diff --git a/.zed/debug.json b/.zed/debug.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..edef0478
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.zed/debug.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// Project-local debug tasks
+//
+// For more documentation on how to configure debug tasks,
+// see: https://zed.dev/docs/debugger
+[
+  {
+    "adapter": "Debugpy",
+    "label": "Debug current python file",
+    "justMyCode": false,
+    "program": "${ZED_FILE}",
+    "request": "launch"
+  },
+]
diff --git a/bec_lib/bec_lib/actors.py b/bec_lib/bec_lib/actors.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5815eb75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_lib/bec_lib/actors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+"""Definitions and protocols for the classes in bec_server.actors and in plugins."""
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from enum import StrEnum
+from typing import Any, Protocol, runtime_checkable
+
+from typing_extensions import TypeAliasType  # only for 3.11
+
+from bec_lib.client import BECClient
+
+
+class ConditionCombination(StrEnum):
+    Any = "Any"
+    All = "All"
+
+
+class ActorCondition(Protocol):
+    def __call__(self, client: BECClient) -> Any:
+        """A callable which returns True if the condition is met and False if it is not."""
+
+
+@dataclass
+class ActorConditionSet:
+    conditions: set[ActorCondition]
+    combination_mode: ConditionCombination
+
+    def __call__(self, client: BECClient) -> bool:
+        if self.combination_mode == ConditionCombination.Any:
+            return any(condition(client) for condition in self.conditions)
+        return all(condition(client) for condition in self.conditions)
+
+
+class ActorAction(Protocol):
+    def __call__(self, client: BECClient) -> None:
+        """A callable which an actor calls if it has met the associated condition"""
+
+
+ActorActionTable = TypeAliasType(
+    "ActorActionTable", dict[ActorConditionSet | ActorCondition, ActorAction]
+)
+
+
+@runtime_checkable
+class Actor(Protocol):
+    client: BECClient
+    action_table: ActorActionTable
+
+    def __init__(self, client: BECClient, exec_id: str):
+        """Create the actor instance"""
+
+    def run(self):
+        """The core logic loop for the actor"""
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/actors/__init__.py b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/actors/actor.py b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/actor.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d130a94f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/actor.py
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+"""Actors can autonomously respond to changes in beamline states."""
+
+import time
+from threading import Event
+from typing import Iterable
+
+from bec_lib.actors import Actor as ActorProtocol
+from bec_lib.client import BECClient
+from bec_lib.endpoints import EndpointInfo, MessageEndpoints
+from bec_lib.logger import bec_logger
+
+logger = bec_logger.logger
+
+
+class ActorBase(ActorProtocol):
+    def __init__(self, client: BECClient, exec_id: str):
+        self.client = client
+        self.stop_event = Event()
+        self.client.connector.register(MessageEndpoints.actor_stop(exec_id), cb=self.stop)
+
+    def evaluate(self, *_, **__):
+        for condition, action in self.action_table.items():
+            if condition(self.client):
+                logger.info(
+                    f"{self.__class__.__name__} triggered, executing action for condition: {condition}"
+                )
+                action(self.client)
+
+    def stop(self, *_):
+        self.stop_event.set()
+
+
+class SubscriptionActor(ActorBase):
+    """An actor which subscribes to a list of redis endpoints, and evaluates on any message to any
+    of those endpoints."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        client: BECClient,
+        exec_id: str,
+        endpoints: Iterable[EndpointInfo],
+        min_delay_s: float = 0.01,
+    ):
+        super().__init__(client, exec_id)
+        self.min_delay = min_delay_s
+        self.last_evaluated = time.monotonic()
+        for endpoint in set(endpoints):
+            client.connector.register(endpoint, cb=self.evaluate)
+
+    def evaluate(self, *_, **__):
+        if (now := time.monotonic()) < self.last_evaluated + self.min_delay:
+            return
+        self.last_evaluated = now
+        return super().evaluate(*_, **__)
+
+    def run(self):
+        self.stop_event.wait()
+
+
+class PollingActor(ActorBase):
+    """An actor which evaluates its conditions after a certain time interval."""
+
+    def __init__(self, client: BECClient, exec_id: str, poll_interval_s: float = 0.1):
+        super().__init__(client, exec_id)
+        self.poll_interval = poll_interval_s
+
+    def run(self):
+        while not self.stop_event.wait(timeout=0.1):
+            self.evaluate()
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/actors/manager.py b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3eb9a879
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+"""A manager for BEC Actors, based on the same infrastructure as Procedures."""
+
+import threading
+from concurrent.futures import Future
+from typing import Any
+from uuid import uuid4
+
+from bec_lib.endpoints import MessageEndpoints
+from bec_lib.logger import bec_logger
+from bec_lib.messages import ActorExecutionMessage, ActorStartRequestMessage
+from bec_server.actors.worker import ActorProcedureWorker
+from bec_server.procedures.manager import ProcedureManagerBase, _resolve_dict
+
+logger = bec_logger.logger
+
+
+class ActorHelper: ...
