diff --git a/packages/celest/lib/src/core/context.dart b/packages/celest/lib/src/core/context.dart
index 5a9bb54f..d43781c4 100644
--- a/packages/celest/lib/src/core/context.dart
+++ b/packages/celest/lib/src/core/context.dart
@@ -37,15 +37,29 @@ final class Context {
   /// when the Zone in which they were created is disposed.
   static final Expando<Context> _contexts = Expando('contexts');
 
+  static Context? _root;
+
   /// The root [Context].
-  static final Context root = Context.of(Zone.root);
+  static Context get root {
+    return _root ??= Context.of(Zone.root);
+  }
+
+  /// Sets the root [Context] for the current execution scope.
+  ///
+  /// This is only allowed in tests.
+  @visibleForTesting
+  static set root(Context value) {
+    if (!kDebugMode) {
+      throw UnsupportedError(
+        'Setting the root context is only allowed in tests',
+      );
+    }
+    _root = value;
+  }
 
   /// The [Context] for the current execution scope.
   static Context get current => Context.of(Zone.current);
 
-  /// The platform of the current context.
-  final Platform platform = const LocalPlatform();
-
   /// Context-specific values.
   final Map<ContextKey<Object>, Object> _values = {};
 
@@ -59,6 +73,9 @@ final class Context {
 
   /// Sets the value of the given [key] in this context.
   void operator []=(ContextKey<Object> key, Object? value) {
+    if (identical(this, root) && !identical(Zone.current, root._zone)) {
+      throw UnsupportedError('Cannot set values on the root context');
+    }
     if (value == null) {
       _values.remove(key);
     } else {
@@ -68,6 +85,9 @@ final class Context {
 
   /// The parent [Context] to `this`.
   Context? get parent {
+    if (identical(this, root)) {
+      return null;
+    }
     var parent = _zone.parent;
     while (parent != null) {
       if (_contexts[parent] case final parentContext?) {
@@ -75,9 +95,12 @@ final class Context {
       }
       parent = parent.parent;
     }
-    return null;
+    return root;
   }
 
+  /// The platform of the current context.
+  Platform get platform => get(ContextKey.platform) ?? const LocalPlatform();
+
   /// Whether Celest is running in the cloud.
   bool get isRunningInCloud => root.get(googleCloudProjectKey) != null;
 
@@ -141,7 +164,7 @@ final class Context {
     return _get(key)?.$2;
   }
 
-  /// Expects a value present in the given [context].
+  /// Expects a value present in this [Context] for the given [key].
   ///
   /// Throws a [StateError] if the value is not present.
   V expect<V extends Object>(ContextKey<V> key) {
@@ -157,6 +180,13 @@ final class Context {
     key.set(this, value);
   }
 
+  /// Sets the value of [key] in this [Context] if it is not already set.
+  void putIfAbsent<V extends Object>(ContextKey<V> key, V Function() value) {
+    if (get(key) == null) {
+      put(key, value());
+    }
+  }
+
   /// Updates the value of [key] in place.
   void update<V extends Object>(
     ContextKey<V> key,
@@ -166,6 +196,18 @@ final class Context {
     final updated = update(value);
     context.put(key, updated);
   }
+
+  /// Removes [key] and its associated value, if present, from the [Context].
+  ///
+  /// Returns the value associated with [key] before it was removed. Returns
+  /// `null` if [key] was not in the map.
+  ///
+  /// **NOTE**: This will not remove the value from parent contexts, meaning
+  /// that [get] may still return a value for the given [key] if it is present
+  /// in a parent context.
+  V? remove<V extends Object>(ContextKey<V> key) {
+    return _values.remove(key) as V?;
+  }
 }
 
 /// {@template celest.runtime.context_key}
@@ -190,9 +232,12 @@ abstract interface class ContextKey<V extends Object> {
   /// The context key for the context [http.Client].
   static const ContextKey<http.Client> httpClient = ContextKey('http client');
 
-  /// The context key for for the context [Logger].
+  /// The context key for the context [Logger].
   static const ContextKey<Logger> logger = ContextKey('logger');
 
+  /// The context key for the context [Platform].
+  static const ContextKey<Platform> platform = ContextKey('platform');
+
   /// Reads the value for `this` from the given [context].
   V? read(Context context);
 
diff --git a/packages/celest/test/core/context_test.dart b/packages/celest/test/core/context_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cfc3f7bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/celest/test/core/context_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+import 'dart:async';
+
+import 'package:celest/src/core/context.dart';
+import 'package:test/test.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  const key = ContextKey<String>('key');
+  Context.root = Context.current;
+  Context.root.put(key, 'value');
+
+  group('Context', () {
+    test('global', () {
+      expect(Context.current, same(context));
+    });
+
+    test('get parent', () {
+      final root = Context.root;
+      runZoned(() {
+        runZoned(() {
+          runZoned(() {
+            expect(context, isNot(same(root)));
+            expect(
+              context.parent,
+              same(root),
+              reason: 'parent returns the closest active parent',
+            );
+          });
+        });
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('inherits from parent', () {
+      final parent = Context.root;
+      runZoned(() {
+        expect(
+          context,
+          isNot(same(parent)),
+          reason: 'Every Zone should have its own Context',
+        );
+        expect(Context.current, same(context));
+        expect(context.parent, same(parent));
+        expect(parent.parent, isNull);
+
+        expect(
+          context[key],
+          isNull,
+          reason: 'operator [] does not search parent values',
+        );
+        expect(
+          context.get(key),
+          'value',
+          reason: 'get searches parent values',
+        );
+
+        context[key] = 'new value';
+        expect(
+          context[key],
+          'new value',
+          reason: 'operator []= sets the value in the current context',
+        );
+        expect(
+          parent[key],
+          'value',
+          reason: 'parent context is not modified',
+        );
+        expect(
+          context.get(key),
+          'new value',
+          reason: 'get returns the value in the current context',
+        );
+
+        expect(context.remove(key), isNotNull);
+        expect(
+          context[key],
+          isNull,
+          reason: 'remove removes the value from the current context',
+        );
+        expect(
+          parent[key],
+          'value',
+          reason: 'parent context is not modified',
+        );
+        expect(
+          context.get(key),
+          'value',
+          reason: 'get returns the value in the parent context',
+        );
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('cannot set values in root outside of root Zone', () {
+      final root = Context.root;
+      expect(
+        () => root[key] = 'value',
+        throwsA(
+          isA<UnsupportedError>().having(
+            (e) => e.message,
+            'message',
+            contains('root context'),
+          ),
+        ),
+        reason: 'Tests run in a different Zone than the root context',
+      );
+    });
+  });
+}