diff --git a/.github/workflows/linting.yml b/.github/workflows/lint_and_test.yml
similarity index 52%
rename from .github/workflows/linting.yml
rename to .github/workflows/lint_and_test.yml
index ef50157..3782d6e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linting.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint_and_test.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-name: lint and install
+name: tests
 
 on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
+    tags:
+      - '*'
   pull_request:
 
 jobs:
@@ -12,24 +14,25 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: neuroinformatics-unit/actions/lint@main
 
-
-  install:
+  test:
     needs: [linting]
     name: ${{ matrix.os }} py${{ matrix.python-version }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
 
-    defaults:
-      run:
-        shell: bash -l {0}  # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69070754/shell-bash-l-0-in-github-actions
-
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
         python-version: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11"]
 
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        run:
-          python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install .
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+    - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+      with:
+        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: |
+        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+        pip install .[dev]
+    - name: Test
+      run: pytest
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 152c86f..86c6ab4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 .obsidian
 slurm_logs/
 derivatives/
-tests/data/
+tests/data/steve_multi_run
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0604bad..27a0630 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ classifiers = [
 ]
 
 dependencies = [
-    "spikeinterface==0.98.2",
-    "probeinterface==0.2.18",
+    "spikeinterface[full] @git+https://github.com/JoeZiminski/spikeinterface.git@random_chunks_chunk_size_to_warning",
+    "probeinterface",
     "neo==0.12.0",
     "submitit",
     "PyYAML",
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ dependencies = [
     # sorter-specific
     "tridesclous",
     # "spyking-circus", TODO: this is not straightforward, requires mpi4py. TBD if we want to manage this.
-    "mountainsort5; platform_system != 'Darwin'",
+    "mountainsort5",
     "docker; platform_system=='Windows'",
 	"docker; platform_system=='Darwin'",
     "spython; platform_system=='Linux'",  # I think missing from SI?
diff --git a/spikewrap/configs/fast_test_pipeline.yaml b/spikewrap/configs/fast_test_pipeline.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec6f56b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spikewrap/configs/fast_test_pipeline.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+'preprocessing':
+  '1':
+  - phase_shift
+  - {}
+  '2':
+  - bandpass_filter
+  - freq_min: 300
+    freq_max: 6000
+  '3':
+  - common_reference
+  - operator: median
+    reference: global
+
+'sorting':
+  'kilosort2':
+    'car': False     # common average referencing
+    'freq_min': 150  # highpass filter cutoff, False nor 0 does not work to turn off. (results in KS error)
+  'kilosort2_5':
+    'car': False
+    'freq_min': 150
+  'kilosort3':
+    'car': False
+    'freq_min': 300
+  'mountainsort5':
+    'scheme': '2'
+    'filter': False
+    'whiten': False
+
+'waveforms':
+  'ms_before': 2
+  'ms_after': 2
+  'max_spikes_per_unit': 500
+  'return_scaled': True
+  # Sparsity Options
+  'sparse': True
+  'peak_sign': "neg"
+  'method': "radius"
+  'radius_um': 75
diff --git a/spikewrap/configs/test_default.yaml b/spikewrap/configs/test_default.yaml
index 432526f..1dc610a 100644
--- a/spikewrap/configs/test_default.yaml
+++ b/spikewrap/configs/test_default.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
   'mountainsort5':
     'scheme': '2'
     'filter': False
+    'whiten': False  # TODO: add this back.
 
 'waveforms':
   'ms_before': 2
@@ -38,3 +39,4 @@
   'peak_sign': "neg"
   'method': "radius"
   'radius_um': 75
+  'chunk_size': 1
diff --git a/spikewrap/examples/example_full_pipeline.py b/spikewrap/examples/example_full_pipeline.py
index b1cc773..87cc0a3 100644
--- a/spikewrap/examples/example_full_pipeline.py
+++ b/spikewrap/examples/example_full_pipeline.py
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 from spikewrap.pipeline.full_pipeline import run_full_pipeline
 
 base_path = Path(
-    "/ceph/neuroinformatics/neuroinformatics/scratch/jziminski/ephys/code/spikewrap/tests/data/steve_multi_run/time-short-multises"
-    # "/ceph/neuroinformatics/neuroinformatics/scratch/jziminski/ephys/test_data/steve_multi_run/1119617/time-short-multises"
+    # "/ceph/neuroinformatics/neuroinformatics/scratch/jziminski/ephys/code/spikewrap/tests/data/steve_multi_run/time-short-multises"
+    "/ceph/neuroinformatics/neuroinformatics/scratch/jziminski/ephys/test_data/steve_multi_run/1119617/time-short-multises"
     # r"C:\data\ephys\test_data\steve_multi_run\1119617\time-miniscule-mutlises"
     # r"C:\data\ephys\test_data\steve_multi_run\1119617\time-short-multises"
     # "/ceph/neuroinformatics/neuroinformatics/scratch/jziminski/ephys/test_data/steve_multi_run/1119617/time-short"
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
         sessions_and_runs,
         config_name,
         sorter,
-        concat_sessions_for_sorting=True,  # TODO: validate this at the start, in `run_full_pipeline`
+        concat_sessions_for_sorting=False,  # TODO: validate this at the start, in `run_full_pipeline`
         concat_runs_for_sorting=True,
         existing_preprocessed_data="skip_if_exists",  # this is kind of confusing...
         existing_sorting_output="overwrite",
diff --git a/spikewrap/pipeline/sort.py b/spikewrap/pipeline/sort.py
index 80cdf81..5680002 100644
--- a/spikewrap/pipeline/sort.py
+++ b/spikewrap/pipeline/sort.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
-import platform
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Dict, List, Literal, Optional, Union
 
@@ -152,9 +151,6 @@ def _run_sorting(
     passed_arguments = locals()
     validate.check_function_arguments(passed_arguments)
 
