diff --git a/rust-lightclient/.gitignore b/rust-lightclient/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c96eb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-lightclient/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+target/
+Cargo.lock
diff --git a/rust-lightclient/Cargo.toml b/rust-lightclient/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8bdcd89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-lightclient/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[package]
+name = "rust-lightclient"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2018"
+
+[dependencies]
+tower-grpc = { git = "https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc" }
+futures = "0.1"
+bytes = "0.4"
+env_logger = { version = "0.5", default-features = false }
+log = "0.4"
+http = "0.1"
+prost = "0.5"
+tokio = "0.1"
+tower-request-modifier = { git = "https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-http" }
+tower-hyper = "0.1"
+hyper = "0.12"
+tower-service = "0.2"
+tower-util = "0.1"
+
+[build-dependencies]
+tower-grpc-build = { git = "https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc",  features = ["tower-hyper"]  }
diff --git a/rust-lightclient/build.rs b/rust-lightclient/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fda5fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-lightclient/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+fn main() {
+    // Build proto files
+    tower_grpc_build::Config::new()
+        .enable_server(false)
+        .enable_client(true)
+        .build(
+            &["proto/service.proto", "proto/compact_formats.proto"],
+            &["proto"],
+        )
+        .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("protobuf compilation failed: {}", e));
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=proto/service.proto");
+}
diff --git a/rust-lightclient/proto/compact_formats.proto b/rust-lightclient/proto/compact_formats.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e1bc54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-lightclient/proto/compact_formats.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+package cash.z.wallet.sdk.rpc;
+option go_package = "walletrpc";
+
+// Remember that proto3 fields are all optional. A field that is not present will be set to its zero value.
+// bytes fields of hashes are in canonical little-endian format.
+
+// CompactBlock is a packaging of ONLY the data from a block that's needed to:
+//   1. Detect a payment to your shielded Sapling address
+//   2. Detect a spend of your shielded Sapling notes
+//   3. Update your witnesses to generate new Sapling spend proofs.
+message CompactBlock {
+    uint32 protoVersion = 1; // the version of this wire format, for storage
+    uint64 height = 2; // the height of this block
+    bytes hash = 3;
+    bytes prevHash = 4;
+    uint32 time = 5;
+    bytes header = 6; // (hash, prevHash, and time) OR (full header)
+    repeated CompactTx vtx = 7; // compact transactions from this block
+}
+
+message CompactTx {
+    // Index and hash will allow the receiver to call out to chain
+    // explorers or other data structures to retrieve more information
+    // about this transaction.
+    uint64 index = 1;
+    bytes hash = 2;
+
+    // The transaction fee: present if server can provide. In the case of a
+    // stateless server and a transaction with transparent inputs, this will be
+    // unset because the calculation requires reference to prior transactions.
+    // in a pure-Sapling context, the fee will be calculable as:
+    //    valueBalance + (sum(vPubNew) - sum(vPubOld) - sum(tOut))
+    uint32 fee = 3;
+
+    repeated CompactSpend spends = 4;
+    repeated CompactOutput outputs = 5;
+}
+
+message CompactSpend {
+    bytes nf = 1;
+}
+
+message CompactOutput {
+    bytes cmu = 1;
+    bytes epk = 2;
+    bytes ciphertext = 3;
+}
diff --git a/rust-lightclient/proto/service.proto b/rust-lightclient/proto/service.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ae46d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-lightclient/proto/service.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+package cash.z.wallet.sdk.rpc;
+option go_package = "walletrpc";
+
+import "compact_formats.proto";
+
+// A BlockID message contains identifiers to select a block: a height or a
+// hash. If the hash is present it takes precedence.
+message BlockID {
+     uint64 height = 1;
+     bytes hash = 2;
+}
+
+// BlockRange technically allows ranging from hash to hash etc but this is not
+// currently intended for support, though there is no reason you couldn't do
+// it. Further permutations are left as an exercise.
+message BlockRange {
+    BlockID start = 1;
+    BlockID end = 2;
+}
+
+// A TxFilter contains the information needed to identify a particular
+// transaction: either a block and an index, or a direct transaction hash.
+message TxFilter {
+     BlockID block = 1;
+     uint64 index = 2;
+     bytes hash = 3;
+}
+
+// RawTransaction contains the complete transaction data.
+message RawTransaction {
+    bytes data = 1;
+}
+
+message SendResponse {
+    int32 errorCode = 1;
+    string errorMessage = 2;
+}
+
+// Empty placeholder. Someday we may want to specify e.g. a particular chain fork.
+message ChainSpec {}
+
+service CompactTxStreamer {
+    rpc GetLatestBlock(ChainSpec) returns (BlockID) {}
+    rpc GetBlock(BlockID) returns (CompactBlock) {}
+    rpc GetBlockRange(BlockRange) returns (stream CompactBlock) {}
+    rpc GetTransaction(TxFilter) returns (RawTransaction) {}
+    rpc SendTransaction(RawTransaction) returns (SendResponse) {}
+}
diff --git a/rust-lightclient/src/main.rs b/rust-lightclient/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a74996d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-lightclient/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+
+use futures::Future;
+use hyper::client::connect::{Destination, HttpConnector};
+use tower_grpc::Request;
+use tower_hyper::{client, util};
+use tower_util::MakeService;
+
+pub mod grpc_client {
+    include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/cash.z.wallet.sdk.rpc.rs"));
+}
+
+pub fn main() {
+    let uri: http::Uri = format!("http://127.0.0.1:9067").parse().unwrap();
+
+    let dst = Destination::try_from_uri(uri.clone()).unwrap();
+    let connector = util::Connector::new(HttpConnector::new(4));
+    let settings = client::Builder::new().http2_only(true).clone();
+    let mut make_client = client::Connect::with_builder(connector, settings);
+
+    let say_hello = make_client
+        .make_service(dst)
+        .map_err(|e| panic!("connect error: {:?}", e))
+        .and_then(move |conn| {
+            use crate::grpc_client::client::CompactTxStreamer;
+
+            let conn = tower_request_modifier::Builder::new()
+                .set_origin(uri)
+                .build(conn)
+                .unwrap();
+
+            // Wait until the client is ready...
+            CompactTxStreamer::new(conn).ready()
+        })
+        .and_then(|mut client| {
+            use crate::grpc_client::ChainSpec;
+
+            client.get_latest_block(Request::new(ChainSpec {}))
+        })
+        .and_then(|response| {
+            println!("RESPONSE = {:?}", response);
+            Ok(())
+        })
+        .map_err(|e| {
+            println!("ERR = {:?}", e);
+        });
+
+    tokio::run(say_hello);
+}
\ No newline at end of file