diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7468a1a5..dbae1ed8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ dist
 build
 
 message.fail
+
+client/powerline
diff --git a/client/powerline.c b/client/powerline.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a60743a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/powerline.c
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+/* vim:fileencoding=utf-8:noet
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <sys/un.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#define handle_error(msg) \
+	do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } while (0)
+
+#ifndef TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY
+#define TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(expression) \
+  (                                                                           \
+	({ long int __result;                                                     \
+	   do __result = (long int) (expression);                                 \
+	   while (__result == -1L && errno == EINTR);                             \
+	   __result; }))
+#endif
+
+extern char **environ;
+
+void do_write(int sd, const char *raw, int len) {
+	int written = 0, n = -1;
+
+	while (written < len) {
+		n = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(write(sd, raw+written, len-written));
+		if (n == -1) {
+			close(sd);
+			handle_error("write() failed");
+		}
+		written += n;
+	}
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+	int sd = -1, i;
+	struct sockaddr_un server;
+	char address[50] = {};
+	const char eof[2] = "\0\0";
+	char buf[4096] = {};
+	char *newargv[200] = {};
+	char *wd = NULL;
+	char **envp;
+
+	if (argc < 2) { printf("Must provide at least one argument.\n"); return EXIT_FAILURE; }
+
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+	snprintf(address, 50, "/tmp/powerline-ipc-%d", getuid());
+#else
+	snprintf(address, 50, "powerline-ipc-%d", getuid());
+#endif
+
+	sd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+	if (sd == -1) handle_error("socket() failed");
+
+	memset(&server, 0, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un)); // Clear 
+	server.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+	strncpy(server.sun_path, address, strlen(address));
+#else
+	strncpy(server.sun_path+1, address, strlen(address));
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+	if (connect(sd, (struct sockaddr *) &server, sizeof(server.sun_family) + strlen(address)) < 0) {
+#else
+	if (connect(sd, (struct sockaddr *) &server, sizeof(server.sun_family) + strlen(address)+1) < 0) {
+#endif
+		close(sd);
+		// We failed to connect to the daemon, execute powerline instead
+		argc = (argc < 199) ? argc : 199;
+		for (i=1; i < argc; i++) newargv[i] = argv[i];
+		newargv[0] = "powerline-render";
+		newargv[argc] = NULL;
+		execvp("powerline-render", newargv);
+	}
+
+	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+		do_write(sd, argv[i], strlen(argv[i]));
+		do_write(sd, eof, 1);
+	}
+
+	for(envp=environ; *envp; envp++) {
+		do_write(sd, "--env=", 6);
+		do_write(sd, *envp, strlen(*envp));
+		do_write(sd, eof, 1);
+	}
+
+	wd = getcwd(NULL, 0);
+	if (wd != NULL) {
+		do_write(sd, "--cwd=", 6);
+		do_write(sd, wd, strlen(wd));
+		free(wd); wd = NULL;
+	}
+
+	do_write(sd, eof, 2);
+
+	i = -1;
+	while (i != 0) {
+		i = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(read(sd, buf, 4096));
+		if (i == -1) {
+			close(sd);
+			handle_error("read() failed");
+		}
+		if (i > 0) 
+			write(STDOUT_FILENO, buf, i) || 0;
+	}
+
+	close(sd);
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/client/powerline.py b/client/powerline.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..89e56f8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/powerline.py
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8:noet
+
+from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import, print_function)
+
+import sys
+import socket
+import os
+import errno
+
+if len(sys.argv) < 2:
+	print('Must provide at least one argument.', file=sys.stderr)
+	raise SystemExit(1)
+
+platform = sys.platform.lower()
+use_filesystem = 'darwin' in platform
+# use_filesystem = True
+del platform
+
+address = ('/tmp/powerline-ipc-%d' if use_filesystem else '\0powerline-ipc-%d') % os.getuid()
+
+sock = socket.socket(family=socket.AF_UNIX)
+
+
+def eintr_retry_call(func, *args, **kwargs):
+	while True:
+		try:
+			return func(*args, **kwargs)
+		except EnvironmentError as e:
+			if getattr(e, 'errno', None) == errno.EINTR:
+				continue
+			raise
+
+try:
+	eintr_retry_call(sock.connect, address)
+except Exception:
+	# Run the powerline renderer
+	args = ['powerline-render'] + sys.argv[1:]
+	os.execvp('powerline-render', args)
+
+fenc = sys.getfilesystemencoding() or 'utf-8'
+if fenc == 'ascii':
+	fenc = 'utf-8'
+
+args = [x.encode(fenc) if isinstance(x, type('')) else x for x in sys.argv[1:]]
+
+try:
+	cwd = os.getcwd()
+except EnvironmentError:
+	pass
+else:
+	if isinstance(cwd, type('')):
+		cwd = cwd.encode(fenc)
+	args.append(b'--cwd=' + cwd)
+
+
+env = (k + b'=' + v for k, v in os.environ.items())
+env = (x if isinstance(x, bytes) else x.encode(fenc, 'replace') for x in env)
+args.extend((b'--env=' + x for x in env))
+
+EOF = b'\0\0'
+
+for a in args:
+	eintr_retry_call(sock.sendall, a + EOF[0])
+
+eintr_retry_call(sock.sendall, EOF)
+
+received = []
+while True:
+	r = sock.recv(4096)
+	if not r:
+		break
+	received.append(r)
+
+sock.close()
+
+print (b''.join(received))
diff --git a/client/powerline.sh b/client/powerline.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a56bc296
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/powerline.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+ADDRESS="powerline-ipc-${UID:-`id -u`}"
+
+# Warning: env -0 does not work in busybox. Consider switching to parsing 
+# `set` output in this case
+(
+	for argv in "$@" ; do
+		printf '%s\0' "$argv"
+	done
+	env -0 | sed 's/\(\x00\)\([^\x00]\)\|^/\1--env=\2/g'
+	printf -- '--cwd=%s\0' "$PWD"
+) | socat -lf/dev/null -t 10 - abstract-client:"$ADDRESS"
+
+if test $? -ne 0 ; then
+	powerline-render "$@"
+fi
diff --git a/docs/source/installation/linux.rst b/docs/source/installation/linux.rst
index 74e6f74f..e8ff6d72 100644
--- a/docs/source/installation/linux.rst
+++ b/docs/source/installation/linux.rst
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ Plugin installation
    project is currently unavailable on the PyPI due to a naming conflict 
    with an unrelated project.
 
+.. note:: If you are powerline developer you should be aware that ``pip install 
+   --editable`` does not currently fully work. If you
+   install powerline this way you will be missing ``powerline`` executable and 
+   need to symlink it. It will be located in ``scripts/powerline``.
+
 Font installation
 =================
 
diff --git a/docs/source/installation/osx.rst b/docs/source/installation/osx.rst
index aa029f11..c991eac7 100644
--- a/docs/source/installation/osx.rst
+++ b/docs/source/installation/osx.rst
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ Python package
    project is currently unavailable on the PyPI due to a naming conflict 
    with an unrelated project.
 
