diff --git a/src/common/request.h b/src/common/request.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/request.h
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010 Nathan Phillip Brink
+ *
+ * This file is a part of DistRen.
+ *
+ * DistRen is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * DistRen is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with DistRen.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef _DISTREN_REQUEST_H
+#define _DISTREN_REQUEST_H
+
+/**
+ * @file functions to initialize various requests that the server and
+ * client may both use.
+ */
+
+
+/**
+ * Free any request made with one of the functions below
+ */
+int distren_request_free_with_data(struct distren_request *req, void *data);
+
+/**
+ * Initialize a PING or PONG request.
+ *
+ * @param data a place to allocate storage for the data associated with this request
+ * @param is_ping 1 if this is a DISTREN_REQUEST_PING or 0 if this is a DISTREN_REQUEST_PONG
+ * @param poing_cookie chocolate chip, chocolate chunk, or oatmeal chocolate chip
+ * @param poing_data_len bytes in the poing_cookie
+ * @return the length of the data allocated for this request
+ */
+uint32_t distren_request_poing(struct distren_request **req, void **data, short is_ping, const void *poing_cookie, size_t poing_data_len);
+
+#endif /* _DISTREN_REQUEST_H */