diff --git a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Span.java b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Span.java
index 7a670c46..870a0241 100644
--- a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Span.java
+++ b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Span.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * Copyright 2016 The OpenTracing Authors
+ * Copyright 2016-2017 The OpenTracing Authors
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
  * in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
@@ -22,16 +22,21 @@
  * <p>Spans are created by the {@link Tracer#buildSpan} interface.
  */
 public interface Span extends Closeable {
+
+    SpanManager.Visibility visibility();
+
     /**
      * Retrieve the associated SpanContext.
      *
-     * This may be called at any time, including after calls to finish().
+     * This may be called at any time, including after calls to markAsFinished().
      *
      * @return the SpanContext that encapsulates Span state that should propagate across process boundaries.
      */
     SpanContext context();
 
     /**
+     * Deactivates spans from spanManager.
+     *
      * Sets the end timestamp to now and records the span.
      *
      * <p>With the exception of calls to Span.context(), this should be the last call made to the span instance, and to
@@ -42,12 +47,14 @@ public interface Span extends Closeable {
     void finish();
 
     /**
+     * Deactivates spans from spanManager.
+     *
      * Sets an explicit end timestamp and records the span.
      *
      * <p>With the exception of calls to Span.context(), this should be the last call made to the span instance, and to
      * do otherwise leads to undefined behavior.
      *
-     * @param finishMicros an explicit finish time, in microseconds since the epoch
+     * @param finishMicros an explicit markAsFinished time, in microseconds since the epoch
      *
      * @see Span#context()
      */
diff --git a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/SpanManager.java b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/SpanManager.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd4c7f60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/SpanManager.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2016-2017 The OpenTracing Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+ * is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+ * or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+package io.opentracing;
+
+/**
+ * @author Pavol Loffay
+ */
+public interface SpanManager {
+
+    /**
+     * @param span span to bundle into visibility
+     * @return visibility
+     */
+    Visibility bundle(Span span);
+
+    /**
+     * @return not finished active span or null
+     */
+    Visibility active();
+
+    interface Visibility {
+        void activate();
+        void deactivate();
+
+        Span span();
+        SpanContext context();
+        // should be called by span#finish();
+        void markAsFinished();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/ThreadLocalSpanManager.java b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/ThreadLocalSpanManager.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a2d25e0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/ThreadLocalSpanManager.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2016-2017 The OpenTracing Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+ * is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+ * or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+package io.opentracing;
+
+/**
+ * @author Pavol Loffay
+ */
+public class ThreadLocalSpanManager implements SpanManager {
+
+    private final ThreadLocal<ThreadLocalVisibility> activeContext = new ThreadLocal<ThreadLocalVisibility>();
+
+    public ThreadLocalSpanManager() {}
+
+    @Override
+    public Visibility bundle(Span span) {
+        return span.visibility() == null ? new ThreadLocalVisibility(span) : span.visibility();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Visibility active() {
+        return activeContext.get() == null ? null : activeContext.get();
+    }
+
+    class ThreadLocalVisibility implements Visibility {
+        private final Span span;
+        private ThreadLocalVisibility previous;
+        private boolean finished;
+
+        public ThreadLocalVisibility(Span span) {
+            this.span = span;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Span span() {
+            return finished ? null : span;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SpanContext context() {
+            return span.context();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void activate() {
+            previous = activeContext.get();
+            activeContext.set(this);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void deactivate() {
+            if (this != activeContext.get()) {
+                // should not happen
+                return;
+            }
+            activeContext.set(previous);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void markAsFinished() {
+            this.finished = true;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Tracer.java b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Tracer.java
index 10f23b5e..c9983d4d 100644
--- a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Tracer.java
+++ b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/Tracer.java
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
  */
 public interface Tracer {
 
+    // span could be directly returned
+    SpanManager spanManager();
+
     /**
      * Return a new SpanBuilder for a Span with the given `operationName`.
      *
@@ -113,6 +116,8 @@ interface SpanBuilder extends SpanContext {
          */
         SpanBuilder addReference(String referenceType, SpanContext referencedContext);
 
+        SpanBuilder asRoot();
+
         /** Same as {@link Span#setTag(String, String)}, but for the span being built. */
         SpanBuilder withTag(String key, String value);
 
@@ -128,5 +133,6 @@ interface SpanBuilder extends SpanContext {
         /** Returns the started Span. */
         Span start();
 