+.. note:: If you are powerline developer you should be aware that ``pip install 
+   --editable`` does not currently fully work. If you
+   install powerline this way you will be missing ``powerline`` executable and 
+   need to symlink it. It will be located in ``scripts/powerline``.
+
 Vim installation
 ----------------
 
diff --git a/docs/source/installation/troubleshooting-common.rst b/docs/source/installation/troubleshooting-common.rst
index bb688d7e..55345394 100644
--- a/docs/source/installation/troubleshooting-common.rst
+++ b/docs/source/installation/troubleshooting-common.rst
@@ -124,12 +124,7 @@ I am suffering bad lags before displaying shell prompt
 
 To get rid of these lags there currently are two options:
 
-* Take ``powerline-daemon`` script and one of ``powerline-client`` 
-  implementations from ``feature/daemon`` branch (all ``powerline-client`` 
-  implementations leave in ``client`` folder: you need to either compile 
-  ``powerline.c`` or install ``socat`` and use ``powerline.sh`` 
-  (``powerline.py`` is much slower)). Fortunately this branch will be merged in 
-  the future.
+* Run ``powerline-daemon``. Powerline does not automatically start it for you.
 * Compile and install ``libzpython`` module that lives in 
   https://bitbucket.org/ZyX_I/zpython. This variant is zsh-specific.
 
diff --git a/docs/source/overview.rst b/docs/source/overview.rst
index 9ddc798a..f50940a6 100644
--- a/docs/source/overview.rst
+++ b/docs/source/overview.rst
@@ -149,6 +149,19 @@ hand: ``powerline`` is installed and run just like any other plugin using
 Shell prompts
 -------------
 
+.. note::
+    It is advised that you run ``powerline-daemon`` before using any of the 
+    below solutions. To do this add
+
+    .. code-block:: bash
+
+        powerline-daemon -q
+
+    just before sourcing powerline bindings script or running 
+    ``powerline-setup``. Use ``|| true`` or equivalent if you run your 
+    configuration with ``set -e`` because ``powerline-daemon`` will exit with 
+    ``1`` if daemon is already running.
+
 Bash prompt
 ^^^^^^^^^^^
 
@@ -227,6 +240,14 @@ is the absolute path to your Powerline installation directory::
     powerline support. You may specify location of this script via 
     ``$POWERLINE_CONFIG_COMMAND`` environment variable.
 
+.. note::
+    It is advised that you run ``powerline-daemon`` before adding the above line 
+    to tmux.conf. To do so add::
+
+        run-shell "powerline-daemon -q"
+
+    to :file:`.tmux.conf`.
+
 IPython prompt
 --------------
 
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh b/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh
index dabacfa9..501b48aa 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh
+++ b/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh
@@ -54,13 +54,12 @@ _powerline_set_prompt() {
 _powerline_setup_prompt() {
 	VIRTUAL_ENV_DISABLE_PROMPT=1
 	if test -z "${POWERLINE_COMMAND}" ; then
-		if which powerline-client &>/dev/null ; then
-			export POWERLINE_COMMAND=powerline-client
-		elif which powerline &>/dev/null ; then
-			export POWERLINE_COMMAND=powerline
+		if which powerline-config &>/dev/null ; then
+			export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$(powerline-config shell command)"
 		else
 			# `$0` is set to `-bash` when using SSH so that won't work
-			export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")/../../../scripts/powerline"
+			local powerline_dir="$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")/../../.."
+			export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$($powerline_dir/scripts/powerline-config shell command)"
 		fi
 	fi
 	test "x$PROMPT_COMMAND" != "x${PROMPT_COMMAND%_powerline_set_prompt*}" ||
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/config.py b/powerline/bindings/config.py
index 3591903a..4dd79cc2 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/config.py
+++ b/powerline/bindings/config.py
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@ from collections import namedtuple
 import os
 import subprocess
 import re
+import sys
 
-from powerline.config import TMUX_CONFIG_DIRECTORY
+from powerline.config import POWERLINE_ROOT, TMUX_CONFIG_DIRECTORY
 from powerline.lib.config import ConfigLoader
 from powerline import generate_config_finder, load_config, create_logger, PowerlineLogger, finish_common_config
-from powerline.lib.shell import run_cmd
+from powerline.lib.shell import run_cmd, which
 
 
 TmuxVersionInfo = namedtuple('TmuxVersionInfo', ('major', 'minor', 'suffix'))
@@ -110,6 +111,11 @@ def source_tmux_files(pl, args):
 	version = get_tmux_version(pl)
 	for fname, priority in sorted(get_tmux_configs(version), key=(lambda v: v[1])):
 		run_tmux_command('source', fname)
+	if not os.environ.get('POWERLINE_COMMAND'):
+		cmd = deduce_command()
+		if cmd:
+			run_tmux_command('set-environment', '-g', 'POWERLINE_COMMAND', deduce_command())
+		run_tmux_command('refresh-client')
 
 
 def create_powerline_logger(args):
@@ -119,3 +125,44 @@ def create_powerline_logger(args):
 	common_config = finish_common_config(config['common'])
 	logger = create_logger(common_config)
 	return PowerlineLogger(use_daemon_threads=True, logger=logger, ext='config')
+
+
+def check_command(cmd):
+	if which(cmd):
+		return cmd
+
+
+def deduce_command():
+	'''Deduce which command to use for ``powerline``
+
+	Candidates:
+
+	* ``powerline``. Present only when installed system-wide.
+	* ``{powerline_root}/scripts/powerline``. Present after ``pip install -e`` 
+	  was run and C client was compiled (in this case ``pip`` does not install 
+	  binary file).
+	* ``{powerline_root}/client/powerline.sh``. Useful when ``sh``, ``sed`` and 
+	  ``socat`` are present, but ``pip`` or ``setup.py`` was not run.
+	* ``{powerline_root}/client/powerline.py``. Like above, but when one of 
+	  ``sh``, ``sed`` and ``socat`` was not present.
+	* ``powerline-render``. Should not really ever be used.
+	* ``{powerline_root}/scripts/powerline-render``. Same.
+	'''
+	return (
+		None
+		or check_command('powerline')
+		or check_command(os.path.join(POWERLINE_ROOT, 'scripts', 'powerline'))
+		or ((which('sh') and which('sed') and which('socat'))
+			and check_command(os.path.join(POWERLINE_ROOT, 'client', 'powerline.sh')))
+		or check_command(os.path.join(POWERLINE_ROOT, 'client', 'powerline.py'))
+		or check_command('powerline-render')
+		or check_command(os.path.join(POWERLINE_ROOT, 'scripts', 'powerline-render'))
+	)
+
+
+def shell_command(pl, args):
+	cmd = deduce_command()
+	if cmd:
+		print(cmd)
+	else:
+		sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/fish/powerline-setup.fish b/powerline/bindings/fish/powerline-setup.fish
index 35ec5763..89fe9778 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/fish/powerline-setup.fish
+++ b/powerline/bindings/fish/powerline-setup.fish
@@ -20,12 +20,11 @@ function powerline-setup
 
