diff --git a/.eslintrc.json b/.eslintrc.json
index b4bfd71412..5b53283323 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.json
+++ b/.eslintrc.json
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@
         "typing_events": false,
         "typing_status": false,
         "ui": false,
+        "ui_init": false,
         "ui_report": false,
         "ui_util": false,
         "unread": false,
diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/ui_init.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/ui_init.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f488047e8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/ui_init.js
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+/*
+    This test suite is designed to find errors
+    in our initialization sequence.  It doesn't
+    really validate any behavior, other than just
+    making sure things don't fail.  For more
+    directed testing of individual modules, you
+    should create dedicated test suites.
+
+    Also, we stub a lot of initialization here that
+    is tricky to test due to dependencies on things
+    like jQuery.  A good project is to work through
+    ignore_modules and try to make this test more
+    complete.
+
+    Also, it's good to be alert here for things
+    that can be cleaned up in the code--for example,
+    not everything needs to happen in `initialization`--
+    some things can happen later in a `launch` method.
+
+*/
+set_global('i18n', global.stub_i18n);
+set_global('document', {
+    location: {
+        protocol: 'http',
+    },
+});
+
+global.patch_builtin('window', {});
+
+set_global('csrf_token', 'whatever');
+
+set_global('$', () => {});
+set_global('resize', {});
+set_global('feature_flags', {});
+set_global('page_params', {});
+set_global('templates', {});
+
+const ignore_modules = [
+    'activity',
+    'click_handlers',
+    'compose_pm_pill',
+    'copy_and_paste',
+    'drafts',
+    'emoji',
+    'emoji_picker',
+    'gear_menu',
+    'hashchange',
+    'hotspots',
+    'message_scroll',
+    'message_viewport',
+    'panels',
+    'popovers',
+    'reload',
+    'scroll_bar',
+    'server_events',
+    'settings_sections',
+    'settings_panel_menu',
+    'settings_toggle',
+    'subs',
+    'timerender',
+    'ui',
+    'unread_ui',
+];
+
+_.each(ignore_modules, (mod) => {
+    set_global(mod, {
+        initialize: () => {},
+    });
+});
+
+
+zrequire('util');
+
+util.is_mobile = () => false;
+templates.render = () => 'some-html';
+
+zrequire('echo');
+zrequire('colorspace');
+zrequire('stream_color');
+zrequire('stream_edit');
+zrequire('color_data');
+zrequire('stream_data');
+zrequire('muting');
+zrequire('condense');
+zrequire('lightbox');
+zrequire('overlays');
+zrequire('invite');
+zrequire('tab_bar');
+zrequire('narrow_state');
+zrequire('people');
+zrequire('search_pill_widget');
+zrequire('user_groups');
+zrequire('unread');
+zrequire('bot_data');
+zrequire('message_fetch');
+zrequire('marked', 'third/marked/lib/marked');
+zrequire('fenced_code');
+zrequire('markdown');
+zrequire('upload');
+zrequire('compose');
+zrequire('composebox_typeahead');
+zrequire('narrow');
+zrequire('search');
+zrequire('tutorial');
+zrequire('notifications');
+zrequire('pointer');
+zrequire('compose_fade');
+zrequire('pm_list');
+zrequire('list_cursor');
+zrequire('keydown_util');
+zrequire('stream_sort');
+zrequire('stream_list');
+zrequire('topic_list');
+zrequire('topic_zoom');
+zrequire('sent_messages');
+zrequire('typing');
+zrequire('top_left_corner');
+zrequire('starred_messages');
+zrequire('user_status');
+zrequire('ui_init');
+
+set_global('$', global.make_zjquery());
+
+const document_stub = $.create('document-stub');
+document.to_$ = () => document_stub;
+document_stub.on = () => {};
+document_stub.idle = () => {};
+
+const window_stub = $.create('window-stub');
+window.to_$ = () => window_stub;
+window_stub.idle = () => {};
+
+ui_init.initialize_kitchen_sink_stuff = () => {};
+
+page_params.realm_default_streams = [];
+page_params.subscriptions = [];
+page_params.unsubscribed = [];
+page_params.never_subscribed = [];
+page_params.realm_notifications_stream_id = -1;
+
+$('#tab_bar').append = () => {};
+$('#compose').filedrop = () => {};
+
+server_events.home_view_loaded = () => true;
+
+resize.watch_manual_resize = () => {};
+
+$("#stream_message_recipient_stream").typeahead = () => {};
+$("#stream_message_recipient_topic").typeahead = () => {};
+$("#private_message_recipient").typeahead = () => {};
+$("#compose-textarea").typeahead = () => {};
+$("#search_query").typeahead = () => {};
+
+
+const value_stub = $.create('value');
+const count_stub = $.create('count');
+count_stub.set_find_results('.value', value_stub);
+$("#global_filters li[data-name='starred']").set_find_results('.count', count_stub);
+
+
+run_test('initialize_everything', () => {
+    ui_init.initialize_everything();
+});
diff --git a/static/js/ui_init.js b/static/js/ui_init.js
index 4ea97379b7..824e160ba1 100644
--- a/static/js/ui_init.js
+++ b/static/js/ui_init.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ function message_hover(message_row) {
     }
 }
 
-function initialize_kitchen_sink_stuff() {
+exports.initialize_kitchen_sink_stuff = function () {
     // TODO:
     //      This function is a historical dumping ground
     //      for lots of miscellaneous setup.  Almost all of
@@ -272,13 +272,13 @@ function initialize_kitchen_sink_stuff() {
         $("#user-list").hide();
         $("#group-pm-list").hide();
     }
-}
+};
 
-$(function () {
+exports.initialize_everything = function () {
     // initialize other stuff
     scroll_bar.initialize();
     message_viewport.initialize();
-    initialize_kitchen_sink_stuff();
+    exports.initialize_kitchen_sink_stuff();
     echo.initialize();
     stream_color.initialize();
     stream_edit.initialize();
@@ -334,6 +334,10 @@ $(function () {
     panels.initialize();
     typing.initialize();
     starred_messages.initialize();
+};
+
+$(function () {
+    exports.initialize_everything();
 });