diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 03e3827e1..160180777 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
   ],
   "scripts": {
     "test": "yarn lerna exec yarn test",
-    "build": "yarn lerna exec --scope pg-packet-stream yarn build",
+    "build": "yarn lerna exec --scope pg-protocol yarn build",
     "pretest": "yarn build",
     "lint": "yarn lerna exec --parallel yarn lint"
   },
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/package.json b/packages/pg-protocol/package.json
similarity index 81%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/package.json
rename to packages/pg-protocol/package.json
index bf9c13e84..e3e5640cd 100644
--- a/packages/pg-packet-stream/package.json
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
-  "name": "pg-packet-stream",
+  "name": "pg-protocol",
   "version": "1.1.0",
+  "description": "The postgres client/server binary protocol, implemented in TypeScript",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/b.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/b.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..267d211c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/b.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+// file for microbenchmarking 
+
+import { Writer } from './buffer-writer'
+import { serialize } from './index'
+
+const LOOPS = 1000
+let count = 0
+let start = Date.now()
+const writer = new Writer()
+
+const run = () => {
+  if (count > LOOPS) {
+    console.log(Date.now() - start)
+    return;
+  }
+  count++
+  for(let i = 0; i < LOOPS; i++) {
+    serialize.describe({ type: 'P'})
+    serialize.describe({ type: 'S'})
+  }
+  setImmediate(run)
+}
+
+run()
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/BufferReader.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/buffer-reader.ts
similarity index 96%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/BufferReader.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/buffer-reader.ts
index 9729d919f..68dc89cae 100644
--- a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/BufferReader.ts
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/buffer-reader.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ const emptyBuffer = Buffer.allocUnsafe(0);
 
