diff --git a/protocols/grpc/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/grpc/api/GrpcClient.java b/protocols/grpc/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/grpc/api/GrpcClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d040a23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/grpc/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/grpc/api/GrpcClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018-present Open Networking Foundation
+ *
+ * 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.grpc.api;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+
+/**
+ * Abstraction of a gRPC client.
+ *
+ */
+@Beta
+public interface GrpcClient {
+
+    /**
+     * Shutdowns the client by terminating any active RPC.
+     *
+     * @return a completable future to signal the completion of the shutdown
+     * procedure
+     */
+    CompletableFuture<Void> shutdown();
+}