diff --git a/pytest.ini b/pytest.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4584de7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pytest.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[pytest]
+testpaths = tests
+pythonpath = .
diff --git a/tests/test_adaptive_cooldown.py b/tests/test_adaptive_cooldown.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81a08fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_adaptive_cooldown.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import logging
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+import torch
+import pytest
+
+from config.hyperparameters import Config
+from training.adaptive import AdaptiveController, CLIP_FRAC_COOLDOWN
+
+
+class DummyAgent:
+    def save(self, path, step):
+        pass
+
+
+def make_trainer(tmp_path):
+    return SimpleNamespace(
+        global_step=0,
+        config=SimpleNamespace(video_save_path=str(tmp_path)),
+        agent=DummyAgent(),
+    )
+
+
+def test_cooldown_prevents_repeated_scaling(tmp_path):
+    cfg = Config()
+    param = torch.nn.Parameter(torch.zeros(1))
+    opt = torch.optim.Adam([param], lr=cfg.learning_rate)
+    logger = logging.getLogger("test")
+    controller = AdaptiveController(cfg, opt, logger, state_dir=str(tmp_path))
+    trainer = make_trainer(tmp_path)
+
+    metrics = {"clip_fraction": 0.6, "mean_reward": 0.0, "explained_variance": 0.0}
+
+    # Fill history to trigger initial scaling
+    for _ in range(5):
+        controller.update(metrics, trainer)
+
+    first_scale = controller.state["lr_scale"]
+    assert first_scale < 1.0
+
+    # Within cooldown period, repeated high clip fraction should not rescale
+    for _ in range(CLIP_FRAC_COOLDOWN - 1):
+        controller.update(metrics, trainer)
+        assert controller.state["lr_scale"] == pytest.approx(first_scale)
+
+    # After cooldown expires, scaling can happen again
+    controller.update(metrics, trainer)
+    assert controller.state["lr_scale"] < first_scale
diff --git a/training/adaptive.py b/training/adaptive.py
index bc1bfbb..863f294 100644
--- a/training/adaptive.py
+++ b/training/adaptive.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 ENTROPY_FLOOR = 2e-2
 COOLDOWN_ENABLED = True
+CLIP_FRAC_COOLDOWN = 4  # updates to skip after scaling
 
 
 class AdaptiveController:
@@ -82,13 +83,19 @@ def _save(self) -> None:
     # Public API – call once per PPO update
     # ────────────────────────────────────────────────
     def update(self, metrics: Dict[str, float], trainer) -> None:
+        """Update internal state based on recent training metrics.
+
+        Args:
+            metrics: Mapping containing ``clip_fraction``, ``mean_reward``,
+                and ``explained_variance`` keys describing the latest
+                training statistics.
+            trainer: Trainer object used for checkpointing when
+                hyper-parameters change.
         """
-        metrics = {
-            "clip_fraction": float,
-            "mean_reward":  float,
-            "explained_variance": float,
-        }
-        """
+        # Decay cooldown timer each call so it persists across updates
+        if COOLDOWN_ENABLED and self.state.get("clip_cooldown", 0) > 0:
+            self.state["clip_cooldown"] -= 1
+
         h = self.state["history"]
         h["clip_fraction"].append(metrics["clip_fraction"])
         h["mean_reward"].append(metrics["mean_reward"])
@@ -106,9 +113,7 @@ def update(self, metrics: Dict[str, float], trainer) -> None:
                         f"[ADAPT] clip_fraction={avg_clip:.3f} ▶ dampening LR & clip_eps by 25 %"
                     )
                     if COOLDOWN_ENABLED:
-                        self.state["clip_cooldown"] = 1
-                elif COOLDOWN_ENABLED:
-                    self.state["clip_cooldown"] = 0
+                        self.state["clip_cooldown"] = CLIP_FRAC_COOLDOWN
 
         # ── Rule 2: plateau detector / entropy annealing ───────────────
         if len(h["mean_reward"]) == h["mean_reward"].maxlen: