diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 288c89347..b597a2cef 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@
 members = [
   "cln-rpc",
   "cln-grpc",
+  "plugins",
 ]
diff --git a/plugins/Cargo.toml b/plugins/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49fbc6db0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[package]
+name = "cln-plugin"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+[[example]]
+name = "cln-plugin-startup"
+path = "examples/cln-plugin-startup.rs"
+
+[dependencies]
+anyhow = "1.0.51"
+bytes = "1.1.0"
+log = "0.4.14"
+serde = { version = "1.0.131", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1.0.72"
+tokio-util = { version = "0.6.9", features = ["codec"] }
+tokio = { version="1", features = ['io-std', 'rt'] }
+tokio-stream = "*"
+futures = "0.3"
+cln-rpc = { path = "../cln-rpc" }
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+tokio = { version = "1", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread", ] }
+env_logger = "*"
+cln-grpc = { path = "../cln-grpc" }
diff --git a/plugins/Makefile b/plugins/Makefile
index 3707e7688..70302311b 100644
--- a/plugins/Makefile
+++ b/plugins/Makefile
@@ -173,4 +173,14 @@ ALL_C_HEADERS += plugins/list_of_builtin_plugins_gen.h
 plugins/list_of_builtin_plugins_gen.h: plugins/Makefile Makefile
 	@$(call VERBOSE,GEN $@,echo "static const char *list_of_builtin_plugins[] = { $(foreach d,$(notdir $(PLUGINS)),\"$d\",) NULL };" > $@)
 
+CLN_PLUGIN_EXAMPLES := target/${RUST_PROFILE}/examples/cln-plugin-startup
+CLN_PLUGIN_SRC = $(shell find plugins/src -name "*.rs")
+
+${CLN_PLUGIN_EXAMPLES}: ${CLN_PLUGIN_SRC}
+	(cd plugins; cargo build ${CARGO_OPTS} --examples)
+
+ifneq ($(RUST),0)
+DEFAULT_TARGETS += $(CLN_PLUGIN_EXAMPLES)
+endif
+
 include plugins/test/Makefile
diff --git a/plugins/examples/cln-plugin-startup.rs b/plugins/examples/cln-plugin-startup.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1c6ed26b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/cln-plugin-startup.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+//! This is a test plugin used to verify that we can compile and run
+//! plugins using the Rust API against c-lightning.
+
+use cln_plugin::Builder;
+use tokio;
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
+    env_logger::init();
+
+    let (plugin, stdin) = Builder::new((), tokio::io::stdin(), tokio::io::stdout()).build();
+    plugin.run(stdin).await;
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/plugins/src/codec.rs b/plugins/src/codec.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3d1a5fef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/src/codec.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+/// The codec is used to encode and decode messages received from and
+/// sent to the main daemon. The protocol uses `stdout` and `stdin` to
+/// exchange JSON formatted messages. Each message is separated by an
+/// empty line and we're guaranteed that no other empty line is
+/// present in the messages.
+use crate::Error;
+use anyhow::anyhow;
+use bytes::{BufMut, BytesMut};
+use serde_json::value::Value;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+use std::{io, str};
+use tokio_util::codec::{Decoder, Encoder};
+
+use crate::messages::{Notification, Request};
+pub use crate::messages::JsonRpc;
+
+/// A simple codec that parses messages separated by two successive
+/// `\n` newlines.
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct MultiLineCodec {}
+
+/// Find two consecutive newlines, i.e., an empty line, signalling the
+/// end of one message and the start of the next message.
+fn find_separator(buf: &mut BytesMut) -> Option<usize> {
+    buf.iter()
+        .zip(buf.iter().skip(1))
+        .position(|b| *b.0 == b'\n' && *b.1 == b'\n')
+}
+
+fn utf8(buf: &[u8]) -> Result<&str, io::Error> {
+    str::from_utf8(buf)
+        .map_err(|_| io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::InvalidData, "Unable to decode input as UTF8"))
+}
+
+impl Decoder for MultiLineCodec {
+    type Item = String;
+    type Error = Error;
+    fn decode(&mut self, buf: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<Option<Self::Item>, Error> {
+        if let Some(newline_offset) = find_separator(buf) {
+            let line = buf.split_to(newline_offset + 2);
+            let line = &line[..line.len() - 2];
+            let line = utf8(line)?;
+            Ok(Some(line.to_string()))
+        } else {
+            Ok(None)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> Encoder<T> for MultiLineCodec
+where
+    T: AsRef<str>,
+{
+    type Error = Error;
+    fn encode(&mut self, line: T, buf: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<(), Self::Error> {
+        let line = line.as_ref();
+        buf.reserve(line.len() + 2);
+        buf.put(line.as_bytes());
+        buf.put_u8(b'\n');
+        buf.put_u8(b'\n');
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct JsonCodec {
+    /// Sub-codec used to split the input into chunks that can then be
+    /// parsed by the JSON parser.
+    inner: MultiLineCodec,
+}
+
+impl<T> Encoder<T> for JsonCodec
+where
+    T: Into<Value>,
+{
+    type Error = Error;
+    fn encode(&mut self, msg: T, buf: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<(), Self::Error> {
+        let s = msg.into().to_string();
+        self.inner.encode(s, buf)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Decoder for JsonCodec {
+    type Item = Value;
+    type Error = Error;
+
+    fn decode(&mut self, buf: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<Option<Self::Item>, Error> {
+        match self.inner.decode(buf) {
+            Ok(None) => Ok(None),
+            Err(e) => Err(e),
+            Ok(Some(s)) => {
+                if let Ok(v) = Value::from_str(&s) {
+                    Ok(Some(v))
+                } else {
+                    Err(anyhow!("failed to parse JSON"))
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// A codec that reads fully formed [crate::messages::JsonRpc]
+/// messages. Internally it uses the [JsonCodec] which itself is built
+/// on the [MultiLineCodec].
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub(crate) struct JsonRpcCodec {
+    inner: JsonCodec,
+}
+
+impl Decoder for JsonRpcCodec {
+    type Item = JsonRpc<Notification, Request>;
+    type Error = Error;
+
+    fn decode(&mut self, buf: &mut BytesMut) -> Result<Option<Self::Item>, Error> {
+        match self.inner.decode(buf) {
+            Ok(None) => Ok(None),
+            Err(e) => Err(e),
+            Ok(Some(s)) => {
+                let req: Self::Item = serde_json::from_value(s)?;
+                Ok(Some(req))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::{find_separator, JsonCodec, MultiLineCodec};
+    use bytes::{BufMut, BytesMut};
+    use serde_json::json;
+    use tokio_util::codec::{Decoder, Encoder};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_separator() {
+        struct Test(String, Option<usize>);
+        let tests = vec![
+            Test("".to_string(), None),
+            Test("}\n\n".to_string(), Some(1)),
+            Test("\"hello\"},\n\"world\"}\n\n".to_string(), Some(18)),
+        ];
+
+        for t in tests.iter() {
+            let mut buf = BytesMut::new();
+            buf.put_slice(t.0.as_bytes());
+            assert_eq!(find_separator(&mut buf), t.1);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_ml_decoder() {
+        struct Test(String, Option<String>, String);
+        let tests = vec![
+            Test("".to_string(), None, "".to_string()),
+            Test(
+                "{\"hello\":\"world\"}\n\nremainder".to_string(),
+                Some("{\"hello\":\"world\"}".to_string()),
+                "remainder".to_string(),
+            ),
+            Test(
+                "{\"hello\":\"world\"}\n\n{}\n\nremainder".to_string(),
+                Some("{\"hello\":\"world\"}".to_string()),
+                "{}\n\nremainder".to_string(),
+            ),
+        ];
+
+        for t in tests.iter() {
+            let mut buf = BytesMut::new();
+            buf.put_slice(t.0.as_bytes());
+
+            let mut codec = MultiLineCodec::default();
+            let mut remainder = BytesMut::new();
+            remainder.put_slice(t.2.as_bytes());
+
+            assert_eq!(codec.decode(&mut buf).unwrap(), t.1);
+            assert_eq!(buf, remainder);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_ml_encoder() {
+        let tests = vec!["test"];
+
+        for t in tests.iter() {
+            let mut buf = BytesMut::new();
+            let mut codec = MultiLineCodec::default();
+            let mut expected = BytesMut::new();
+            expected.put_slice(t.as_bytes());
+            expected.put_u8(b'\n');
+            expected.put_u8(b'\n');
+            codec.encode(t, &mut buf).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(buf, expected);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_json_codec() {
+        let tests = vec![json!({"hello": "world"})];
+
+        for t in tests.iter() {
+            let mut codec = JsonCodec::default();
+            let mut buf = BytesMut::new();
+            codec.encode(t.clone(), &mut buf).unwrap();
+            let decoded = codec.decode(&mut buf).unwrap().unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(&decoded, t);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/src/lib.rs b/plugins/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca43e567b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+use crate::codec::{JsonCodec, JsonRpcCodec};
+use futures::sink::SinkExt;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use tokio::sync::Mutex;
+use tokio_util::codec::FramedWrite;
+pub mod codec;
+mod messages;
+pub use anyhow::Error;
+use log::{trace, warn};
+use std::marker::PhantomData;
+use tokio::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
+use tokio_stream::StreamExt;
+use tokio_util::codec::FramedRead;
+
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate serde_json;
+
+/// Builder for a new plugin.
+pub struct Builder<S, I, O>
+where
+    S: Clone + Send,
+    I: AsyncRead + Unpin,
+    O: Send + AsyncWrite + Unpin,
+{
+    state: S,
+
+    input: I,
+    output: O,
+
+    #[allow(dead_code)]
+    hooks: Hooks,
+
+    #[allow(dead_code)]
+    subscriptions: Subscriptions,
+}
+
+impl<S, I, O> Builder<S, I, O>
+where
+    O: Send + AsyncWrite + Unpin + 'static,
+    S: Clone + Send + 'static,
+    I: AsyncRead + Send + Unpin + 'static,
+{
+    pub fn new(state: S, input: I, output: O) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            state,
+            input,
+            output,
+            hooks: Hooks::default(),
+            subscriptions: Subscriptions::default(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub async fn run(self) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        let (plugin, input) = self.build();
+        plugin.run(input).await
+    }
+
+    pub fn build(self) -> (Plugin<S, I, O>, I) {
+        (
+            Plugin {
+                state: Arc::new(Mutex::new(self.state)),
+                output: Arc::new(Mutex::new(FramedWrite::new(
+                    self.output,
+                    JsonCodec::default(),
+                ))),
+                input_type: PhantomData,
+            },
+            self.input,
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Plugin<S, I, O>
+where
+    S: Clone + Send,
+    I: AsyncRead,
+    O: Send + AsyncWrite,
+{
+    //input: FramedRead<Stdin, JsonCodec>,
+    output: Arc<Mutex<FramedWrite<O, JsonCodec>>>,
+
+    /// The state gets cloned for each request
+    state: Arc<Mutex<S>>,
+    input_type: PhantomData<I>,
+}
+impl<S, I, O> Plugin<S, I, O>
+where
+    S: Clone + Send,
+    I: AsyncRead + Send + Unpin,
+    O: Send + AsyncWrite + Unpin,
+{
+    /// Read incoming requests from `c-lightning and dispatch their handling.
+    #[allow(unused_mut)]
+    pub async fn run(mut self, input: I) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        let mut input = FramedRead::new(input, JsonRpcCodec::default());
+        loop {
+            match input.next().await {
+                Some(Ok(msg)) => {
+                    trace!("Received a message: {:?}", msg);
+                    match msg {
+                        messages::JsonRpc::Request(id, p) => {
+                            self.dispatch_request(id, p).await?
+                            // Use a match to detect Ok / Error and return an error if we failed.
+                        }
+                        messages::JsonRpc::Notification(n) => self.dispatch_notification(n).await?,
+                    }
+                }
+                Some(Err(e)) => {
+                    warn!("Error reading command: {}", e);
+                    break;
+                }
+                None => break,
+            }
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    async fn dispatch_request(
+        &mut self,
+        id: usize,
+        request: messages::Request,
+    ) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        trace!("Dispatching request {:?}", request);
+        let state = self.state.clone();
+        let res: serde_json::Value = match request {
+            messages::Request::Getmanifest(c) => {
+                serde_json::to_value(Plugin::<S, I, O>::handle_get_manifest(c, state).await?)
+                    .unwrap()
+            }
+            messages::Request::Init(c) => {
+                serde_json::to_value(Plugin::<S, I, O>::handle_init(c, state).await?).unwrap()
+            }
+            o => panic!("Request {:?} is currently unhandled", o),
+        };
+        trace!("Sending respone {:?}", res);
+
+        let mut out = self.output.lock().await;
+        out.send(json!({
+            "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "result": res,
+            "id": id,
+        }))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    async fn dispatch_notification(
+        &mut self,
+        notification: messages::Notification,
+    ) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        trace!("Dispatching notification {:?}", notification);
+        unimplemented!()
+    }
+
+    async fn handle_get_manifest(
+        _call: messages::GetManifestCall,
+        _state: Arc<Mutex<S>>,
+    ) -> Result<messages::GetManifestResponse, Error> {
+        Ok(messages::GetManifestResponse::default())
+    }
+
+    async fn handle_init(
+        _call: messages::InitCall,
+        _state: Arc<Mutex<S>>,
+    ) -> Result<messages::InitResponse, Error> {
+        Ok(messages::InitResponse::default())
+    }
+}
+
+/// A container for all the configure hooks. It is just a collection
+/// of callbacks that can be registered by the users of the
+/// library. Based on this configuration we can then generate the
+/// [`messages::GetManifestResponse`] from, populating our subscriptions
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+struct Hooks {}
+
+/// A container for all the configured notifications.