+        Span startAndActivate();
     }
 }
diff --git a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/tag/Tags.java b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/tag/Tags.java
index 2bfac906..7bbfccfb 100644
--- a/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/tag/Tags.java
+++ b/opentracing-api/src/main/java/io/opentracing/tag/Tags.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 package io.opentracing.tag;
 
 /**
- * The following span tags are recommended for instrumentors who are trying to capture more
+ * The following span tags are recommended for instrumentors who are trying to bundle more
  * semantic information about the spans. Tracers may expose additional features based on these
  * standardized data points. Tag names follow a general structure of namespacing.
  *
diff --git a/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockSpan.java b/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockSpan.java
index 8685764d..ed1d615a 100644
--- a/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockSpan.java
+++ b/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockSpan.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 import io.opentracing.Span;
 import io.opentracing.SpanContext;
+import io.opentracing.SpanManager;
 
 /**
  * MockSpans are created via MockTracer.buildSpan(...), but they are also returned via calls to
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ public final class MockSpan implements Span {
     // A simple-as-possible (consecutive for repeatability) id generator.
     private static AtomicLong nextId = new AtomicLong(0);
 
+    private final SpanManager.Visibility visibility;
+
     private final MockTracer mockTracer;
     private MockContext context;
     private final long parentId; // 0 if there's no parent.
@@ -66,10 +69,10 @@ public long startMicros() {
         return startMicros;
     }
     /**
-     * @return the finish time of the Span; only valid after a call to finish().
+     * @return the markAsFinished time of the Span; only valid after a call to markAsFinished().
      */
     public long finishMicros() {
-        assert finishMicros > 0 : "must call finish() before finishMicros()";
+        assert finishMicros > 0 : "must call markAsFinished() before finishMicros()";
         return finishMicros;
     }
 
@@ -93,6 +96,11 @@ public List<RuntimeException> generatedErrors() {
         return new ArrayList<>(errors);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public SpanManager.Visibility visibility() {
+        return visibility;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public synchronized MockContext context() {
         return this.context;
@@ -107,6 +115,7 @@ public void finish() {
     public synchronized void finish(long finishMicros) {
         finishedCheck("Finishing already finished span");
         this.finishMicros = finishMicros;
+        visibility.markAsFinished();
         this.mockTracer.appendFinishedSpan(this);
         this.finished = true;
     }
@@ -248,10 +257,17 @@ public long timestampMicros() {
         }
     }
 
-    MockSpan(MockTracer tracer, String operationName, long startMicros, Map<String, Object> initialTags, MockContext parent) {
+    MockSpan(MockTracer tracer, String operationName, long startMicros, Map<String, Object> initialTags, MockContext
+            parent, boolean activate) {
         this.mockTracer = tracer;
         this.operationName = operationName;
         this.startMicros = startMicros;
+
+        this.visibility = tracer.spanManager().bundle(this);
+        if (activate) {
+            this.visibility.activate();
+        }
+
         if (initialTags == null) {
             this.tags = new HashMap<>();
         } else {
diff --git a/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracer.java b/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracer.java
index f41bebbd..5896a4e1 100644
--- a/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracer.java
+++ b/opentracing-mock/src/main/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracer.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 import io.opentracing.References;
 import io.opentracing.Span;
 import io.opentracing.SpanContext;
+import io.opentracing.SpanManager;
+import io.opentracing.ThreadLocalSpanManager;
 import io.opentracing.Tracer;
 import io.opentracing.propagation.Format;
 import io.opentracing.propagation.TextMap;
@@ -38,30 +40,36 @@
 public class MockTracer implements Tracer {
     private List<MockSpan> finishedSpans = new ArrayList<>();
     private final Propagator propagator;
+    private final SpanManager spanManager;
 
     public MockTracer() {
-        this(Propagator.PRINTER);
+        this(Propagator.PRINTER, new ThreadLocalSpanManager());
     }
 
     /**
      * Create a new MockTracer that passes through any calls to inject() and/or extract().
      */
     public MockTracer(Propagator propagator) {
+        this(propagator, new ThreadLocalSpanManager());
+    }
+
+    public MockTracer(Propagator propagator, SpanManager spanManager) {
         this.propagator = propagator;
+        this.spanManager = spanManager;
     }
 
     /**
      * Clear the finishedSpans() queue.
      *
-     * Note that this does *not* have any effect on Spans created by MockTracer that have not finish()ed yet; those
-     * will still be enqueued in finishedSpans() when they finish().
+     * Note that this does *not* have any effect on Spans created by MockTracer that have not markAsFinished()ed yet; those
+     * will still be enqueued in finishedSpans() when they markAsFinished().
      */
     public synchronized void reset() {
         this.finishedSpans.clear();
     }
 
