diff --git a/aos/init.h b/aos/init.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4489c5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aos/init.h
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#ifndef AOS_INIT_H_
+#define AOS_INIT_H_
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace aos {
+
+// In order to use shared memory, one of the Init* functions must be called in
+// exactly 1 thread per process. It is OK to keep going without calling one of
+// them again after fork(2)ing.
+
+// Does the non-realtime parts of the initialization process.
+// If for_realtime is true, this sets up to call GoRT later.
+void InitNRT(bool for_realtime = false);
+// Initializes everything, including the realtime stuff.
+// relative_priority adjusts the priority of this process relative to all of the
+// other ones (positive for higher priority).
+void Init(int relative_priority = 0);
+// Same as InitNRT, except will remove an existing shared memory file and create
+// a new one.
+void InitCreate();
+// Cleans up (probably not going to get called very often because few things can
+// exit gracefully).
+void Cleanup();
+
+// Performs the realtime parts of initialization after InitNRT(true) has been called.
+void GoRT(int relative_priority = 0);
+
+// Sets up this process to write core dump files.
+// This is called by Init*, but it's here for other files that want this
+// behavior without calling Init*.
+void WriteCoreDumps();
+
+// Sets the current thread's realtime priority.
+void SetCurrentThreadRealtimePriority(int priority);
+
+// Sets the current thread back down to non-realtime priority.
+void UnsetCurrentThreadRealtimePriority();
+
+// Pins the current thread to CPU #number.
+void PinCurrentThreadToCPU(int number);
+
+// Sets the name of the current thread.
+// This will displayed by `top -H`, dump_rtprio, and show up in logs.
+// name can have a maximum of 16 characters.
+void SetCurrentThreadName(const ::std::string &name);
+
+void LockAllMemory();
+
+}  // namespace aos
+
+#endif  // AOS_INIT_H_