diff --git a/ipc/codegen/src/codegen.rs b/ipc/codegen/src/codegen.rs
index 5385c72d7..47fd9a1ba 100644
--- a/ipc/codegen/src/codegen.rs
+++ b/ipc/codegen/src/codegen.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ use syntax::ptr::P;
 
 pub struct Error;
 
+const RESERVED_MESSAGE_IDS: u16 = 16;
+
 pub fn expand_ipc_implementation(
 	cx: &mut ExtCtxt,
 	span: Span,
diff --git a/ipc/rpc/Cargo.toml b/ipc/rpc/Cargo.toml
index 99fcd3233..b5177db41 100644
--- a/ipc/rpc/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ipc/rpc/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ license = "GPL-3.0"
 
 [dependencies]
 ethcore-devtools = { path = "../../devtools" }
+semver = "0.2.0"
diff --git a/ipc/rpc/src/interface.rs b/ipc/rpc/src/interface.rs
index 7ed8b60c4..060da36a9 100644
--- a/ipc/rpc/src/interface.rs
+++ b/ipc/rpc/src/interface.rs
@@ -19,8 +19,24 @@
 use std::io::{Read, Write};
 use std::marker::Sync;
 use std::sync::atomic::*;
+use semver::Version;
 
-pub trait IpcInterface<T> {
+pub struct Handshake {
+	protocol_version: Version,
+	api_version: Version,
+	reserved: [u8; 64],
+}
+
+pub trait IpcConfig {
+	fn api_version() -> Version {
+		Version::parse("1.0.0").unwrap()
+	}
+	fn protocol_version() -> Version {
+		Version::parse("1.0.0").unwrap()
+	}
+}
+
+pub trait IpcInterface<T> where T: IpcConfig {
 	/// reads the message from io, dispatches the call and returns serialized result
 	fn dispatch<R>(&self, r: &mut R) -> Vec<u8> where R: Read;
 
diff --git a/ipc/rpc/src/lib.rs b/ipc/rpc/src/lib.rs
index f8c68cdbd..a0d718871 100644
--- a/ipc/rpc/src/lib.rs
+++ b/ipc/rpc/src/lib.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 //! IPC RPC interface
 
 extern crate ethcore_devtools as devtools;
+extern crate semver;
 
 pub mod interface;
-pub use interface::{IpcInterface, IpcSocket, invoke};
+pub use interface::{IpcInterface, IpcSocket, invoke, IpcConfig};
diff --git a/ipc/tests/Cargo.toml b/ipc/tests/Cargo.toml
index 1d2bc35b4..d6d066b93 100644
--- a/ipc/tests/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ipc/tests/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ path = "run.rs"
 bincode = "*"
 serde = "0.7.0"
 ethcore-devtools = { path = "../../devtools" }
+semver = "0.2.0"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 syntex = "0.30.0"
diff --git a/ipc/tests/examples.rs b/ipc/tests/examples.rs
index 52ac0cf22..32c8206ed 100644
--- a/ipc/tests/examples.rs
+++ b/ipc/tests/examples.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ mod tests {
 	use super::super::service::*;
 	use ipc::*;
 	use devtools::*;
+	use semver::Version;
 
 	#[test]
 	fn call_service() {
@@ -57,4 +58,12 @@ mod tests {
 		assert_eq!(vec![0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 10], service_client.socket().borrow().write_buffer.clone());
 		assert_eq!(10, result);
 	}
+
+	#[test]
+	fn query_default_version() {
+		let ver = Service::protocol_version();
+		assert_eq!(ver, Version::parse("1.0.0").unwrap());
+		let ver = Service::api_version();
+		assert_eq!(ver, Version::parse("1.0.0").unwrap());
+	}
 }
diff --git a/ipc/tests/run.rs b/ipc/tests/run.rs
index 7aac809ed..e464d186f 100644
--- a/ipc/tests/run.rs
+++ b/ipc/tests/run.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ extern crate bincode;
 extern crate ethcore_ipc as ipc;
 extern crate serde;
 extern crate ethcore_devtools as devtools;
+extern crate semver;
 
 pub mod service;
 mod examples;
diff --git a/ipc/tests/service.rs.in b/ipc/tests/service.rs.in
index 2b529534a..14de716da 100644
--- a/ipc/tests/service.rs.in
+++ b/ipc/tests/service.rs.in
@@ -45,3 +45,5 @@ impl Service {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+impl ::ipc::IpcConfig for Service {}