diff --git a/runbot_merge/tests/README.txt b/runbot_merge/tests/README.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f531733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runbot_merge/tests/README.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Execute this test suite using pytest.
+
+The default mode is to run tests locally using mock objects in place of
+github, see the docstring of remote.py for additional instructions to run
+against github "actual".
+
+Shared properties running tests, regardless of the github implementation:
+
+* test should be run from the root of the runbot repository providing the
+  name of this module aka ``pytest runbot_merge`` or
+  ``python -mpytest runbot_merge``
+* a database name to use must be provided using ``--db``, the database should
+  not exist beforehand
+* the addons path must be specified using ``--addons-path``, both "runbot" and
+  the standard addons (odoo/addons) must be provided explicitly
+
+See pytest's documentation for other options, I would recommend ``-rXs``,
+``-v`` and ``--showlocals``.
+
+When running "remote" tests as they take a very long time (hours) `-x`
+(aka ``--maxfail=1``) and ``--ff`` (run previously failed first) is also
+recommended unless e.g. you run the tests overnight.
diff --git a/runbot_merge/tests/remote.py b/runbot_merge/tests/remote.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..614778f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runbot_merge/tests/remote.py
@@ -0,0 +1,647 @@
+"""
+Replaces relevant fixtures to allow running the test suite against github
+actual (instead of a mocked version).
+
+To enable this plugin, load it using ``-p runbot_merge.tests.remote``
+
+.. WARNING:: this requires running ``python -mpytest`` from the root of the
+             runbot repository, running ``pytest`` directly will not pick it
+             up (as it does not setup ``sys.path``)
+
+Configuration:
+
+* an ``odoo`` binary in the path, which runs the relevant odoo; to ensure a
+  clean slate odoo is re-started and a new database is created before each
+  test
+
+* pytest.ini (at the root of the runbot repo) with the following sections and
+  keys
+
+  ``github``
+    - owner, the name of the account (personal or org) under which test repos
+      will be created & deleted
+    - token, either personal or oauth, must have the scopes ``public_repo``,
+      ``delete_repo`` and ``admin:repo_hook``, if personal the owner must be
+      the corresponding user account, not an org
+
+  ``role_reviewer``, ``role_self_reviewer`` and ``role_other``
+    - name (optional)
+    - user, the login of the user for that role
+    - token, a personal access token with the ``public_repo`` scope (otherwise
+      the API can't leave comments)
+
+    .. warning:: the accounts must *not* be flagged, or the webhooks on
+                 commenting or creating reviews will not trigger, and the
+                 tests will fail
+
+* either ``ngrok`` or ``lt`` (localtunnel) available on the path. ngrok with
+  a configured account is recommended: ngrok is more reliable than localtunnel
+  but a free account is necessary to get a high-enough rate limiting for some
+  of the multi-repo tests to work
+
+Finally the tests aren't 100% reliable as they rely on quite a bit of network
+traffic, it's possible that the tests fail due to network issues rather than
+logic errors.
+"""
+import base64
+import collections
+import configparser
+import itertools
+import re
+import signal
+import socket
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import time
+import xmlrpc.client
+
+import pytest
+import requests
+
+# Should be pytest_configure, but apparently once a plugin is registered
+# its fixtures don't get unloaded even if it's unregistered, so prevent
+# registering local entirely. This works because explicit plugins (-p)
+# are loaded before conftest and conftest-specified plugins (officially:
+# https://docs.pytest.org/en/latest/writing_plugins.html#plugin-discovery-order-at-tool-startup).
+
+def pytest_addhooks(pluginmanager):
+    pluginmanager.set_blocked('local')
+
+def pytest_addoption(parser):
+    parser.addoption("--no-delete", action="store_true", help="Don't delete repo after a failed run")
+    parser.addoption(
+        '--tunnel', action="store", type="choice", choices=['ngrok', 'localtunnel'],
+        help="Which tunneling method to use to expose the local Odoo server "
+             "to hook up github's webhook. ngrok is more reliable, but "
+             "creating a free account is necessary to avoid rate-limiting "
+             "issues (anonymous limiting is rate-limited at 20 incoming "
+             "queries per minute, free is 40, multi-repo batching tests will "
+             "blow through the former); localtunnel has no rate-limiting but "
+             "the servers are way less reliable")
+    pass
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def config(pytestconfig):
+    conf = configparser.ConfigParser(interpolation=None)
+    conf.read([pytestconfig.inifile])
+    return {
+        name: dict(s.items())
+        for name, s in conf.items()
+    }
+
+PORT=8069
+
+def wait_for_hook(n=1):
+    # TODO: find better way to wait for roundtrip of actions which can trigger webhooks
+    time.sleep(10 * n)
+
+def wait_for_server(db, timeout=120):
+    """ Polls for server to be response & have installed our module.