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+struct Subscriptions {}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn init() {
+        let builder = Builder::new((), tokio::io::stdin(), tokio::io::stdout());
+        let plugin = builder.build();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/src/messages.rs b/plugins/src/messages.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fcba6ceae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/src/messages.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+use serde::de::{self, Deserializer};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde_json::Value;
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::fmt::Debug;
+
+#[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(tag = "method", content = "params")]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub(crate) enum Request {
+    // Builtin
+    Getmanifest(GetManifestCall),
+    Init(InitCall),
+
+    // Hooks
+    PeerConnected,
+    CommitmentRevocation,
+    DbWrite,
+    InvoicePayment,
+    Openchannel,
+    Openchannel2,
+    Openchannel2Changed,
+    Openchannel2Sign,
+    RbfChannel,
+    HtlcAccepted,
+    RpcCommand,
+    Custommsg,
+    OnionMessage,
+    OnionMessageBlinded,
+    OnionMessageOurpath,
+
+    // Bitcoin backend
+    Getchaininfo,
+    Estimatefees,
+    Getrawblockbyheight,
+    Getutxout,
+    Sendrawtransaction,
+}
+
+#[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(tag = "method", content = "params")]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub(crate) enum Notification {
+    ChannelOpened,
+    ChannelOpenFailed,
+    ChannelStateChanged,
+    Connect,
+    Disconnect,
+    InvoicePayment,
+    InvoiceCreation,
+    Warning,
+    ForwardEvent,
+    SendpaySuccess,
+    SendpayFailure,
+    CoinMovement,
+    OpenchannelPeerSigs,
+    Shutdown,
+}
+
+#[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub struct GetManifestCall {}
+
+#[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub struct InitCall {
+    pub options: Value,
+    pub configuration: HashMap<String, Value>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum JsonRpc<N, R> {
+    Request(usize, R),
+    Notification(N),
+}
+
+/// This function disentangles the various cases:
+///
+///   1) If we have an `id` then it is a request
+///
+///   2) Otherwise it's a notification that doesn't require a
+///   response.
+///
+/// Furthermore we distinguish between the built-in types and the
+/// custom user notifications/methods:
+///
+///   1) We either match a built-in type above,
+///
+///   2) Or it's a custom one, so we pass it around just as a
+///   `serde_json::Value`
+impl<'de, N, R> Deserialize<'de> for JsonRpc<N, R>
+where
+    N: Deserialize<'de> + Debug,
+    R: Deserialize<'de> + Debug,
+{
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        #[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
+        struct IdHelper {
+            id: Option<usize>,
+        }
+
+        let v = Value::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        let helper = IdHelper::deserialize(&v).map_err(de::Error::custom)?;
+        match helper.id {
+            Some(id) => {
+                let r = R::deserialize(v).map_err(de::Error::custom)?;
+                Ok(JsonRpc::Request(id, r))
+            }
+            None => {
+                let n = N::deserialize(v).map_err(de::Error::custom)?;
+                Ok(JsonRpc::Notification(n))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+use serde::ser::{SerializeStruct, Serializer};
+
+impl<N, R> Serialize for JsonRpc<N, R>
+where
+    N: Serialize + Debug,
+    R: Serialize + Debug,
+{
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: Serializer,
+    {
+        match self {
+            JsonRpc::Notification(r) => {
+                let r = serde_json::to_value(r).unwrap();
+                let mut s = serializer.serialize_struct("Notification", 3)?;
+                s.serialize_field("jsonrpc", "2.0")?;
+                s.serialize_field("method", &r["method"])?;
+                s.serialize_field("params", &r["params"])?;
+                s.end()
+            }
+            JsonRpc::Request(id, r) => {
+                let r = serde_json::to_value(r).unwrap();
+                let mut s = serializer.serialize_struct("Request", 4)?;
+                s.serialize_field("jsonrpc", "2.0")?;
+                s.serialize_field("id", id)?;
+                s.serialize_field("method", &r["method"])?;
+                s.serialize_field("params", &r["params"])?;
+                s.end()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Default, Debug)]
+pub struct GetManifestResponse {
+    options: Vec<()>,
+    rpcmethods: Vec<()>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Default, Debug)]
+pub struct InitResponse {}
+
+pub trait Response: Serialize + Debug {}