-    if sorter == "mountainsort5" and platform.system() == "Darwin":
-        raise EnvironmentError("Mountainsort is not currently supported on macOS.")
-
     logs = logging_sw.get_started_logger(
         utils.get_logging_path(base_path, sub_name),
         "sorting",
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/generate_test_data.py b/tests/data/small_toy_data/generate_test_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..806f287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/generate_test_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import numpy as np
+import spikeinterface.extractors as se
+import spikeinterface.preprocessing as spre
+
+print("Starting...")
+
+sessions_and_runs = {
+    "ses-001": ["ses-001_run-001", "ses-001_run-002"],
+    "ses-002": ["ses-002_run-001", "ses-002_run-002"],
+    "ses-003": ["ses-003_run-001", "ses-003_run-002"],
+}
+
+if False:
+    from spikewrap.pipeline.preprocess import run_preprocessing
+
+    sub_name = "sub-001_type-test"
+    base_path = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
+
+    from spikewrap.pipeline.load_data import load_data
+
+    preprocess_data = load_data(
+        base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs, "spikeinterface"
+    )
+
+    run_preprocessing(
+        preprocess_data,
+        "default",
+        handle_existing_data="overwrite",
+        slurm_batch=False,
+        log=False,
+    )  # TODO: use config_name for all funcs.
+
+
+# if False:
+
+sub = "sub-001_type-test"
+base_path = Path(__file__).parent.resolve() / "rawdata"
+
+for ses in sessions_and_runs.keys():
+    for run in sessions_and_runs[ses]:
+        num_channels = 16
+        recording, _ = se.toy_example(
+            duration=[0.05], num_segments=1, num_channels=num_channels, num_units=2
+        )
+        four_shank_groupings = np.repeat([0, 1, 2, 3], 4)
+        recording.set_property("group", four_shank_groupings)
+        recording.set_property("inter_sample_shift", np.arange(16) * 0.0001)
+
+        recording._main_ids = np.array(
+            [f"imec0.ap#AP{i}" for i in range(num_channels)]
+        )  # for consistency with spikeglx dataset TODO this is a hack
+
+        recording = spre.scale(recording, gain=50, offset=20)
+
+        output_path = base_path / sub / ses / "ephys" / run
+
+        recording.save(folder=output_path, chunk_size=1000000)
+
+# shifted_recording = spre.phase_shift(recording)
+# filtered_recording = spre.bandpass_filter(recording)
+# referenced_recording = spre.common_reference(filtered_recording)
+# run_sorter("mountainsort5", referenced_recording, remove_existing_folder=True, whiten=False)
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/binary.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/binary.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd0e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/binary.json
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryrecordingextractor.BinaryRecordingExtractor",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "file_paths": [
+            "traces_cached_seg0.raw"
+        ],
+        "sampling_frequency": 30000.0,
+        "t_starts": null,
+        "num_channels": 16,
+        "dtype": "<f4",
+        "channel_ids": [
+            "imec0.ap#AP0",
+            "imec0.ap#AP1",
+            "imec0.ap#AP2",
+            "imec0.ap#AP3",
+            "imec0.ap#AP4",
+            "imec0.ap#AP5",
+            "imec0.ap#AP6",
+            "imec0.ap#AP7",
+            "imec0.ap#AP8",
+            "imec0.ap#AP9",
+            "imec0.ap#AP10",
+            "imec0.ap#AP11",
+            "imec0.ap#AP12",
+            "imec0.ap#AP13",
+            "imec0.ap#AP14",
+            "imec0.ap#AP15"
+        ],
+        "time_axis": 0,
+        "file_offset": 0,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ],
+        "is_filtered": null
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": false
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": null,
+        "location": null,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/probe.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/probe.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cc6d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/probe.json
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+{
+    "specification": "probeinterface",
+    "version": "0.2.20",
+    "probes": [
+        {
+            "ndim": 2,
+            "si_units": "um",
+            "annotations": {},
+            "contact_annotations": {},
+            "contact_positions": [
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    0.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    40.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    80.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    120.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    160.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    200.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    240.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    280.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    320.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    360.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    400.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    440.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    480.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    520.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    560.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    600.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_plane_axes": [
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_shapes": [
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle"
+            ],
+            "contact_shape_params": [
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                }
+            ],
+            "probe_planar_contour": [
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "device_channel_indices": [
+                0,
+                1,
+                2,
+                3,
+                4,
+                5,
+                6,
+                7,
+                8,
+                9,
+                10,
+                11,
+                12,
+                13,
+                14,
+                15
+            ],
+            "shank_ids": [
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                ""
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c475bfc
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diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e2b59
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diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/group.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/group.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b4a93
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diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f347e60
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diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/location.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/location.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1207f03
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diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e31b17c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/provenance.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/provenance.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e82a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/provenance.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"warning": "the provenace is not json serializable!!!"}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/si_folder.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/si_folder.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aed0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/si_folder.json
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryfolder.BinaryFolderRecording",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "folder_path": "."
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": true,
+        "probe_0_planar_contour": [
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                620.0
+            ],
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                620.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "probes_info": [
+            {}
+        ]
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": [
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3
+        ],
+        "location": [
+            [
+                0.0,
+                0.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                40.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                80.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                120.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                160.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                200.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                240.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                280.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                320.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                360.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                400.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                440.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                480.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                520.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                560.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                600.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c552d4b
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/binary.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/binary.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd0e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/binary.json
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryrecordingextractor.BinaryRecordingExtractor",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "file_paths": [
+            "traces_cached_seg0.raw"
+        ],
+        "sampling_frequency": 30000.0,
+        "t_starts": null,
+        "num_channels": 16,
+        "dtype": "<f4",
+        "channel_ids": [
+            "imec0.ap#AP0",
+            "imec0.ap#AP1",
+            "imec0.ap#AP2",
+            "imec0.ap#AP3",
+            "imec0.ap#AP4",
+            "imec0.ap#AP5",
+            "imec0.ap#AP6",
+            "imec0.ap#AP7",
+            "imec0.ap#AP8",
+            "imec0.ap#AP9",
+            "imec0.ap#AP10",
+            "imec0.ap#AP11",
+            "imec0.ap#AP12",
+            "imec0.ap#AP13",
+            "imec0.ap#AP14",
+            "imec0.ap#AP15"
+        ],
+        "time_axis": 0,
+        "file_offset": 0,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ],
+        "is_filtered": null
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": false
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": null,
+        "location": null,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/probe.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/probe.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cc6d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/probe.json
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+{
+    "specification": "probeinterface",
+    "version": "0.2.20",
+    "probes": [
+        {
+            "ndim": 2,
+            "si_units": "um",
+            "annotations": {},
+            "contact_annotations": {},
+            "contact_positions": [
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    0.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    40.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    80.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    120.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    160.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    200.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    240.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    280.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    320.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    360.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    400.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    440.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    480.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    520.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    560.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    600.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_plane_axes": [
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_shapes": [
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle"
+            ],
+            "contact_shape_params": [
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                }
+            ],
+            "probe_planar_contour": [
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "device_channel_indices": [
+                0,
+                1,
+                2,
+                3,
+                4,
+                5,
+                6,
+                7,
+                8,
+                9,
+                10,
+                11,
+                12,
+                13,
+                14,
+                15
+            ],
+            "shank_ids": [
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                ""
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c475bfc
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e2b59
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/group.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/group.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b4a93
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/group.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f347e60
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/location.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/location.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1207f03
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/location.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e31b17c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/provenance.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/provenance.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e82a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/provenance.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"warning": "the provenace is not json serializable!!!"}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/si_folder.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/si_folder.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aed0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/si_folder.json
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryfolder.BinaryFolderRecording",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "folder_path": "."
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": true,
+        "probe_0_planar_contour": [
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                620.0
+            ],
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                620.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "probes_info": [
+            {}
+        ]
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": [
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3
+        ],
+        "location": [
+            [
+                0.0,
+                0.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                40.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                80.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                120.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                160.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                200.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                240.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                280.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                320.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                360.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                400.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                440.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                480.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                520.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                560.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                600.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..382f536
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-001/ephys/ses-001_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/binary.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/binary.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd0e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/binary.json
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryrecordingextractor.BinaryRecordingExtractor",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "file_paths": [
+            "traces_cached_seg0.raw"
+        ],
+        "sampling_frequency": 30000.0,
+        "t_starts": null,
+        "num_channels": 16,
+        "dtype": "<f4",
+        "channel_ids": [
+            "imec0.ap#AP0",
+            "imec0.ap#AP1",
+            "imec0.ap#AP2",
+            "imec0.ap#AP3",
+            "imec0.ap#AP4",
+            "imec0.ap#AP5",
+            "imec0.ap#AP6",
+            "imec0.ap#AP7",
+            "imec0.ap#AP8",
+            "imec0.ap#AP9",
+            "imec0.ap#AP10",
+            "imec0.ap#AP11",
+            "imec0.ap#AP12",
+            "imec0.ap#AP13",
+            "imec0.ap#AP14",
+            "imec0.ap#AP15"
+        ],
+        "time_axis": 0,
+        "file_offset": 0,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ],
+        "is_filtered": null
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": false
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": null,
+        "location": null,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/probe.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/probe.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cc6d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/probe.json
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+{
+    "specification": "probeinterface",
+    "version": "0.2.20",
+    "probes": [
+        {
+            "ndim": 2,
+            "si_units": "um",
+            "annotations": {},
+            "contact_annotations": {},
+            "contact_positions": [
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    0.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    40.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    80.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    120.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    160.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    200.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    240.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    280.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    320.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    360.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    400.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    440.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    480.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    520.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    560.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    600.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_plane_axes": [
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_shapes": [
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle"
+            ],
+            "contact_shape_params": [
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                }
+            ],
+            "probe_planar_contour": [
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "device_channel_indices": [
+                0,
+                1,
+                2,
+                3,
+                4,
+                5,
+                6,
+                7,
+                8,
+                9,
+                10,
+                11,
+                12,
+                13,
+                14,
+                15
+            ],
+            "shank_ids": [
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                ""
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c475bfc
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e2b59
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/group.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/group.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b4a93
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/group.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f347e60
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/location.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/location.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1207f03
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/location.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e31b17c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/provenance.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/provenance.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e82a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/provenance.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"warning": "the provenace is not json serializable!!!"}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/si_folder.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/si_folder.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aed0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/si_folder.json
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryfolder.BinaryFolderRecording",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "folder_path": "."
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": true,
+        "probe_0_planar_contour": [
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                620.0
+            ],
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                620.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "probes_info": [
+            {}
+        ]
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": [
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3
+        ],
+        "location": [
+            [
+                0.0,
+                0.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                40.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                80.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                120.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                160.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                200.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                240.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                280.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                320.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                360.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                400.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                440.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                480.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                520.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                560.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                600.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d77774
