diff --git a/coverband.gemspec b/coverband.gemspec
index 830f8897..35d07f94 100644
--- a/coverband.gemspec
+++ b/coverband.gemspec
@@ -28,11 +28,13 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency 'test-unit'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'redis'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'benchmark-ips'
+  spec.add_development_dependency 'm'
+
   # used for benchmarking and tests
   spec.add_development_dependency 'classifier-reborn'
   # add when debugging
   # require 'byebug'; byebug
-  spec.add_development_dependency 'byebug'
+  spec.add_development_dependency 'pry-byebug'
 
   # todo make an optional dependency for simplecov reports
   # also likely should just require simplecov-html not the whole lib
diff --git a/lib/coverband.rb b/lib/coverband.rb
index cf24cc4b..40f19d46 100644
--- a/lib/coverband.rb
+++ b/lib/coverband.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 require 'coverband/reporters/base'
 require 'coverband/reporters/simple_cov_report'
 require 'coverband/reporters/console_report'
+require 'coverband/integrations/background'
+require 'coverband/integrations/rack_server_check'
 require 'coverband/reporters/web'
 require 'coverband/integrations/middleware'
 require 'coverband/integrations/background'
@@ -44,5 +46,6 @@ def self.configuration
 
   def self.start
     Coverband::Collectors::Coverage.instance
+    Background.start if configuration.background_reporting_enabled && !RackServerCheck.running?
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/coverband/collectors/coverage.rb b/lib/coverband/collectors/coverage.rb
index 6d0ecb53..00b0b73e 100644
--- a/lib/coverband/collectors/coverage.rb
+++ b/lib/coverband/collectors/coverage.rb
@@ -24,12 +24,15 @@ def reset_instance
         @verbose  = Coverband.configuration.verbose
         @logger   = Coverband.configuration.logger
         @current_thread = Thread.current
+        @background_reporting_enabled = Coverband.configuration.background_reporting_enabled
         Thread.current[:coverband_instance] = nil
         self
       end
 
       def report_coverage(force_report = false)
+        return Background.start if @background_reporting_enabled
         return if !ready_to_report? && !force_report
+
         unless @store
           @logger.debug 'no store set, no-op'
           return
diff --git a/lib/coverband/configuration.rb b/lib/coverband/configuration.rb
index b2097daa..b425f01f 100644
--- a/lib/coverband/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/coverband/configuration.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ class Configuration
                   :reporter, :reporting_frequency,
                   :disable_on_failure_for,
                   :redis_namespace, :redis_ttl,
-                  :safe_reload_files
+                  :safe_reload_files, :background_reporting_enabled,
+                  :background_reporting_sleep_seconds
 
     attr_writer :logger, :s3_region, :s3_bucket, :s3_access_key_id, :s3_secret_access_key
 
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ def initialize
       @s3_secret_access_key = nil
       @redis_namespace = nil
       @redis_ttl = nil
+      @background_reporting_sleep_seconds = 30
     end
 
     def logger
diff --git a/lib/coverband/integrations/background.rb b/lib/coverband/integrations/background.rb
index 0c3060a0..79375d8f 100644
--- a/lib/coverband/integrations/background.rb
+++ b/lib/coverband/integrations/background.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,25 @@
 
 module Coverband
   class Background
-    # TODO: stub to implement background thread recording
+    @semaphore = Mutex.new
+
+    def self.start
+      return if @background_reporting_running
+
+      @semaphore.synchronize do
+        return if @background_reporting_running
+
+        @background_reporting_running = true
+        sleep_seconds = Coverband.configuration.background_reporting_sleep_seconds
+        logger = Coverband.configuration.logger
+        Thread.new do
+          loop do
+            Coverband::Collectors::Coverage.instance.report_coverage
+            logger&.debug("Reported coverage from thread. Sleeping for #{sleep_seconds} seconds")
+            sleep(sleep_seconds)
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/coverband/integrations/rack_server_check.rb b/lib/coverband/integrations/rack_server_check.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c8d5069c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/coverband/integrations/rack_server_check.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module Coverband
+  class RackServerCheck
+    def self.running?
+      Kernel.caller_locations.any? { |line| line.path.include?('lib/rack/') }
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index dab723fa..2109cef1 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 require 'ostruct'
 require 'json'
 require 'redis'
+require 'pry-byebug'
 
 SimpleCov.start do
   add_filter 'specs/ruby/1.9.1/gems/'
diff --git a/test/unit/background_test.rb b/test/unit/background_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8892c358
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/background_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require File.expand_path('../test_helper', File.dirname(__FILE__))
+
+class BackgroundTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_start
+    Thread.expects(:new).yields
+    Coverband::Background.expects(:loop).yields
+    Coverband::Collectors::Coverage.instance.expects(:report_coverage)
+    Coverband::Background.expects(:sleep).with(30)
+    2.times { Coverband::Background.start }
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/test/unit/collectors_coverage_test.rb b/test/unit/collectors_coverage_test.rb
index feda5af5..4b7e3f4e 100644
--- a/test/unit/collectors_coverage_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/collectors_coverage_test.rb
@@ -29,5 +29,12 @@ def teardown
       assert_equal Coverband::Adapters::RedisStore, coverband.instance_variable_get('@store').class
     end
 
+    test 'reports coverage in background when background reporting enabled' do
+      Coverband.configuration.stubs(:background_reporting_enabled).returns(true)
+      @coverband.reset_instance
+      Coverband::Background.expects(:start)
+      @coverband.report_coverage
+    end
+
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/unit/coverband_test.rb b/test/unit/coverband_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a0522bea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/coverband_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require File.expand_path('../test_helper', File.dirname(__FILE__))
+
+class CoverbandTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  test 'Coverband#start kicks off background reporting if enabled and not in rack server' do
+    Coverband.configuration.stubs(:background_reporting_enabled).returns(:true)
+    Coverband::RackServerCheck.expects(:running?).returns(false)
+    Coverband::Background.expects(:start)
+    Coverband.start
+  end
+
+  test 'Coverband#start delays background reporting if enabled and running in a rack server' do
+    Coverband.configuration.stubs(:background_reporting_enabled).returns(true)
+    Coverband::RackServerCheck.expects(:running?).returns(true)
+    Coverband::Background.expects(:start).never
+    Coverband.start
+  end
+
+  test 'Coverband#start does not kick off background reporting if not enabled' do
+    Coverband.configuration.stubs(:background_reporting_enabled).returns(false)
+    Coverband::Background.expects(:start).never
+    ::Coverband.start
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/rack_server_checkout_test.rb b/test/unit/rack_server_checkout_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8b14523c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/rack_server_checkout_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require File.expand_path('../test_helper', File.dirname(__FILE__))
+
+class RackServerCheckTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  test 'returns true when running in rack server' do
+    caller_locations = ['blah/lib/rack/server.rb'].map{ |path| OpenStruct.new(path: path) }
+    Kernel.expects(:caller_locations).returns(caller_locations)
+    assert_true(Coverband::RackServerCheck.running?)
+  end
+
+  test 'returns false when not running in rack server' do
+    caller_locations = ['blah/lib/sidekiq/worker.rb'].map{ |path| OpenStruct.new(path: path) }
+    Kernel.expects(:caller_locations).returns(caller_locations)
+    assert_false(Coverband::RackServerCheck.running?)
+  end
+end