+
+    Raises socket.timeout on failure
+    """
+    limit = time.time() + timeout
+    while True:
+        try:
+            xmlrpc.client.ServerProxy(
+                'http://localhost:{}/xmlrpc/2/object'.format(PORT)) \
+                .execute_kw(db, 1, 'admin', 'runbot_merge.batch', 'search',
+                            [[]], {'limit': 1})
+            break
+        except ConnectionRefusedError:
+            if time.time() > limit:
+                raise socket.timeout()
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def env(request):
+    """
+    creates a db & an environment object as a proxy to xmlrpc calls
+    """
+    db = request.config.getoption('--db')
+    p = subprocess.Popen([
+        'odoo', '--http-port', str(PORT),
+        '--addons-path', request.config.getoption('--addons-path'),
+        '-d', db, '-i', 'runbot_merge',
+        '--load', 'base,web,runbot_merge',
+        '--max-cron-threads', '0', # disable cron threads (we're running crons by hand)
+    ])
+
+    try:
+        wait_for_server(db)
+
+        yield Environment(PORT, db)
+
+        db_service = xmlrpc.client.ServerProxy('http://localhost:{}/xmlrpc/2/db'.format(PORT))
+        db_service.drop('admin', db)
+    finally:
+        p.terminate()
+        p.wait(timeout=30)
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope='session')
+def tunnel(request):
+    """ Creates a tunnel to localhost:8069 using ~~ngrok~~ localtunnel, should yield the
+    publicly routable address & terminate the process at the end of the session
+    """
+
+    tunnel = request.config.getoption('--tunnel')
+    if tunnel == 'ngrok':
+        p = subprocess.Popen(['ngrok', 'http', '--region', 'eu', str(PORT)])
+        time.sleep(5)
+        try:
+            r = requests.get('http://localhost:4040/api/tunnels')
+            r.raise_for_status()
+            yield next(
+                t['public_url']
+                for t in r.json()['tunnels']
+                if t['proto'] == 'https'
+            )
+        finally:
+            p.terminate()
+            p.wait(30)
+    elif tunnel == 'localtunnel':
+        p = subprocess.Popen(['lt', '-p', str(PORT)], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        try:
+            r = p.stdout.readline()
+            print(r)
+            m = re.match(br'your url is: (https://.*\.localtunnel\.me)', r)
+            assert m, "could not get the localtunnel URL"
+            yield m.group(1).decode('ascii')
+        finally:
+            p.terminate()
+            p.wait(30)
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("Unsupported %s tunnel method" % tunnel)
+
+ROLES = ['reviewer', 'self_reviewer', 'other']
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def users(env, github, config):
+    # get github login of "current user"
+    r = github.get('https://api.github.com/user')
+    r.raise_for_status()
+    rolemap = {
+        'user': r.json()['login']
+    }
+    for role in ROLES:
+        data = config['role_' + role]
+        username = data['user']
+        rolemap[role] = username
+        if role == 'other':
+            continue
+        env['res.partner'].create({
+            'name': data.get('name', username),
+            'github_login': username,
+            'reviewer': role == 'reviewer',
+            'self_reviewer': role == 'self_reviewer',
+        })
+
+    return rolemap
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def project(env, config):
+    return env['runbot_merge.project'].create({
+        'name': 'odoo',
+        'github_token': config['github']['token'],
+        'github_prefix': 'hansen',
+        'branch_ids': [(0, 0, {'name': 'master'})],
+        'required_statuses': 'legal/cla,ci/runbot',
+    })
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope='session')
+def github(config):
+    s = requests.Session()
+    s.headers['Authorization'] = 'token {}'.format(config['github']['token'])
+    return s
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def owner(config):
+    return config['github']['owner']
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def make_repo(request, config, project, github, tunnel, users, owner):
+    # check whether "owner" is a user or an org, as repo-creation endpoint is
+    # different
+    q = github.get('https://api.github.com/users/{}'.format(owner))
+    q.raise_for_status()
+    if q.json().get('type') == 'Organization':