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/binary.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/binary.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd0e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/binary.json
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryrecordingextractor.BinaryRecordingExtractor",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "file_paths": [
+            "traces_cached_seg0.raw"
+        ],
+        "sampling_frequency": 30000.0,
+        "t_starts": null,
+        "num_channels": 16,
+        "dtype": "<f4",
+        "channel_ids": [
+            "imec0.ap#AP0",
+            "imec0.ap#AP1",
+            "imec0.ap#AP2",
+            "imec0.ap#AP3",
+            "imec0.ap#AP4",
+            "imec0.ap#AP5",
+            "imec0.ap#AP6",
+            "imec0.ap#AP7",
+            "imec0.ap#AP8",
+            "imec0.ap#AP9",
+            "imec0.ap#AP10",
+            "imec0.ap#AP11",
+            "imec0.ap#AP12",
+            "imec0.ap#AP13",
+            "imec0.ap#AP14",
+            "imec0.ap#AP15"
+        ],
+        "time_axis": 0,
+        "file_offset": 0,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ],
+        "is_filtered": null
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": false
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": null,
+        "location": null,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/probe.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/probe.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cc6d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/probe.json
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+{
+    "specification": "probeinterface",
+    "version": "0.2.20",
+    "probes": [
+        {
+            "ndim": 2,
+            "si_units": "um",
+            "annotations": {},
+            "contact_annotations": {},
+            "contact_positions": [
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    0.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    40.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    80.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    120.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    160.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    200.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    240.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    280.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    320.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    360.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    400.0
+                ],
+                [
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+                    440.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    480.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    520.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    560.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    600.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_plane_axes": [
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_shapes": [
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle"
+            ],
+            "contact_shape_params": [
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                }
+            ],
+            "probe_planar_contour": [
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "device_channel_indices": [
+                0,
+                1,
+                2,
+                3,
+                4,
+                5,
+                6,
+                7,
+                8,
+                9,
+                10,
+                11,
+                12,
+                13,
+                14,
+                15
+            ],
+            "shank_ids": [
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                ""
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c475bfc
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e2b59
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/group.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/group.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b4a93
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/group.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f347e60
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/location.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/location.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1207f03
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diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e31b17c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/provenance.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/provenance.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e82a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/provenance.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"warning": "the provenace is not json serializable!!!"}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/si_folder.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/si_folder.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aed0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/si_folder.json
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryfolder.BinaryFolderRecording",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "folder_path": "."
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": true,
+        "probe_0_planar_contour": [
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                620.0
+            ],
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                620.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "probes_info": [
+            {}
+        ]
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": [
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3
+        ],
+        "location": [
+            [
+                0.0,
+                0.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                40.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                80.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                120.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                160.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                200.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                240.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                280.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                320.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                360.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                400.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                440.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                480.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                520.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                560.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                600.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a227c4
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-002/ephys/ses-002_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/binary.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/binary.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd0e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/binary.json
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryrecordingextractor.BinaryRecordingExtractor",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "file_paths": [
+            "traces_cached_seg0.raw"
+        ],
+        "sampling_frequency": 30000.0,
+        "t_starts": null,
+        "num_channels": 16,
+        "dtype": "<f4",
+        "channel_ids": [
+            "imec0.ap#AP0",
+            "imec0.ap#AP1",
+            "imec0.ap#AP2",
+            "imec0.ap#AP3",
+            "imec0.ap#AP4",
+            "imec0.ap#AP5",
+            "imec0.ap#AP6",
+            "imec0.ap#AP7",
+            "imec0.ap#AP8",
+            "imec0.ap#AP9",
+            "imec0.ap#AP10",
+            "imec0.ap#AP11",
+            "imec0.ap#AP12",
+            "imec0.ap#AP13",
+            "imec0.ap#AP14",
+            "imec0.ap#AP15"
+        ],
+        "time_axis": 0,
+        "file_offset": 0,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ],
+        "is_filtered": null
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": false
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": null,
+        "location": null,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/probe.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/probe.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cc6d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/probe.json
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+{
+    "specification": "probeinterface",
+    "version": "0.2.20",
+    "probes": [
+        {
+            "ndim": 2,
+            "si_units": "um",
+            "annotations": {},
+            "contact_annotations": {},
+            "contact_positions": [
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    0.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    40.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    80.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    120.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    160.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    200.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    240.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    280.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    320.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    360.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    400.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    440.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    480.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    520.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    560.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    600.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_plane_axes": [
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_shapes": [
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle"
+            ],
+            "contact_shape_params": [
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                }
+            ],
+            "probe_planar_contour": [
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "device_channel_indices": [
+                0,
+                1,
+                2,
+                3,
+                4,
+                5,
+                6,
+                7,
+                8,
+                9,
+                10,
+                11,
+                12,
+                13,
+                14,
+                15
+            ],
+            "shank_ids": [
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                ""
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c475bfc
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/contact_vector.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e2b59
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/gain_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/group.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/group.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b4a93
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/group.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f347e60
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/location.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/location.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1207f03
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/location.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e31b17c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/properties/offset_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/provenance.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/provenance.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e82a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/provenance.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"warning": "the provenace is not json serializable!!!"}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/si_folder.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/si_folder.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aed0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/si_folder.json
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryfolder.BinaryFolderRecording",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "folder_path": "."
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": true,
+        "probe_0_planar_contour": [
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                620.0
+            ],
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                620.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "probes_info": [
+            {}
+        ]
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": [
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3
+        ],
+        "location": [
+            [
+                0.0,
+                0.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                40.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                80.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                120.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                160.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                200.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                240.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                280.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                320.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                360.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                400.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                440.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                480.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                520.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                560.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                600.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a565de
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-001/traces_cached_seg0.raw differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/binary.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/binary.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd0e1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/binary.json
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryrecordingextractor.BinaryRecordingExtractor",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "file_paths": [
+            "traces_cached_seg0.raw"
+        ],
+        "sampling_frequency": 30000.0,
+        "t_starts": null,
+        "num_channels": 16,
+        "dtype": "<f4",
+        "channel_ids": [
+            "imec0.ap#AP0",
+            "imec0.ap#AP1",
+            "imec0.ap#AP2",
+            "imec0.ap#AP3",
+            "imec0.ap#AP4",
+            "imec0.ap#AP5",
+            "imec0.ap#AP6",
+            "imec0.ap#AP7",
+            "imec0.ap#AP8",
+            "imec0.ap#AP9",
+            "imec0.ap#AP10",
+            "imec0.ap#AP11",
+            "imec0.ap#AP12",
+            "imec0.ap#AP13",
+            "imec0.ap#AP14",
+            "imec0.ap#AP15"
+        ],
+        "time_axis": 0,
+        "file_offset": 0,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ],
+        "is_filtered": null
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": false
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": null,
+        "location": null,
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/probe.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/probe.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cc6d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/probe.json
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+{
+    "specification": "probeinterface",
+    "version": "0.2.20",
+    "probes": [
+        {
+            "ndim": 2,
+            "si_units": "um",
+            "annotations": {},
+            "contact_annotations": {},
+            "contact_positions": [
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    0.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    40.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    80.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    120.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    160.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    200.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    240.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    280.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    320.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    360.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    400.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    440.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    480.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    520.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    560.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    0.0,
+                    600.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_plane_axes": [
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ],
+                [
+                    [
+                        1.0,
+                        0.0
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        0.0,
+                        1.0
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            "contact_shapes": [
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle",
+                "circle"
+            ],
+            "contact_shape_params": [
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                },
+                {
+                    "radius": 5.0
+                }
+            ],
+            "probe_planar_contour": [
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    -20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    -20.0
+                ],
+                [
+                    20.0,
+                    620.0
+                ]
+            ],
+            "device_channel_indices": [
+                0,
+                1,
+                2,
+                3,
+                4,
+                5,
+                6,
+                7,
+                8,
+                9,
+                10,
+                11,
+                12,
+                13,
+                14,
+                15
+            ],
+            "shank_ids": [
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                "",
+                ""
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c475bfc
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/contact_vector.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e2b59
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/gain_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/group.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/group.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85b4a93
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/group.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f347e60
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/inter_sample_shift.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/location.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/location.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1207f03
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/location.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e31b17c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/properties/offset_to_uV.npy differ
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/provenance.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/provenance.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e82a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/provenance.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"warning": "the provenace is not json serializable!!!"}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/si_folder.json b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/si_folder.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aed0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/si_folder.json
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+{
+    "class": "spikeinterface.core.binaryfolder.BinaryFolderRecording",
+    "module": "spikeinterface",
+    "kwargs": {
+        "folder_path": "."
+    },
+    "version": "0.100.0.dev0",
+    "annotations": {
+        "is_filtered": true,
+        "probe_0_planar_contour": [
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                620.0
+            ],
+            [
+                -20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                -20.0
+            ],
+            [
+                20.0,
+                620.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "probes_info": [
+            {}
+        ]
+    },
+    "properties": {
+        "group": [
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            0,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            1,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            2,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3,
+            3
+        ],
+        "location": [
+            [
+                0.0,
+                0.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                40.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                80.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                120.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                160.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                200.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                240.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                280.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                320.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                360.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                400.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                440.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                480.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                520.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                560.0
+            ],
+            [
+                0.0,
+                600.0
+            ]
+        ],
+        "gain_to_uV": [
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0,
+            1.0
+        ],
+        "offset_to_uV": [
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            0.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "relative_paths": true
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c5d252
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/small_toy_data/rawdata/sub-001_type-test/ses-003/ephys/ses-003_run-002/traces_cached_seg0.raw differ
diff --git a/tests/test_integration/base.py b/tests/test_integration/base.py
index e73b542..6df132a 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration/base.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration/base.py
@@ -12,18 +12,34 @@ class BaseTest:
     def base_path(self):
         script_path = Path(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))
         data_path = script_path.parent
-        base_path = data_path / "data" / "steve_multi_run"
+        base_path = data_path / "data"
         return base_path
 
