diff --git a/src/wormhole/blocking/transcribe.py b/src/wormhole/blocking/transcribe.py
index 8fd84d3..e580253 100644
--- a/src/wormhole/blocking/transcribe.py
+++ b/src/wormhole/blocking/transcribe.py
@@ -24,6 +24,106 @@ MINUTE = 60*SECOND
 #  POST /CID/deallocate {side: SIDE}   -> {status: waiting | deleted}
 # all JSON responses include a "welcome:{..}" key
 
+class Channel:
+    def __init__(self, relay, channel_id, side, handle_welcome):
+        self._channel_url = "%s%d" % (relay, channel_id)
+        self._side = side
+        self._handle_welcome = handle_welcome
+        self._messages = set() # (phase,body) , body is bytes
+        self._sent_messages = set() # (phase,body)
+        self._started = time.time()
+        self._wait = 0.5*SECOND
+        self._timeout = 3*MINUTE
+
+    def _add_inbound_messages(self, messages):
+        for msg in messages:
+            phase = msg["phase"]
+            body = unhexlify(msg["body"].encode("ascii"))
+            self._messages.add( (phase, body) )
+
+    def _find_inbound_message(self, phase):
+        for (their_phase,body) in self._messages - self._sent_messages:
+            if their_phase == phase:
+                return body
+        return None
+
+    def send(self, phase, msg):
+        # TODO: retry on failure, with exponential backoff. We're guarding
+        # against the rendezvous server being temporarily offline.
+        if not isinstance(phase, type(u"")): raise UsageError(type(phase))
+        if not isinstance(msg, type(b"")): raise UsageError(type(msg))
+        self._sent_messages.add( (phase,msg) )
+        payload = {"side": self._side,
+                   "phase": phase,
+                   "body": hexlify(msg).decode("ascii")}
+        data = json.dumps(payload).encode("utf-8")
+        r = requests.post(self._channel_url, data=data)
+        r.raise_for_status()
+        resp = r.json()
+        self._add_inbound_messages(resp["messages"])
+
+    def get(self, phase):
+        if not isinstance(phase, type(u"")): raise UsageError(type(phase))
+        # For now, server errors cause the client to fail. TODO: don't. This
+        # will require changing the client to re-post messages when the
+        # server comes back up.
+
+        # fire with a bytestring of the first message for 'phase' that wasn't
+        # one of ours. It will either come from previously-received messages,
+        # or from an EventSource that we attach to the corresponding URL
+        body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
+        while body is None:
+            remaining = self._started + self._timeout - time.time()
+            if remaining < 0:
+                return Timeout
+            f = EventSourceFollower(self._channel_url, remaining)
+            # we loop here until the connection is lost, or we see the
+            # message we want
+            for (eventtype, data) in f.iter_events():
+                if eventtype == "welcome":
+                    self._handle_welcome(json.loads(data))
+                if eventtype == "message":
+                    self._add_inbound_messages([json.loads(data)])
+                    body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
+                    if body:
+                        f.close()
+                        break
+            if not body:
+                time.sleep(self._wait)
+        return body
+
+    def deallocate(self):
+        # only try once, no retries
+        data = json.dumps({"side": self._side}).encode("utf-8")
+        requests.post(self._channel_url+"/deallocate", data=data)
+        # ignore POST failure, don't call r.raise_for_status()
+
+class ChannelManager:
+    def __init__(self, relay, side, handle_welcome):
+        self._relay = relay
+        self._side = side
+        self._handle_welcome = handle_welcome
+
+    def list_channels(self):
+        r = requests.get(self._relay + "list")
+        r.raise_for_status()
+        channel_ids = r.json()["channel-ids"]
+        return channel_ids
+
+    def allocate(self):
+        data = json.dumps({"side": self._side}).encode("utf-8")
+        r = requests.post(self._relay + "allocate", data=data)
+        r.raise_for_status()
+        data = r.json()
+        if "welcome" in data:
+            self._handle_welcome(data["welcome"])
+        channel_id = data["channel-id"]
+        return channel_id
+
+    def connect(self, channel_id):
+        return Channel(self._relay, channel_id, self._side,
+                       self._handle_welcome)
+
 class Wormhole:
     motd_displayed = False
     version_warning_displayed = False
@@ -33,16 +133,12 @@ class Wormhole:
         self.appid = appid
         self.relay = relay
         if not self.relay.endswith("/"): raise UsageError
-        self.started = time.time()
-        self.wait = 0.5*SECOND
-        self.timeout = 3*MINUTE
-        self.side = None
+        side = hexlify(os.urandom(5)).decode("ascii")
+        self._channel_manager = ChannelManager(relay, side,
+                                               self.handle_welcome)
         self.code = None
         self.key = None
         self.verifier = None
-        self._channel_url = None
-        self._messages = set() # (phase,body) , body is bytes
-        self._sent_messages = set() # (phase,body)
 
