diff --git a/www/common/rpc.js b/www/common/rpc.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d15843cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/www/common/rpc.js
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+define([
+    '/common/encode.js',
+
+    '/bower_components/tweetnacl/nacl-fast.min.js',
+], function (Encode) {
+
+    var getHistoryKeeperName = function (network) {
+        var wc = network.webChannels[0];
+        if (!wc) {
+            throw new Error("ERROR: no joined webchannels so we can't get the history keeper name");
+        }
+        if (!wc.history_keeper) { throw new Error("ERROR: no history keeper"); }
+        return wc.history_keeper;
+    };
+
+    var sendMsg = function (ctx, cb) {
+        var hkn = getHistoryKeeperName(ctx.network);
+    };
+
+    var onMsg = function (ctx, msg) {
+        console.log(msg);
+    };
+
+    var cookie = function (ctx, cb) {
+        // TODO
+    };
+
+    var signMsg = function (msg, secKey) {
+        // TODO
+    };
+
+    var create = function (network, edPrivateKey) {
+        if (!/[0-9a-f]{64}/.test(edPrivateKey)) {
+            throw new Error("private signing key is not valid");
+        }
+        var ctx = {
+            privateKey: Encode.hexToUint8Array(edPrivateKey),
+            seq: new Date().getTime(),
+            network: network
+        };
+        network.on('message', function (msg) { onMsg(ctx, msg); });
+        return {
+            cookie: function (cb) { cookie(ctx, cb); },
+        };
+    };
+
+    return { create: create };
+});