     @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
     def test_info(self, base_path, request):
         """ """
-        if not hasattr(request, "param"):
-            mode = "time-short-multises"
+
+        if not hasattr(request, "param") or request.param == "spikeinterface":
+            output_path, test_info = self.generate_fast_spikeinterface_test_data_info(
+                base_path
+            )
+            yield test_info
+
+        elif request.param == "spikeglx":
+            output_path, test_info = self.generate_kilosort_test_data_info(base_path)
+            yield test_info
+
         else:
-            mode = request.param
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Indirect parameterization must " "be 'spikeglx' or 'spikeinterface'."
+            )
 
-        base_path = base_path / mode
+        if output_path.is_dir():
+            shutil.rmtree(output_path)
+
+    def generate_kilosort_test_data_info(self, base_path):
+        """"""
+        base_path = base_path / "steve_multi_run" / "time-short-multises"
 
         sub_name = "sub-1119617"
 
@@ -40,14 +56,30 @@ def test_info(self, base_path, request):
         }
 
         output_path = base_path / "derivatives"
+
         if output_path.is_dir():
             shutil.rmtree(output_path)
 
-        yield [base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs]
+        return output_path, [base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs]
 
+    def generate_fast_spikeinterface_test_data_info(self, base_path):
+        """"""
+        base_path = base_path / "small_toy_data"
+
+        sub_name = "sub-001_type-test"
+
+        sessions_and_runs = {
+            "ses-001": ["ses-001_run-001", "ses-001_run-002"],
+            "ses-002": ["ses-002_run-001", "ses-002_run-002"],
+            "ses-003": ["ses-003_run-001", "ses-003_run-002"],
+        }
+
+        output_path = base_path / "derivatives"
         if output_path.is_dir():
             shutil.rmtree(output_path)
 
+        return output_path, [base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs]
+
     def remove_all_except_first_run_and_sessions(self, test_info):
         sessions_and_runs = test_info[2]
         first_ses_key = list(sessions_and_runs.keys())[0]
@@ -59,6 +91,7 @@ def run_full_pipeline(
         base_path,
         sub_name,
         sessions_and_runs,
+        data_format,
         config_name="test_default",
         sorter="kilosort2_5",
         concatenate_sessions=False,
@@ -73,6 +106,7 @@ def run_full_pipeline(
             base_path,
             sub_name,
             sessions_and_runs,
+            data_format=data_format,
             config_name=config_name,
             sorter=sorter,
             concat_sessions_for_sorting=concatenate_sessions,
@@ -96,28 +130,28 @@ def check_correct_folders_exist(
         # handlers propagate from root that pytest attaches handlers too.
         # removing the handlers from spikewrap loggers specifically
         # does not help, nor does querying .handlers[:] in spikewrap itself.
-        derivative_ses_names = [path_.name for path_ in derivative_sessions]
+        derivative_ses_names = sorted([path_.name for path_ in derivative_sessions])
         if "logs" in derivative_ses_names:
             derivative_ses_names.pop(derivative_ses_names.index("logs"))
 
         # Here, just testing if the paths exists
         if concatenate_sessions is False:
-            assert list(sessions_and_runs.keys()) == sorted(derivative_ses_names)
+            assert list(sessions_and_runs.keys()) == derivative_ses_names
 
         else:
             assert "sorting-concat" in derivative_ses_names.pop(-1)
-            assert list(sessions_and_runs.keys()) == sorted(derivative_ses_names)
+            assert list(sessions_and_runs.keys()) == derivative_ses_names
 
         if concatenate_sessions is True:
             for ses_name in sessions_and_runs.keys():
-                ses_path = sub_path / ses_name
+                ses_path = sub_path / ses_name / "ephys"
 
                 run_level_sorting = list(ses_path.glob(f"*/*/{sorter}"))
                 assert run_level_sorting == []
         else:
             for ses_name in sessions_and_runs.keys():
                 for run_name in sessions_and_runs[ses_name]:
-                    run_path = sub_path / ses_name / run_name
+                    run_path = sub_path / ses_name / "ephys" / run_name
                     run_level_sorting = list(run_path.glob(sorter))
 
                     if concatenate_runs:
@@ -125,7 +159,7 @@ def check_correct_folders_exist(
                     else:
                         assert len(run_level_sorting) == 1
 