 export class BufferReader {
   private buffer: Buffer = emptyBuffer;
-  // TODO(bmc): support non-utf8 encoding
+
+  // TODO(bmc): support non-utf8 encoding?
   private encoding: string = 'utf-8';
+
   constructor(private offset: number = 0) {
   }
   public setBuffer(offset: number, buffer: Buffer): void {
diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/buffer-writer.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/buffer-writer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2299070d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/buffer-writer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+//binary data writer tuned for encoding binary specific to the postgres binary protocol
+
+export class Writer {
+  private buffer: Buffer;
+  private offset: number = 5;
+  private headerPosition: number = 0;
+  constructor(private size = 256) {
+    this.buffer = Buffer.alloc(size)
+  }
+
+  private ensure(size: number): void {
+    var remaining = this.buffer.length - this.offset;
+    if (remaining < size) {
+      var oldBuffer = this.buffer;
+      // exponential growth factor of around ~ 1.5
+      // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2269063/buffer-growth-strategy
+      var newSize = oldBuffer.length + (oldBuffer.length >> 1) + size;
+      this.buffer = Buffer.alloc(newSize);
+      oldBuffer.copy(this.buffer);
+    }
+  }
+
+  public addInt32(num: number): Writer {
+    this.ensure(4);
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = (num >>> 24 & 0xFF);
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = (num >>> 16 & 0xFF);
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = (num >>> 8 & 0xFF);
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = (num >>> 0 & 0xFF);
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  public addInt16(num: number): Writer {
+    this.ensure(2);
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = (num >>> 8 & 0xFF);
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = (num >>> 0 & 0xFF);
+    return this;
+  }
+
+
+  public addCString(string: string): Writer {
+    if (!string) {
+      this.ensure(1);
+    } else {
+      var len = Buffer.byteLength(string);
+      this.ensure(len + 1); // +1 for null terminator
+      this.buffer.write(string, this.offset, 'utf-8')
+      this.offset += len;
+    }
+
+    this.buffer[this.offset++] = 0; // null terminator
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  public addString(string: string = ""): Writer {
+    var len = Buffer.byteLength(string);
+    this.ensure(len);
+    this.buffer.write(string, this.offset);
+    this.offset += len;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  public add(otherBuffer: Buffer): Writer {
+    this.ensure(otherBuffer.length);
+    otherBuffer.copy(this.buffer, this.offset);
+    this.offset += otherBuffer.length;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  private join(code?: number): Buffer {
+    if (code) {
+      this.buffer[this.headerPosition] = code;
+      //length is everything in this packet minus the code
+      const length = this.offset - (this.headerPosition + 1)
+      this.buffer.writeInt32BE(length, this.headerPosition + 1)
+    }
+    return this.buffer.slice(code ? 0 : 5, this.offset);
+  }
+
+  public flush(code?: number): Buffer {
+    var result = this.join(code);
+    this.offset = 5;
+    this.headerPosition = 0;
+    this.buffer = Buffer.allocUnsafe(this.size)
+    return result;
+  }
+}
+
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/inbound-parser.test.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/inbound-parser.test.ts
similarity index 99%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/inbound-parser.test.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/inbound-parser.test.ts
index e8619bf83..461ab2628 100644
--- a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/inbound-parser.test.ts
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/inbound-parser.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import buffers from './testing/test-buffers'
 import BufferList from './testing/buffer-list'
-import { parse } from './'
+import { parse } from '.'
 import assert from 'assert'
 import { PassThrough } from 'stream'
 import { BackendMessage } from './messages'
diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/index.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f4ade0173
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { BackendMessage } from './messages';
+import { serialize } from './serializer';
+import { Parser, MessageCallback } from './parser'
+
+export function parse(stream: NodeJS.ReadableStream, callback: MessageCallback): Promise<void> {
+  const parser = new Parser()
+  stream.on('data', (buffer: Buffer) => parser.parse(buffer, callback))
+  return new Promise((resolve) => stream.on('end', () => resolve()))
+}
+
+export { serialize };