 	if test -z "$POWERLINE_NO_FISH_PROMPT$POWERLINE_NO_SHELL_PROMPT"
 		if test -z "$POWERLINE_COMMAND"
-			if which powerline-client >/dev/null
-				set -g -x POWERLINE_COMMAND powerline-client
-			else if which powerline >/dev/null
-				set -g -x POWERLINE_COMMAND powerline
+			if false ;and which powerline-config >/dev/null
+				set -g -x POWERLINE_COMMAND (powerline-config shell command)
 			else
-				set -g -x POWERLINE_COMMAND (dirname (status -f))/../../../scripts/powerline
+				set -l powerline_dir (dirname (status -f))/../../..
+				set -g -x POWERLINE_COMMAND (eval $powerline_dir/scripts/powerline-config shell command)
 			end
 		end
 		function --on-variable POWERLINE_COMMAND _powerline_update
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh b/powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh
index 6f45ffde..ae5c035f 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh
+++ b/powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+_POWERLINE_SOURCED="$_"
 _powerline_columns_fallback() {
 	if which stty >/dev/null ; then
 		# Ksh does not have “local” built-in
@@ -97,13 +98,11 @@ _powerline_set_set_jobs() {
 
 _powerline_set_command() {
 	if test -z "${POWERLINE_COMMAND}" ; then
-		if which powerline-client >/dev/null ; then
-			export POWERLINE_COMMAND=powerline-client
-		elif which powerline >/dev/null ; then
-			export POWERLINE_COMMAND=powerline
+		if which powerline-config &>/dev/null ; then
+			export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$(powerline-config shell command)"
 		else
-			# `$0` is set to `-bash` when using SSH so that won't work
-			export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")/../../../scripts/powerline"
+			local powerline_dir="$(dirname "$POWERLINE_SOURCED")/../../.."
+			export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$($powerline_dir/scripts/powerline-config shell command)"
 		fi
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/tcsh/powerline.tcsh b/powerline/bindings/tcsh/powerline.tcsh
index 931b9ab0..69f34a2e 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/tcsh/powerline.tcsh
+++ b/powerline/bindings/tcsh/powerline.tcsh
@@ -11,12 +11,10 @@ if ! ( $?POWERLINE_NO_TCSH_TMUX_SUPPORT || $?POWERLINE_NO_SHELL_TMUX_SUPPORT ) t
 endif
 if ! ( $?POWERLINE_NO_TCSH_PROMPT || $?POWERLINE_NO_SHELL_PROMPT ) then
 	if ! $?POWERLINE_COMMAND then
-		if ( { which powerline-client > /dev/null } ) then
-			setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND powerline-client
-		else if ( { which powerline > /dev/null } ) then
-			setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND powerline
+		if ( { which powerline-config > /dev/null } ) then
+			setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND "`powerline-config shell command`"
 		else
-			setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND $POWERLINE_SOURCED:h:h:h:h:q/scripts/powerline
+			setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND "`$POWERLINE_SOURCED[2]:h:h:h:h:q/scripts/powerline-config shell command`"
 		endif
 	endif
 
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/tmux/powerline.conf b/powerline/bindings/tmux/powerline.conf
index a55b4856..81928706 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/tmux/powerline.conf
+++ b/powerline/bindings/tmux/powerline.conf
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-if-shell 'test -z "$POWERLINE_COMMAND"' 'if-shell "which powerline-client" "set-environment -g POWERLINE_COMMAND powerline-client" "set-environment -g POWERLINE_COMMAND powerline"'
 if-shell 'test -z "$POWERLINE_CONFIG_COMMAND"' 'set-environment -g POWERLINE_CONFIG_COMMAND powerline-config'
 
 # Don't version-check for this core functionality -- anything too old to
diff --git a/powerline/bindings/zsh/powerline.zsh b/powerline/bindings/zsh/powerline.zsh
index 096d0ff4..5439167a 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/zsh/powerline.zsh
+++ b/powerline/bindings/zsh/powerline.zsh
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+_POWERLINE_SOURCED="$0:A"
+
 _powerline_columns_fallback() {
 	if which stty &>/dev/null ; then
 		local cols="$(stty size 2>/dev/null)"
@@ -124,12 +126,11 @@ _powerline_setup_prompt() {
 		zpython 'del _powerline_setup'
 	else
 		if test -z "${POWERLINE_COMMAND}" ; then
-			if which powerline-client &>/dev/null ; then
-				export POWERLINE_COMMAND=powerline-client
-			elif which powerline &>/dev/null ; then
-				export POWERLINE_COMMAND=powerline
+			if which powerline-config &>/dev/null ; then
+				export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$(powerline-config shell command)"
 			else
-				export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$0:A:h:h:h:h/scripts/powerline"
+				local powerline_dir="$POWERLINE_SOURCED:h:h:h:h"
+				export POWERLINE_COMMAND="$($powerline_dir/scripts/powerline-config shell command)"
 			fi
 		fi
 
diff --git a/powerline/config.py b/powerline/config.py
index 53e530f4..c895da5e 100644
--- a/powerline/config.py
+++ b/powerline/config.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals, print_function
 import os
 
-BINDINGS_DIRECTORY = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), 'bindings')
+POWERLINE_ROOT = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+BINDINGS_DIRECTORY = os.path.join(POWERLINE_ROOT, 'powerline', 'bindings')
 TMUX_CONFIG_DIRECTORY = os.path.join(BINDINGS_DIRECTORY, 'tmux')
 DEFAULT_SYSTEM_CONFIG_DIR = None
diff --git a/powerline/lib/shell.py b/powerline/lib/shell.py
index ea777770..4418c3d9 100644
--- a/powerline/lib/shell.py
+++ b/powerline/lib/shell.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 from locale import getlocale, getdefaultlocale, LC_MESSAGES
 from functools import partial
 import sys
+import os
 