-                ses_path = sub_path / ses_name
+                ses_path = sub_path / ses_name / "ephys"
 
                 concat_all_run_names = "".join(
                     path_.name for path_ in ses_path.glob("*")
diff --git a/tests/test_integration/test_full_pipeline.py b/tests/test_integration/test_full_pipeline.py
index d056ed2..a1c2cc6 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration/test_full_pipeline.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration/test_full_pipeline.py
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
+import platform
+
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 import spikeinterface as si
 import spikeinterface.extractors as se
 from spikeinterface import concatenate_recordings
 from spikeinterface.preprocessing import (
+    astype,
     bandpass_filter,
     common_reference,
     phase_shift,
@@ -12,18 +15,27 @@
 from spikewrap.data_classes.postprocessing import load_saved_sorting_output
 from spikewrap.pipeline import full_pipeline, preprocess
 from spikewrap.pipeline.load_data import load_data
-from spikewrap.utils.checks import check_cuda, check_virtual_machine
+from spikewrap.utils import checks, utils
 
 from .base import BaseTest  # noqa
 
-SKIP_KILOSORT = not (check_virtual_machine() and check_cuda())
-if SKIP_KILOSORT:
+fast = True  # TOOD: if slow this will still use fast fixture - fix this!
+# TODO: REMOVE DUPLICATION
+if fast:
     DEFAULT_SORTER = "mountainsort5"
+    DEFAULT_FORMAT = "spikeinterface"  # TODO: make explicit this is fast
+    DEFAULT_PIPELINE = "fast_test_pipeline"
+
 else:
+    if not (checks.check_virtual_machine() and checks.check_cuda()):
+        raise RuntimeError("Need NVIDIA GPU for run kilosort for slow tests")
     DEFAULT_SORTER = "kilosort2_5"
+    DEFAULT_FORMAT = "spikeglx"
+    DEFAULT_PIPELINE = "test_default"
 
 
 class TestFullPipeline(BaseTest):
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_preprocessing_options_1(self, test_info):
         """
         A very basic test to run all preprocessing and check now error occurs.
@@ -34,7 +46,7 @@ def test_preprocessing_options_1(self, test_info):
 
         pp_steps, __, __ = full_pipeline.get_configs("test_preprocessing_1")
 
-        preprocess_data = load_data(*test_info[:3])
+        preprocess_data = load_data(*test_info[:3], data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT)
 
         for ses_name, run_name in preprocess_data.flat_sessions_and_runs():
             preprocess._fill_run_data_with_preprocessed_recording(
@@ -42,6 +54,7 @@ def test_preprocessing_options_1(self, test_info):
             )
             preprocess_data.save_preprocessed_data(ses_name, run_name, overwrite=True)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_preprocessing_options_2(self, test_info):
         """
         see `test_preprocessing_options_1()`
@@ -50,7 +63,7 @@ def test_preprocessing_options_2(self, test_info):
 
         pp_steps, __, __ = full_pipeline.get_configs("test_preprocessing_2")
 
-        preprocess_data = load_data(*test_info[:3])
+        preprocess_data = load_data(*test_info[:3], data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT)
 
         for ses_name, run_name in preprocess_data.flat_sessions_and_runs():
             preprocess._fill_run_data_with_preprocessed_recording(
@@ -58,26 +71,24 @@ def test_preprocessing_options_2(self, test_info):
             )
             preprocess_data.save_preprocessed_data(ses_name, run_name, overwrite=True)
 
+    # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Full Slow Tests
+    # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    @pytest.mark.skipif(
+        "fast is True", reason="'fast' must be set to `False` to run all sorters."
+    )
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "sorter",
         [
-            pytest.param(
-                "kilosort2",
-                marks=pytest.mark.skipif(SKIP_KILOSORT, reason="No VM available."),
-            ),
-            pytest.param(
-                "kilosort2_5",
-                marks=pytest.mark.skipif(SKIP_KILOSORT, reason="No VM available."),
-            ),
-            pytest.param(
-                "kilosort3",
-                marks=pytest.mark.skipif(SKIP_KILOSORT, reason="No VM available."),
-            ),
-            # "mountainsort5",
-            # "tridesclous",
+            "kilosort2",
+            "kilosort2_5",
+            "kilosort3",
+            "mountainsort5",
+            "tridesclous",
         ],
     )
-    def test_no_concatenation_single_run(self, test_info, sorter):
+    def test_no_concatenation_all_sorters_single_run(self, test_info, sorter):
         """
         For every supported sorter, run the full pipeline for a single
         session and run, and check preprocessing, sorting and waveforms.
@@ -94,6 +105,28 @@ def test_no_concatenation_single_run(self, test_info, sorter):
         self.check_correct_folders_exist(test_info, False, False, sorter)
         self.check_no_concat_results(test_info, loaded_data, sorting_data, sorter)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
+    def test_no_concatenation_single_run(self, test_info):
+        """
+        Run the full pipeline for a single
+        session and run, and check preprocessing, sorting and waveforms.
+        """
+        self.remove_all_except_first_run_and_sessions(test_info)
+
+        loaded_data, sorting_data = self.run_full_pipeline(
+            *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
+            sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
+            concatenate_sessions=False,
+            concatenate_runs=False,
+        )
+
+        self.check_correct_folders_exist(test_info, False, False, DEFAULT_SORTER)
+        self.check_no_concat_results(
+            test_info, loaded_data, sorting_data, DEFAULT_SORTER
+        )
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_no_concatenation_multiple_runs(self, test_info):
         """
         For DEFAULT_SORTER, check `full_pipeline` across multiple sessions
@@ -101,6 +134,7 @@ def test_no_concatenation_multiple_runs(self, test_info):
         """
         loaded_data, sorting_data = self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             concatenate_sessions=False,
             concatenate_runs=False,
             sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
@@ -111,6 +145,7 @@ def test_no_concatenation_multiple_runs(self, test_info):
         self.check_correct_folders_exist(test_info, False, False, DEFAULT_SORTER)
         self.check_no_concat_results(test_info, loaded_data, sorting_data)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_concatenate_runs_but_not_sessions(self, test_info):
         """
         For DEFAULT_SORTER, check `full_pipeline` across multiple sessions
@@ -120,6 +155,7 @@ def test_concatenate_runs_but_not_sessions(self, test_info):
         """
         loaded_data, sorting_data = self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             concatenate_sessions=False,
             concatenate_runs=True,
             sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
@@ -130,6 +166,7 @@ def test_concatenate_runs_but_not_sessions(self, test_info):
             test_info, loaded_data, sorting_data
         )
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info):
         """
         For DEFAULT_SORTER, check `full_pipeline` across multiple sessions
@@ -138,6 +175,7 @@ def test_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info):
         """
         loaded_data, sorting_data = self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             concatenate_sessions=True,
             concatenate_runs=True,
             sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
@@ -146,6 +184,7 @@ def test_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info):
         self.check_correct_folders_exist(test_info, True, True, DEFAULT_SORTER)
         self.check_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(test_info, loaded_data, sorting_data)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_ses_concat_no_run_concat(self, test_info):
         """
         Check that an error is raised when `concatenate_sessions` is `True`
@@ -155,6 +194,7 @@ def test_ses_concat_no_run_concat(self, test_info):
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
                 *test_info,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
                 concatenate_sessions=True,
                 concatenate_runs=False,
                 sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
@@ -165,6 +205,7 @@ def test_ses_concat_no_run_concat(self, test_info):
             == "`concatenate_runs` must be `True` if `concatenate_sessions` is `True`"
         )
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_existing_output_settings(self, test_info):
         """
         In spikewrap existing preprocessed and sorting output data is
@@ -184,6 +225,7 @@ def test_existing_output_settings(self, test_info):
         # Run the first time
         self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             existing_preprocessed_data="fail_if_exists",
             existing_sorting_output="fail_if_exists",
             overwrite_postprocessing=False,
@@ -195,6 +237,7 @@ def test_existing_output_settings(self, test_info):
 
         self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             existing_preprocessed_data="overwrite",
             existing_sorting_output="overwrite",
             overwrite_postprocessing=True,
@@ -210,6 +253,7 @@ def test_existing_output_settings(self, test_info):
         # Postprocessing is always deleted
         self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             existing_preprocessed_data="skip_if_exists",
             existing_sorting_output="skip_if_exists",
             overwrite_postprocessing=True,
@@ -223,6 +267,7 @@ def test_existing_output_settings(self, test_info):
         with pytest.raises(BaseException) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
                 *test_info,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
                 existing_preprocessed_data="fail_if_exists",
                 existing_sorting_output="skip_if_exists",
                 overwrite_postprocessing=True,
@@ -233,29 +278,36 @@ def test_existing_output_settings(self, test_info):
             e.value
         )
 
