diff --git a/grpc_client/grpc_client.py b/grpc_client/grpc_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ce8d7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/grpc_client/grpc_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2016 the original author or authors.
+#
+# 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.
+#
+
+"""
+gRPC client meant to connect to a gRPC server endpoint,
+and query the end-point's schema by calling
+SchemaService.Schema(NullMessage) and all of its
+semantics are derived from the recovered schema.
+"""
+import os
+
+import grpc
+import sys
+from consul import Consul
+from random import randint
+from structlog import get_logger
+from zlib import decompress
+
+from chameleon.protos.schema_pb2 import NullMessage, Schema, SchemaServiceStub
+
+log = get_logger()
+
+
+class GrpcClient(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, consul_endpoint, endpoint='localhost:50055'):
+        self.consul_endpoint = consul_endpoint
+        self.endpoint = endpoint
+        self.work_dir = '/tmp/chameleon'
+
+        self.channel = None
+        self.schema = None
+
+        self.shutting_down = False
+
+    def run(self):
+        self.connect()
+        return self
+
+    def shutdown(self):
+        if self.shutting_down:
+            return
+        self.shutting_down = True
+        pass
+
+    def connect(self):
+        """(re-)connect to end-point"""
+        if self.shutting_down:
+            return
+
+        try:
+            if self.endpoint.startswith('@'):
+                _endpoint = self.get_endpoint_from_consul(self.endpoint[1:])
+            else:
+                _endpoint = self.endpoint
+
+            log.info('connecting', endpoint=_endpoint)
+            self.channel = grpc.insecure_channel(_endpoint)
+
+            self._retrieve_schema()
+            self._compile_proto_files()
+
+        except Exception, e:
+            log.exception('cannot-connect', endpoint=_endpoint)
+
+    def get_endpoint_from_consul(self, service_name):
+        """Look up an appropriate grpc endpoint (host, port) from
+           consul, under the service name specified by service-name
+        """
+        host = self.consul_endpoint.split(':')[0].strip()
+        port = int(self.consul_endpoint.split(':')[1].strip())
+
+        consul = Consul(host=host, port=port)
+        _, services = consul.catalog.service(service_name)
+
+        if len(services) == 0:
+            raise Exception('Cannot find service %s in consul' % service_name)
+
+        # pick a random entry
+        # TODO should we prefer local IP addresses? Probably.
+
+        service = services[randint(0, len(services) - 1)]
+        endpoint = '{}:{}'.format(service['ServiceAddress'],
+                                  service['ServicePort'])
+        return endpoint
+
+    def _retrieve_schema(self):
+        """Retrieve schema from gRPC end-point"""
+        assert isinstance(self.channel, grpc.Channel)
+        stub = SchemaServiceStub(self.channel)
+        schema = stub.GetSchema(NullMessage())
+
+        os.system('mkdir -p %s' % self.work_dir)
+        os.system('rm -fr /tmp/%s/*' %
+                  self.work_dir.replace('/tmp/', ''))  # safer
+
+        for fname in schema.protos:
+            content = schema.protos[fname]
+            log.debug('saving-proto',
+                      fname=fname, dir=self.work_dir, length=len(content))
+            with open(os.path.join(self.work_dir, fname), 'w') as f:
+                f.write(content)
+
+        for fname in schema.descriptors:
+            content = decompress(schema.descriptors[fname])
+            log.debug('saving-descriptor',
+                      fname=fname, dir=self.work_dir, length=len(content))
+            with open(os.path.join(self.work_dir, fname), 'wb') as f:
+                f.write(content)
+
+    def _compile_proto_files(self):
+
+        google_api_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(__file__),
+            '../protos/third_party'
+        ))
+
+        for fname in [f for f in os.listdir(self.work_dir)
+                      if f.endswith('.proto')]:
+            log.info('compiling', file=fname)
+
+            cmd = (
+                'cd %s && '
+                'python -m grpc.tools.protoc '
+                '-I. '
+                '-I%s '
+                '--python_out=. '
+                '--grpc_python_out=. '
+                '%s' % (self.work_dir, google_api_dir, fname)
+            )
+            os.system(cmd)
+
+        # test-load each _pb2 file to see all is right
+        if self.work_dir not in sys.path:
+            sys.path.insert(0, self.work_dir)
+
+        for fname in [f for f in os.listdir(self.work_dir)
+                      if f.endswith('_pb2.py')]:
+            modname = fname[:-len('.py')]
+            log.debug('test-import', modname=modname)
+            _ = __import__(modname)