 
 if sys.platform.startswith('win32'):
@@ -60,3 +61,71 @@ def readlines(cmd, cwd):
 	with p.stdout:
 		for line in p.stdout:
 			yield line[:-1].decode(encoding)
+
+
+try:
+	from shutil import which
+except ImportError:
+	# shutil.which was added in python-3.3. Here is what was added:
+	# Lib/shutil.py, commit 5abe28a9c8fe701ba19b1db5190863384e96c798
+	def which(cmd, mode=os.F_OK | os.X_OK, path=None):  # NOQA
+		"""Given a command, mode, and a PATH string, return the path which
+		conforms to the given mode on the PATH, or None if there is no such
+		file.
+
+		`mode` defaults to os.F_OK | os.X_OK. `path` defaults to the result
+		of os.environ.get("PATH"), or can be overridden with a custom search
+		path.
+
+		"""
+		# Check that a given file can be accessed with the correct mode.
+		# Additionally check that `file` is not a directory, as on Windows
+		# directories pass the os.access check.
+		def _access_check(fn, mode):
+			return (os.path.exists(fn) and os.access(fn, mode)
+					and not os.path.isdir(fn))
+
+		# If we're given a path with a directory part, look it up directly rather
+		# than referring to PATH directories. This includes checking relative to the
+		# current directory, e.g. ./script
+		if os.path.dirname(cmd):
+			if _access_check(cmd, mode):
+				return cmd
+			return None
+
+		if path is None:
+			path = os.environ.get("PATH", os.defpath)
+		if not path:
+			return None
+		path = path.split(os.pathsep)
+
+		if sys.platform == "win32":
+			# The current directory takes precedence on Windows.
+			if not os.curdir in path:
+				path.insert(0, os.curdir)
+
+			# PATHEXT is necessary to check on Windows.
+			pathext = os.environ.get("PATHEXT", "").split(os.pathsep)
+			# See if the given file matches any of the expected path extensions.
+			# This will allow us to short circuit when given "python.exe".
+			# If it does match, only test that one, otherwise we have to try
+			# others.
+			if any(cmd.lower().endswith(ext.lower()) for ext in pathext):
+				files = [cmd]
+			else:
+				files = [cmd + ext for ext in pathext]
+		else:
+			# On other platforms you don't have things like PATHEXT to tell you
+			# what file suffixes are executable, so just pass on cmd as-is.
+			files = [cmd]
+
+		seen = set()
+		for dir in path:
+			normdir = os.path.normcase(dir)
+			if not normdir in seen:
+				seen.add(normdir)
+				for thefile in files:
+					name = os.path.join(dir, thefile)
+					if _access_check(name, mode):
+						return name
+		return None
diff --git a/powerline/shell.py b/powerline/shell.py
index bffa1df8..8cfb2de6 100644
--- a/powerline/shell.py
+++ b/powerline/shell.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # vim:fileencoding=utf-8:noet
 
+import os
+
 from powerline import Powerline
 from powerline.lib import mergedicts, parsedotval
 
@@ -73,3 +75,26 @@ def finish_args(args):
 		args.theme_option = {}
 	if args.renderer_arg:
 		args.renderer_arg = mergeargs((parsedotval(v) for v in args.renderer_arg))
+
+
+def write_output(args, powerline, segment_info, write):
+	if args.renderer_arg:
+		segment_info.update(args.renderer_arg)
+	if args.side.startswith('above'):
+		for line in powerline.render_above_lines(
+			width=args.width,
+			segment_info=segment_info,
+			mode=os.environ.get('_POWERLINE_MODE'),
+		):
+			write(line)
+			write('\n')
+		args.side = args.side[len('above'):]
+
+	if args.side:
+		rendered = powerline.render(
+			width=args.width,
+			side=args.side,
+			segment_info=segment_info,
+			mode=os.environ.get('_POWERLINE_MODE'),
+		)
+		write(rendered)
diff --git a/scripts/.gitignore b/scripts/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f2ffc12a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+powerline
diff --git a/scripts/powerline-config b/scripts/powerline-config
index bcece7e6..2e636437 100755
--- a/scripts/powerline-config
+++ b/scripts/powerline-config
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ TMUX_ACTIONS = {
 }
 
 
+SHELL_ACTIONS = {
+	'command': config.shell_command,
+}
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
 	parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
 	subparsers = parser.add_subparsers()
@@ -30,6 +35,14 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 		help='If action is "source" then version-specific tmux configuration files are sourced.'
 	)
 
+	shell_parser = subparsers.add_parser('shell', help='Shell-specific commands')
+	shell_parser.add_argument(
+		'function',
+		choices=tuple(SHELL_ACTIONS.values()),
+		type=(lambda v: SHELL_ACTIONS.get(v)),
+		help='If action is "command" then preferred powerline command is output',
+	)
+
 	args = parser.parse_args()
 
 	pl = config.create_powerline_logger(args)
diff --git a/scripts/powerline-daemon b/scripts/powerline-daemon
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..bc054680
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/powerline-daemon
@@ -0,0 +1,409 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8:noet
+from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import, print_function)
+
+import socket
+import os
+import errno
+import sys
+from argparse import ArgumentParser
+from select import select
+from signal import signal, SIGTERM
+from time import sleep
+from functools import partial
+from locale import getpreferredencoding
+from io import StringIO
+
+from powerline.shell import get_argparser, finish_args, ShellPowerline, write_output
+from powerline.lib.monotonic import monotonic
+
+is_daemon = False
+platform = sys.platform.lower()
+use_filesystem = 'darwin' in platform
+# use_filesystem = True
+del platform
+
+if use_filesystem:
+	address = '/tmp/powerline-ipc-%d'
+	pidfile = address + '.pid'
+else:
+	# Use the abstract namespace for sockets rather than the filesystem
+	# (Available only in linux)
+	address = '\0powerline-ipc-%d'
+address = address % os.getuid()
+
+
+class NonInteractiveArgParser(ArgumentParser):
+	def print_usage(self, file=None):
+		raise Exception(self.format_usage())
+
+	def print_help(self, file=None):
+		raise Exception(self.format_help())
+
+	def exit(self, status=0, message=None):
+		pass
+
+	def error(self, message):
+		raise Exception(self.format_usage())
+
+
+parser = get_argparser(parser=NonInteractiveArgParser, description='powerline daemon')
+parser.add_argument('--cwd', metavar='PATH')
+parser.add_argument('--env', action='append')
+
+EOF = b'EOF\0\0'
+
+powerlines = {}
+logger = None
+config_loader = None
+home = os.path.expanduser('~')
+
+
+class PowerlineDaemon(ShellPowerline):
+	def get_log_handler(self):
+		if not is_daemon:
+			import logging
+			return logging.StreamHandler()
+		return super(PowerlineDaemon, self).get_log_handler()
+
+
+def render(args):
+	global logger
+	global config_loader
+	environ = dict(((k, v) for k, v in (x.partition('=')[0::2] for x in args.env)))
+	cwd = environ.get('PWD', args.cwd or '/')
+	segment_info = {
+		'getcwd': lambda: cwd,
+		'home': environ.get('HOME', home),
+		'environ': environ,
+		'args': args,
+	}
+	key = (
+		args.ext[0],
+		args.renderer_module,
+		tuple(args.config) if args.config else None,
+		tuple(args.theme_option) if args.theme_option else None,
+		tuple(args.renderer_arg) if args.renderer_arg else None,
+	)
+	finish_args(args)
+	powerline = None
+	try:
+		powerline = powerlines[key]
+	except KeyError:
+		try:
+			powerline = powerlines[key] = PowerlineDaemon(
+				args,
+				logger=logger,
+				config_loader=config_loader,
+				run_once=False,
+			)
+			if logger is None:
+				logger = powerline.logger
+			if config_loader is None:
+				config_loader = powerline.config_loader
+		except SystemExit:
+			# Somebody thought raising system exit was a good idea,
+			return ''
+		except Exception as e:
+			if powerline:
+				powerline.pl.exception('Failed to render {0}: {1}', str(key), str(e))
+			else:
+				return 'Failed to render {0}: {1}'.format(str(key), str(e))
+	s = StringIO()
+	write_output(args, powerline, segment_info, s.write)
+	s.seek(0)
+	return s.read()
+
+
+def eintr_retry_call(func, *args, **kwargs):
+	while True:
+		try:
+			return func(*args, **kwargs)
+		except EnvironmentError as e:
+			if getattr(e, 'errno', None) == errno.EINTR:
+				continue
+			raise
+
+
+def do_read(conn, timeout=2.0):
+	''' Read data from the client. If the client fails to send data within
+	timeout seconds, abort. '''
+	read = []
+	end_time = monotonic() + timeout
+	while not read or not read[-1].endswith(b'\0\0'):
+		r, w, e = select((conn,), (), (conn,), timeout)
+		if e:
+			return
+		if monotonic() > end_time:
+			return
+		if not r:
+			continue
+		x = eintr_retry_call(conn.recv, 4096)
+		if x:
+			read.append(x)
+		else:
+			break
+	return b''.join(read)
+
+
+def do_write(conn, result):
+	try:
+		eintr_retry_call(conn.sendall, result + b'\0')
+	except Exception:
+		pass
+
+
+encoding = getpreferredencoding() or 'UTF-8'
+if encoding.lower() == 'ascii':
+	encoding = 'UTF-8'
+
+
+def safe_bytes(o, encoding=encoding):
+	'''Return bytes instance without ever throwing an exception.'''
+	try:
+		try:
+			# We are assuming that o is a unicode object
+			return o.encode(encoding, 'replace')
+		except Exception:
+			# Object may have defined __bytes__ (python 3) or __str__ method 
+			# (python 2)
+			# This also catches problem with non_ascii_bytes.encode('utf-8') 
+			# that first tries to decode to UTF-8 using ascii codec (and fails 
+			# in this case) and then encode to given encoding: errors= argument 
+			# is not used in the first stage.
+			return bytes(o)
+	except Exception as e:
+		return safe_bytes(str(e), encoding)
+
+
+def do_render(req):
+	try:
+		args = [x.decode(encoding) for x in req.split(b'\0') if x]
+		args = parser.parse_args(args)
+		return safe_bytes(render(args))
+	except Exception as e:
+		return safe_bytes(str(e))
+
+
+def do_one(sock, read_sockets, write_sockets, result_map):
+	r, w, e = select(
+		tuple(read_sockets) + (sock,),
+		tuple(write_sockets),
+		tuple(read_sockets) + tuple(write_sockets) + (sock,),
+		60.0
+	)
+
+	if sock in e:
+		# We cannot accept any more connections, so we exit
+		raise SystemExit(1)
+
+	for s in e:
+		# Discard all broken connections to clients
+		s.close()
+		read_sockets.discard(s)
+		write_sockets.discard(s)
+
+	for s in r:
+		if s == sock:
+			# A client wants to connect
+			conn, _ = eintr_retry_call(sock.accept)
+			read_sockets.add(conn)
+		else:
+			# A client has sent some data
+			read_sockets.discard(s)
+			req = do_read(s)
+			if req == EOF:
+				raise SystemExit(0)
+			elif req:
+				ans = do_render(req)
+				result_map[s] = ans
+				write_sockets.add(s)
+			else:
+				s.close()
+
+	for s in w:
+		# A client is ready to receive the result
+		write_sockets.discard(s)
+		result = result_map.pop(s)
+		try:
+			do_write(s, result)
+		finally:
+			s.close()
+
+
+def main_loop(sock):
+	sock.listen(1)
+	sock.setblocking(0)
+
+	read_sockets, write_sockets = set(), set()
+	result_map = {}
+	try:
+		while True:
+			do_one(sock, read_sockets, write_sockets, result_map)
+	except KeyboardInterrupt:
+		raise SystemExit(0)
+	return 0
+
+
+def daemonize(stdin=os.devnull, stdout=os.devnull, stderr=os.devnull):
+	try:
+		pid = os.fork()
+		if pid > 0:
+			# exit first parent
+			sys.exit(0)
+	except OSError as e:
+		print ("fork #1 failed: %d (%s)" % (e.errno, e.strerror), file=sys.stderr)
+		sys.exit(1)
+
+	# decouple from parent environment
+	os.chdir("/")
+	os.setsid()
+	os.umask(0)
+
+	# do second fork
+	try:
+		pid = os.fork()
+		if pid > 0:
+			# exit from second parent
+			sys.exit(0)
+	except OSError as e:
+		print ("fork #2 failed: %d (%s)" % (e.errno, e.strerror), file=sys.stderr)
+		sys.exit(1)
+
+	# Redirect standard file descriptors.
+	si = file(stdin, 'r')
+	so = file(stdout, 'a+')
+	se = file(stderr, 'a+', 0)
+	os.dup2(si.fileno(), sys.stdin.fileno())
+	os.dup2(so.fileno(), sys.stdout.fileno())
+	os.dup2(se.fileno(), sys.stderr.fileno())
+	global is_daemon
+	is_daemon = True
+
+
+def check_existing():
+	if use_filesystem:
+		# We cannot bind if the socket file already exists so remove it, we
+		# already have a lock on pidfile, so this should be safe.
+		try:
+			os.unlink(address)
+		except EnvironmentError:
+			pass
+
+	sock = socket.socket(family=socket.AF_UNIX)
+	try:
+		sock.bind(address)
+	except socket.error as e:
+		if getattr(e, 'errno', None) == errno.EADDRINUSE:
+			return None
+		raise
+	return sock
+
+
+def kill_daemon():
+	sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+	try:
+		try:
+			eintr_retry_call(sock.connect, address)
+		except socket.error:
+			return False
+		else:
+			eintr_retry_call(sock.sendall, EOF)
+	finally:
+		sock.close()
+	return True
+
+
+def cleanup_lockfile(fd, *args):
+	try:
+		# Remove the directory entry for the lock file
+		os.unlink(pidfile)
+		# Close the file descriptor
+		os.close(fd)
+	except EnvironmentError:
+		pass
+	if args:
+		# Called in signal handler
+		raise SystemExit(1)
+
+
+def lockpidfile():
+	import fcntl
+	import atexit
+	import stat
+	fd = os.open(pidfile, os.O_WRONLY | os.O_CREAT,
+					stat.S_IRUSR | stat.S_IWUSR | stat.S_IRGRP | stat.S_IROTH)
+	try:
+		fcntl.lockf(fd, fcntl.LOCK_EX | fcntl.LOCK_NB)
+	except EnvironmentError:
+		os.close(fd)
+		return None
+	os.lseek(fd, 0, os.SEEK_SET)
+	os.ftruncate(fd, 0)
+	os.write(fd, ('%d' % os.getpid()).encode('ascii'))
+	os.fsync(fd)
+	cleanup = partial(cleanup_lockfile, fd)
+	signal(SIGTERM, cleanup)
+	atexit.register(cleanup)
+	return fd
+
+
+def main():
+	p = ArgumentParser(description=
+		'Daemon to improve the performance of powerline')
+	p.add_argument('--quiet', '-q', action='store_true', help='Without other options: do not complain about already running powerline-daemon instance. Will still exit with 1. With `--kill\' and `--replace\': do not show any messages. With `--foreground\': ignored. Does not silence exceptions in any case.')
+	a = p.add_mutually_exclusive_group().add_argument
+	a('--kill', '-k', action='store_true', help='Kill an already running instance')
+	a('--foreground', '-f', action='store_true', help='Run in the foreground (dont daemonize)')
+	a('--replace', '-r', action='store_true', help='Replace an already running instance')
+	args = p.parse_args()
+
+	if args.kill:
+		if kill_daemon():
+			if not args.quiet:
+				print ('Kill command sent to daemon, if it does not die in a couple of seconds use kill to kill it')
+			raise SystemExit(0)
+		else:
+			if not args.quiet:
+				print ('No running daemon found')
+			raise SystemExit(1)
+
+	if args.replace:
+		while kill_daemon():
+			if not args.quiet:
+				print ('Kill command sent to daemon, waiting for daemon to exit, press Ctrl-C to terminate wait and exit')
+			sleep(2)
+
+	if use_filesystem and not args.foreground:
+		# We must daemonize before creating the locked pidfile, unfortunately,
+		# this means further print statements are discarded
+		daemonize()
+
+	if use_filesystem:
+		# Create a locked pid file containing the daemon's PID
+		if lockpidfile() is None:
+			if not args.quiet:
+				print ('The daemon is already running. Use %s -k to kill it.' % os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]),
+						file=sys.stderr)
+			raise SystemExit(1)
+
+	# Bind to address or bail if we cannot bind
+	sock = check_existing()
+	if sock is None:
+		if not args.quiet:
+			print ('The daemon is already running. Use %s -k to kill it.' % os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]),
+					file=sys.stderr)
+		raise SystemExit(1)
+
+	if args.foreground:
+		return main_loop(sock)
+
+	if not use_filesystem:
+		# We daemonize on linux
+		daemonize()
+
+	main_loop(sock)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+	main()
diff --git a/scripts/powerline b/scripts/powerline-render
similarity index 57%
rename from scripts/powerline
rename to scripts/powerline-render
index 8b125217..bdedb1b7 100755
--- a/scripts/powerline
+++ b/scripts/powerline-render
@@ -5,10 +5,11 @@ import sys
 import os
 
