diff --git a/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/resources/reference.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1230df0591
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+############################################
+# Akka Typed Testkit Reference Config File #
+############################################
+
+# This is the reference config file that contains all the default settings.
+# Make your edits/overrides in your application.conf.
+
+akka.typed.test {
+  # factor by which to scale timeouts during tests, e.g. to account for shared
+  # build system load
+  timefactor =  1.0
+
+  # duration to wait in expectMsg and friends outside of within() block
+  # by default
+  single-expect-default = 3s
+
+  # The timeout that is added as an implicit by DefaultTimeout trait
+  default-timeout = 5s
+
+}
diff --git a/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/Effects.scala b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/Effects.scala
index 56076032a2..165d8f8506 100644
--- a/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/Effects.scala
+++ b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/Effects.scala
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ import akka.typed.{ ActorContext, ActorRef, ActorSystem, Behavior, DeploymentCon
 
 import scala.annotation.tailrec
 import scala.collection.immutable
+import scala.util.control.Exception.Catcher
+import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 import scala.concurrent.duration.{ Duration, FiniteDuration }
+import akka.typed.PostStop
 
 /**
  * All tracked effects must extend implement this type. It is deliberately
@@ -56,12 +59,23 @@ class EffectfulActorContext[T](_name: String, _initialBehavior: Behavior[T], _ma
   def currentBehavior: Behavior[T] = current
   def isAlive: Boolean = Behavior.isAlive(current)
 
+  private def handleException: Catcher[Unit] = {
+    case NonFatal(e) ⇒
+      try Behavior.canonicalize(Behavior.interpretSignal(current, this, PostStop), current, this) // TODO why canonicalize here?
+      catch { case NonFatal(ex) ⇒ /* ignore, real is logging */ }
+      throw e
+  }
+
   def run(msg: T): Unit = {
-    current = Behavior.canonicalize(Behavior.interpretMessage(current, this, msg), current, this)
+    try {
+      current = Behavior.canonicalize(Behavior.interpretMessage(current, this, msg), current, this)
+    } catch handleException
   }
 
   def signal(signal: Signal): Unit = {
-    current = Behavior.canonicalize(Behavior.interpretSignal(current, this, signal), current, this)
+    try {
+      current = Behavior.canonicalize(Behavior.interpretSignal(current, this, signal), current, this)
+    } catch handleException
   }
 