     /**
-     * @return a copy of all finish()ed MockSpans started by this MockTracer (since construction or the last call to
+     * @return a copy of all markAsFinished()ed MockSpans started by this MockTracer (since construction or the last call to
      * MockTracer.reset()).
      *
      * @see MockTracer#reset()
@@ -144,9 +152,14 @@ public <C> MockSpan.MockContext extract(Format<C> format, C carrier) {
         };
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public SpanManager spanManager() {
+        return spanManager;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public SpanBuilder buildSpan(String operationName) {
-        return new SpanBuilder(operationName);
+        return new SpanBuilder(operationName, spanManager);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -170,8 +183,14 @@ public final class SpanBuilder implements Tracer.SpanBuilder {
         private MockSpan.MockContext firstParent;
         private Map<String, Object> initialTags = new HashMap<>();
 
-        SpanBuilder(String operationName) {
+        SpanBuilder(String operationName, SpanManager spanManager) {
             this.operationName = operationName;
+
+            SpanManager.Visibility inferredParent = spanManager.active();
+            if (inferredParent != null) {
+                addReference(inferredParent.span() == null ? References.FOLLOWS_FROM : References.CHILD_OF,
+                        inferredParent.context());
+            }
         }
         @Override
         public SpanBuilder asChildOf(SpanContext parent) {
@@ -192,6 +211,12 @@ public SpanBuilder addReference(String referenceType, SpanContext referencedCont
             return this;
         }
 
+        @Override
+        public Tracer.SpanBuilder asRoot() {
+            firstParent = null;
+            return this;
+        }
+
         @Override
         public SpanBuilder withTag(String key, String value) {
             this.initialTags.put(key, value);
@@ -221,7 +246,17 @@ public MockSpan start() {
             if (this.startMicros == 0) {
                 this.startMicros = MockSpan.nowMicros();
             }
-            return new MockSpan(MockTracer.this, this.operationName, this.startMicros, initialTags, this.firstParent);
+            return new MockSpan(MockTracer.this, this.operationName, this.startMicros, initialTags,
+                    this.firstParent, false);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public MockSpan startAndActivate() {
+            if (this.startMicros == 0) {
+                this.startMicros = MockSpan.nowMicros();
+            }
+            return new MockSpan(MockTracer.this, this.operationName, this.startMicros, initialTags,
+                    this.firstParent, true);
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracerTest.java b/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracerTest.java
index c24959c6..dadf57fa 100644
--- a/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracerTest.java
+++ b/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/MockTracerTest.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 public class MockTracerTest {
     @Test
     public void testRootSpan() {
-        // Create and finish a root Span.
+        // Create and markAsFinished a root Span.
         MockTracer tracer = new MockTracer();
         {
             Span span = tracer.buildSpan("tester").withStartTimestamp(1000).start();
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public void testRootSpan() {
 
     @Test
     public void testChildSpan() {
-        // Create and finish a root Span.
+        // Create and markAsFinished a root Span.
         MockTracer tracer = new MockTracer();
         {
             Span parent = tracer.buildSpan("parent").withStartTimestamp(1000).start();
diff --git a/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/Sandbox.java b/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/Sandbox.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1fc4dcca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opentracing-mock/src/test/java/io/opentracing/mock/Sandbox.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2016-2017 The OpenTracing Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+ * is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+ * or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+package io.opentracing.mock;
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * @author Pavol Loffay
+ */
+public class Sandbox {
+
+    @Test
+    public void test() {
+        MockTracer mockTracer = new MockTracer();
+        MockSpan root = mockTracer.buildSpan("root").start();
+        Assert.assertTrue(mockTracer.spanManager().active() == null);
+
+        root.visibility().activate();
+        Assert.assertEquals(root, mockTracer.spanManager().active());
+
+        MockSpan child = mockTracer.buildSpan("child").start();
+
+        child.finish();
+        root.finish();
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(root.context().spanId(), child.parentId());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index fe932431..92d68b87 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
 
     <modules>
         <module>opentracing-api</module>
-        <module>opentracing-noop</module>
-        <module>opentracing-impl</module>
+        <!--<module>opentracing-noop</module>-->
+        <!--<module>opentracing-impl</module>-->
         <module>opentracing-mock</module>
     </modules>