diff --git a/src/osmo_gsm_tester/testenv.py b/src/osmo_gsm_tester/testenv.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26b492e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/osmo_gsm_tester/testenv.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# osmo_gsm_tester: context for individual test runs
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2016-2017 by sysmocom - s.f.m.c. GmbH
+#
+# Author: Neels Hofmeyr <neels@hofmeyr.de>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# These will be initialized before each test run.
+# A test script can thus establish its context by doing:
+# from osmo_gsm_tester.testenv import *
+trial = None
+suite = None
+test = None
+resources = None
+log = None
+dbg = None
+err = None
+wait = None
+wait_no_raise = None
+sleep = None
+poll = None
+prompt = None
+Timeout = None
+Sms = None
+
+def setup(suite_run, _test, suite_module, event_module, sms_module):
+    global trial, suite, test, resources, log, dbg, err, wait, wait_no_raise, sleep, poll, prompt, Timeout, Sms
+    trial = suite_run.trial
+    suite = suite_run
+    test = _test
+    resources = suite_run.reserved_resources
+    log = test.log
+    dbg = test.dbg
+    err = test.err
+    wait = lambda *args, **kwargs: event_module.wait(suite_run, *args, **kwargs)
+    wait_no_raise = lambda *args, **kwargs: event_module.wait_no_raise(suite_run, *args, **kwargs)
+    sleep = lambda *args, **kwargs: event_module.sleep(suite_run, *args, **kwargs)
+    poll = event_module.poll
+    prompt = suite_run.prompt
+    Timeout = suite_module.Timeout
+    Sms = sms_module.Sms
+
+# vim: expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4