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/messages.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/messages.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/messages.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/messages.ts
diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..110b932ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,256 @@
+import assert from 'assert'
+import { serialize } from './serializer'
+import BufferList from './testing/buffer-list'
+
+describe('serializer', () => {
+  it('builds startup message', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.startup({
+      user: 'brian',
+      database: 'bang'
+    })
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, new BufferList()
+      .addInt16(3)
+      .addInt16(0)
+      .addCString('user')
+      .addCString('brian')
+      .addCString('database')
+      .addCString('bang')
+      .addCString('client_encoding')
+      .addCString("'utf-8'")
+      .addCString('').join(true))
+  })
+
+  it('builds password message', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.password('!')
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, new BufferList().addCString('!').join(true, 'p'))
+  })
+
+  it('builds request ssl message', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.requestSsl()
+    const expected = new BufferList().addInt32(80877103).join(true)
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, expected);
+  })
+
+  it('builds SASLInitialResponseMessage message', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.sendSASLInitialResponseMessage('mech', 'data')
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, new BufferList().addCString('mech').addInt32(4).addString('data').join(true, 'p'))
+  })
+
+
+  it('builds SCRAMClientFinalMessage message', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.sendSCRAMClientFinalMessage('data')
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, new BufferList().addString('data').join(true, 'p'))
+  })
+
+
+  it('builds query message', function () {
+    var txt = 'select * from boom'
+    const actual = serialize.query(txt)
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, new BufferList().addCString(txt).join(true, 'Q'))
+  })
+
+
+  describe('parse message', () => {
+
+    it('builds parse message', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.parse({ text: '!' })
+      var expected = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('')
+        .addCString('!')
+        .addInt16(0).join(true, 'P')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+    it('builds parse message with named query', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.parse({
+        name: 'boom',
+        text: 'select * from boom',
+        types: []
+      })
+      var expected = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('boom')
+        .addCString('select * from boom')
+        .addInt16(0).join(true, 'P')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+    it('with multiple parameters', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.parse({
+        name: 'force',
+        text: 'select * from bang where name = $1',
+        types: [1, 2, 3, 4]
+      })
+      var expected = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('force')
+        .addCString('select * from bang where name = $1')
+        .addInt16(4)
+        .addInt32(1)
+        .addInt32(2)
+        .addInt32(3)
+        .addInt32(4).join(true, 'P')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+  })
+
+
+  describe('bind messages', function () {
+    it('with no values', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.bind()
+
+      var expectedBuffer = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('')
+        .addCString('')
+        .addInt16(0)
+        .addInt16(0)
+        .addInt16(0)
+        .join(true, 'B')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expectedBuffer)
+    })
+
+    it('with named statement, portal, and values', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.bind({
+        portal: 'bang',
+        statement: 'woo',
+        values: ['1', 'hi', null, 'zing']
+      })
+      var expectedBuffer = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('bang')  // portal name
+        .addCString('woo') // statement name
+        .addInt16(0)
+        .addInt16(4)
+        .addInt32(1)
+        .add(Buffer.from('1'))
+        .addInt32(2)
+        .add(Buffer.from('hi'))
+        .addInt32(-1)
+        .addInt32(4)
+        .add(Buffer.from('zing'))
+        .addInt16(0)
+        .join(true, 'B')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expectedBuffer)
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('with named statement, portal, and buffer value', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.bind({
+      portal: 'bang',
+      statement: 'woo',
+      values: ['1', 'hi', null, Buffer.from('zing', 'utf8')]
+    })
+    var expectedBuffer = new BufferList()
