diff --git a/spec/rest/presence.test.js b/spec/rest/presence.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9ce408c9ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/rest/presence.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+"use strict";
+
+define(['ably', 'shared_helper', 'async'], function(Ably, helper, async) {
+	var currentTime, rest, cipherConfig, exports = {},
+		Crypto = Ably.Realtime.Crypto,
+		BufferUtils = Ably.Realtime.BufferUtils,
+		displayError = helper.displayError,
+		arrFind = Array.prototype.find
+			? function(arr, predicate) {
+				return arr.find(predicate);
+			} : function(arr, predicate) {
+				var value;
+				for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
+					value = arr[i];
+					if (predicate(value)) {
+						return value;
+					}
+				}
+				return undefined;
+			},
+		cipherParamsFromConfig = function(cipherConfig) {
+			var cipherParams = new Crypto.CipherParams;
+			for(var prop in cipherConfig) {
+				cipherParams[prop] = cipherConfig[prop];
+			};
+			cipherParams.keyLength = cipherConfig.keylength;
+			delete cipherParams.keylength; // grr case differences
+			cipherParams.key = BufferUtils.base64Decode(cipherParams.key);
+			cipherParams.iv = BufferUtils.base64Decode(cipherParams.iv);
+			return cipherParams;
+		}
+
+	exports.setup_presence = function(test) {
+		test.expect(1);
+		helper.setupApp(function() {
+			rest = helper.AblyRest();
+			cipherConfig = helper.getTestApp().cipherConfig;
+			test.ok(true, 'Setup REST library');
+			test.done();
+		});
+	};
+
+	exports.presence_get_simple = function(test) {
+		test.expect(6);
+		try {
+			var channel = rest.channels.get('persisted:presence_fixtures');
+			var cipherParams = cipherParamsFromConfig(cipherConfig);
+			channel.setOptions({encrypted: true, cipherParams: cipherParams});
+			channel.presence.get(function(err, resultPage) {
+				if(err) {
+					test.ok(false, displayError(err));
+					test.done();
+					return;
+				}
+				var presenceMessages = resultPage.items;
+				test.equal(presenceMessages.length, 6, 'Verify correct number of messages found');
+				var encodedMessage = arrFind(presenceMessages, function(msg) {return msg.clientId == 'client_encoded'});
+				var decodedMessage = arrFind(presenceMessages, function(msg) {return msg.clientId == 'client_decoded'});
+				var boolMessage = arrFind(presenceMessages, function(msg) {return msg.clientId == 'client_bool'});
+				var intMessage = arrFind(presenceMessages, function(msg) {return msg.clientId == 'client_int'});
+				test.deepEqual(encodedMessage.data, decodedMessage.data, 'Verify message decoding works correctly')
+				test.equal(encodedMessage.encoding, null, 'Decoding should remove encoding field')
+				test.equal(decodedMessage.encoding, null, 'Decoding should remove encoding field')
+				test.equal(boolMessage.data, 'true', 'should not attempt to parse string data when no encoding field')
+				test.equal(intMessage.data, '24', 'should not attempt to parse string data when no encoding field')
+				test.done();
+			});
+		} catch(e) {
+			console.log(e.stack);
+		}
+	};
+
+	exports.presence_get_limits_and_filtering = function(test) {
+		try {
+			var channel = rest.channels.get('persisted:presence_fixtures');
+			var cipherParams = cipherParamsFromConfig(cipherConfig);
+			channel.setOptions({encrypted: true, cipherParams: cipherParams});
+
+			var tests = [
+				// Result limit
+				function(cb) {
+					channel.presence.get({limit: 3}, function(err, resultPage) {
+						if(err) cb(err);
+						var presenceMessages = resultPage.items;
+						test.equal(presenceMessages.length, 3, 'Verify correct number of messages found');
+						cb();
+					});
+				},
+				// Filter by clientId
+				function(cb) {
+					channel.presence.get({clientId: 'client_json'}, function(err, resultPage) {
+						if(err) cb(err);
+						var presenceMessages = resultPage.items;
+						test.equal(presenceMessages.length, 1, 'Verify correct number of messages found');
+						cb();
+					});
+				},
+				// Filter by connectionId
+				function(cb) {
+					channel.presence.get(function(err, resultPage) {
+						if(err) cb(err);
+						channel.presence.get({connectionId: resultPage.items[0].connectionId}, function(err, resultPage) {
+							if(err) cb(err);
+							var presenceMessages = resultPage.items;
+							test.equal(presenceMessages.length, 6, 'Verify correct number of messages found');
+							cb();
+						});
+					});
+				},
+			]
+
+			test.expect(tests.length);
+
+			async.parallel(tests, function(err){
+				if(err) {
+					test.ok(false, displayError(err));
+					test.done();
+					return;
+				}
+				test.done();
+			});
+		} catch(e) {
+			console.log(e.stack);
+		}
+	};
+
+	return module.exports = helper.withTimeout(exports);
+});