diff --git a/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/onion.py b/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/onion.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9c9e9945d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/onion.py
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+from .primitives import varint_decode, varint_encode
+from io import BytesIO, SEEK_CUR
+from binascii import hexlify, unhexlify
+import struct
+
+
+class OnionPayload(object):
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bytes(cls, b):
+        if isinstance(b, bytes):
+            b = BytesIO(b)
+
+        realm = b.read(1)
+        b.seek(-1, SEEK_CUR)
+
+        if realm == b'\x00':
+            return LegacyOnionPayload.from_bytes(b)
+        elif realm != b'\x01':
+            return TlvPayload.from_bytes(b, skip_length=False)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError("Onion payloads with realm 0x01 are unsupported")
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_hex(cls, s):
+        if isinstance(s, str):
+            s = s.encode('ASCII')
+        return cls.from_bytes(bytes(unhexlify(s)))
+
+    def to_bytes(self):
+        raise ValueError("OnionPayload is an abstract class, use "
+                         "LegacyOnionPayload or TlvPayload instead")
+
+    def to_hex(self):
+        return hexlify(self.to_bytes()).decode('ASCII')
+
+
+class LegacyOnionPayload(OnionPayload):
+
+    def __init__(self, amt_to_forward, outgoing_cltv_value,
+                 short_channel_id=None, padding=None):
+        assert(padding is None or len(padding) == 12)
+        self.padding = b'\x00' * 12 if padding is None else padding
+
+        if isinstance(amt_to_forward, str):
+            self.amt_to_forward = int(amt_to_forward)
+        else:
+            self.amt_to_forward = amt_to_forward
+
+        self.outgoing_cltv_value = outgoing_cltv_value
+
+        if isinstance(short_channel_id, str) and 'x' in short_channel_id:
+            # Convert the short_channel_id from its string representation to its numeric representation
+            block, tx, out = short_channel_id.split('x')
+            num_scid = int(block) << 40 | int(tx) << 16 | int(out)
+            self.short_channel_id = num_scid
+        elif isinstance(short_channel_id, int):
+            self.short_channel_id = short_channel_id
+        else:
+            raise ValueError("short_channel_id format cannot be recognized: {}".format(short_channel_id))
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bytes(cls, b):
+        if isinstance(b, bytes):
+            b = BytesIO(b)
+
+        assert(b.read(1) == b'\x00')
+
+        s, a, o = struct.unpack("!QQL", b.read(20))
+        padding = b.read(12)
+        return LegacyOnionPayload(a, o, s, padding)
+
+    def to_bytes(self, include_realm=True):
+        b = b''
+        if include_realm:
+            b += b'\x00'
+
+        b += struct.pack("!Q", self.short_channel_id)
+        b += struct.pack("!Q", self.amt_to_forward)
+        b += struct.pack("!L", self.outgoing_cltv_value)
+        b += self.padding
+        assert(len(b) == 32 + include_realm)
+        return b
+
+    def to_hex(self, include_realm=True):
+        return hexlify(self.to_bytes(include_realm)).decode('ASCII')
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return ("LegacyOnionPayload[scid={self.short_channel_id}, "
+                "amt_to_forward={self.amt_to_forward}, "
+                "outgoing_cltv={self.outgoing_cltv_value}]").format(self=self)
+
+
+class TlvPayload(OnionPayload):
+
+    def __init__(self, fields=None):
+        self.fields = [] if fields is None else fields
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bytes(cls, b, skip_length=False):
+        if isinstance(b, str):
+            b = b.encode('ASCII')
+        if isinstance(b, bytes):
+            b = BytesIO(b)
+
+        if skip_length:
+            # Consume the entire remainder of the buffer.
+            payload_length = len(b.getvalue()) - b.tell()
+        else:
+            payload_length = varint_decode(b)
+
+        instance = TlvPayload()
+
+        start = b.tell()
+        while b.tell() < start + payload_length:
+            typenum = varint_decode(b)
+            if typenum is None:
+                break
+            length = varint_decode(b)
+            if length is None:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "Unable to read length at position {}".format(b.tell())
+                )
+            val = b.read(length)
+
+            # Get the subclass that is the correct interpretation of this
+            # field. Default to the binary field type.