+      .addCString('bang')  // portal name
+      .addCString('woo') // statement name
+      .addInt16(4)// value count
+      .addInt16(0)// string
+      .addInt16(0)// string
+      .addInt16(0)// string
+      .addInt16(1)// binary
+      .addInt16(4)
+      .addInt32(1)
+      .add(Buffer.from('1'))
+      .addInt32(2)
+      .add(Buffer.from('hi'))
+      .addInt32(-1)
+      .addInt32(4)
+      .add(Buffer.from('zing', 'utf-8'))
+      .addInt16(0)
+      .join(true, 'B')
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, expectedBuffer)
+  })
+
+  describe('builds execute message', function () {
+    it('for unamed portal with no row limit', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.execute()
+      var expectedBuffer = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('')
+        .addInt32(0)
+        .join(true, 'E')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expectedBuffer)
+    })
+
+    it('for named portal with row limit', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.execute({
+        portal: 'my favorite portal',
+        rows: 100
+      })
+      var expectedBuffer = new BufferList()
+        .addCString('my favorite portal')
+        .addInt32(100)
+        .join(true, 'E')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expectedBuffer)
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('builds flush command', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.flush()
+    var expected = new BufferList().join(true, 'H')
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+  })
+
+  it('builds sync command', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.sync()
+    var expected = new BufferList().join(true, 'S')
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+  })
+
+  it('builds end command', function () {
+    const actual = serialize.end()
+    var expected = Buffer.from([0x58, 0, 0, 0, 4])
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+  })
+
+  describe('builds describe command', function () {
+    it('describe statement', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.describe({ type: 'S', name: 'bang' })
+      var expected = new BufferList().addChar('S').addCString('bang').join(true, 'D')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+    it('describe unnamed portal', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.describe({ type: 'P' })
+      var expected = new BufferList().addChar('P').addCString('').join(true, 'D')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('builds close command', function () {
+    it('describe statement', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.close({ type: 'S', name: 'bang' })
+      var expected = new BufferList().addChar('S').addCString('bang').join(true, 'C')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+    it('describe unnamed portal', function () {
+      const actual = serialize.close({ type: 'P' })
+      var expected = new BufferList().addChar('P').addCString('').join(true, 'C')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('copy messages', function () {
+    it('builds copyFromChunk', () => {
+      const actual = serialize.copyData(Buffer.from([1, 2, 3]))
+      const expected = new BufferList().add(Buffer.from([1, 2,3 ])).join(true, 'd')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+    it('builds copy fail', () => {
+      const actual = serialize.copyFail('err!')
+      const expected = new BufferList().addCString('err!').join(true, 'f')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+
+    it('builds copy done', () => {
+      const actual = serialize.copyDone()
+      const expected = new BufferList().join(true, 'c')
+      assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('builds cancel message', () => {
+    const actual = serialize.cancel(3, 4)
+    const expected = new BufferList().addInt16(1234).addInt16(5678).addInt32(3).addInt32(4).join(true)
+    assert.deepEqual(actual, expected)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/index.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/parser.ts
similarity index 96%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/index.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/parser.ts
index 3ebe5e847..69a9c28b2 100644
--- a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/parser.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { TransformOptions } from 'stream';
 import { Mode, bindComplete, parseComplete, closeComplete, noData, portalSuspended, copyDone, replicationStart, emptyQuery, ReadyForQueryMessage, CommandCompleteMessage, CopyDataMessage, CopyResponse, NotificationResponseMessage, RowDescriptionMessage, Field, DataRowMessage, ParameterStatusMessage, BackendKeyDataMessage, DatabaseError, BackendMessage, MessageName, AuthenticationMD5Password, NoticeMessage } from './messages';
-import { BufferReader } from './BufferReader';
+import { BufferReader } from './buffer-reader';
 import assert from 'assert'
 