   override def spawnAnonymous[U](behavior: Behavior[U], deployment: DeploymentConfig = EmptyDeploymentConfig): ActorRef[U] = {
diff --git a/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/TestKitSettings.scala b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/TestKitSettings.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3cfa588d65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/TestKitSettings.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2017 Lightbend Inc. <http://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+package akka.typed.testkit
+
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
+import akka.util.Timeout
+import akka.typed.ActorSystem
+
+object TestKitSettings {
+  /**
+   * Reads configuration settings from `akka.typed.test` section.
+   */
+  def apply(system: ActorSystem[_]): TestKitSettings =
+    apply(system.settings.config)
+
+  /**
+   * Reads configuration settings from given `Config` that
+   * must have the same layout as the `akka.typed.test` section.
+   */
+  def apply(config: Config): TestKitSettings =
+    new TestKitSettings(config)
+}
+
+class TestKitSettings(val config: Config) {
+
+  import akka.util.Helpers._
+
+  val TestTimeFactor = config.getDouble("akka.typed.test.timefactor").
+    requiring(tf ⇒ !tf.isInfinite && tf > 0, "akka.typed.test.timefactor must be positive finite double")
+  val SingleExpectDefaultTimeout: FiniteDuration = config.getMillisDuration("akka.typed.test.single-expect-default")
+  val DefaultTimeout: Timeout = Timeout(config.getMillisDuration("akka.typed.test.default-timeout"))
+}
diff --git a/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/scaladsl/TestProbe.scala b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/scaladsl/TestProbe.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a1850a1c57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/scaladsl/TestProbe.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,229 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2017 Lightbend Inc. <http://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+package akka.typed.testkit.scaladsl
+
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import java.util.concurrent.BlockingDeque
+import akka.typed.Behavior
+import akka.typed.scaladsl.Actor._
+import akka.typed.ActorSystem
+import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingDeque
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
+import akka.typed.ActorRef
+import akka.util.Timeout
+import akka.util.PrettyDuration.PrettyPrintableDuration
+import scala.concurrent.Await
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
+import akka.typed.testkit.TestKitSettings
+import akka.util.BoxedType
+import scala.reflect.ClassTag
+
+object TestProbe {
+  private val testActorId = new AtomicInteger(0)
+
+  def apply[M]()(implicit system: ActorSystem[_], settings: TestKitSettings): TestProbe[M] =
+    apply(name = "testProbe")
+
+  def apply[M](name: String)(implicit system: ActorSystem[_], settings: TestKitSettings): TestProbe[M] =
+    new TestProbe(name)
+
+  private def testActor[M](queue: BlockingDeque[M]): Behavior[M] = Immutable { (ctx, msg) ⇒
+    queue.offerLast(msg)
+    Same
+  }
+}
+
+class TestProbe[M](name: String)(implicit val system: ActorSystem[_], val settings: TestKitSettings) {
+  import TestProbe._
+  private val queue = new LinkedBlockingDeque[M]
+
+  private var end: Duration = Duration.Undefined
+
+  /**
+   * if last assertion was expectNoMsg, disable timing failure upon within()
+   * block end.
+   */
+  private var lastWasNoMsg = false
+
+  private var lastMessage: Option[M] = None
+
+  val testActor: ActorRef[M] = {
+    implicit val timeout = Timeout(3.seconds)
+    val futRef = system.systemActorOf(TestProbe.testActor(queue), s"$name-${testActorId.incrementAndGet()}")
+    Await.result(futRef, timeout.duration + 1.second)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Shorthand to get the `testActor`.
+   */
+  def ref: ActorRef[M] = testActor
+
+  /**
+   * Obtain current time (`System.nanoTime`) as Duration.
+   */
+  protected def now: FiniteDuration = System.nanoTime.nanos
+
+  /**
+   * Obtain time remaining for execution of the innermost enclosing `within`
+   * block or missing that it returns the properly dilated default for this
+   * case from settings (key "akka.typed.test.single-expect-default").
+   */
+  def remainingOrDefault = remainingOr(settings.SingleExpectDefaultTimeout.dilated)
+
+  /**
+   * Obtain time remaining for execution of the innermost enclosing `within`
+   * block or throw an [[AssertionError]] if no `within` block surrounds this
+   * call.
+   */
+  def remaining: FiniteDuration = end match {
+    case f: FiniteDuration ⇒ f - now
+    case _                 ⇒ throw new AssertionError("`remaining` may not be called outside of `within`")
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Obtain time remaining for execution of the innermost enclosing `within`
+   * block or missing that it returns the given duration.
+   */
+  def remainingOr(duration: FiniteDuration): FiniteDuration = end match {
+    case x if x eq Duration.Undefined ⇒ duration
+    case x if !x.isFinite             ⇒ throw new IllegalArgumentException("`end` cannot be infinite")
+    case f: FiniteDuration            ⇒ f - now
+  }
+
+  private def remainingOrDilated(max: Duration): FiniteDuration = max match {
+    case x if x eq Duration.Undefined ⇒ remainingOrDefault
+    case x if !x.isFinite             ⇒ throw new IllegalArgumentException("max duration cannot be infinite")
+    case f: FiniteDuration            ⇒ f.dilated
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Execute code block while bounding its execution time between `min` and
+   * `max`. `within` blocks may be nested. All methods in this trait which
+   * take maximum wait times are available in a version which implicitly uses
+   * the remaining time governed by the innermost enclosing `within` block.
