diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6dee292..99f3cf8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -201,4 +201,5 @@ Cargo.lock
 !memcrab
 !memcrab-cli
 !memcrab-cache
-!memcrab-server
\ No newline at end of file
+!memcrab-server
+!memcrab-protocol
diff --git a/memcrab-protocol/Cargo.toml b/memcrab-protocol/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e3864d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/memcrab-protocol/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[package]
+name = "memcrab-protocol"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+# See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
+
+[dependencies]
+async-trait = "0.1.77"
+tokio = { version = "1.35.1", features = ["full"] }
diff --git a/memcrab-protocol/src/lib.rs b/memcrab-protocol/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a205e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/memcrab-protocol/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+use std::io;
+use tokio::io::AsyncReadExt;
+use tokio::net::tcp::OwnedReadHalf;
+
+type Bytes = Vec<u8>;
+
+fn four_bytes_to_usize(bytes: &[u8]) -> usize {
+    assert_eq!(bytes.len(), 4);
+
+    (bytes[0] as usize) << 24
+        | (bytes[1] as usize) << 16
+        | (bytes[2] as usize) << 8
+        | (bytes[3] as usize)
+}
+
+#[async_trait::async_trait]
+pub trait AsyncReader {
+    async fn read_exact(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> io::Result<usize>;
+}
+
+#[async_trait::async_trait]
+impl AsyncReader for OwnedReadHalf {
+    async fn read_exact(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+        AsyncReadExt::read_exact(self, buf).await
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
+pub enum Msg {
+    Get(Bytes),
+    Set(Bytes, Bytes),
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum Error {
+    IO(std::io::Error),
+    Incomplete,
+}
+
+impl From<std::io::Error> for Error {
+    fn from(value: io::Error) -> Self {
+        Self::IO(value)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Producer<R: AsyncReader> {
+    reader: R,
+}
+
+impl<R: AsyncReader> Producer<R> {
+    pub fn new(reader: R) -> Self {
+        Producer {
+            reader,
+        }
+    }
+    async fn next_chunk(&mut self, size: usize) -> Result<Bytes, Error> {
+        let mut buf = vec![0u8; size];
+        self.reader.read_exact(&mut buf).await?;
+        Ok(buf)
+    }
+    pub async fn next_msg(&mut self) -> Result<Msg, Error> {
+        let msg_type = self.next_chunk(1).await?;
+        let key_len = self.next_chunk(1).await?;
+        let key = self.next_chunk(key_len[0].into()).await?;
+        if msg_type[0] == 0 {
+            return Ok(Msg::Get(key));
+        }
+        let data_len = self.next_chunk(4).await?;
+        let data = self
+            .next_chunk(four_bytes_to_usize(&data_len))
+            .await?;
+        Ok(Msg::Set(key, data))
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    struct MockReader {
+        parts: Vec<Vec<u8>>,
+        remainder: Vec<u8>,
+    }
+
+    impl MockReader {
+        fn new(parts: Vec<Vec<u8>>) -> Self {
+            MockReader {
+                parts,
+                remainder: vec![],
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[async_trait::async_trait]
+    impl AsyncReader for MockReader {
+        async fn read_exact(&mut self, _buf: &mut [u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+            println!("{:?} {:?}", self.parts, self.remainder);
+            todo!();
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_get() {
+        let mock_reader = MockReader::new( 
+            vec![vec![0, 2, 1, 1]],
+        );
+        let mut producer = Producer::new(mock_reader);
+
+        let msg = producer.next_msg().await;
+        assert_eq!(msg.unwrap(), Msg::Get(vec![1, 1]))
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_get_with_partitions() {
+        let mock_reader = MockReader::new(vec![vec![0], vec![3, 1], vec![2, 3]]);
+        let mut producer = Producer::new(mock_reader);
+
+        let msg = producer.next_msg().await;
+        assert_eq!(msg.unwrap(), Msg::Get(vec![1, 2, 3]))
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_set() {
+        let mock_reader = MockReader::new(
+            vec![vec![1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 8, 8, 8]],
+        );
+        let mut producer = Producer::new(mock_reader);
+
+        let msg = producer.next_msg().await;
+        assert_eq!(msg.unwrap(), Msg::Set(vec![1], vec![8, 8, 8,]))
+    }
+}