 // every message is prefixed with a single bye
@@ -46,15 +46,9 @@ const enum MessageCodes {
   CopyData = 0x64, // d
 }
 
-type MessageCallback = (msg: BackendMessage) => void;
+export type MessageCallback = (msg: BackendMessage) => void;
 
-export function parse(stream: NodeJS.ReadableStream, callback: MessageCallback): Promise<void> {
-  const parser = new PgPacketParser()
-  stream.on('data', (buffer: Buffer) => parser.parse(buffer, callback))
-  return new Promise((resolve) => stream.on('end', () => resolve()))
-}
-
-class PgPacketParser {
+export class Parser {
   private remainingBuffer: Buffer = emptyBuffer;
   private reader = new BufferReader();
   private mode: Mode;
diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..71ac3c878
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,272 @@
+import { Writer } from './buffer-writer'
+
+const enum code {
+  startup = 0x70,
+  query = 0x51,
+  parse = 0x50,
+  bind = 0x42,
+  execute = 0x45,
+  flush = 0x48,
+  sync = 0x53,
+  end = 0x58,
+  close = 0x43,
+  describe = 0x44,
+  copyFromChunk = 0x64,
+  copyDone = 0x63,
+  copyFail = 0x66
+}
+
+const writer = new Writer()
+
+const startup = (opts: Record<string, string>): Buffer => {
+  // protocol version
+  writer.addInt16(3).addInt16(0)
+  for (const key of Object.keys(opts)) {
+    writer.addCString(key).addCString(opts[key])
+  }
+
+  writer.addCString('client_encoding').addCString("'utf-8'")
+
+  var bodyBuffer = writer.addCString('').flush()
+  // this message is sent without a code
+
+  var length = bodyBuffer.length + 4
+
+  return new Writer()
+    .addInt32(length)
+    .add(bodyBuffer)
+    .flush()
+}
+
+const requestSsl = (): Buffer => {
+  const response = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8)
+  response.writeInt32BE(8, 0);
+  response.writeInt32BE(80877103, 4)
+  return response
+}
+
+const password = (password: string): Buffer => {
+  return writer.addCString(password).flush(code.startup)
+}
+
+const sendSASLInitialResponseMessage = function (mechanism: string, initialResponse: string): Buffer {
+  // 0x70 = 'p'
+  writer
+    .addCString(mechanism)
+    .addInt32(Buffer.byteLength(initialResponse))
+    .addString(initialResponse)
+
+  return writer.flush(code.startup)
+}
+
+const sendSCRAMClientFinalMessage = function (additionalData: string): Buffer {
+  return writer.addString(additionalData).flush(code.startup)
+}
+
+const query = (text: string): Buffer => {
+  return writer.addCString(text).flush(code.query)
+}
+
+type ParseOpts = {
+  name?: string;
+  types?: number[];
+  text: string;
+}
+
+const emptyArray: any[] = []
+
+const parse = (query: ParseOpts): Buffer => {
+  // expect something like this:
+  // { name: 'queryName',
+  //   text: 'select * from blah',
+  //   types: ['int8', 'bool'] }
+
+  // normalize missing query names to allow for null
+  const name = query.name || ''
+  if (name.length > 63) {
+    /* eslint-disable no-console */
+    console.error('Warning! Postgres only supports 63 characters for query names.')
+    console.error('You supplied %s (%s)', name, name.length)
+    console.error('This can cause conflicts and silent errors executing queries')
+    /* eslint-enable no-console */
+  }
+
+  const types = query.types || emptyArray
+
+  var len = types.length
+
+  var buffer = writer
+    .addCString(name) // name of query
+    .addCString(query.text) // actual query text
+    .addInt16(len)
+
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    buffer.addInt32(types[i])
+  }
+
+  return writer.flush(code.parse)
+}
+
+type BindOpts = {
+  portal?: string;
+  binary?: boolean;
+  statement?: string;
+  values?: any[];
+}
+
+const bind = (config: BindOpts = {}): Buffer => {
+  // normalize config
+  const portal = config.portal || ''
+  const statement = config.statement || ''
+  const binary = config.binary || false
+  var values = config.values || emptyArray
+  var len = values.length
+
+  var useBinary = false
+  // TODO(bmc): all the loops in here aren't nice, we can do better
+  for (var j = 0; j < len; j++) {
+    useBinary = useBinary || values[j] instanceof Buffer
+  }
+
+  var buffer = writer
+    .addCString(portal)
+    .addCString(statement)
+  if (!useBinary) {
+    buffer.addInt16(0)
+  } else {
+    buffer.addInt16(len)
+    for (j = 0; j < len; j++) {
+      buffer.addInt16(values[j] instanceof Buffer ? 1 : 0)
+    }
+  }
+  buffer.addInt16(len)
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    var val = values[i]
+    if (val === null || typeof val === 'undefined') {
+      buffer.addInt32(-1)
+    } else if (val instanceof Buffer) {
+      buffer.addInt32(val.length)
+      buffer.add(val)
+    } else {
+      buffer.addInt32(Buffer.byteLength(val))