-        # Test an error is raised for existing sorting.
-        with pytest.raises(BaseException) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info,
-                existing_preprocessed_data="skip_if_exists",
-                existing_sorting_output="fail_if_exists",
-                overwrite_postprocessing=True,
-                sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
-            )
-
-        assert "Sorting output already exists at" in str(e.value)
+        if platform.system() != "Windows":
+            # This is failing on windows because `overwrite_postprocessing=False` asserts
+            # and there is an open link to the preprocessed binary data somewhere
+            # that is not closed, only on Windows for some reason.
+
+            # Test an error is raised for existing sorting.
+            with pytest.raises(BaseException) as e:
+                self.run_full_pipeline(
+                    *test_info,
+                    data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
+                    existing_preprocessed_data="skip_if_exists",
+                    existing_sorting_output="fail_if_exists",
+                    overwrite_postprocessing=True,
+                    sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
+                )
 
-        # Test an error is raised for existing postprocessing.
-        with pytest.raises(BaseException) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info,
-                existing_preprocessed_data="skip_if_exists",
-                existing_sorting_output="skip_if_exists",
-                overwrite_postprocessing=False,
-                sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
-            )
+            assert "Sorting output already exists at" in str(e.value)
+
+            # Test an error is raised for existing postprocessing.
+            with pytest.raises(BaseException) as e:
+                self.run_full_pipeline(
+                    *test_info,
+                    data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
+                    existing_preprocessed_data="skip_if_exists",
+                    existing_sorting_output="skip_if_exists",
+                    overwrite_postprocessing=False,
+                    sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
+                )
 
-        assert "Postprocessing output already exists at" in str(e.value)
+            assert "Postprocessing output already exists at" in str(e.value)
 
     # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Checkers
@@ -306,6 +358,13 @@ def check_no_concat_results(
                 self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
                     loaded_data[ses_name][run_name][pp_key], test_preprocessed
                 )
+
+                # sorting is loaded from binary data which is stored in the
+                # original dtype
+                test_preprocessed = astype(
+                    test_preprocessed, sorting_data[ses_name][run_name].dtype
+                )  # TODO: TIDY
+
                 self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
                     sorting_data[ses_name][run_name], test_preprocessed
                 )
@@ -364,13 +423,18 @@ def check_concatenate_runs_but_not_sessions(
 
                 all_runs.append(test_preprocessed)
 
+            assert len(sorting_data[ses_name]) == 1
+            concat_run_name = list(sorting_data[ses_name].keys())[0]
+            sorting_data_pp_run = sorting_data[ses_name][concat_run_name]
+            data_type = sorting_data_pp_run.dtype
+
             # Concatenate all runs used for testing, and check they
             # match the `sorting_data` preprocessed runs.
             test_concat_runs = concatenate_recordings(all_runs)
 
-            assert len(sorting_data[ses_name]) == 1
-            concat_run_name = list(sorting_data[ses_name].keys())[0]
-            sorting_data_pp_run = sorting_data[ses_name][concat_run_name]
+            # Convert to int16 for sorting and loaded file checks,
+            # as dtype converted to original dtype on file writing.
+            test_concat_runs = astype(test_concat_runs, data_type)
 
             self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
                 sorting_data_pp_run, test_concat_runs, n_split=2
@@ -382,16 +446,16 @@ def check_concatenate_runs_but_not_sessions(
                 test_info, ses_name, concat_run_name, concatenate_runs=True
             )
 
-            saved_recording = si.read_binary(
-                paths["recording_dat"],
-                sampling_frequency=sorting_data_pp_run.get_sampling_frequency(),
-                dtype=np.int16,
-                num_channels=sorting_data_pp_run.get_num_channels(),
-            )
-
-            self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
-                saved_recording, test_concat_runs, n_split=2
-            )
+            if "kilosort" in sorting_data.sorter:
+                saved_recording = si.read_binary(
+                    paths["recording_dat"],
+                    sampling_frequency=sorting_data_pp_run.get_sampling_frequency(),
+                    dtype=data_type,
+                    num_channels=sorting_data_pp_run.get_num_channels(),
+                )
+                self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
+                    saved_recording, test_concat_runs, n_split=2
+                )
 
             self.check_waveforms(
                 paths["sorter_output"],
@@ -431,14 +495,19 @@ def check_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info, loaded_data, sorting_da
 
                 all_ses_and_runs.append(test_preprocessed)
 
+        assert len(sorting_data) == 1
+        concat_ses_name = list(sorting_data.keys())[0]
+        sorted_data_concat_all = sorting_data[concat_ses_name]
+        data_type = sorting_data[concat_ses_name].dtype
+
         # Concatenate every session's runs together, and check this
         # test data matches the data stored in `sorted_data`, the recording.dat
         # and that all waveforms match preprocessed data.
         test_concat_all = concatenate_recordings(all_ses_and_runs)
 
-        assert len(sorting_data) == 1
-        concat_ses_name = list(sorting_data.keys())[0]
-        sorted_data_concat_all = sorting_data[concat_ses_name]
+        # Convert to int16 for sorting and load data test are
+        # dtype is converted to original dtype on file writing.
+        test_concat_all = astype(test_concat_all, data_type)
 
         paths = self.get_output_paths(
             test_info,
@@ -448,17 +517,21 @@ def check_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info, loaded_data, sorting_da
             concatenate_runs=True,
         )
 
-        saved_recording = si.read_binary(
-            paths["recording_dat"],
-            sampling_frequency=sorted_data_concat_all.get_sampling_frequency(),
-            dtype=np.int16,
-            num_channels=sorted_data_concat_all.get_num_channels(),
-        )
-
         self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
             sorted_data_concat_all, test_concat_all, n_split=6
         )
-        self.check_recordings_are_the_same(saved_recording, test_concat_all, n_split=6)
+
+        if "kilosort" in sorting_data.sorter:
+            saved_recording = si.read_binary(
+                paths["recording_dat"],
+                sampling_frequency=sorted_data_concat_all.get_sampling_frequency(),
+                dtype=data_type,
+                num_channels=sorted_data_concat_all.get_num_channels(),
+            )
+            self.check_recordings_are_the_same(
+                saved_recording, test_concat_all, n_split=6
+            )
+
         self.check_waveforms(
             paths["sorter_output"],
             paths["postprocessing"],
@@ -467,13 +540,15 @@ def check_concatenate_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info, loaded_data, sorting_da
 
     def check_recordings_are_the_same(self, rec_1, rec_2, n_split=1):
         """
-        Check that two SI recording objects are exactly the same. This is actually
-        quite tricky when it comes to testing recording objects that have been
-        written to binary (i.e. preprocessed data prior to sorting). This is
-        because in SI writing to file occurs in chunks that are preprocessed
-        on the fly due to the lazy nature of SI preprocessing.
+        Check that two SI recording objects are exactly the same. When the
+        memory is large enoguh such that the chunk size is larger than the
+        recording length (usual case, this is OK). However, see below
+        for notes on the case when the `get_traces()` call is performed in
+        chunks, which this function also handles.
 