 try:
-	from powerline.shell import ShellPowerline, get_argparser, finish_args
+	from powerline.shell import ShellPowerline, get_argparser, finish_args, write_output
 except ImportError:
 	sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(os.path.realpath(__file__)))))
-	from powerline.shell import ShellPowerline, get_argparser, finish_args  # NOQA
+	from powerline.shell import ShellPowerline, get_argparser, finish_args, write_output  # NOQA
+
 
 def write(output):
 	try:
@@ -16,28 +17,10 @@ def write(output):
 	except UnicodeEncodeError:
 		sys.stdout.write(output.encode('utf-8'))
 
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
 	args = get_argparser(description=__doc__).parse_args()
 	finish_args(args)
 	powerline = ShellPowerline(args, run_once=True)
 	segment_info = {'args': args, 'environ': os.environ}
-	if args.renderer_arg:
-		segment_info.update(args.renderer_arg)
-	if args.side.startswith('above'):
-		for line in powerline.render_above_lines(
-			width=args.width,
-			segment_info=segment_info,
-			mode=os.environ.get('_POWERLINE_MODE'),
-		):
-			write(line)
-			sys.stdout.write('\n')
-		args.side = args.side[len('above'):]
-
-	if args.side:
-		rendered = powerline.render(
-			width=args.width,
-			side=args.side,
-			segment_info=segment_info,
-			mode=os.environ.get('_POWERLINE_MODE'),
-		)
-		write(rendered)
+	write_output(args, powerline, segment_info, write)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index e341ceec..16561d85 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,16 +3,52 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import os
 import sys
+import subprocess
+import logging
 
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
-here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+CURRENT_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 try:
-	README = open(os.path.join(here, 'README.rst'), 'rb').read().decode('utf-8')
+	README = open(os.path.join(CURRENT_DIR, 'README.rst'), 'rb').read().decode('utf-8')
 except IOError:
 	README = ''
 
-old_python = sys.version_info < (2, 7)
+OLD_PYTHON = sys.version_info < (2, 7)
+
+
+def compile_client():
+	'''Compile the C powerline-client script.'''
+
+	if hasattr(sys, 'getwindowsversion'):
+		raise NotImplementedError()
+	else:
+		from distutils.ccompiler import new_compiler
+		compiler = new_compiler().compiler
+		subprocess.check_call(compiler + ['-O3', 'client/powerline.c', '-o', 'scripts/powerline'])
+
+try:
+	compile_client()
+except Exception as e:
+	print('Compiling C version of powerline-client failed')
+	logging.exception(e)
+	# FIXME Catch more specific exceptions
+	import shutil
+	if hasattr(shutil, 'which'):
+		which = shutil.which
+	else:
+		sys.path.append(CURRENT_DIR)
+		from powerline.lib import which
+	if which('socat') and which('sed') and which('sh'):
+		print('Using powerline.sh script instead of C version (requires socat, sed and sh)')
+		shutil.copyfile('client/powerline.sh', 'scripts/powerline')
+		can_use_scripts = True
+	else:
+		print('Using powerline.py script instead of C version')
+		shutil.copyfile('client/powerline.py', 'scripts/powerline')
+		can_use_scripts = True
+else:
+	can_use_scripts = False
 
