))
         {
             results_.numberOfErrors++;
             return llvm::Error::success(); // keep going
diff --git a/test-files/old-tests/attributes_1.yml b/test-files/old-tests/attributes_1.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..471caf17a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-files/old-tests/attributes_1.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+cxxstd: c++20
+...
+---
+cxxstd: c++17
diff --git a/test-files/old-tests/mrdox-test.yml b/test-files/old-tests/mrdox-test.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7174d06da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-files/old-tests/mrdox-test.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+cxxstd: c++20
+...
+---
+cxxstd: c++17
\ No newline at end of file