     def handle_welcome(self, welcome):
         if ("motd" in welcome and
@@ -66,43 +162,25 @@ class Wormhole:
         if "error" in welcome:
             raise ServerError(welcome["error"], self.relay)
 
-    def _allocate_channel(self):
-        data = json.dumps({"side": self.side}).encode("utf-8")
-        r = requests.post(self.relay + "allocate", data=data)
-        r.raise_for_status()
-        data = r.json()
-        if "welcome" in data:
-            self.handle_welcome(data["welcome"])
-        channel_id = data["channel-id"]
-        return channel_id
-
     def get_code(self, code_length=2):
         if self.code is not None: raise UsageError
-        self.side = hexlify(os.urandom(5)).decode("ascii")
-        channel_id = self._allocate_channel() # allocate channel
+        channel_id = self._channel_manager.allocate()
         code = codes.make_code(channel_id, code_length)
         assert isinstance(code, str), type(code)
         self._set_code_and_channel_id(code)
         self._start()
         return code
 
-    def list_channels(self):
-        r = requests.get(self.relay + "list")
-        r.raise_for_status()
-        channel_ids = r.json()["channel-ids"]
-        return channel_ids
-
     def input_code(self, prompt="Enter wormhole code: ", code_length=2):
-        code = codes.input_code_with_completion(prompt, self.list_channels,
+        lister = self._channel_manager.list_channels
+        code = codes.input_code_with_completion(prompt, lister,
                                                 code_length)
         return code
 
     def set_code(self, code): # used for human-made pre-generated codes
         if not isinstance(code, str): raise UsageError
         if self.code is not None: raise UsageError
-        if self.side is not None: raise UsageError
         self._set_code_and_channel_id(code)
-        self.side = hexlify(os.urandom(5)).decode("ascii")
         self._start()
 
     def _set_code_and_channel_id(self, code):
@@ -110,9 +188,9 @@ class Wormhole:
         mo = re.search(r'^(\d+)-', code)
         if not mo:
             raise ValueError("code (%s) must start with NN-" % code)
-        self.channel_id = int(mo.group(1))
-        self._channel_url = "%s%d" % (self.relay, self.channel_id)
         self.code = code
+        channel_id = int(mo.group(1))
+        self.channel = self._channel_manager.connect(channel_id)
 
     def _start(self):
         # allocate the rest now too, so it can be serialized
@@ -120,63 +198,6 @@ class Wormhole:
                                    idSymmetric=self.appid)
         self.msg1 = self.sp.start()
 