 setup(
 	name='Powerline',
@@ -23,11 +59,31 @@ setup(
 	author='Kim Silkebaekken',
 	author_email='kim.silkebaekken+vim@gmail.com',
 	url='https://github.com/Lokaltog/powerline',
+	# XXX Python 3 doesn't allow compiled C files to be included in the scripts 
+	# list below. This is because Python 3 distutils tries to decode the file to 
+	# ASCII, and fails when powerline-client is a binary.
+	#
+	# XXX Python 2 fucks up script contents*. Not using it to install scripts 
+	# any longer.
+	# * Consider the following input:
+	#     % alias hex1=$'hexdump -e \'"" 1/1 "%02X\n"\''
+	#     % diff <(hex1 ./scripts/powerline) <(hex1 ~/.local/bin/powerline)
+	#   This will show output like
+	#     375c375
+	#     < 0D
+	#     ---
+	#     > 0A
+	#   (repeated, with diff segment header numbers growing up).
+	#
+	# FIXME Current solution does not work with `pip install -e`. Still better 
+	# then solution that is not working at all.
 	scripts=[
-		'scripts/powerline',
 		'scripts/powerline-lint',
+		'scripts/powerline-daemon',
+		'scripts/powerline-render',
 		'scripts/powerline-config',
-	],
+	] + (['scripts/powerline'] if can_use_scripts else []),
+	data_files=(None if can_use_scripts else (('bin', ['scripts/powerline']),)),
 	keywords='',
 	packages=find_packages(exclude=('tests', 'tests.*')),
 	include_package_data=True,
@@ -38,5 +94,5 @@ setup(
 			'Sphinx',
 		],
 	},
-	test_suite='tests' if not old_python else None,
+	test_suite='tests' if not OLD_PYTHON else None,
 )
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.bash b/tests/test_shells/input.bash
index 748e78fa..ff7ad797 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.bash
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.bash
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-POWERLINE_COMMAND="$PWD/scripts/powerline -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
+export VIRTUAL_ENV=
+source powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh
+POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
-export VIRTUAL_ENV=
-source powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.bb b/tests/test_shells/input.bb
index d9ae1342..2d4fbc42 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.bb
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.bb
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-POWERLINE_COMMAND="$PWD/scripts/powerline -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
+. powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh
+POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
 export VIRTUAL_ENV=
-. powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.dash b/tests/test_shells/input.dash
index d9ae1342..2d4fbc42 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.dash
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.dash
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-POWERLINE_COMMAND="$PWD/scripts/powerline -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
+. powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh
+POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
 export VIRTUAL_ENV=
-. powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.fish b/tests/test_shells/input.fish
index 3e69ad5e..f8da144e 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.fish
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.fish
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-set POWERLINE_COMMAND "$PWD/scripts/powerline -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
+set fish_function_path $fish_function_path "$PWD/powerline/bindings/fish"
+powerline-setup
+set POWERLINE_COMMAND "$POWERLINE_COMMAND -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
 set POWERLINE_COMMAND "$POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false"
 set POWERLINE_COMMAND "$POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
 setenv VIRTUAL_ENV
-set fish_function_path $fish_function_path "$PWD/powerline/bindings/fish"
-powerline-setup ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 setenv VIRTUAL_ENV "$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.mksh b/tests/test_shells/input.mksh
index a4a5928a..a2f0a7dd 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.mksh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.mksh
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-POWERLINE_COMMAND="$PWD/scripts/powerline -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
+. powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh
+POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -p $PWD/powerline/config_files"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false"
 POWERLINE_COMMAND="$POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
 export VIRTUAL_ENV=
-. powerline/bindings/shell/powerline.sh ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh b/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh
index 4d48a465..0bc6b78a 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.tcsh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND $PWD:q/scripts/powerline" -p "$PWD:q/powerline/config_files" -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
+source powerline/bindings/tcsh/powerline.tcsh
+setenv POWERLINE_COMMAND "$POWERLINE_COMMAND -p "$PWD:q/powerline/config_files" -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly"
 unsetenv VIRTUAL_ENV
-source powerline/bindings/tcsh/powerline.tcsh ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 setenv VIRTUAL_ENV $HOME:q"/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/input.zsh b/tests/test_shells/input.zsh
index b40c3283..51095f5f 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/input.zsh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/input.zsh
@@ -1,26 +1,21 @@
-unsetopt promptsp transientrprompt
-POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $PWD/scripts/powerline -p $PWD/powerline/config_files )
-POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false )
-POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly )
+unsetopt promptsp notransientrprompt
 setopt interactivecomments
 # POWERLINE_CONFIG_PATH=$PWD/powerline/config_files
 # POWERLINE_THEME_CONFIG=( default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false )
 # POWERLINE_CONFIG=( ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly )
 POWERLINE_NO_ZSH_ZPYTHON=1  # TODO: make tests work with zsh/zpython
+source powerline/bindings/zsh/powerline.zsh
+POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -p $PWD/powerline/config_files )
+POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default_leftonly.segment_data.hostname.args.only_if_ssh=false )
+POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -c ext.shell.theme=default_leftonly )
 export VIRTUAL_ENV=
-source powerline/bindings/zsh/powerline.zsh ; cd tests/shell/3rd
+cd tests/shell/3rd
 cd .git
 cd ..
 VIRTUAL_ENV="$HOME/.virtenvs/some-virtual-environment"
 VIRTUAL_ENV=
 bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
 false
-select abc in def ghi jkl
-do
-	echo $abc
-	break
-done
-1
 kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 cd "$DIR1"
 cd ../"$DIR2"
@@ -36,5 +31,13 @@ POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND[1,4] ${${POWERLINE_COMMAND[5]}/_leftonly}
 
 echo abc
 false
+POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default.segment_data.hostname.display=false )
+POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default.segment_data.user.display=false )
+select abc in def ghi jkl
+do
+	echo $abc
+	break
+done
+1
 true is the last line
 exit
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/postproc.py b/tests/test_shells/postproc.py
index ce68c9d5..f34fa81c 100755
--- a/tests/test_shells/postproc.py
+++ b/tests/test_shells/postproc.py
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ import sys
 import codecs
 