+        endpoint = 'https://api.github.com/orgs/{}/repos'.format(owner)
+    else:
+        # if not creating repos under an org, ensure the token matches the owner
+        assert users['user'] == owner, "when testing against a user (rather than an organisation) the API token must be the user's"
+        endpoint = 'https://api.github.com/user/repos'
+
+    repos = []
+    def repomaker(name):
+        fullname = '{}/{}'.format(owner, name)
+        # create repo
+        r = github.post(endpoint, json={
+            'name': name,
+            'has_issues': False,
+            'has_projects': False,
+            'has_wiki': False,
+            'auto_init': False,
+            # at least one merge method must be enabled :(
+            'allow_squash_merge': False,
+            # 'allow_merge_commit': False,
+            'allow_rebase_merge': False,
+        })
+        r.raise_for_status()
+        repos.append(fullname)
+        # unwatch repo
+        github.put('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/subscription'.format(fullname), json={
+            'subscribed': False,
+            'ignored': True,
+        })
+        # create webhook
+        github.post('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/hooks'.format(fullname), json={
+            'name': 'web',
+            'config': {
+                'url': '{}/runbot_merge/hooks'.format(tunnel),
+                'content_type': 'json',
+                'insecure_ssl': '1',
+            },
+            'events': ['pull_request', 'issue_comment', 'status', 'pull_request_review']
+        })
+        project.write({'repo_ids': [(0, 0, {'name': fullname})]})
+
+        tokens = {
+            r: config['role_' + r]['token']
+            for r in ROLES
+        }
+        tokens['user'] = config['github']['token']
+
+        return Repo(github, fullname, tokens)
+
+    yield repomaker
+
+    if not request.config.getoption('--no-delete'):
+        for repo in reversed(repos):
+            github.delete('https://api.github.com/repos/{}'.format(repo)).raise_for_status()
+
+class Environment:
+    def __init__(self, port, db):
+        self._object = xmlrpc.client.ServerProxy('http://localhost:{}/xmlrpc/2/object'.format(port))
+        self._db = db
+
+    def __call__(self, model, method, *args, **kwargs):
+        return self._object.execute_kw(
+            self._db, 1, 'admin',
+            model, method,
+            args, kwargs
+        )
+
+    def __getitem__(self, name):
+        return Model(self, name)
+
+class Model:
+    __slots__ = ['_env', '_model', '_ids', '_fields']
+    def __init__(self, env, model, ids=(), fields=None):
+        object.__setattr__(self, '_env', env)
+        object.__setattr__(self, '_model', model)
+        object.__setattr__(self, '_ids', tuple(ids or ()))
+
+        object.__setattr__(self, '_fields', fields or self._env(self._model, 'fields_get', attributes=['type', 'relation']))
+
+    def __bool__(self):
+        return bool(self._ids)
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        return len(self._ids)
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        if not isinstance(other, Model):
+            return NotImplemented
+        return self._model == other._model and self._ids == other._ids
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return "{}({})".format(self._model, ', '.join(str(id) for id in self._ids))
+
+    def exists(self):
+        ids = self._env(self._model, 'exists', self._ids)
+        return Model(self._env, self._model, ids)
+
+    def search(self, domain):
+        ids = self._env(self._model, 'search', domain)
+        return Model(self._env, self._model, ids)
+
+    def create(self, values):
+        return Model(self._env, self._model, [self._env(self._model, 'create', values)])
+
+    def write(self, values):
+        return self._env(self._model, 'write', self._ids, values)
+
+    def read(self, fields):
+        return self._env(self._model, 'read', self._ids, fields)
+
+    def unlink(self):
+        return self._env(self._model, 'unlink', self._ids)
+
+    def _check_progress(self):
+        assert self._model == 'runbot_merge.project'
+
+        # FIXME: get via xid instead?
+        [cron_id] = self._env('ir.cron', 'search', [('cron_name', '=', 'Check for progress of PRs & Stagings')])
+        self._env('ir.cron', 'method_direct_trigger', [cron_id])
+        # sleep for some time as a lot of crap may have happened (?)
