diff --git a/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-1.0.zip b/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-1.0.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b8dbed87f3d28
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-1.0.zip differ
diff --git a/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-2.0.zip b/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-2.0.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bacb264a860be
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-2.0.zip differ
diff --git a/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin.md b/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ce47859330ed0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin.md
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Plugin upload fixtures
+
+The two ZIP files contain only `e2e-test-plugin/e2e-test-plugin.php`:
+
+```php
+<?php
+/**
+ * Plugin Name: E2E Test Plugin
+ * Version: 1.0
+ * Update URI: false
+ */
+```
+
+The second archive uses version `2.0`. Neither plugin executes code. The update URI prevents WordPress.org update matching.
+
+To reproduce both archives from the repository root with Python 3:
+
+```python
+from pathlib import Path
+from zipfile import ZipFile, ZipInfo
+
+fixtures = Path('tests/e2e/assets')
+for version in ['1.0', '2.0']:
+    with ZipFile(fixtures / f'e2e-test-plugin-{version}.zip', 'w') as archive:
+        entry = ZipInfo(
+            'e2e-test-plugin/e2e-test-plugin.php',
+            date_time=(2020, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0),
+        )
+        archive.writestr(
+            entry,
+            '<?php\n/**\n * Plugin Name: E2E Test Plugin\n'
+            f' * Version: {version}\n * Update URI: false\n */\n',
+        )
+```
diff --git a/tests/e2e/specs/plugins.test.js b/tests/e2e/specs/plugins.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..29424db7b95ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/specs/plugins.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+/**
+ * WordPress dependencies
+ */
+import { test, expect } from '@wordpress/e2e-test-utils-playwright';
+
+const plugin = 'e2e-test-plugin/e2e-test-plugin';
+const pluginName = 'E2E Test Plugin';
+
+async function uploadPlugin( admin, page, version ) {
+	await admin.visitAdminPage( 'plugin-install.php' );
+	await page
+		.getByRole( 'button', { name: 'Upload Plugin', exact: true } )
+		.click();
+	await page
+		.locator( '#pluginzip' )
+		.setInputFiles(
+			`tests/e2e/assets/e2e-test-plugin-${ version }.zip`
+		);
+	await page
+		.getByRole( 'button', { name: 'Install Now', exact: true } )
+		.click();
+}
+
+test.describe( 'Plugin management', () => {
+	let ownsPlugin;
+
+	test.beforeEach( async ( { requestUtils } ) => {
+		// The fixture slug requires an environment not shared with another test run.
+		ownsPlugin = false;
+		const plugins = await requestUtils.rest( { path: '/wp/v2/plugins' } );
+		expect( plugins.map( ( item ) => item.plugin ) ).not.toContain(
+			plugin
+		);
+		ownsPlugin = true;
+	} );
+
+	test.afterEach( async ( { requestUtils } ) => {
+		if ( ! ownsPlugin ) {
+			return;
+		}
+		const plugins = await requestUtils.rest( { path: '/wp/v2/plugins' } );
+		const installed = plugins.find( ( item ) => item.plugin === plugin );
+		if ( installed ) {
+			if ( installed.status !== 'inactive' ) {
+				await requestUtils.rest( {
+					method: 'PUT',
+					path: `/wp/v2/plugins/${ plugin }`,
+					data: { status: 'inactive' },
+				} );
+			}
+			await requestUtils.rest( {
+				method: 'DELETE',
+				path: `/wp/v2/plugins/${ plugin }`,
+			} );
+		}
+	} );
+
+	test( 'uploads, activates and deactivates a plugin', async ( {
+		admin,
+		page,
+		requestUtils,
+	} ) => {
+		await uploadPlugin( admin, page, '1.0' );
+		await expect(
+			page.getByText( 'Plugin installed successfully.', { exact: true } )
+		).toBeVisible();
+		await admin.visitAdminPage( 'plugins.php' );
+		const row = page.locator( `tr[data-plugin="${ plugin }.php"]` );
+		await expect( row ).toContainText( 'Version 1.0' );
+		await row
+			.getByRole( 'link', {
+				name: `Activate ${ pluginName }`,
+				exact: true,
+			} )
+			.click();
+		await expect(
+			row.getByRole( 'link', {
+				name: `Deactivate ${ pluginName }`,
+				exact: true,
+			} )
+		).toBeVisible();
+		expect(
+			(
+				await requestUtils.rest( {
+					path: `/wp/v2/plugins/${ plugin }`,
+				} )
+			).status
+		).toBe( 'active' );
+		await row
+			.getByRole( 'link', {
+				name: `Deactivate ${ pluginName }`,
+				exact: true,
+			} )
+			.click();
+		await expect(
+			row.getByRole( 'link', {
+				name: `Activate ${ pluginName }`,
+				exact: true,
+			} )
+		).toBeVisible();
+		expect(
+			(
+				await requestUtils.rest( {
+					path: `/wp/v2/plugins/${ plugin }`,
+				} )
+			).status
+		).toBe( 'inactive' );
+	} );
+
+	test( 'replaces an installed plugin with an uploaded version', async ( {
+		admin,
+		page,
+		requestUtils,
+	} ) => {
+		await uploadPlugin( admin, page, '1.0' );
+		await expect(
+			page.getByText( 'Plugin installed successfully.', { exact: true } )
+		).toBeVisible();
+		expect(
+			(
+				await requestUtils.rest( {
+					path: `/wp/v2/plugins/${ plugin }`,
+				} )
+			).version
+		).toBe( '1.0' );
+		await uploadPlugin( admin, page, '2.0' );
+		await page
+			.getByRole( 'link', {
+				name: 'Replace current with uploaded',
+				exact: true,
+			} )
+			.click();
+		await expect(
+			page.getByText( 'Plugin updated successfully.', { exact: true } )
+		).toBeVisible();
+		await admin.visitAdminPage( 'plugins.php' );
+		await expect(
+			page.locator( `tr[data-plugin="${ plugin }.php"]` )
+		).toContainText( 'Version 2.0' );
+		expect(
+			(
+				await requestUtils.rest( {
+					path: `/wp/v2/plugins/${ plugin }`,
+				} )
+			).version
+		).toBe( '2.0' );
+	} );
+
+	test( 'deletes an inactive plugin after confirmation', async ( {
+		admin,
+		page,
+		requestUtils,
+	} ) => {
+		await uploadPlugin( admin, page, '1.0' );
+		await expect(
+			page.getByText( 'Plugin installed successfully.', { exact: true } )
+		).toBeVisible();
+		await admin.visitAdminPage( 'plugins.php' );
+		const row = page.locator( `tr[data-plugin="${ plugin }.php"]` );
+		await Promise.all( [
+			page.waitForEvent( 'dialog' ).then( async ( dialog ) => {
+				expect( dialog.type() ).toBe( 'confirm' );
+				await dialog.accept();
+			} ),
+			row
+				.getByRole( 'link', {
+					name: `Delete ${ pluginName }`,
+					exact: true,
+				} )
+				.click(),
+		] );
+		await expect( page.locator( '.plugin-deleted-tr' ) ).toContainText(
+			`${ pluginName } was successfully deleted.`
+		);
+		await page.reload();
+		await expect( row ).toHaveCount( 0 );
+		const plugins = await requestUtils.rest( { path: '/wp/v2/plugins' } );
+		expect( plugins.map( ( item ) => item.plugin ) ).not.toContain(
+			plugin
+		);
+	} );
+} );