+   *
+   * Note that the timeout is scaled using Duration.dilated, which uses the
+   * configuration entry "akka.typed.test.timefactor", while the min Duration is not.
+   *
+   * {{{
+   * val ret = within(50 millis) {
+   *   test ! Ping
+   *   expectMsgType[Pong]
+   * }
+   * }}}
+   */
+  def within[T](min: FiniteDuration, max: FiniteDuration)(f: ⇒ T): T = {
+    val _max = max.dilated
+    val start = now
+    val rem = if (end == Duration.Undefined) Duration.Inf else end - start
+    assert(rem >= min, s"required min time $min not possible, only ${rem.pretty} left")
+
+    lastWasNoMsg = false
+
+    val max_diff = _max min rem
+    val prev_end = end
+    end = start + max_diff
+
+    val ret = try f finally end = prev_end
+
+    val diff = now - start
+    assert(min <= diff, s"block took ${diff.pretty}, should at least have been $min")
+    if (!lastWasNoMsg) {
+      assert(diff <= max_diff, s"block took ${diff.pretty}, exceeding ${max_diff.pretty}")
+    }
+
+    ret
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Same as calling `within(0 seconds, max)(f)`.
+   */
+  def within[T](max: FiniteDuration)(f: ⇒ T): T = within(Duration.Zero, max)(f)
+
+  /**
+   * Same as `expectMsg(remainingOrDefault, obj)`, but correctly treating the timeFactor.
+   */
+  def expectMsg[T <: M](obj: T): T = expectMsg_internal(remainingOrDefault, obj)
+
+  /**
+   * Receive one message from the test actor and assert that it equals the
+   * given object. Wait time is bounded by the given duration, with an
+   * AssertionFailure being thrown in case of timeout.
+   *
+   * @return the received object
+   */
+  def expectMsg[T <: M](max: FiniteDuration, obj: T): T = expectMsg_internal(max.dilated, obj)
+
+  /**
+   * Receive one message from the test actor and assert that it equals the
+   * given object. Wait time is bounded by the given duration, with an
+   * AssertionFailure being thrown in case of timeout.
+   *
+   * @return the received object
+   */
+  def expectMsg[T <: M](max: FiniteDuration, hint: String, obj: T): T = expectMsg_internal(max.dilated, obj, Some(hint))
+
+  private def expectMsg_internal[T <: M](max: Duration, obj: T, hint: Option[String] = None): T = {
+    val o = receiveOne(max)
+    val hintOrEmptyString = hint.map(": " + _).getOrElse("")
+    assert(o != null, s"timeout ($max) during expectMsg while waiting for $obj" + hintOrEmptyString)
+    assert(obj == o, s"expected $obj, found $o" + hintOrEmptyString)
+    o.asInstanceOf[T]
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Receive one message from the internal queue of the TestActor. If the given
+   * duration is zero, the queue is polled (non-blocking).
+   *
+   * This method does NOT automatically scale its Duration parameter!
+   */
+  private def receiveOne(max: Duration): M = {
+    val message =
+      if (max == 0.seconds) {
+        queue.pollFirst
+      } else if (max.isFinite) {
+        queue.pollFirst(max.length, max.unit)
+      } else {
+        queue.takeFirst
+      }
+    lastWasNoMsg = false
+    lastMessage = if (message == null) None else Some(message)
+    message
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Assert that no message is received for the specified time.
+   */
+  def expectNoMsg(max: FiniteDuration) { expectNoMsg_internal(max.dilated) }
+
+  private def expectNoMsg_internal(max: FiniteDuration) {
+    val o = receiveOne(max)
+    assert(o == null, s"received unexpected message $o")
+    lastWasNoMsg = true
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Same as `expectMsgType[T](remainingOrDefault)`, but correctly treating the timeFactor.
+   */
+  def expectMsgType[T <: M](implicit t: ClassTag[T]): T =
+    expectMsgClass_internal(remainingOrDefault, t.runtimeClass.asInstanceOf[Class[T]])
+
+  /**
+   * Receive one message from the test actor and assert that it conforms to the
+   * given type (after erasure). Wait time is bounded by the given duration,
+   * with an AssertionFailure being thrown in case of timeout.
+   *
+   * @return the received object
+   */
+  def expectMsgType[T <: M](max: FiniteDuration)(implicit t: ClassTag[T]): T =
+    expectMsgClass_internal(max.dilated, t.runtimeClass.asInstanceOf[Class[T]])
+
+  private def expectMsgClass_internal[C](max: FiniteDuration, c: Class[C]): C = {
+    val o = receiveOne(max)
+    assert(o != null, s"timeout ($max) during expectMsgClass waiting for $c")
+    assert(BoxedType(c) isInstance o, s"expected $c, found ${o.getClass} ($o)")
+    o.asInstanceOf[C]
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/scaladsl/package.scala b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/scaladsl/package.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81053e8c94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-typed-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/typed/testkit/scaladsl/package.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2017 Lightbend Inc. <http://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+package akka.typed.testkit
+
+import scala.concurrent.duration.{ Duration, FiniteDuration }
+import scala.reflect.ClassTag
+import scala.collection.immutable
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS
+import akka.typed.ActorSystem
+
+package object scaladsl {
+
+  /**
+   * Scala API. Scale timeouts (durations) during tests with the configured
+   * 'akka.test.timefactor'.
+   * Implicit class providing `dilated` method.
+   *
+   * {{{
+   * import scala.concurrent.duration._
+   * import akka.typed.testkit.scaladsl._
+   * 10.milliseconds.dilated
+   * }}}
+   *
+   * Uses the scaling factor from the `TestTimeFactor` in the [[TestKitSettings]]
+   * (in implicit scope).
+   *
+   */
+  implicit class TestDuration(val duration: FiniteDuration) extends AnyVal {
+    def dilated(implicit settings: TestKitSettings): FiniteDuration =
+      (duration * settings.TestTimeFactor).asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration]
+  }
+
+}