diff --git a/automotive/vehicle/proto/VehicleHalProto.proto b/automotive/vehicle/proto/VehicleHalProto.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0dafe8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automotive/vehicle/proto/VehicleHalProto.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+syntax = "proto2";
+
+package vhal_proto;
+
+// CMD messages are from workstation --> VHAL
+// RESP messages are from VHAL --> workstation
+enum MsgType {
+    GET_CONFIG_CMD = 0;
+    GET_CONFIG_RESP = 1;
+    GET_CONFIG_ALL_CMD = 2;
+    GET_CONFIG_ALL_RESP = 3;
+    GET_PROPERTY_CMD = 4;
+    GET_PROPERTY_RESP = 5;
+    GET_PROPERTY_ALL_CMD = 6;
+    GET_PROPERTY_ALL_RESP = 7;
+    SET_PROPERTY_CMD = 8;
+    SET_PROPERTY_RESP = 9;
+    SET_PROPERTY_ASYNC = 10;
+    DEBUG_CMD = 11;
+    DEBUG_RESP = 12;
+}
+enum Status {
+    RESULT_OK = 0;
+    ERROR_UNKNOWN = 1;
+    ERROR_UNIMPLEMENTED_CMD = 2;
+    ERROR_INVALID_PROPERTY = 3;
+    ERROR_INVALID_AREA_ID = 4;
+    ERROR_PROPERTY_UNINITIALIZED = 5;
+    ERROR_WRITE_ONLY_PROPERTY = 6;
+    ERROR_MEMORY_ALLOC_FAILED = 7;
+    ERROR_INVALID_OPERATION = 8;
+}
+
+enum VehiclePropStatus {
+    AVAILABLE = 0;
+    UNAVAILABLE = 1;
+    ERROR = 2;
+}
+
+message VehicleAreaConfig {
+    required int32 area_id = 1;
+    optional sint32 min_int32_value = 2;
+    optional sint32 max_int32_value = 3;
+    optional sint64 min_int64_value = 4;
+    optional sint64 max_int64_value = 5;
+    optional float min_float_value = 6;
+    optional float max_float_value = 7;
+}
+
+message VehiclePropConfig {
+    required int32 prop = 1;
+    optional int32 access = 2;
+    optional int32 change_mode = 3;
+    optional int32 value_type = 4;
+    optional int32 supported_areas = 5;  // Deprecated - DO NOT USE
+    repeated VehicleAreaConfig area_configs = 6;
+    optional int32 config_flags = 7;
+    repeated int32 config_array = 8;
+    optional string config_string = 9;
+    optional float min_sample_rate = 10;
+    optional float max_sample_rate = 11;
+};
+
+message VehiclePropValue {
+    // common data
+    required int32 prop = 1;
+    optional int32 value_type = 2;
+    optional int64 timestamp = 3;            // required for valid data from HAL, skipped for set
+    optional VehiclePropStatus status = 10;  // required for valid data from HAL, skipped for set
+
+    // values
+    optional int32 area_id = 4;
+    repeated sint32 int32_values = 5;  // this also covers boolean value.
+    repeated sint64 int64_values = 6;
+    repeated float float_values = 7;
+    optional string string_value = 8;
+    optional bytes bytes_value = 9;
+};
+
+// This structure is used to notify what values to get from the Vehicle HAL
+message VehiclePropGet {
+    required int32 prop = 1;
+    optional int32 area_id = 2;
+};
+
+message EmulatorMessage {
+    required MsgType msg_type = 1;
+    optional Status status = 2;        // Only for RESP messages
+    repeated VehiclePropGet prop = 3;  // Provided for getConfig, getProperty commands
+    repeated VehiclePropConfig config = 4;
+    repeated VehiclePropValue value = 5;
+    repeated string debug_commands = 6;  // Required for debug command
+    optional string debug_result = 7;    // Required for debug RESP messages
+};