+
+
+class ActorManager(ProcedureManagerBase[ActorStartRequestMessage, ActorExecutionMessage]):
+    """A specialised procedure manager for running Actors."""
+
+    def _define_endpoints(self):
+        self._reply_ep = MessageEndpoints.actor_request_response()
+        self._request_ep = MessageEndpoints.actor_start_request()
+        self._abort_ep = MessageEndpoints.actor_stop_request()
+
+    def __init__(self, redis: str, thread_prefix: str = "actor_"):
+        super().__init__(redis, ActorProcedureWorker, thread_prefix)
+
+    def _register_endpoints(self):
+        self._conn.register(self._request_ep, None, self._process_queue_request)
+
+    def _unregister_endpoints(self):
+        self._conn.unregister(self._request_ep, None, self._process_queue_request)
+
+    def _publish_available(self): ...
+
+    def _startup(self): ...
+
+    def _validate_request(self, msg: dict[str, Any] | ActorStartRequestMessage):
+        return _resolve_dict(msg, ActorStartRequestMessage)
+
+    def _respond_to_valid_request(self, message: ActorStartRequestMessage):
+        queue = f"{message.actor_module}.{message.actor_class_name}"
+        exec_id = str(uuid4())
+        return ActorExecutionMessage(
+            execution_id=exec_id,
+            queue=queue,
+            env={
+                "actor_module": message.actor_module,
+                "actor_class_name": message.actor_class_name,
+                "actor_exec_id": exec_id,
+            },
+        )
+
+    def _cleanup_worker_function(self, queue: str):
+        def cleanup_worker(fut: Future): ...
+
+        return cleanup_worker
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    e = threading.Event()
+    manager = ActorManager(redis="localhost:6379")
+    try:
+        e.wait()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        ...
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/actors/worker.py b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/worker.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01ba7c99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_server/bec_server/actors/worker.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import importlib
+import os
+from contextlib import redirect_stdout
+from inspect import isclass
+
+from bec_lib.client import BECClient
+from bec_lib.logger import LogLevel, bec_logger
+from bec_lib.redis_connector import RedisConnector
+from bec_server.actors.actor import ActorBase
+from bec_server.procedures.oop_worker_base import RedisOutputDiverter, get_env, setup
+from bec_server.procedures.subprocess_worker import SubProcessWorker
+
+logger = bec_logger.logger
+
+
+def actor_procedure(actor_module: str, actor_class_name: str, exec_id: str, bec: BECClient):
+    try:
+        mod = importlib.import_module(actor_module)
+        actor_class = getattr(mod, actor_class_name)
+    except ImportError:
+        logger.error(f"Module '{actor_module}' not found! Exiting.")
+        return
+    except AttributeError:
+        logger.error(
+            f"Module '{actor_module}' does not contain {actor_class_name}! Available classes in module: {list(filter(isclass, mod.__dict__.values()))}."
+        )
+        return
+    if not issubclass(actor_class, ActorBase):
+        logger.error(f"{actor_class_name} is not a valid Actor! Exiting.")
+        return
+
+    actor = actor_class(bec, exec_id)
+    actor.run()
+
+
+class ActorProcedureWorker(SubProcessWorker):
+    WORKER_FILE = __file__
+
+    def _worker_environment(self):
+        return super()._worker_environment() | {"client_class": "BECClient"}
+
+
+def get_actor_env():
+    return {
+        "actor_module": os.environ["actor_module"],
+        "actor_class_name": os.environ["actor_class_name"],
+        "exec_id": os.environ["actor_exec_id"],
+    }
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    """Replaces the main contents of Worker.work() - should be called as the container entrypoint or command"""
+
+    env, helper, client, conn = setup(get_env())
+    actor_env = get_actor_env()
+    logger_connector = RedisConnector(env["redis_server"])
+    output_diverter = RedisOutputDiverter(logger_connector, env["queue"])
+    with redirect_stdout(output_diverter):
+        logger.add(
+            output_diverter,
+            level=LogLevel.SUCCESS,
+            format=bec_logger.formatting(is_container=True),
+            filter=bec_logger.filter(),
+        )
+        logger.success(f"Starting ActorProcedureWorker with env: {actor_env}")
+        actor_procedure(bec=client, **actor_env)
+    conn.shutdown()
+    logger_connector.shutdown()
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/procedures/manager.py b/bec_server/bec_server/procedures/manager.py
index 5639b3c6..37fbb927 100644
--- a/bec_server/bec_server/procedures/manager.py
+++ b/bec_server/bec_server/procedures/manager.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ from concurrent.futures import Future, ThreadPoolExecutor
 from threading import RLock
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Generic, Protocol, TypedDict, TypeVar
 