+      buffer.addString(val)
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (binary) {
+    buffer.addInt16(1) // format codes to use binary
+    buffer.addInt16(1)
+  } else {
+    buffer.addInt16(0) // format codes to use text
+  }
+  return writer.flush(code.bind)
+}
+
+type ExecOpts = {
+  portal?: string;
+  rows?: number;
+}
+
+const emptyExecute = Buffer.from([code.execute, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x09, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
+
+const execute = (config?: ExecOpts): Buffer => {
+  // this is the happy path for most queries
+  if (!config || !config.portal && !config.rows) {
+    return emptyExecute;
+  }
+
+  const portal = config.portal || ''
+  const rows = config.rows || 0
+
+  const portalLength = Buffer.byteLength(portal)
+  const len = 4 + portalLength + 1 + 4
+  // one extra bit for code
+  const buff = Buffer.allocUnsafe(1 + len)
+  buff[0] = code.execute
+  buff.writeInt32BE(len, 1)
+  buff.write(portal, 5, 'utf-8')
+  buff[portalLength + 5] = 0; // null terminate portal cString
+  buff.writeUInt32BE(rows, buff.length - 4)
+  return buff;
+}
+
+const cancel = (processID: number, secretKey: number): Buffer => {
+  const buffer = Buffer.allocUnsafe(16)
+  buffer.writeInt32BE(16, 0)
+  buffer.writeInt16BE(1234, 4)
+  buffer.writeInt16BE(5678, 6)
+  buffer.writeInt32BE(processID, 8)
+  buffer.writeInt32BE(secretKey, 12)
+  return buffer;
+}
+
+type PortalOpts = {
+  type: 'S' | 'P',
+  name?: string;
+}
+
+const cstringMessage = (code: code, string: string): Buffer => {
+  const stringLen = Buffer.byteLength(string)
+  const len = 4 + stringLen + 1
+  // one extra bit for code
+  const buffer = Buffer.allocUnsafe(1 + len)
+  buffer[0] = code
+  buffer.writeInt32BE(len, 1)
+  buffer.write(string, 5, 'utf-8')
+  buffer[len] = 0 // null terminate cString
+  return buffer
+}
+
+const emptyDescribePortal = writer.addCString('P').flush(code.describe)
+const emptyDescribeStatement = writer.addCString('S').flush(code.describe)
+
+const describe = (msg: PortalOpts): Buffer => {
+  return msg.name ? 
+    cstringMessage(code.describe,`${msg.type}${msg.name || ''}`) : 
+    msg.type === 'P' ? 
+      emptyDescribePortal : 
+      emptyDescribeStatement;
+}
+
+const close = (msg: PortalOpts): Buffer => {
+  const text = `${msg.type}${msg.name || ''}`
+  return cstringMessage(code.close, text)
+}
+
+const copyData = (chunk: Buffer): Buffer => {
+  return writer.add(chunk).flush(code.copyFromChunk)
+}
+
+const copyFail = (message: string): Buffer => {
+  return cstringMessage(code.copyFail, message);
+}
+
+const codeOnlyBuffer = (code: code): Buffer => Buffer.from([code, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x04])
+
+const flushBuffer = codeOnlyBuffer(code.flush)
+const syncBuffer = codeOnlyBuffer(code.sync)
+const endBuffer = codeOnlyBuffer(code.end)
+const copyDoneBuffer = codeOnlyBuffer(code.copyDone)
+
+const serialize = {
+  startup,
+  password,
+  requestSsl,
+  sendSASLInitialResponseMessage,
+  sendSCRAMClientFinalMessage,
+  query,
+  parse,
+  bind,
+  execute,
+  describe,
+  close,
+  flush: () => flushBuffer,
+  sync: () => syncBuffer,
+  end: () => endBuffer,
+  copyData,
+  copyDone: () => copyDoneBuffer,
+  copyFail,
+  cancel
+}
+
+export { serialize }
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/testing/buffer-list.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/testing/buffer-list.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/testing/buffer-list.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/testing/buffer-list.ts
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/testing/test-buffers.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/testing/test-buffers.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/testing/test-buffers.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/testing/test-buffers.ts
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/src/types/chunky.d.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/types/chunky.d.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/src/types/chunky.d.ts
rename to packages/pg-protocol/src/types/chunky.d.ts
diff --git a/packages/pg-packet-stream/tsconfig.json b/packages/pg-protocol/tsconfig.json
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pg-packet-stream/tsconfig.json
rename to packages/pg-protocol/tsconfig.json
diff --git a/packages/pg/lib/connection-fast.js b/packages/pg/lib/connection-fast.js
index ecbb362c9..71ef63ba6 100644
--- a/packages/pg/lib/connection-fast.js
+++ b/packages/pg/lib/connection-fast.js
@@ -11,11 +11,8 @@ var net = require('net')
 var EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter
 var util = require('util')
 
