diff --git a/protocols/netconf/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/ctl/NetconfStreamHandler.java b/protocols/netconf/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/ctl/NetconfStreamHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4416e0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/netconf/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/ctl/NetconfStreamHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.netconf.ctl;
+
+import org.onosproject.netconf.NetconfDeviceOutputEventListener;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+
+/**
+ * Interface to represent an objects that does all the IO on a NETCONF session
+ * with a device.
+ */
+public interface NetconfStreamHandler {
+    /**
+     * Sends the request on the stream that is used to communicate to and from the device.
+     *
+     * @param request request to send to the physical device
+     * @return a CompletableFuture of type String that will contain the response for the request.
+     */
+    CompletableFuture<String> sendMessage(String request);
+
+    /**
+     * Adds a listener for netconf events on the handled stream.
+     *
+     * @param listener Netconf device event listener
+     */
+    void addDeviceEventListener(NetconfDeviceOutputEventListener listener);
+
+    /**
+     * Removes a listener for netconf events on the handled stream.
+     *
+     * @param listener Netconf device event listener
+     */
+    void removeDeviceEventListener(NetconfDeviceOutputEventListener listener);
+}