-    def _add_inbound_messages(self, messages):
-        for msg in messages:
-            phase = msg["phase"]
-            body = unhexlify(msg["body"].encode("ascii"))
-            self._messages.add( (phase, body) )
-
-    def _find_inbound_message(self, phase):
-        for (their_phase,body) in self._messages - self._sent_messages:
-            if their_phase == phase:
-                return body
-        return None
-
-    def _send_message(self, phase, msg):
-        # TODO: retry on failure, with exponential backoff. We're guarding
-        # against the rendezvous server being temporarily offline.
-        if not isinstance(phase, type(u"")): raise UsageError(type(phase))
-        if not isinstance(msg, type(b"")): raise UsageError(type(msg))
-        self._sent_messages.add( (phase,msg) )
-        payload = {"side": self.side,
-                   "phase": phase,
-                   "body": hexlify(msg).decode("ascii")}
-        data = json.dumps(payload).encode("utf-8")
-        r = requests.post(self._channel_url, data=data)
-        r.raise_for_status()
-        resp = r.json()
-        self._add_inbound_messages(resp["messages"])
-
-    def _get_message(self, phase):
-        if not isinstance(phase, type(u"")): raise UsageError(type(phase))
-        # For now, server errors cause the client to fail. TODO: don't. This
-        # will require changing the client to re-post messages when the
-        # server comes back up.
-
-        # fire with a bytestring of the first message for 'phase' that wasn't
-        # one of ours. It will either come from previously-received messages,
-        # or from an EventSource that we attach to the corresponding URL
-        body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
-        while body is None:
-            remaining = self.started + self.timeout - time.time()
-            if remaining < 0:
-                return Timeout
-            f = EventSourceFollower(self._channel_url, remaining)
-            # we loop here until the connection is lost, or we see the
-            # message we want
-            for (eventtype, data) in f.iter_events():
-                if eventtype == "welcome":
-                    self.handle_welcome(json.loads(data))
-                if eventtype == "message":
-                    self._add_inbound_messages([json.loads(data)])
-                    body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
-                    if body:
-                        f.close()
-                        break
-            if not body:
-                time.sleep(self.wait)
-        return body
-
     def derive_key(self, purpose, length=SecretBox.KEY_SIZE):
         if not isinstance(purpose, type(b"")): raise UsageError
         return HKDF(self.key, length, CTXinfo=purpose)
@@ -200,14 +221,14 @@ class Wormhole:
 
     def _get_key(self):
         if not self.key:
-            self._send_message(u"pake", self.msg1)
-            pake_msg = self._get_message(u"pake")
+            self.channel.send(u"pake", self.msg1)
+            pake_msg = self.channel.get(u"pake")
             self.key = self.sp.finish(pake_msg)
             self.verifier = self.derive_key(self.appid+b":Verifier")
 
     def get_verifier(self):
         if self.code is None: raise UsageError
-        if self.channel_id is None: raise UsageError
+        if self.channel is None: raise UsageError
         self._get_key()
         return self.verifier
 
@@ -215,12 +236,12 @@ class Wormhole:
         # only call this once
         if not isinstance(outbound_data, type(b"")): raise UsageError
         if self.code is None: raise UsageError
-        if self.channel_id is None: raise UsageError
+        if self.channel is None: raise UsageError
         try:
             self._get_key()
             return self._get_data2(outbound_data)
         finally:
-            self._deallocate()
+            self.channel.deallocate()
 
     def _get_data2(self, outbound_data):
         # Without predefined roles, we can't derive predictably unique keys
@@ -229,9 +250,9 @@ class Wormhole:
         data_key = self.derive_key(b"data-key")
 
         outbound_encrypted = self._encrypt_data(data_key, outbound_data)
-        self._send_message(u"data", outbound_encrypted)
+        self.channel.send(u"data", outbound_encrypted)
 
-        inbound_encrypted = self._get_message(u"data")
+        inbound_encrypted = self.channel.get(u"data")
         # _find_inbound_message() ignores any inbound message that matches
         # something we previously sent out, so we don't need to explicitly
         # check for reflection. A reflection attack will just not progress.
@@ -240,9 +261,3 @@ class Wormhole:
             return inbound_data
         except CryptoError:
             raise WrongPasswordError
-
-    def _deallocate(self):
-        # only try once, no retries
-        data = json.dumps({"side": self.side}).encode("utf-8")
-        requests.post(self._channel_url+"/deallocate", data=data)
-        # ignore POST failure, don't call r.raise_for_status()
diff --git a/src/wormhole/twisted/transcribe.py b/src/wormhole/twisted/transcribe.py
index a681560..eaa479f 100644
--- a/src/wormhole/twisted/transcribe.py
+++ b/src/wormhole/twisted/transcribe.py
@@ -32,6 +32,112 @@ class DataProducer:
         pass
 