-var Writer = require('buffer-writer')
 // eslint-disable-next-line
-const { parse } = require('pg-packet-stream')
-
-var TEXT_MODE = 0
+const { parse, serialize } = require('../../pg-protocol/dist')
 
 // TODO(bmc) support binary mode here
 // var BINARY_MODE = 1
@@ -28,15 +25,9 @@ var Connection = function (config) {
   this._keepAlive = config.keepAlive
   this._keepAliveInitialDelayMillis = config.keepAliveInitialDelayMillis
   this.lastBuffer = false
-  this.lastOffset = 0
-  this.buffer = null
-  this.offset = null
-  this.encoding = config.encoding || 'utf8'
   this.parsedStatements = {}
-  this.writer = new Writer()
   this.ssl = config.ssl || false
   this._ending = false
-  this._mode = TEXT_MODE
   this._emitMessage = false
   var self = this
   this.on('newListener', function (eventName) {
@@ -122,244 +113,103 @@ Connection.prototype.attachListeners = function (stream) {
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.requestSsl = function () {
-  var bodyBuffer = this.writer
-    .addInt16(0x04d2)
-    .addInt16(0x162f)
-    .flush()
-
-  var length = bodyBuffer.length + 4
-
-  var buffer = new Writer()
-    .addInt32(length)
-    .add(bodyBuffer)
-    .join()
-  this.stream.write(buffer)
+  this.stream.write(serialize.requestSsl())
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.startup = function (config) {
-  var writer = this.writer.addInt16(3).addInt16(0)
-
-  Object.keys(config).forEach(function (key) {
-    var val = config[key]
-    writer.addCString(key).addCString(val)
-  })
-
-  writer.addCString('client_encoding').addCString("'utf-8'")
-
-  var bodyBuffer = writer.addCString('').flush()
-  // this message is sent without a code
-
-  var length = bodyBuffer.length + 4
-
-  var buffer = new Writer()
-    .addInt32(length)
-    .add(bodyBuffer)
-    .join()
-  this.stream.write(buffer)
+  this.stream.write(serialize.startup(config))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.cancel = function (processID, secretKey) {
-  var bodyBuffer = this.writer
-    .addInt16(1234)
-    .addInt16(5678)
-    .addInt32(processID)
-    .addInt32(secretKey)
-    .flush()
-
-  var length = bodyBuffer.length + 4
-
-  var buffer = new Writer()
-    .addInt32(length)
-    .add(bodyBuffer)
-    .join()
-  this.stream.write(buffer)
+  this._send(serialize.cancel(processID, secretKey))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.password = function (password) {
-  // 0x70 = 'p'
-  this._send(0x70, this.writer.addCString(password))
+  this._send(serialize.password(password))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.sendSASLInitialResponseMessage = function (mechanism, initialResponse) {
-  // 0x70 = 'p'
-  this.writer
-    .addCString(mechanism)
-    .addInt32(Buffer.byteLength(initialResponse))
-    .addString(initialResponse)
-
-  this._send(0x70)
+  this._send(serialize.sendSASLInitialResponseMessage(mechanism, initialResponse))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.sendSCRAMClientFinalMessage = function (additionalData) {
-  // 0x70 = 'p'
-  this.writer.addString(additionalData)
-
-  this._send(0x70)
+  this._send(serialize.sendSCRAMClientFinalMessage(additionalData))
 }
 
-Connection.prototype._send = function (code, more) {
+Connection.prototype._send = function (buffer) {
   if (!this.stream.writable) {
     return false
   }
-  return this.stream.write(this.writer.flush(code))
+  return this.stream.write(buffer)
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.query = function (text) {
-  // 0x51 = Q
-  this.stream.write(this.writer.addCString(text).flush(0x51))
+  this._send(serialize.query(text))
 }
 
 // send parse message
 Connection.prototype.parse = function (query) {
-  // expect something like this:
-  // { name: 'queryName',
-  //   text: 'select * from blah',
-  //   types: ['int8', 'bool'] }
-
-  // normalize missing query names to allow for null
-  query.name = query.name || ''
-  if (query.name.length > 63) {
-    /* eslint-disable no-console */
-    console.error('Warning! Postgres only supports 63 characters for query names.')
-    console.error('You supplied %s (%s)', query.name, query.name.length)
-    console.error('This can cause conflicts and silent errors executing queries')
-    /* eslint-enable no-console */
-  }
-  // normalize null type array
-  query.types = query.types || []
-  var len = query.types.length
-  var buffer = this.writer
-    .addCString(query.name) // name of query
-    .addCString(query.text) // actual query text
-    .addInt16(len)
-  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-    buffer.addInt32(query.types[i])
-  }
-
-  var code = 0x50
-  this._send(code)
-  this.flush()
+  this._send(serialize.parse(query))
 }
 