-        When loading the stored binary file, these filter edge effects will be different
+        When storing to binary, the data is chunked (if does not all fit
+        into memory), preprocessed and written to disk).  When loading the stored
+        binary file, these filter edge effects will be different
         to those from a raw-data recording that is preprocessed and `get_traces()`
         is called on the fly. The only way it will match exactly is when the
         chunk size extracted with `get_traces()` matches that used for writing
@@ -488,7 +563,7 @@ def check_recordings_are_the_same(self, rec_1, rec_2, n_split=1):
         assert rec_1.get_num_segments() == rec_2.get_num_segments()
         assert rec_1.get_sampling_frequency() == rec_2.get_sampling_frequency()
 
-        chunk = 13020
+        chunk = utils.get_default_chunk_size(rec_1)
         num_samples_split = rec_1.get_num_samples() / n_split
         quotient = num_samples_split // chunk
         bounds = np.r_[np.arange(quotient + 1) * chunk, num_samples_split].astype(int)
@@ -499,14 +574,15 @@ def check_recordings_are_the_same(self, rec_1, rec_2, n_split=1):
             for start, end in zip(bounds[:-1], bounds[1:]):
                 start += offset
                 end += offset
-
-                assert np.array_equal(
+                assert np.allclose(
                     rec_1.get_traces(
                         start_frame=start, end_frame=end, return_scaled=False
                     ),
                     rec_2.get_traces(
                         start_frame=start, end_frame=end, return_scaled=False
                     ),
+                    rtol=0,
+                    atol=1e-10,
                 )
 
     def check_waveforms(
@@ -604,6 +680,7 @@ def get_output_paths(
                 / sub_name
                 / f"{sub_name}-sorting-concat"
                 / ses_name
+                / "ephys"
             )
         elif concatenate_runs:
             run_path = (
@@ -612,12 +689,19 @@ def get_output_paths(
                 / "spikewrap"
                 / sub_name
                 / ses_name
+                / "ephys"
                 / f"{sub_name}-sorting-concat"
                 / run_name
             )
         else:
             run_path = (
-                base_path / "derivatives" / "spikewrap" / sub_name / ses_name / run_name
+                base_path
+                / "derivatives"
+                / "spikewrap"
+                / sub_name
+                / ses_name
+                / "ephys"
+                / run_name
             )
 
         paths = {
@@ -642,9 +726,18 @@ def get_test_rawdata_and_preprocessed_data(
         """
         rawdata_path = base_path / "rawdata" / sub_name / ses_name / "ephys" / run_name
 
-        test_rawdata = se.read_spikeglx(
-            folder_path=rawdata_path.as_posix(), stream_id="imec0.ap"
-        )
+        if DEFAULT_FORMAT == "spikeglx":
+            test_rawdata = se.read_spikeglx(
+                folder_path=rawdata_path.as_posix(), stream_id="imec0.ap"
+            )
+        elif DEFAULT_FORMAT == "spikeinterface":
+            from spikeinterface import load_extractor
+
+            test_rawdata = load_extractor(rawdata_path.as_posix())
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(f"Default normal {DEFAULT_FORMAT} is not recognised.")
+
+        test_rawdata = astype(test_rawdata, np.float64)
 
         test_preprocessed = phase_shift(test_rawdata)
         test_preprocessed = bandpass_filter(
@@ -653,6 +746,7 @@ def get_test_rawdata_and_preprocessed_data(
         test_preprocessed = common_reference(
             test_preprocessed, operator="median", reference="global"
         )
+
         return test_rawdata, test_preprocessed
 
     def get_times_of_waveform_spikes(self, waveforms, sorting, unit_id):
@@ -681,41 +775,3 @@ def get_times_of_waveform_spikes(self, waveforms, sorting, unit_id):
 
     def get_pp_key(self, loaded_data_dict):
         return list(loaded_data_dict.keys())[-1]
-
-    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    # Not Implemented
-    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-    def test_sorting_only_local(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_sorting_only_slurm(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_postprocessing_only_local(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_postprocessing_only_slurm(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_preprocessing_only_local(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_preproecssing_only_slurm(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_configs(self):
-        # not really sure how to do this...
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_reordering_sessions_and_runs(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_select_postprocessing_to_run(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_delete_intermediate_files(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def test_slurm_options(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
diff --git a/tests/test_integration/test_managing_images.py b/tests/test_integration/test_managing_images.py
index 2b06b17..e21788a 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration/test_managing_images.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration/test_managing_images.py
@@ -1,11 +1,21 @@
+import platform
+
+import pytest
 import spikeinterface
 
+from spikewrap.utils import checks
+
+HAS_VM_ON_LINUX = platform.system() == "Linux" and checks.check_virtual_machine()
+
 from spikewrap.utils.managing_images import (
     download_all_sorters,
     get_sorter_image_name,
 )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    "HAS_VM_ON_LINUX is False", reason="Test requires singularity on Linux."
+)
 class TestManagingImages:
     def test_download_all_sorters(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_integration/test_slurm.py b/tests/test_integration/test_slurm.py
index 3e2ee97..9a4522c 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration/test_slurm.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration/test_slurm.py
@@ -2,12 +2,27 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from spikewrap.utils import checks
 from spikewrap.utils.slurm import is_slurm_installed
 
 from .base import BaseTest  # noqa
 
 CAN_SLURM = is_slurm_installed()
 
+fast = True  # TOOD: if slow this will still use fast fixture - fix this!
+# TODO: REMOVE DUPLICATION
+if fast:
+    DEFAULT_SORTER = "mountainsort5"
+    DEFAULT_FORMAT = "spikeinterface"  # TODO: make explicit this is fast
+    DEFAULT_PIPELINE = "fast_test_pipeline"
+
+else:
+    if not (checks.check_virtual_machine() and checks.check_cuda()):
+        raise RuntimeError("Need NVIDIA GPU for run kilosort for slow tests")
+    DEFAULT_SORTER = "kilosort2_5"
+    DEFAULT_FORMAT = "spikeglx"
+    DEFAULT_PIPELINE = "test_default"
+
 
 class TestSLURM(BaseTest):
     # TODO: cannot test the actual output.
@@ -15,8 +30,9 @@ class TestSLURM(BaseTest):
 
     @pytest.mark.skipif(CAN_SLURM is False, reason="CAN_SLURM is false")
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-        "concatenation", [(False, False)]  # , (False, True), (True, True)]
+        "concatenation", [(False, False), (False, True), (True, True)]
     )
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_full_pipeline_slurm(self, test_info, concatenation):
         concatenate_sessions, concatenate_runs = concatenation
 
@@ -28,6 +44,8 @@ def test_full_pipeline_slurm(self, test_info, concatenation):
 
         self.run_full_pipeline(
             *test_info,
+            data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
+            sorter=DEFAULT_SORTER,
             concatenate_sessions=concatenate_sessions,
             concatenate_runs=concatenate_runs,
             slurm_batch={"wait": True},
@@ -36,7 +54,10 @@ def test_full_pipeline_slurm(self, test_info, concatenation):
         self.check_slurm_log(base_path)
 
         self.check_correct_folders_exist(
-            test_info, concatenate_sessions, concatenate_runs
+            test_info,
+            concatenate_sessions,
+            concatenate_runs,
+            DEFAULT_SORTER,
         )
 
     def check_slurm_log(self, base_path):
@@ -49,7 +70,6 @@ def check_slurm_log(self, base_path):
 
         log_output = " ".join(log_output)
 
-        assert "Stopping container" in log_output
         assert "Saving waveforms to" in log_output
         assert "Quality metrics saved to" in log_output
         assert "Job completed successfully" in log_output
diff --git a/tests/test_integration/test_validate.py b/tests/test_integration/test_validate.py
index a1e7e3a..c0f850e 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration/test_validate.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration/test_validate.py
@@ -5,15 +5,18 @@
 from spikewrap.pipeline import full_pipeline
 from spikewrap.pipeline.load_data import load_data
 from spikewrap.pipeline.postprocess import run_postprocess
-from spikewrap.pipeline.preprocess import _preprocess_and_save_all_runs
+from spikewrap.pipeline.preprocess import run_preprocessing
 from spikewrap.pipeline.sort import run_sorting
 
 from .base import BaseTest  # noqa
 
+# TODO: OWN FUNCTION
 DEFAULT_SORTER = "mountainsort5"
+DEFAULT_FORMAT = "spikeinterface"
 
 
 class TestValidate(BaseTest):
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
         """
         A very basic test to run all preprocessing and check now error occurs.
@@ -24,17 +27,17 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
 
         base_path = "not_a_real_base_path"
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, *test_info[1:])
+            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, *test_info[1:], DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert "Ensure there is a folder in base path called 'rawdata'" in str(e.value)
 
         base_path = None
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, *test_info[1:])
+            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, *test_info[1:], DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert str(e.value) == "`base_path` must be a str or pathlib Path object."
 
