diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/commands.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/commands.py
index 2baac64af..aa577cb0e 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/commands.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/commands.py
@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ class Command:
     def __repr__(self):
         return f"{type(self).__name__}({repr(self.__dict__)})"
 
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, self.__class__):
+            return all(
+                self.__dict__[k] == other.__dict__[k]
+                for k in self.__dict__ if k != "blocking"
+            )
+        return False
+
 
 class ConnectionCommand(Command):
     """
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/events.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/events.py
index 4aafe58d4..6f11a6c18 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/events.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/events.py
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ class Event:
     def __repr__(self):
         return f"{type(self).__name__}({repr(self.__dict__)})"
 
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, self.__class__):
+            return self.__dict__ == other.__dict__
+        return False
+
 
 class Start(Event):
     """
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/layer.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/layer.py
index 55494ce95..dba6fdcd2 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/layer.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/layer.py
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ class Layer(metaclass=ABCMeta):
         self._paused = None
         self._paused_event_queue: typing.Deque[events.Event] = collections.deque()
 
+    def _debug(self, x):
+        pass # print(x)
+
     @abstractmethod
     def handle(self, event: Event) -> commands.TCommandGenerator:
         """Handle a proxy server event"""
@@ -38,13 +41,13 @@ class Layer(metaclass=ABCMeta):
             # did we just receive the reply we were waiting for?
             pause_finished = (
                 isinstance(event, events.CommandReply) and
-                event.command == self._paused.command
+                event.command is self._paused.command
             )
             if pause_finished:
                 yield from self.__continue(event)
             else:
                 self._paused_event_queue.append(event)
-                print("Paused Event Queue: " + repr(self._paused_event_queue))
+                self._debug("Paused Event Queue: " + repr(self._paused_event_queue))
         else:
             command_generator = self.handle(event)
             yield from self.__process(command_generator)
@@ -62,7 +65,7 @@ class Layer(metaclass=ABCMeta):
 
         while command:
             if command.blocking is True:
-                print("start pausing")
+                self._debug("start pausing")
                 command.blocking = self  # assign to our layer so that higher layers don't block.
                 self._paused = Paused(
                     command,
@@ -76,14 +79,14 @@ class Layer(metaclass=ABCMeta):
 
     def __continue(self, event: events.CommandReply):
         """continue processing events after being paused"""
-        print("continue")
+        self._debug("continue")
         command_generator = self._paused.generator
         self._paused = None
         yield from self.__process(command_generator, event.reply)
 
         while not self._paused and self._paused_event_queue:
             event = self._paused_event_queue.popleft()
-            print(f"<# Paused event: {event}")
+            self._debug(f"<# Paused event: {event}")
             command_generator = self.handle(event)
             yield from self.__process(command_generator)
-            print("#>")
+            self._debug("#>")
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/tcp.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/tcp.py
index b185f55c0..bb6cf7cf5 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/tcp.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/tcp.py
@@ -26,9 +26,7 @@ class TCPLayer(Layer):
     @expect(events.Start)
     def start(self, _) -> commands.TCommandGenerator:
         if not self.context.server.connected:
-            print(r"open connection...")
             ok = yield commands.OpenConnection(self.context.server)
-            print(r"connection opened! \o/", ok)
         self.state = self.relay_messages
 
     @expect(events.DataReceived, events.ConnectionClosed)
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/__init__.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/conftest.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..110114070
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import pytest
+
+from mitmproxy.proxy.protocol2 import context
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def tctx():
+    return context.ClientServerContext(
+        context.Client("client"),
+        context.Server("server")
+    )
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/test_tcp.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/test_tcp.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1111b35a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/test_tcp.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+from mitmproxy.proxy.protocol2 import tcp
+from mitmproxy.proxy.protocol2.test.tutils import playbook
+from .. import commands
+from .. import events
+
+
+def test_open_connection(tctx):
+    """
+    If there is no server connection yet, establish one,
+    because the server may send data first.
+    """
+    assert (
+        playbook(tcp.TCPLayer(tctx))
+        << commands.OpenConnection(tctx.server)
+    )
+
+    tctx.server.connected = True
+    assert (
+        playbook(tcp.TCPLayer(tctx))
+        << None
+    )
+
+
+def test_simple(tctx):
+    """open connection, receive data, send it to peer"""
+    assert (
+        playbook(tcp.TCPLayer(tctx))
+        << commands.OpenConnection(tctx.server)
+        >> events.OpenConnectionReply(-1, "ok")
+        >> events.ClientDataReceived(tctx.client, b"hello!")
+        << commands.SendData(tctx.server, b"hello!")
+    )
+
+
+def test_receive_data_before_server_connected(tctx):
+    """
+    assert that data received before a server connection is established
+    will still be forwarded.
+    """
+    assert (
+        playbook(tcp.TCPLayer(tctx))
+        << commands.OpenConnection(tctx.server)
+        >> events.ClientDataReceived(tctx.client, b"hello!")
+        >> events.OpenConnectionReply(-2, "ok")
+        << commands.SendData(tctx.server, b"hello!")
+    )
diff --git a/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/tutils.py b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/tutils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..326cc7dfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mitmproxy/proxy/protocol2/test/tutils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import itertools
+import typing
+
+from mitmproxy.proxy.protocol2 import commands
+from mitmproxy.proxy.protocol2 import events
+from mitmproxy.proxy.protocol2 import layer
+
+
+class playbook:
+    """
+    Assert that a layer emits the expected commands in reaction to a given sequence of events.
+    For example, the following code asserts that the TCP layer emits an OpenConnection command
+    immediately after starting and does not yield any further commands as a reaction to successful
+    connection establishment.
+
+    assert playbook(tcp.TCPLayer(tctx)) \
+        << commands.OpenConnection(tctx.server)
+        >> events.OpenConnectionReply(-1, "ok")  # -1 = reply to command in previous line.
+        << None  # this line is optional.
+
+    This is syntactic sugar for the following:
+
+    t = tcp.TCPLayer(tctx)
+    x1 = list(t.handle_event(events.Start()))
+    assert x1 == [commands.OpenConnection(tctx.server)]
+    x2 = list(t.handle_event(events.OpenConnectionReply(x1[-1])))
+    assert x2 == []
+    """
+    layer: layer.Layer
+    playbook: typing.List[typing.Union[commands.Command, events.Event]]
+
+    def __init__(
+            self,
+            layer,
+            playbook=None,
+    ):
+        if playbook is None:
+            playbook = [
+                events.Start()
+            ]
+
+        self.layer = layer
+        self.playbook = playbook
+
+    def __rshift__(self, e):
+        """Add an event to send"""
+        assert isinstance(e, events.Event)
+        self.playbook.append(e)
+        return self
+
+    def __lshift__(self, c):
+        """Add an expected command"""
+        if c is None:
+            return self
+        assert isinstance(c, commands.Command)
+        self.playbook.append(c)
+        return self
+
+    def __bool__(self):
+        """Determine if playbook is correct."""
+        actual = []
+        for i, x in enumerate(self.playbook):
+            if isinstance(x, commands.Command):
+                pass
+            else:
+                if isinstance(x, events.CommandReply):
+                    if isinstance(x.command, int):
+                        x.command = actual[i + x.command]
+
+                actual.append(x)
+                actual.extend(
+                    self.layer.handle_event(x)
+                )
+
+        if actual != self.playbook:
+            # print debug info
+            for a, e in itertools.zip_longest(actual, self.playbook):
+                if a == e:
+                    print(f"= {e}")
+                else:
+                    print(f"✓ {e}")
+                    print(f"✗ {a}")
+            return False
+        return True