 
+def post_json(agent, url, request_body):
+    # POST a JSON body to a URL, parsing the response as JSON
+    data = json.dumps(request_body).encode("utf-8")
+    d = agent.request("POST", url, bodyProducer=DataProducer(data))
+    def _check_error(resp):
+        if resp.code != 200:
+            raise web_error.Error(resp.code, resp.phrase)
+        return resp
+    d.addCallback(_check_error)
+    d.addCallback(web_client.readBody)
+    d.addCallback(lambda data: json.loads(data))
+    return d
+
+class Channel:
+    def __init__(self, relay, channel_id, side, handle_welcome,
+                 agent):
+        self._channel_url = "%s%d" % (relay, channel_id)
+        self._side = side
+        self._handle_welcome = handle_welcome
+        self._agent = agent
+        self._messages = set() # (phase,body) , body is bytes
+        self._sent_messages = set() # (phase,body)
+
+    def _add_inbound_messages(self, messages):
+        for msg in messages:
+            phase = msg["phase"]
+            body = unhexlify(msg["body"].encode("ascii"))
+            self._messages.add( (phase, body) )
+
+    def _find_inbound_message(self, phase):
+        for (their_phase,body) in self._messages - self._sent_messages:
+            if their_phase == phase:
+                return body
+        return None
+
+    def send(self, phase, msg):
+        # TODO: retry on failure, with exponential backoff. We're guarding
+        # against the rendezvous server being temporarily offline.
+        if not isinstance(phase, type(u"")): raise UsageError(type(phase))
+        if not isinstance(msg, type(b"")): raise UsageError(type(msg))
+        self._sent_messages.add( (phase,msg) )
+        payload = {"side": self._side,
+                   "phase": phase,
+                   "body": hexlify(msg).decode("ascii")}
+        d = post_json(self._agent, self._channel_url, payload)
+        d.addCallback(lambda resp: self._add_inbound_messages(resp["messages"]))
+        return d
+
+    def get(self, phase):
+        # fire with a bytestring of the first message for 'phase' that wasn't
+        # one of ours. It will either come from previously-received messages,
+        # or from an EventSource that we attach to the corresponding URL
+        body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
+        if body is not None:
+            return defer.succeed(body)
+        d = defer.Deferred()
+        msgs = []
+        def _handle(name, data):
+            if name == "welcome":
+                self._handle_welcome(json.loads(data))
+            if name == "message":
+                self._add_inbound_messages([json.loads(data)])
+                body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
+                if body is not None and not msgs:
+                    msgs.append(body)
+                    d.callback(None)
+        # TODO: use agent=self._agent
+        es = ReconnectingEventSource(self._channel_url, _handle)
+        es.startService() # TODO: .setServiceParent(self)
+        es.activate()
+        d.addCallback(lambda _: es.deactivate())
+        d.addCallback(lambda _: es.stopService())
+        d.addCallback(lambda _: msgs[0])
+        return d
+
+    def deallocate(self, res):
+        # only try once, no retries
+        d = post_json(self._agent, self._channel_url+"/deallocate",
+                      {"side": self._side})
+        d.addBoth(lambda _: res) # ignore POST failure, pass-through result
+        return d
+
+class ChannelManager:
+    def __init__(self, relay, side, handle_welcome):
+        self._relay = relay
+        self._side = side
+        self._handle_welcome = handle_welcome
+        self._agent = web_client.Agent(reactor)
+
+    def allocate(self):
+        url = self._relay + "allocate"
+        d = post_json(self._agent, url, {"side": self._side})
+        def _got_channel(data):
+            if "welcome" in data:
+                self._handle_welcome(data["welcome"])
+            return data["channel-id"]
+        d.addCallback(_got_channel)
+        return d
+
+    def list_channels(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def connect(self, channel_id):
+        return Channel(self._relay, channel_id, self._side,
+                       self._handle_welcome, self._agent)
+
 class Wormhole:
     motd_displayed = False
     version_warning_displayed = False
@@ -40,14 +146,15 @@ class Wormhole:
         if not isinstance(appid, type(b"")): raise UsageError
         self.appid = appid
         self.relay = relay
-        self.agent = web_client.Agent(reactor)
-        self.side = None
+        self._set_side(hexlify(os.urandom(5)).decode("ascii"))
         self.code = None
         self.key = None
         self._started_get_code = False
-        self._channel_url = None
-        self._messages = set() # (phase,body) , body is bytes
-        self._sent_messages = set() # (phase,body)
+
+    def _set_side(self, side):
+        self._side = side
+        self._channel_manager = ChannelManager(self.relay, self._side,
+                                               self.handle_welcome)
 