         sub_name = "not a real sub name"
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(test_info[0], sub_name, test_info[2])
+            self.run_full_pipeline(test_info[0], sub_name, test_info[2], DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert (
             "Subject directory not found. not a real sub name is not a folder in"
             in str(e.value)
@@ -42,12 +45,12 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
 
         sub_name = None
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(test_info[0], sub_name, test_info[2])
+            self.run_full_pipeline(test_info[0], sub_name, test_info[2], DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert str(e.value) == "`sub_name` must be a str (the subject name)."
 
         sessions_and_runs = None
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert (
             str(e.value)
             == "`sessions_and_runs` must be a Dict where the keys are session names."
@@ -55,32 +58,38 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
 
         sessions_and_runs = {"not_a_real_ses_name": ["run_name"]}
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert "not_a_real_ses_name was not found at folder path" in str(e.value)
 
         sessions_and_runs = {"ses-001": None}
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT)
+
         assert (
             str(e.value)
-            == "The runs within the session key for the `session_and_runs` Dict must be a list of run names or a single run name (str)."
+            == "The runs within the session key for the `session_and_runs` "
+            "Dict must be a list of run names or a single run name (str)."
         )
 
         sessions_and_runs = {"ses-001": "not_a_real_run_name"}
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info[:-1], sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT)
         assert "The run folder not_a_real_run_name cannot be found at file path" in str(
             e.value
         )
 
         config_name = None
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info, config_name=config_name)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                *test_info, config_name=config_name, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert str(e.value) == "`config_name` must be a string."
 
         config_name = "not a real_config_name"
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info, config_name=config_name)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                *test_info, config_name=config_name, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert (
             str(e.value)
             == "not a real_config_name is neither the name of an existing config or valid path to configuration file."
@@ -88,24 +97,33 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
 
         sorter = "not_a_real_sorter_name"
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info, sorter=sorter)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                *test_info, sorter=sorter, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert "`sorter` must be one of" in str(e.value)
 
         concat_ses = "False"
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info, concatenate_sessions=concat_ses)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                *test_info, concatenate_sessions=concat_ses, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert str(e.value) == "`concat_sessions_for_sorting` must be a bool."
 
         concat_run = "False"
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info, concatenate_runs=concat_run)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                *test_info, concatenate_runs=concat_run, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert str(e.value) == "`concat_runs_for_sorting` must be a bool."
 
         concat_ses = True  # TODO: delete from other one
         concat_run = False
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info, concatenate_sessions=concat_ses, concatenate_runs=concat_run
+                *test_info,
+                concatenate_sessions=concat_ses,
+                concatenate_runs=concat_run,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             )
         assert (
             str(e.value)
@@ -115,7 +133,9 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
         existing_preprocessed_data = "bad_name"
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info, existing_preprocessed_data=existing_preprocessed_data
+                *test_info,
+                existing_preprocessed_data=existing_preprocessed_data,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             )
         assert (
             str(e.value)
@@ -125,7 +145,9 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
         existing_sorting_output = "bad_name"
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info, existing_sorting_output=existing_sorting_output
+                *test_info,
+                existing_sorting_output=existing_sorting_output,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             )
         assert (
             str(e.value)
@@ -135,21 +157,25 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
         overwrite_postprocessing = "False"
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info, overwrite_postprocessing=overwrite_postprocessing
+                *test_info,
+                overwrite_postprocessing=overwrite_postprocessing,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             )
         assert str(e.value) == "`overwrite_postprocessing` must be a bool."
 
         delete_intermediate_files = ("recording.dat", "bad_name")
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info, delete_intermediate_files=delete_intermediate_files
+                *test_info,
+                delete_intermediate_files=delete_intermediate_files,
+                data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT,
             )
         assert "`delete_intermediate_files` must be one of" in str(e.value)
 
         slurm_batch = None
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
             self.run_full_pipeline(
-                *test_info, slurm_batch=slurm_batch
+                *test_info, slurm_batch=slurm_batch, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
             )  # TODO: check all naming. (why slurm BATCH?) just slurm would be better
         assert "`slurm_batch` must be `True` or a Dict of slurm settings." in str(
             e.value
@@ -157,19 +183,22 @@ def test_validate_full_pipeline(self, test_info):
 
         slurm_batch = {"gpus_per_node_x": 1}
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(*test_info, slurm_batch=slurm_batch)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                *test_info, slurm_batch=slurm_batch, data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert (
             "The `slurm batch key gpus_per_node_x is incorrect. "
             "Must be one of" in str(e.value)
         )
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_validate_run_preprocess(self, test_info):
         self.remove_all_except_first_run_and_sessions(test_info)
 
         pp_steps, __, __ = full_pipeline.get_configs("test_preprocessing_1")
 
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            _preprocess_and_save_all_runs(
+            run_preprocessing(
                 preprocess_data=None,
                 pp_steps=pp_steps,
                 handle_existing_data="overwrite",
@@ -179,10 +208,10 @@ def test_validate_run_preprocess(self, test_info):
             == "`preprocess_data` must be a `PreprocessingData` class instance."
         )
 
-        preprocess_data = load_data(*test_info[:3])
+        preprocess_data = load_data(*test_info[:3], data_format=DEFAULT_FORMAT)
 
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as e:
-            _preprocess_and_save_all_runs(
+            run_preprocessing(
                 preprocess_data=preprocess_data,
                 pp_steps="bad_name",
                 handle_existing_data="overwrite",
@@ -193,7 +222,7 @@ def test_validate_run_preprocess(self, test_info):
         )
 
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            _preprocess_and_save_all_runs(
+            run_preprocessing(
                 preprocess_data=preprocess_data,
                 pp_steps=pp_steps,
                 handle_existing_data="bad_name",
@@ -201,7 +230,7 @@ def test_validate_run_preprocess(self, test_info):
         assert "`handle_existing_data` must be `False` or one of" in str(e.value)
 
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            _preprocess_and_save_all_runs(
+            run_preprocessing(
                 preprocess_data=preprocess_data,
                 pp_steps=pp_steps,
                 handle_existing_data="overwrite",
@@ -212,7 +241,7 @@ def test_validate_run_preprocess(self, test_info):
         )
 
         with pytest.raises(TypeError) as e:
-            _preprocess_and_save_all_runs(
+            run_preprocessing(
                 preprocess_data=preprocess_data,
                 pp_steps=pp_steps,
                 handle_existing_data="overwrite",
@@ -220,6 +249,7 @@ def test_validate_run_preprocess(self, test_info):
             )
             assert str(e.value) == "`log` must be `bool`."
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_validate_run_sorting(self, test_info):
         """
         Sorting shares nearly all kwargs with `run_full_pipeline`, except for
@@ -271,19 +301,24 @@ def test_validate_run_postprocessing(self):
             in str(e.value)
         )
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("test_info", [DEFAULT_FORMAT], indirect=True)
     def test_validate_empty_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info):
         base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs = test_info
 
         sessions_and_runs = {}
 
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert str(e.value) == "`sessions_and_runs` cannot be empty."
 
         sessions_and_runs = {"ses-001": []}
 
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
         assert str(e.value) == "`sessions_and_runs` cannot contain empty runs."
 
         sessions_and_runs = {
@@ -291,6 +326,8 @@ def test_validate_empty_sessions_and_runs(self, test_info):
             "ses-002": [],
         }
         with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
-            self.run_full_pipeline(base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs)
+            self.run_full_pipeline(
+                base_path, sub_name, sessions_and_runs, DEFAULT_FORMAT
+            )
 
         assert str(e.value) == "`sessions_and_runs` cannot contain empty runs."