+        wait_for_hook()
+
+    def __getattr__(self, fieldname):
+        if not self._ids:
+            return False
+
+        assert len(self._ids) == 1
+        if fieldname == 'id':
+            return self._ids[0]
+
+        val = self.read([fieldname])[0][fieldname]
+        field_description = self._fields[fieldname]
+        if field_description['type'] in ('many2one', 'one2many', 'many2many'):
+            val = val or []
+            if field_description['type'] == 'many2one':
+                val = val[:1] # (id, name) => [id]
+            return Model(self._env, field_description['relation'], val)
+
+        return val
+
+    def __setattr__(self, fieldname, value):
+        assert self._fields[fieldname]['type'] not in ('many2one', 'one2many', 'many2many')
+        self._env(self._model, 'write', self._ids, {fieldname: value})
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return (
+            Model(self._env, self._model, [i], fields=self._fields)
+            for i in self._ids
+        )
+
+    def mapped(self, path):
+        field, *rest = path.split('.', 1)
+        descr = self._fields[field]
+        if descr['type'] in ('many2one', 'one2many', 'many2many'):
+            result = Model(self._env, descr['relation'])
+            for record in self:
+                result |= getattr(record, field)
+                print(f"{record}[{field}] -> {result}")
+
+            return result.mapped(rest[0]) if rest else result
+
+        assert not rest
+        return [getattr(r, field) for r in self]
+
+    def __or__(self, other):
+        if not isinstance(other, Model) or self._model != other._model:
+            return NotImplemented
+
+        return Model(self._env, self._model, {*self._ids, *other._ids}, fields=self._fields)
+
+class Repo:
+    __slots__ = ['name', '_session', '_tokens']
+    def __init__(self, session, name, user_tokens):
+        self.name = name
+        self._session = session
+        self._tokens = user_tokens
+
+    def get_ref(self, ref):
+        if re.match(r'[0-9a-f]{40}', ref):
+            return ref
+
+        assert ref.startswith('heads/')
+        r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/refs/{}'.format(self.name, ref))
+        response = r.json()
+
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, response
+        assert isinstance(response, dict), "{} doesn't exist (got {} refs)".format(ref, len(response))
+        assert response['object']['type'] == 'commit'
+
+        return response['object']['sha']
+
+    def make_ref(self, name, commit, force=False):
+        assert name.startswith('heads/')
+        r = self._session.post('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/refs'.format(self.name), json={
+            'ref': 'refs/' + name,
+            'sha': commit,
+        })
+        if force and r.status_code == 422:
+            r = self._session.patch('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/refs/{}'.format(self.name, name), json={'sha': commit, 'force': True})
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        wait_for_hook()
+
+    def update_ref(self, name, commit, force=False):
+        r = self._session.patch('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/refs/{}'.format(self.name, name), json={'sha': commit, 'force': force})
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        wait_for_hook()
+
+    def make_commit(self, ref, message, author, committer=None, tree=None, changes=None):
+        assert tree, "not supporting changes/updates"
+        assert not (author or committer)
+
+        if ref is None:
+            # apparently github refuses to create trees/commits in empty repos
+            # using the regular API...
+            [(path, contents)] = tree.items()
+            r = self._session.put('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/contents/{}'.format(self.name, path), json={
+                'path': path,
+                'message': message,
+                'content': base64.b64encode(contents.encode('utf-8')).decode('ascii'),
+                'branch': 'nootherwaytocreateaninitialcommitbutidontwantamasteryet%d' % next(ct)
+            })
+            assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+            return r.json()['commit']['sha']
+
+        parent = self.get_ref(ref)
+
+        r = self._session.post('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/trees'.format(self.name), json={
+            'tree': [
+                {'path': k, 'mode': '100644', 'type': 'blob', 'content': v}
+                for k, v in tree.items()
+            ]
+        })
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        h = r.json()['sha']
+
+        r = self._session.post('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/commits'.format(self.name), json={
+            'parents': [parent],
+            'message': message,
+            'tree': h,
+
+        })
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+
+        commit_sha = r.json()['sha']
+
+        if parent != ref:
+            self.update_ref(ref, commit_sha)
+        else:
+            wait_for_hook()
+        return commit_sha
+
+    def make_pr(self, title, body, target, ctid, user, label=None):
+        # github only allows PRs from actual branches, so create an actual branch
+        ref = label or "temp_trash_because_head_must_be_a_ref_%d" % next(ct)
+        self.make_ref('heads/' + ref, ctid)
+
+        r = self._session.post(
+            'https://api.github.com/repos/{}/pulls'.format(self.name),
+            json={'title': title, 'body': body, 'head': ref, 'base': target,},
+            headers={'Authorization': 'token {}'.format(self._tokens[user])}
+        )
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        # wait extra for PRs creating many PRs and relying on their ordering
+        # (test_batching & test_batching_split)
+        # would be nice to make the tests more reliable but not quite sure
+        # how...