+from pydantic import ValidationError
+
 from bec_lib.endpoints import EndpointInfo, MessageEndpoints
 from bec_lib.logger import bec_logger
 from bec_lib.messages import (
@@ -23,8 +25,6 @@ from bec_lib.messages import (
 )
 from bec_lib.procedures.helper import BackendProcedureHelper
 from bec_lib.redis_connector import RedisConnector
-from pydantic import ValidationError
-
 from bec_server.procedures import procedure_registry
 from bec_server.procedures.constants import PROCEDURE, WorkerAlreadyExists
 
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/test/__init__.py b/bec_server/bec_server/test/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/test/actor_test_utils.py b/bec_server/bec_server/test/actor_test_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ef27258
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_server/bec_server/test/actor_test_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+from bec_lib.client import BECClient
+from bec_lib.endpoints import EndpointInfo, MessageOp
+from bec_lib.messages import RawMessage
+from bec_server.actors.actor import PollingActor, SubscriptionActor
+
+
+def _test_condition(client: BECClient):
+    return True
+
+
+def _test_action(client: BECClient):
+    client.connector.set_and_publish(ep, RawMessage(data={"test": "result"}))
+
+
+ep = EndpointInfo(
+    endpoint="test_endpoint", message_type=RawMessage, message_op=MessageOp.SET_PUBLISH
+)
+
+
+class PollingTestActor(PollingActor):
+    action_table = {_test_condition: _test_action}
diff --git a/bec_server/bec_server/test/helpers.py b/bec_server/bec_server/test/helpers.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c50005a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_server/bec_server/test/helpers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import time
+from typing import Callable
+
+
+def wait_until(predicate: Callable[[], bool], timeout_s: float = 0.1):
+    # Yes I know this is actually more like retries than a timeout,
+    # it's just to make sure the threads have plenty of chances to switch in the test
+    elapsed, step = 0.0, timeout_s / 10
+    while not predicate():
+        time.sleep(step)
+        elapsed += step
+        if elapsed > timeout_s:
+            raise TimeoutError()
diff --git a/bec_server/tests/tests_actors/test_actors.py b/bec_server/tests/tests_actors/test_actors.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..24685245
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bec_server/tests/tests_actors/test_actors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+from threading import Thread
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import pytest
+from fakeredis import TcpFakeServer
+
+from bec_lib.endpoints import MessageEndpoints
+from bec_lib.messages import ActorStartRequestMessage, RawMessage
+from bec_lib.redis_connector import MessageObject, RedisConnector
+from bec_server.actors.manager import ActorManager
+from bec_server.test.actor_test_utils import ep
+from bec_server.test.helpers import wait_until
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def fakeredis_config():
+    redis_config = "localhost", 44556
+    server = TcpFakeServer(redis_config, server_type="redis")
+    t = Thread(target=server.serve_forever, daemon=True)
+    try:
+        t.start()
+        yield redis_config
+    finally:
+        server.shutdown()
+        server.server_close()
+        t.join()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def actor_manager_and_conn(fakeredis_config):
+    host, port = fakeredis_config
+    redis = f"{host}:{port}"
+    manager = ActorManager(redis)
+    conn = RedisConnector([redis])
+    try:
+        yield manager, conn
+    finally:
+        manager.shutdown()
+        conn.shutdown()
+
+
+def test_validate_and_spawn_called_on_request(
+    actor_manager_and_conn: tuple[ActorManager, RedisConnector],
+):
+    manager, conn = actor_manager_and_conn
+    with (
+        patch.object(manager, "_validate_request", side_effect=lambda x: x["request"]),
+        patch.object(manager, "spawn"),
+    ):
+        conn.xadd(
+            MessageEndpoints.actor_start_request(),
+            {"request": ActorStartRequestMessage(actor_module="test", actor_class_name="Test")},
+        )
+        wait_until(lambda: manager._validate_request.call_count == 1)
+        wait_until(lambda: manager.spawn.call_count == 1)
+
+
+def test_polling_actor(actor_manager_and_conn: tuple[ActorManager, RedisConnector]):
+    manager, conn = actor_manager_and_conn
+    action_triggered = False
+
+    def action_callback(msg: MessageObject):
+        nonlocal action_triggered
+        if msg.value.data == {"test": "result"}:
+            action_triggered = True
+
+    conn.register(ep, cb=action_callback)
+    manager._process_queue_request(
+        msg=ActorStartRequestMessage(
+            actor_module="bec_server.test.actor_test_utils", actor_class_name="PollingTestActor"
+        )
+    )
+    wait_until(lambda: manager._active_workers != {})
+    wait_until(lambda: action_triggered, timeout_s=3)