diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2e978756..358ad43b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ rusqlite = "0.8.0"
 [dependencies.edn]
   path = "edn"
 
+[dependencies.mentat_query]
+  path = "query"
+
 [dependencies.mentat_query_parser]
   path = "query-parser"
 
diff --git a/query/Cargo.toml b/query/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a58371a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[package]
+name = "mentat_query"
+version = "0.0.1"
+
+[dependencies]
+[dependencies.edn]
+  path = "../edn"
diff --git a/query/README.md b/query/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2b095991
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+This sub-crate implements the core types used by the query parser,
+translator, and executor — variables, find specifications, etc.
+
+The `edn` sub-crate implements some even lower-level types, such as `Keyword`.
diff --git a/query/src/find.rs b/query/src/find.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f5f8cd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query/src/find.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+// Copyright 2016 Mozilla
+//
+// 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.
+
+///! This module defines some core types that support find expressions: sources,
+///! variables, expressions, etc.
+///! These are produced as 'fuel' by the query parser, consumed by the query
+///! translator and executor.
+///!
+///! Many of these types are defined as simple structs that are little more than
+///! a richer type alias: a variable, for example, is really just a fancy kind
+///! of string.
+///!
+///! At some point in the future, we might consider reducing copying and memory
+///! usage by recasting all of these string-holding structs and enums in terms
+///! of string references, with those references being slices of some parsed
+///! input query string, and valid for the lifetime of that string.
+///!
+///! For now, for the sake of simplicity, all of these strings are heap-allocated.
+///!
+///! Furthermore, we might cut out some of the chaff here: each time a 'tagged'
+///! type is used within an enum, we have an opportunity to simplify and use the
+///! inner type directly in conjunction with matching on the enum. Before diving
+///! deeply into this it's worth recognizing that this loss of 'sovereignty' is
+///! a tradeoff against well-typed function signatures and other such boundaries.
+
+
+// TODO: support other kinds of sources.
+#[derive(Clone,Debug,Eq,PartialEq)]
+pub enum SrcVar {
+    DefaultSrc,
+}
+
+pub enum Constant {}    // This is essentially Box. TODO: flesh out.
+
+#[derive(Clone,Debug,Eq,PartialEq)]
+pub struct Variable {
+    pub name: String,
+}
+
+pub enum FnArg {
+    Constant { constant: Constant },
+    Variable { variable: Variable },
+    Src      { src: SrcVar },
+}
+
+pub enum PullPattern {
+    Constant { constant: Constant },
+    Variable { variable: Variable },
+}
+
+pub struct Pull {
+    pub src: SrcVar,
+    pub var: Variable,
+    pub pattern: PullPattern,      // Constant, variable, or plain variable.
+}
+
+pub struct Aggregate {
+    pub fn_name: String,
+    pub args: Vec<FnArg>,
+}
+
+// TODO: look up the idiomatic way to express these kinds of type
+// combinations in Rust. It must be common in ASTs. Trait objects
+// presumably aren't the answer…
+pub enum Element {
+    Variable { variable: Variable },
+    Pull { expression: Pull },
+    Aggregate { expression: Aggregate },
+}
+
+/// A definition of the first part of a find query: the
+/// `[:find ?foo ?bar…]` bit.
+///
+/// There are four different kinds of find specs, allowing you to query for
+/// a single value, a collection of values from different entities, a single
+/// tuple (relation), or a collection of tuples.
+///
+/// Examples:
+///
+/// ```rust
+/// # use mentat_query::find::{FindSpec, Element, Variable};
+///
+/// // TODO: this feels clunky.
+/// let foo = Variable { name: "foo".to_string() };
+/// let bar = Variable { name: "bar".to_string() };
+/// let elements = vec![
+///   Element::Variable { variable: foo },
+///   Element::Variable { variable: bar },
+/// ];
+/// let rel = FindSpec::FindRel { elements: elements };
+///
+/// if let FindSpec::FindRel { elements } = rel {
+///   assert_eq!(2, elements.len());
+/// }
+/// ```
+///
+pub enum FindSpec {
+    /// Returns an array of arrays.
+    FindRel { elements: Vec<Element> },
+
+    /// Returns an array of scalars, usually homogeneous.
+    /// This is equivalent to mapping over the results of a `FindRel`,
+    /// returning the first value of each.
+    FindColl { element: Element },
+
+    /// Returns a single tuple: a heterogeneous array of scalars. Equivalent to
+    /// taking the first result from a `FindRel`.
+    FindTuple { elements: Vec<Element> },
+
+    /// Returns a single scalar value. Equivalent to taking the first result
+    /// from a `FindColl`.
+    FindScalar { element: Element },
+}
+
+/// Returns true if the provided `FindSpec` returns at most one result.
+pub fn is_unit_limited(spec: &FindSpec) -> bool {
+    match spec {
+        &FindSpec::FindScalar { .. } => true,
+        &FindSpec::FindTuple { .. }  => true,
+        &FindSpec::FindRel { .. }    => false,
+        &FindSpec::FindColl { .. }   => false,
+    }
+}
+
+/// Returns true if the provided `FindSpec` cares about distinct results.
+pub fn requires_distinct(spec: &FindSpec) -> bool {
+    return !is_unit_limited(spec);
+}
diff --git a/query/src/lib.rs b/query/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0406f59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright 2016 Mozilla
+//
+// 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.
+
+pub mod find;
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 52e0cf94..d1fb9ba0 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 
 extern crate edn;
+extern crate mentat_query;
 extern crate mentat_query_parser;
 extern crate rusqlite;