diff --git a/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/.gitignore b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c61a5e8b01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.pb.go
diff --git a/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/Makefile b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a1a2ef9e11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+.PHONEY: proto test
+
+proto:
+	protoc --gogo_out=. *.proto
+
+test: proto
+	go install .
diff --git a/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/merkle.proto b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/merkle.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..866e0a8d08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/merkle.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package protobuf;
+
+
+// HashOp is the hashing algorithm we use at each level
+enum HashOp {
+    RIPEMD160 = 0;
+    SHA224 = 1;
+    SHA256 = 2;
+    SHA384 = 3;
+    SHA512 = 4;
+    SHA3_224 = 5;
+    SHA3_256 = 6;
+    SHA3_384 = 7;
+    SHA3_512 = 8;
+    SHA256_X2 = 9;
+};
+
+// Op represents one hash in a chain of hashes.
+// An operation takes the output of the last level and returns
+// a hash for the next level:
+// Op(last) => Operation(prefix + last + sufix)
+//
+// A simple left/right hash would simply set prefix=left or
+// suffix=right and leave the other blank. However, one could
+// also represent the a Patricia trie proof by setting
+// prefix to the rlp encoding of all nodes before the branch
+// we select, and suffix to all those after the one we select.
+message Op {
+    bytes prefix = 1;
+    bytes suffix = 2;
+    HashOp op = 3;
+}
+
+// Data is the end value stored,
+// used to generate the initial hash store
+message Data {
+    // optional prefix allows second preimage resistance
+    bytes prefix = 1;
+    bytes key = 2;
+    bytes value = 3;
+    HashOp op = 4;
+    // If it is KeyValue, this is the data we want
+    // If it is SubTree, key is name of the tree,
+    //   value is root hash
+    enum DataType {
+        KeyValue = 0;
+        SubTree = 1;
+    }
+    DataType dataType = 5;
+}
+
+// Branch will hash data and then pass it through operations
+// from first to last in order to calculate the root node.
+//
+// Visualize Branch as representing the data closest to
+// root as the first item, and the leaf as the last item.
+message Branch {
+    // if either are non-empty, enforce this prefix on all
+    // leaf/inner nodes to provide second preimage resistence
+    bytes prefixLeaf = 1;
+    bytes prefixInner = 2;
+    // this is the data to get the original hash,
+    // and a set of operations to calculate the root hash
+    Data data = 3;
+    repeated Op operations = 4;
+}
+
+message MerkleProof {
+    // TODO: root, height, chain_id, etc...
+
+    // branches start from the value, and then may
+    // include multiple subtree branches to embed it
+    //
+    // The first branch must have dataType KeyValue
+    // Following branches must have dataType SubTree
+    repeated Branch branches = 1;
+}
diff --git a/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/messages.proto b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/messages.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..035c962e5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/messages.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package protobuf;
+
+import "merkle.proto";
+
+
+// IBCPacket sends a proven key/value pair from an IBCQueue.
+// Depending on the type of message, we require a certain type
+// of key (MessageKey at a given height, or StateKey).
+//
+// Includes src_chain and src_height to look up the proper
+// header to verify the merkle proof.
+message IBCPacket {
+    // chain id it is coming from
+    string src_chain = 1;
+    // height for the header the proof belongs to
+    uint64 src_height = 2;
+    // the message type, which determines what key/value mean
+    enum MsgType {
+        RECEIVE = 0;
+        RECEIPT = 1;
+        TIMEOUT = 2;
+        CLEANUP = 3;
+    }
+    MsgType msgType = 3;
+    // the proof of the message, includes key and value
+    MerkleProof proof = 6;
+}
diff --git a/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/queue.proto b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/queue.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d1c0ad33c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/spec/ibc/protobuf/queue.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package protobuf;
+
+import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";
+
+message QueueName {
+    // chain_id is which chain this queue is
+    // associated with
+    string chain_id = 1;
+    enum Purpose {
+        SEND = 0;
+        RECEIPT = 1;
+    }
+    Purpose purpose = 2;
+}
+
+// StateKey is a key for the head/tail of a given queue
+message StateKey {
+    QueueName queue = 1;
+    // both encode into one byte with varint encoding
+    // never clash with 8 byte message indexes
+    enum State {
+        HEAD = 0;
+        TAIL = 0x7f;
+    }
+    State state = 2;
+}
+
+// StateValue is the type stored under a StateKey
+message StateValue {
+   fixed64 index = 1;
+}
+
+// MessageKey is the key for message *index* in a given queue
+message MessageKey {
+    QueueName queue = 1;
+    fixed64 index = 2;
+}
+
+// SendValue is stored under a MessageKey in the SEND queue
+message SendValue {
+    uint64 maxHeight = 1;
+    google.protobuf.Timestamp maxTime = 2;
+    // use kind instead of type to avoid keyword conflict
+    bytes kind = 3;
+    bytes data = 4;
+}
+
+// ReceiptValue is stored under a MessageKey in the RECEIPT queue
+message ReceiptValue {
+    // 0 is success, others are application-defined errors
+    int32 errorCode = 1;
+    // contains result on success, optional info on error
+    bytes data = 2;
+}
+