     def handle_welcome(self, welcome):
         if ("motd" in welcome and
@@ -71,35 +178,11 @@ class Wormhole:
         if "error" in welcome:
             raise ServerError(welcome["error"], self.relay)
 
-    def _post_json(self, url, post_json):
-        # POST a JSON body to a URL, parsing the response as JSON
-        data = json.dumps(post_json).encode("utf-8")
-        d = self.agent.request("POST", url, bodyProducer=DataProducer(data))
-        def _check_error(resp):
-            if resp.code != 200:
-                raise web_error.Error(resp.code, resp.phrase)
-            return resp
-        d.addCallback(_check_error)
-        d.addCallback(web_client.readBody)
-        d.addCallback(lambda data: json.loads(data))
-        return d
-
-    def _allocate_channel(self):
-        url = self.relay + "allocate"
-        d = self._post_json(url, {"side": self.side})
-        def _got_channel(data):
-            if "welcome" in data:
-                self.handle_welcome(data["welcome"])
-            return data["channel-id"]
-        d.addCallback(_got_channel)
-        return d
-
     def get_code(self, code_length=2):
         if self.code is not None: raise UsageError
         if self._started_get_code: raise UsageError
         self._started_get_code = True
-        self.side = hexlify(os.urandom(5))
-        d = self._allocate_channel()
+        d = self._channel_manager.allocate()
         def _got_channel_id(channel_id):
             code = codes.make_code(channel_id, code_length)
             assert isinstance(code, str), type(code)
@@ -112,9 +195,7 @@ class Wormhole:
     def set_code(self, code):
         if not isinstance(code, str): raise UsageError
         if self.code is not None: raise UsageError
-        if self.side is not None: raise UsageError
         self._set_code_and_channel_id(code)
-        self.side = hexlify(os.urandom(5))
         self._start()
 
     def _set_code_and_channel_id(self, code):
@@ -122,9 +203,9 @@ class Wormhole:
         mo = re.search(r'^(\d+)-', code)
         if not mo:
             raise ValueError("code (%s) must start with NN-" % code)
-        self.channel_id = int(mo.group(1))
-        self._channel_url = "%s%d" % (self.relay, self.channel_id)
         self.code = code
+        channel_id = int(mo.group(1))
+        self.channel = self._channel_manager.connect(channel_id)
 
     def _start(self):
         # allocate the rest now too, so it can be serialized
@@ -141,7 +222,7 @@ class Wormhole:
             "appid": self.appid,
             "relay": self.relay,
             "code": self.code,
-            "side": self.side,
+            "side": self._side,
             "spake2": json.loads(self.sp.serialize()),
             "msg1": self.msg1.encode("hex"),
         }
@@ -151,64 +232,12 @@ class Wormhole:
     def from_serialized(klass, data):
         d = json.loads(data)
         self = klass(d["appid"].encode("ascii"), d["relay"].encode("ascii"))
+        self._set_side(d["side"].encode("ascii"))
         self._set_code_and_channel_id(d["code"].encode("ascii"))
-        self.side = d["side"].encode("ascii")
         self.sp = SPAKE2_Symmetric.from_serialized(json.dumps(d["spake2"]))
         self.msg1 = d["msg1"].decode("hex")
         return self
 
