--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/lemuriformes/test_server.py	Sun Dec 10 17:16:52 2017 -0800
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+"""
+mock server for testing purposes
+"""
+
+# see https://realpython.com/blog/python/testing-third-party-apis-with-mock-servers/
+
+# TODO:
+# - python3 compatability
+# - use multiprocessing as threading does not allow hangin thread deletion
+from BaseHTTPServer import HTTPServer
+from threading import Thread
+from .port import get_free_port
+
+
+class MockServer(HTTPServer):
+
+    hostname = 'localhost'
+
+    def __init__(self, handler):
+        HTTPServer.__init__(self,
+                            (self.hostname, get_free_port()),
+                            handler)
+        self.thread = None
+
+    def base_url(self):
+        return 'http://{0}:{1}/'.format(*self.server_address)
+
+    def start_thread(self):
+        self.thread = Thread(target=self.serve_forever)
+        self.thread.setDaemon(True)
+        self.thread.start()
+
+    def stop_thread(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError('TODO')
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        self.start_thread()
+        return self  # or perhaps `self.thread`?
+
+    def __exit__(self, *args):
+        pass   # nothing to do? really?