diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0fb5248..baeebfe 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,5 +7,12 @@ set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
 set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE ON CACHE BOOL "ON")
 
+find_package(Protobuf REQUIRED)
+#protobuf_generate_cpp(PROTO_SRCS PROTO_HDRS proto/service.proto)
+add_library(mnode-proto proto/service.proto)
+target_link_libraries(mnode-proto PUBLIC protobuf::libprotobuf)
+target_include_directories(mnode-proto PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
+protobuf_generate(TARGET mnode-proto)
+
 add_subdirectory(external)
 add_subdirectory(src)
diff --git a/proto/service.proto b/proto/service.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0044b69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proto/service.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package mesytec.mnode;
+
+message SearchRequest {
+  string query = 1;
+  int32 page_number = 2;
+  int32 results_per_page = 3;
+}
+
+message Ping {
+}
+
+message Pong {
+}