 // send bind message
 // "more" === true to buffer the message until flush() is called
 Connection.prototype.bind = function (config) {
-  // normalize config
-  config = config || {}
-  config.portal = config.portal || ''
-  config.statement = config.statement || ''
-  config.binary = config.binary || false
-  var values = config.values || []
-  var len = values.length
-  var useBinary = false
-  for (var j = 0; j < len; j++) {
-    useBinary |= values[j] instanceof Buffer
-  }
-  var buffer = this.writer.addCString(config.portal).addCString(config.statement)
-  if (!useBinary) {
-    buffer.addInt16(0)
-  } else {
-    buffer.addInt16(len)
-    for (j = 0; j < len; j++) {
-      buffer.addInt16(values[j] instanceof Buffer)
-    }
-  }
-  buffer.addInt16(len)
-  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-    var val = values[i]
-    if (val === null || typeof val === 'undefined') {
-      buffer.addInt32(-1)
-    } else if (val instanceof Buffer) {
-      buffer.addInt32(val.length)
-      buffer.add(val)
-    } else {
-      buffer.addInt32(Buffer.byteLength(val))
-      buffer.addString(val)
-    }
-  }
-
-  if (config.binary) {
-    buffer.addInt16(1) // format codes to use binary
-    buffer.addInt16(1)
-  } else {
-    buffer.addInt16(0) // format codes to use text
-  }
-  // 0x42 = 'B'
-  this._send(0x42)
-  this.flush()
+  this._send(serialize.bind(config))
 }
 
 // send execute message
 // "more" === true to buffer the message until flush() is called
 Connection.prototype.execute = function (config) {
-  config = config || {}
-  config.portal = config.portal || ''
-  config.rows = config.rows || ''
-  this.writer.addCString(config.portal).addInt32(config.rows)
-
-  // 0x45 = 'E'
-  this._send(0x45)
-  this.flush()
+  this._send(serialize.execute(config))
 }
 
-var emptyBuffer = Buffer.alloc(0)
-
-const flushBuffer = Buffer.from([0x48, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x04])
+const flushBuffer = serialize.flush()
 Connection.prototype.flush = function () {
   if (this.stream.writable) {
     this.stream.write(flushBuffer)
   }
 }
 
-const syncBuffer = Buffer.from([0x53, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x04])
+const syncBuffer = serialize.sync()
 Connection.prototype.sync = function () {
   this._ending = true
-  // clear out any pending data in the writer
-  this.writer.clear()
-  if (this.stream.writable) {
-    this.stream.write(syncBuffer)
-    this.stream.write(flushBuffer)
-  }
+  this._send(syncBuffer)
+  this._send(flushBuffer)
 }
 
-const END_BUFFER = Buffer.from([0x58, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x04])
+const endBuffer = serialize.end()
 
 Connection.prototype.end = function () {
   // 0x58 = 'X'
-  this.writer.clear()
   this._ending = true
   if (!this.stream.writable) {
     this.stream.end()
     return
   }
-  return this.stream.write(END_BUFFER, () => {
+  return this.stream.write(endBuffer, () => {
     this.stream.end()
   })
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.close = function (msg) {
-  this.writer.addCString(msg.type + (msg.name || ''))
-  this._send(0x43)
+  this._send(serialize.close(msg))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.describe = function (msg) {
-  this.writer.addCString(msg.type + (msg.name || ''))
-  this._send(0x44)
-  this.flush()
+  this._send(serialize.describe(msg))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.sendCopyFromChunk = function (chunk) {
-  this.stream.write(this.writer.add(chunk).flush(0x64))
+  this._send(serialize.copyData(chunk))
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.endCopyFrom = function () {
-  this.stream.write(this.writer.add(emptyBuffer).flush(0x63))
+  this._send(serialize.copyDone())
 }
 
 Connection.prototype.sendCopyFail = function (msg) {
-  // this.stream.write(this.writer.add(emptyBuffer).flush(0x66));
-  this.writer.addCString(msg)
-  this._send(0x66)
+  this._send(serialize.copyFail(msg))
 }
 
 module.exports = Connection
diff --git a/packages/pg/package.json b/packages/pg/package.json
index edd24337b..b0bd735f5 100644
--- a/packages/pg/package.json
+++ b/packages/pg/package.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     "buffer-writer": "2.0.0",
     "packet-reader": "1.0.0",
     "pg-connection-string": "0.1.3",
-    "pg-packet-stream": "^1.1.0",
+    "pg-protocol": "^1.1.0",
     "pg-pool": "^3.0.0",
     "pg-types": "^2.1.0",
     "pgpass": "1.x",