+        wait_for_hook(2)
+        return PR(self, 'heads/' + ref, r.json()['number'])
+
+    def post_status(self, ref, status, context='default', description=""):
+        assert status in ('error', 'failure', 'pending', 'success')
+        r = self._session.post('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/statuses/{}'.format(self.name, self.get_ref(ref)), json={
+            'state': status,
+            'context': context,
+            'description': description,
+        })
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        wait_for_hook()
+
+    def commit(self, ref):
+        # apparently heads/<branch> ~ refs/heads/<branch> but are not
+        # necessarily up to date ??? unlike the git ref system where :ref
+        # starts at heads/
+        if ref.startswith('heads/'):
+            ref = 'refs/' + ref
+
+        r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/commits/{}'.format(self.name, ref))
+        response = r.json()
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, response
+
+        c = response['commit']
+        return Commit(
+            id=response['sha'],
+            tree=c['tree']['sha'],
+            message=c['message'],
+            author=c['author'],
+            committer=c['committer'],
+            parents=[p['sha'] for p in response['parents']],
+        )
+
+    def read_tree(self, commit):
+        # read tree object
+        r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/trees/{}'.format(self.name, commit.tree))
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+
+        # read tree's blobs
+        tree = {}
+        for t in r.json()['tree']:
+            assert t['type'] == 'blob', "we're *not* doing recursive trees in test cases"
+            r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/git/blobs/{}'.format(self.name, t['sha']))
+            assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+            tree[t['path']] = base64.b64decode(r.json()['content'])
+
+        return tree
+
+    def is_ancestor(self, sha, of):
+        return any(c['sha'] == sha for c in self.log(of))
+
+    def log(self, ref_or_sha):
+        r = self._session.get(
+            'https://api.github.com/repos/{}/commits'.format(self.name),
+            params={'sha': ref_or_sha}
+        )
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        return r.json()
+
+ct = itertools.count()
+
+Commit = collections.namedtuple('Commit', 'id tree message author committer parents')
+
+class PR:
+    __slots__ = ['number', '_branch', 'repo']
+    def __init__(self, repo, branch, number):
+        """
+        :type repo: Repo
+        :type branch: str
+        :type number: int
+        """
+        self.number = number
+        self._branch = branch
+        self.repo = repo
+
+    @property
+    def _session(self):
+        return self.repo._session
+
+    @property
+    def _pr(self):
+        r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/pulls/{}'.format(self.repo.name, self.number))
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        return r.json()
+
+    @property
+    def head(self):
+        return self._pr['head']['sha']
+
+    @property
+    def user(self):
+        return self._pr['user']['login']
+
+    @property
+    def state(self):
+        return self._pr['state']
+
+    @property
+    def labels(self):
+        r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/issues/{}/labels'.format(self.repo.name, self.number))
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        return {label['name'] for label in r.json()}
+
+    @property
+    def comments(self):
+        r = self._session.get('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/issues/{}/comments'.format(self.repo.name, self.number))
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        return [
+            (c['user']['login'], c['body'])
+            for c in r.json()
+        ]
+
+    def _set_prop(self, prop, value):
+        r = self._session.patch('https://api.github.com/repos/{}/pulls/{}'.format(self.repo.name, self.number), json={
+            prop: value
+        })
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        wait_for_hook()
+
+    @property
+    def title(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+    title = title.setter(lambda self, v: self._set_prop('title', v))
+
+    @property
+    def base(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+    base = base.setter(lambda self, v: self._set_prop('base', v))
+
+    def post_comment(self, body, user):
+        print(f"COMMENT ({body}) by {user}", file=sys.stderr)
+        r = self._session.post(
+            'https://api.github.com/repos/{}/issues/{}/comments'.format(self.repo.name, self.number),
+            json={'body': body},
+            headers={'Authorization': 'token {}'.format(self.repo._tokens[user])}
+        )
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        wait_for_hook()
+
+    def open(self):
+        self._set_prop('state', 'open')
+
+    def close(self):
+        self._set_prop('state', 'closed')
+
+    def push(self, sha):
+        self.repo.update_ref(self._branch, sha, force=True)
+
+    def post_review(self, state, user, body):
+        r = self._session.post(
+            'https://api.github.com/repos/{}/pulls/{}/reviews'.format(self.repo.name, self.number),
+            json={'body': body, 'event': state,},
+            headers={'Authorization': 'token {}'.format(self.repo._tokens[user])}
+        )
+        assert 200 <= r.status_code < 300, r.json()
+        wait_for_hook()