+            c = tlv_types.get(typenum, (TlvField, "unknown"))
+            cls = c[0]
+            field = cls.from_bytes(typenum=typenum, b=val, description=c[1])
+            instance.fields.append(field)
+
+        return instance
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_hex(cls, h):
+        return cls.from_bytes(unhexlify(h))
+
+    def add_field(self, typenum, value):
+        self.fields.append(TlvField(typenum=typenum, value=value))
+
+    def get(self, key, default=None):
+        for f in self.fields:
+            if f.typenum == key:
+                return f
+        return default
+
+    def to_bytes(self):
+        ser = [f.to_bytes() for f in self.fields]
+        b = BytesIO()
+        varint_encode(sum([len(b) for b in ser]), b)
+        for f in ser:
+            b.write(f)
+        return b.getvalue()
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "TlvPayload[" + ', '.join([str(f) for f in self.fields]) + "]"
+
+
+class TlvField(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, typenum, value=None, description=None):
+        self.typenum = typenum
+        self.value = value
+        self.description = description
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bytes(cls, typenum, b, description=None):
+        return TlvField(typenum=typenum, value=b, description=description)
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "TlvField[{description},{num}={hex}]".format(
+            description=self.description,
+            num=self.typenum,
+            hex=hexlify(self.value).decode('ASCII')
+        )
+
+    def to_bytes(self):
+        b = BytesIO()
+        varint_encode(self.typenum, b)
+        varint_encode(len(self.value), b)
+        b.write(self.value)
+        return b.getvalue()
+
+
+class Tu32Field(TlvField):
+    pass
+
+
+class Tu64Field(TlvField):
+    pass
+
+
+class ShortChannelIdField(TlvField):
+    pass
+
+
+class TextField(TlvField):
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bytes(cls, typenum, b, description=None):
+        val = b.decode('UTF-8')
+        return TextField(typenum, value=val, description=description)
+
+    def to_bytes(self):
+        b = BytesIO()
+        val = self.value.encode('UTF-8')
+        varint_encode(self.typenum, b)
+        varint_encode(len(val), b)
+        b.write(val)
+        return b.getvalue()
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "TextField[{description},{num}=\"{val}\"]".format(
+            description=self.description,
+            num=self.typenum,
+            val=self.value,
+        )
+
+
+class HashField(TlvField):
+    pass
+
+
+class SignatureField(TlvField):
+    pass
+
+
+# A mapping of known TLV types
+tlv_types = {
+    2: (Tu64Field, 'amt_to_forward'),
+    4: (Tu32Field, 'outgoing_cltv_value'),
+    6: (ShortChannelIdField, 'short_channel_id'),
+    34349334: (TextField, 'noise_message_body'),
+    34349336: (SignatureField, 'noise_message_signature'),
+}
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/primitives.py b/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/primitives.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c1d10ebe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/primitives.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import struct
+
+
+def varint_encode(i, w):
+    """Encode an integer `i` into the writer `w`
+    """
+    if i < 0xFD:
+        w.write(struct.pack("!B", i))
+    elif i <= 0xFFFF:
+        w.write(struct.pack("!BH", 0xFD, i))
+    elif i <= 0xFFFFFFFF:
+        w.write(struct.pack("!BL", 0xFE, i))
+    else:
+        w.write(struct.pack("!BQ", 0xFF, i))
+
+
+def varint_decode(r):
+    """Decode an integer from reader `r`
+    """
+    raw = r.read(1)
+    if len(raw) != 1:
+        return None
+
+    i, = struct.unpack("!B", raw)
+    if i < 0xFD:
+        return i
+    elif i == 0xFD:
+        return struct.unpack("!H", r.read(2))[0]
+    elif i == 0xFE:
+        return struct.unpack("!L", r.read(4))[0]
+    else:
+        return struct.unpack("!Q", r.read(8))[0]
+
+
+class ShortChannelId(object):
+    def __init__(self, block, txnum, outnum):
+        self.block = block
+        self.txnum = txnum
+        self.outnum = outnum
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bytes(cls, b):
+        assert(len(b) == 8)
+        i, = struct.unpack("!Q", b)
+        return cls.from_int(i)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_int(cls, i):
+        block = (i >> 40) & 0xFFFFFF
+        txnum = (i >> 16) & 0xFFFFFF
+        outnum = (i >> 0) & 0xFFFF
+        return cls(block=block, txnum=txnum, outnum=outnum)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_str(self, s):
+        block, txnum, outnum = s.split('x')
+        return ShortChannelId(block=int(block), txnum=int(txnum),
+                              outnum=int(outnum))
+
+    def to_int(self):
+        return self.block << 40 | self.txnum << 16 | self.outnum
