diff --git a/vmm/src/api/mod.rs b/vmm/src/api/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e71f9e151
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vmm/src/api/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+// Copyright © 2019 Intel Corporation
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+//
+
+//! The internal VMM API for Cloud Hypervisor.
+//!
+//! This API is a synchronous, [mpsc](https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/mpsc/)
+//! based IPC for sending commands to the VMM thread, from other
+//! Cloud Hypervisor threads. The IPC follows a command-response protocol, i.e.
+//! each command will receive a response back.
+//!
+//! The main Cloud Hypervisor thread creates an API event file descriptor
+//! to notify the VMM thread about pending API commands, together with an
+//! API mpsc channel. The former is the IPC control plane, the latter is the
+//! IPC data plane.
+//! In order to use the IPC, a Cloud Hypervisor thread needs to have a clone
+//! of both the API event file descriptor and the channel Sender. Then it must
+//! go through the following steps:
+//!
+//! 1. The thread creates an mpsc channel for receiving the command response.
+//! 2. The thread sends an ApiRequest to the Sender endpoint. The ApiRequest
+//!    contains the response channel Sender, for the VMM API server to be able
+//!    to send the response back.
+//! 3. The thread writes to the API event file descriptor to notify the VMM
+//!    API server about a pending command.
+//! 4. The thread reads the response back from the VMM API server, from the
+//!    response channel Receiver.
+//! 5. The thread handles the response and forwards potential errors.
+
+use crate::config::VmConfig;
+use crate::vm::Error;
+use std::sync::mpsc::Sender;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+/// API errors are sent back from the VMM API server through the ApiResponse.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum ApiError {
+    /// The VM could not be created.
+    VmCreate(Error),
+
+    /// The VM could not start.
+    VmStart(Error),
+}
+
+pub enum ApiResponsePayload {
+    /// No data is sent on the channel.
+    Empty,
+}
+
+/// This is the response sent by the VMM API server through the mpsc channel.
+pub type ApiResponse = std::result::Result<ApiResponsePayload, ApiError>;
+
+#[allow(clippy::large_enum_variant)]
+pub enum ApiRequest {
+    /// Create the virtual machine. This request payload is a VM configuration
+    /// (VmConfig).
+    /// If the VMM API server could not create the VM, it will send a VmCreate
+    /// error back.
+    VmCreate(Arc<VmConfig>, Sender<ApiResponse>),
+
+    /// Start the previously created virtual machine.
+    /// If the VM was not previously created, the VMM API server will send a
+    /// VmStart error back.
+    VmStart(Sender<ApiResponse>),
+}
diff --git a/vmm/src/lib.rs b/vmm/src/lib.rs
index 04dec0b3c..270488d08 100644
--- a/vmm/src/lib.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/lib.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use std::result;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use vmm_sys_util::eventfd::EventFd;
 
+pub mod api;
 pub mod config;
 pub mod device_manager;
 pub mod vm;