diff --git a/apiserver/main.py b/apiserver/main.py
index 79ce7b1..f912ec8 100644
--- a/apiserver/main.py
+++ b/apiserver/main.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ async def list_datasets(location_data_type: LocationDataType, search: str = None
         # get page_size elements at index (page-1) * page_size
         index = (page - 1) * page_size
         if index >= len(sorted_datasets):
-            return List()
+            return []
         elif index + page_size > len(sorted_datasets):
             return sorted_datasets[index:]
         else:
diff --git a/tests/apiserver_tests/test_filters.py b/tests/apiserver_tests/test_filters.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ce3bd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/apiserver_tests/test_filters.py
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+import unittest
+
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+from context import apiserver, storage
+from apiserver.security.user import User
+
+# a properly formatted uuidv4 to ensure the proper errors are returned by the api; the exact value is irrelevant
+proper_uuid = "3a33262e-276e-4de8-87bc-f2d5a0195faf"
+def mynewfunc():
+    return User(username='foo', email='bar')
+
+def fill_with_elements(client, root=10):
+    oids = []
+    for i in range(root):
+        for j in range(root):
+            data = {
+                'name' : f'Test Dataset {i} {j}', 
+                'url' : f'placeholder{i}', 
+                'metadata' : 
+                {
+                    'value for i' : f'{i}', 'value for j' : f'{j}'
+                }
+            }
+            rsp = client.post('/dataset', json=data)
+            oids.append(rsp.json()[0])
+    return oids
+
+def delete_entries(client, oids):
+    for oid in oids:
+        client.delete('/dataset/' + oid)
+
+class FilterTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        apiserver.app.dependency_overrides[apiserver.main.my_auth] = mynewfunc
+        apiserver.app.dependency_overrides[apiserver.main.my_user] = mynewfunc
+        self.client = TestClient(apiserver.app)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        apiserver.app.dependency_overrides={}
+        # clear all datasets in case of failure
+        datasets = self.client.get('/dataset').json()
+        for entry in datasets:
+            self.client.delete('/dataset/' + entry[0])
+
+    def test_root_count(self):
+        rsp = self.client.get('/', params={'element_numbers' : True})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.status_code, 200, 'Should return 200')
+        self.assertListEqual(rsp.json(), [{'dataset' : '0'}, {'storage_target' : '0'}, {'airflow_connections' : '0'}, {'template' : '0'}])
+
+    def test_type_count(self):
+        for location_type in storage.LocationDataType:
+            rsp = self.client.get('/' + location_type.value, params={'element_numbers' : True})
+            self.assertEqual(rsp.status_code, 200)
+            self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [[ location_type.value, '0']])
+
+    def test_counting_with_elements_inserted(self):
+        oids = fill_with_elements(self.client)
+        
+        rsp1 = self.client.get('/', params={'element_numbers' : True})
+        rsp2 = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True})
+
+        self.assertEqual(rsp1.status_code, 200, 'Should return 200')
+        self.assertListEqual(rsp1.json(), [{'dataset' : '100'}, {'storage_target' : '0'}, {'airflow_connections' : '0'}, {'template' : '0'}])
+        
+        self.assertEqual(rsp2.status_code, 200, 'Should return 200')
+        self.assertListEqual(rsp2.json(), [['dataset' , '100']])
+
+        delete_entries(self.client, oids)
+
+    def test_name_filter(self):
+        oids = fill_with_elements(self.client, 4)
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'name' : '0'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '7']])
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'name' : 'test'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '16']])
+
+        delete_entries(self.client, oids)
+
+    
+    def test_url_filter(self):
+        oids = fill_with_elements(self.client, 4)
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'url' : '0'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '4']])
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'url' : 'test'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '0']])
+        delete_entries(self.client, oids)
+
+    def test_key_filter(self):
+        oids = fill_with_elements(self.client, 4)
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'has_key' : 'value for i'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '16']])
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'has_key' : 'test'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '0']])
+        delete_entries(self.client, oids)
+
+    def test_search_filter(self):
+        oids = fill_with_elements(self.client, 4)
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'search' : '0'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '7']])
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'search' : 'test'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '16']])
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'search' : 'place'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '16']])
+        
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={'element_numbers' : True, 'search' : 'value'})
+        self.assertEqual(rsp.json(), [['dataset', '16']])
+
+        delete_entries(self.client, oids)
+
+    def test_paging_basic(self):
+        oids = fill_with_elements(self.client, 15)
+
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={"page" : 1, "page_size" : 100})
+        self.assertEqual(len(rsp.json()), 100)
+
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={"page" : 3, "page_size" : 100})
+        self.assertEqual(len(rsp.json()), 25)
+
+        rsp = self.client.get('/dataset', params={"page" : 7, "page_size" : 100})
+        self.assertEqual(len(rsp.json()), 0)
+
+        delete_entries(self.client, oids)
\ No newline at end of file