 
-shell = sys.argv[1]
-fname = os.path.join('tests', 'shell', shell + '.full.log')
-new_fname = os.path.join('tests', 'shell', shell + '.log')
+test_type = sys.argv[1]
+shell = sys.argv[2]
+fname = os.path.join('tests', 'shell', shell + '.' + test_type + '.full.log')
+new_fname = os.path.join('tests', 'shell', shell + '.' + test_type + '.log')
 pid_fname = os.path.join('tests', 'shell', '3rd', 'pid')
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/screenrc b/tests/test_shells/screenrc
index d998652a..7c9674e5 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/screenrc
+++ b/tests/test_shells/screenrc
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 width  1024
 height    1
-logfile "tests/shell/${SH}.full.log"
+logfile "tests/shell/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.full.log"
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/test.sh b/tests/test_shells/test.sh
index b0f30fed..f224e22f 100755
--- a/tests/test_shells/test.sh
+++ b/tests/test_shells/test.sh
@@ -3,17 +3,23 @@ FAILED=0
 ONLY_SHELL="$1"
 
 check_screen_log() {
-	SH="$1"
-	if test -e tests/test_shells/${SH}.ok ; then
-		diff -u tests/test_shells/${SH}.ok tests/shell/${SH}.log
+	TEST_TYPE="$1"
+	SH="$2"
+	if test -e tests/test_shells/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.ok ; then
+		diff -a -u tests/test_shells/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.ok tests/shell/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.log
+		return $?
+	elif test -e tests/test_shells/${SH}.ok ; then
+		diff -a -u tests/test_shells/${SH}.ok tests/shell/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.log
 		return $?
 	else
-		cat tests/shell/${SH}.log
+		cat tests/shell/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.log
 		return 1
 	fi
 }
 
 run_test() {
+	TEST_TYPE="$1"
+	shift
 	SH="$1"
 	SESNAME="powerline-shell-test-${SH}-$$"
 	ARGS=( "$@" )
@@ -32,6 +38,7 @@ run_test() {
 		fi
 	fi
 
+	export TEST_TYPE
 	export SH
 
 	screen -L -c tests/test_shells/screenrc -d -m -S "$SESNAME" \
@@ -59,21 +66,21 @@ run_test() {
 	while screen -S "$SESNAME" -X blankerprg "" > /dev/null ; do
 		sleep 0.1s
 	done
-	./tests/test_shells/postproc.py ${SH}
-	if ! check_screen_log ${SH} ; then
+	./tests/test_shells/postproc.py ${TEST_TYPE} ${SH}
+	if ! check_screen_log ${TEST_TYPE} ${SH} ; then
 		echo '____________________________________________________________'
 		# Repeat the diff to make it better viewable in travis output
 		echo "Diff (cat -v):"
 		echo '============================================================'
-		check_screen_log ${SH} | cat -v
+		check_screen_log  ${TEST_TYPE} ${SH} | cat -v
 		echo '____________________________________________________________'
 		echo "Failed ${SH}. Full output:"
 		echo '============================================================'
-		cat tests/shell/${SH}.full.log
+		cat tests/shell/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.full.log
 		echo '____________________________________________________________'
 		echo "Full output (cat -v):"
 		echo '============================================================'
-		cat -v tests/shell/${SH}.full.log
+		cat -v tests/shell/${SH}.${TEST_TYPE}.full.log
 		echo '____________________________________________________________'
 		case ${SH} in
 			*ksh)
@@ -112,39 +119,61 @@ mkdir tests/shell/3rd/'(echo)'
 mkdir tests/shell/3rd/'$(echo)'
 mkdir tests/shell/3rd/'`echo`'
 
-if ! run_test bash --norc --noprofile -i ; then
-	FAILED=1
-fi
-
-if ! run_test zsh -f -i ; then
-	FAILED=1
-fi
-
 mkdir tests/shell/fish_home
 export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$PWD/tests/shell/fish_home"
-if ! run_test fish -i ; then
-	FAILED=1
-fi
-
-if ! run_test tcsh -f -i ; then
-	FAILED=1
-fi
-
-if ! run_test bb -i ; then
-	FAILED=1
-fi
 
 unset ENV
 
-if ! run_test mksh -i ; then
-	FAILED=1
-fi
+powerline-daemon -k || true
+sleep 1s
 
-if ! run_test dash -i ; then
-	# dash tests are not stable, see #931
-	# FAILED=1
-	true
-fi
+scripts/powerline-config shell command
+
+for TEST_TYPE in "daemon" "nodaemon" ; do
+	if test $TEST_TYPE == daemon ; then
+		sh -c 'echo $$ > tests/shell/daemon_pid; ./scripts/powerline-daemon -f &>tests/shell/daemon_log' &
+	fi
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE bash --norc --noprofile -i ; then
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE zsh -f -i ; then
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE fish -i ; then
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE tcsh -f -i ; then
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE bb -i ; then
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE mksh -i ; then
+		FAILED=1
+	fi
+
+	if ! run_test $TEST_TYPE dash -i ; then
+		# dash tests are not stable, see #931
+		# FAILED=1
+		true
+	fi
+	if test $TEST_TYPE == daemon ; then
+		./scripts/powerline-daemon -k
+		wait $(cat tests/shell/daemon_pid)
+		if ! test -z "$(cat tests/shell/daemon_log)" ; then
+			echo '____________________________________________________________'
+			echo "Daemon log:"
+			echo '============================================================'
+			cat tests/shell/daemon_log
+			FAILED=1
+		fi
+	fi
+done
 
 test "x$ONLY_SHELL" = "x" && rm -r tests/shell
 exit $FAILED
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok b/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7469e23b
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/test_shells/zsh.daemon.ok differ
diff --git a/tests/test_shells/zsh.ok b/tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok
similarity index 90%
rename from tests/test_shells/zsh.ok
rename to tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok
index c681e75e..daa84f40 100644
--- a/tests/test_shells/zsh.ok
+++ b/tests/test_shells/zsh.nodaemon.ok
@@ -6,15 +6,7 @@
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done' &
 [1] PID
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  false
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  select abc in def ghi jkl
- select  do
- select        echo $abc
- select        break
- select  done
-1) def  2) ghi  3) jkl  
- Select variant  1
-def
-  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
+  HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  1  1  kill `cat pid` ; sleep 1s
 [1]  + terminated  bash -c 'echo $$>pid ; while true ; do sleep 0.1s ; done'
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  cd "$DIR1"
   HOSTNAME  USER   BRANCH  ⋯  shell  3rd  ^[[32m  cd ../"$DIR2"
@@ -31,3 +23,13 @@ def
  INSERT   HOSTNAME  USER  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  echo abc
 abc
  INSERT   HOSTNAME  USER  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  false
+ INSERT   HOSTNAME  USER  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default.segment_data.hostname.display=false )
+ INSERT  USER  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  POWERLINE_COMMAND=( $POWERLINE_COMMAND -t default.segment_data.user.display=false )
+ INSERT  ⋯  tests  shell  3rd  select abc in def ghi jkl
+ select  do
+ select        echo $abc
+ select        break
+ select  done
+1) def  2) ghi  3) jkl  
+ Select variant  1
+def