-    def _add_inbound_messages(self, messages):
-        for msg in messages:
-            phase = msg["phase"]
-            body = unhexlify(msg["body"].encode("ascii"))
-            self._messages.add( (phase, body) )
-
-    def _find_inbound_message(self, phase):
-        for (their_phase,body) in self._messages - self._sent_messages:
-            if their_phase == phase:
-                return body
-        return None
-
-    def _send_message(self, phase, msg):
-        # TODO: retry on failure, with exponential backoff. We're guarding
-        # against the rendezvous server being temporarily offline.
-        if not isinstance(phase, type(u"")): raise UsageError(type(phase))
-        if not isinstance(msg, type(b"")): raise UsageError(type(msg))
-        self._sent_messages.add( (phase,msg) )
-        payload = {"side": self.side,
-                   "phase": phase,
-                   "body": hexlify(msg).decode("ascii")}
-        d = self._post_json(self._channel_url, payload)
-        d.addCallback(lambda resp: self._add_inbound_messages(resp["messages"]))
-        return d
-
-    def _get_message(self, phase):
-        # fire with a bytestring of the first message for 'phase' that wasn't
-        # one of ours. It will either come from previously-received messages,
-        # or from an EventSource that we attach to the corresponding URL
-        body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
-        if body is not None:
-            return defer.succeed(body)
-        d = defer.Deferred()
-        msgs = []
-        def _handle(name, data):
-            if name == "welcome":
-                self.handle_welcome(json.loads(data))
-            if name == "message":
-                self._add_inbound_messages([json.loads(data)])
-                body = self._find_inbound_message(phase)
-                if body is not None and not msgs:
-                    msgs.append(body)
-                    d.callback(None)
-        # TODO: use agent=self.agent
-        es = ReconnectingEventSource(self._channel_url, _handle)
-        es.startService() # TODO: .setServiceParent(self)
-        es.activate()
-        d.addCallback(lambda _: es.deactivate())
-        d.addCallback(lambda _: es.stopService())
-        d.addCallback(lambda _: msgs[0])
-        return d
-
     def derive_key(self, purpose, length=SecretBox.KEY_SIZE):
         if self.key is None:
             # call after get_verifier() or get_data()
@@ -237,8 +266,8 @@ class Wormhole:
         # TODO: prevent multiple invocation
         if self.key:
             return defer.succeed(self.key)
-        d = self._send_message(u"pake", self.msg1)
-        d.addCallback(lambda _: self._get_message(u"pake"))
+        d = self.channel.send(u"pake", self.msg1)
+        d.addCallback(lambda _: self.channel.get(u"pake"))
         def _got_pake(pake_msg):
             key = self.sp.finish(pake_msg)
             self.key = key
@@ -259,7 +288,7 @@ class Wormhole:
         if self.code is None: raise UsageError
         d = self._get_key()
         d.addCallback(self._get_data2, outbound_data)
-        d.addBoth(self._deallocate)
+        d.addBoth(self.channel.deallocate)
         return d
 
     def _get_data2(self, key, outbound_data):
@@ -269,9 +298,9 @@ class Wormhole:
         data_key = self.derive_key(b"data-key")
 
         outbound_encrypted = self._encrypt_data(data_key, outbound_data)
-        d = self._send_message(u"data", outbound_encrypted)
+        d = self.channel.send(u"data", outbound_encrypted)
 
-        d.addCallback(lambda _: self._get_message(u"data"))
+        d.addCallback(lambda _: self.channel.get(u"data"))
         def _got_data(inbound_encrypted):
             #if inbound_encrypted == outbound_encrypted:
             #    raise ReflectionAttack
@@ -282,10 +311,3 @@ class Wormhole:
                 raise WrongPasswordError
         d.addCallback(_got_data)
         return d
-
-    def _deallocate(self, res):
-        # only try once, no retries
-        d = self._post_json(self._channel_url+"/deallocate",
-                            {"side": self.side})
-        d.addBoth(lambda _: res) # ignore POST failure, pass-through result
-        return d