+
+    def to_bytes(self):
+        return struct.pack("!Q", self.to_int())
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "{self.block}x{self.txnum}x{self.outnum}".format(self=self)
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        return self.block == other.block and self.txnum == other.txnum and self.outnum == other.outnum
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/zbase32.py b/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/zbase32.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fbae94f22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-proto/pyln/proto/zbase32.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import bitstring
+
+
+zbase32_chars = b'ybndrfg8ejkmcpqxot1uwisza345h769'
+zbase32_revchars = [
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 18, 255, 25, 26, 27, 30, 29, 7, 31, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 24, 1, 12, 3, 8, 5, 6, 28, 21, 9, 10, 255, 11, 2,
+    16, 13, 14, 4, 22, 17, 19, 255, 20, 15, 0, 23, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255,
+    255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255
+]
+
+
+def bitarray_to_u5(barr):
+    assert len(barr) % 5 == 0
+    ret = []
+    s = bitstring.ConstBitStream(barr)
+    while s.pos != s.len:
+        ret.append(s.read(5).uint)
+    return ret
+
+
+def u5_to_bitarray(arr):
+    ret = bitstring.BitArray()
+    for a in arr:
+        ret += bitstring.pack("uint:5", a)
+    return ret
+
+
+def encode(b):
+    uint5s = bitarray_to_u5(b)
+    res = [zbase32_chars[c] for c in uint5s]
+    return bytes(res)
+
+
+def decode(b):
+    if isinstance(b, str):
+        b = b.encode('ASCII')
+
+    uint5s = []
+    for c in b:
+        uint5s.append(zbase32_revchars[c])
+    dec = u5_to_bitarray(uint5s)
+    return dec.bytes
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-proto/requirements.txt b/contrib/pyln-proto/requirements.txt
index 5daa26d68..5c7fec741 100644
--- a/contrib/pyln-proto/requirements.txt
+++ b/contrib/pyln-proto/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+bitstring==3.1.6
 cryptography==2.7
 coincurve==12.0.0
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-proto/tests/test_onion.py b/contrib/pyln-proto/tests/test_onion.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b45c41fe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-proto/tests/test_onion.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from binascii import unhexlify
+
+from pyln.proto import onion
+
+
+def test_legacy_payload():
+    legacy = unhexlify(
+        b'00000067000001000100000000000003e800000075000000000000000000000000'
+    )
+    payload = onion.OnionPayload.from_bytes(legacy)
+    assert(payload.to_bytes(include_realm=True) == legacy)
+
+
+def test_tlv_payload():
+    tlv = unhexlify(
+        b'58fe020c21160c48656c6c6f20776f726c6421fe020c21184076e8acd54afbf2361'
+        b'0b7166ba689afcc9e8ec3c44e442e765012dfc1d299958827d0205f7e4e1a12620e'
+        b'7fc8ce1c7d3651acefde899c33f12b6958d3304106a0'
+    )
+    payload = onion.OnionPayload.from_bytes(tlv)
+    assert(payload.to_bytes() == tlv)
+
+    fields = payload.fields
+    assert(len(fields) == 2)
+    assert(isinstance(fields[0], onion.TextField))
+    assert(fields[0].typenum == 34349334 and fields[0].value == "Hello world!")
+    assert(fields[1].typenum == 34349336 and fields[1].value == unhexlify(
+        b'76e8acd54afbf23610b7166ba689afcc9e8ec3c44e442e765012dfc1d299958827d'
+        b'0205f7e4e1a12620e7fc8ce1c7d3651acefde899c33f12b6958d3304106a0'
+    ))
+
+    assert(payload.to_bytes() == tlv)
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-proto/tests/test_primitives.py b/contrib/pyln-proto/tests/test_primitives.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c4a14681
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-proto/tests/test_primitives.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+from binascii import hexlify, unhexlify
+from pyln.proto import zbase32
+from pyln.proto.primitives import ShortChannelId
+
+
+def test_short_channel_id():
+    num = 618150934845652992
+    b = unhexlify(b'08941d00090d0000')
+    s = '562205x2317x0'
+    s1 = ShortChannelId.from_int(num)
+    s2 = ShortChannelId.from_str(s)
+    s3 = ShortChannelId.from_bytes(b)
+    expected = ShortChannelId(block=562205, txnum=2317, outnum=0)
+
+    assert(s1 == expected)
+    assert(s2 == expected)
+    assert(s3 == expected)
+
+    assert(expected.to_bytes() == b)
+    assert(str(expected) == s)
+    assert(expected.to_int() == num)
+
+
+def test_zbase32():
+    zb32 = b'd75qtmgijm79rpooshmgzjwji9gj7dsdat8remuskyjp9oq1ugkaoj6orbxzhuo4njtyh96e3aq84p1tiuz77nchgxa1s4ka4carnbiy'
+    b = zbase32.decode(zb32)
+    assert(hexlify(b) == b'1f76e8acd54afbf23610b7166ba689afcc9e8ec3c44e442e765012dfc1d299958827d0205f7e4e1a12620e7fc8ce1c7d3651acefde899c33f12b6958d3304106a0')
+
+    enc = zbase32.encode(b)
+    assert(enc == zb32)