diff --git a/src/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_internal.h b/src/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_internal.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b85788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_internal.h
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+/*
+ *------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Copyright (c) 2017 Cisco and/or its affiliates.
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at:
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ *------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+#ifndef VAPI_INTERNAL_H
+#define VAPI_INTERNAL_H
+
+#include <string.h>
+#include <vppinfra/types.h>
+
+/**
+ * @file vapi_internal.h
+ *
+ * internal vpp api C declarations
+ *
+ * This file contains internal vpp api C declarations. It's not intended to be
+ * used by the client programmer and the API defined here might change at any
+ * time..
+ */
+
+struct vapi_ctx_s;
+
+typedef struct __attribute__ ((__packed__))
+{
+  u16 _vl_msg_id;
+  u32 context;
+} vapi_type_msg_header1_t;
+
+typedef struct __attribute__ ((__packed__))
+{
+  u16 _vl_msg_id;
+  u32 client_index;
+  u32 context;
+} vapi_type_msg_header2_t;
+
+static inline void
+vapi_type_msg_header1_t_hton (vapi_type_msg_header1_t * h)
+{
+  h->_vl_msg_id = htobe16 (h->_vl_msg_id);
+}
+
+static inline void
+vapi_type_msg_header1_t_ntoh (vapi_type_msg_header1_t * h)
+{
+  h->_vl_msg_id = be16toh (h->_vl_msg_id);
+}
+
+static inline void
+vapi_type_msg_header2_t_hton (vapi_type_msg_header2_t * h)
+{
+  h->_vl_msg_id = htobe16 (h->_vl_msg_id);
+}
+
+static inline void
+vapi_type_msg_header2_t_ntoh (vapi_type_msg_header2_t * h)
+{
+  h->_vl_msg_id = be16toh (h->_vl_msg_id);
+}
+
+
+#include <vapi.h>
+
+typedef vapi_error_e (*vapi_cb_t) (struct vapi_ctx_s *, void *, vapi_error_e,
+				   bool, void *);
+
+typedef void (*generic_swap_fn_t) (void *payload);
+
+typedef struct
+{
+  const char *name;
+  size_t name_len;
+  const char *name_with_crc;
+  size_t name_with_crc_len;
+  bool has_context;
+  size_t context_offset;
+  size_t payload_offset;
+  size_t size;
+  generic_swap_fn_t swap_to_be;
+  generic_swap_fn_t swap_to_host;
+  vapi_msg_id_t id;		/* assigned at run-time */
+} vapi_message_desc_t;
+
+typedef struct
+{
+  const char *name;
+  int payload_offset;
+  size_t size;
+  void (*swap_to_be) (void *payload);
+  void (*swap_to_host) (void *payload);
+} vapi_event_desc_t;
+
+extern bool *__vapi_msg_is_with_context;
+
+vapi_msg_id_t vapi_register_msg (vapi_message_desc_t * msg);
+u16 vapi_lookup_vl_msg_id (vapi_ctx_t ctx, vapi_msg_id_t id);
+int vapi_get_client_index (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+bool vapi_is_nonblocking (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+bool vapi_requests_full (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+size_t vapi_get_request_count (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+size_t vapi_get_max_request_count (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+u32 vapi_gen_req_context (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+void vapi_store_request (vapi_ctx_t ctx, u32 context, bool is_dump,
+			 vapi_cb_t callback, void *callback_ctx);
+int vapi_get_payload_offset (vapi_msg_id_t id);
+void (*vapi_get_swap_to_host_func (vapi_msg_id_t id)) (void *payload);
+void (*vapi_get_swap_to_be_func (vapi_msg_id_t id)) (void *payload);
+size_t vapi_get_message_size (vapi_msg_id_t id);
+size_t vapi_get_context_offset (vapi_msg_id_t id);
+
+vapi_error_e vapi_producer_lock (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+vapi_error_e vapi_producer_unlock (vapi_ctx_t ctx);
+
+#endif