diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 35974852b..8d5bdd812 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ subdir('include')
 subdir('src')
 subdir('dbus')
 subdir('netplan')
+subdir('python-cffi')
 subdir('examples')
 subdir('doc')
 
diff --git a/python-cffi/.gitignore b/python-cffi/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..789470f7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-cffi/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+_libnetplan*.c
+_libnetplan*.o
+_libnetplan*.so
+
diff --git a/python-cffi/__init__.py b/python-cffi/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3202b1210
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-cffi/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2023 Canonical, Ltd.
+# Author: Lukas Märdian <slyon@ubuntu.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; version 3.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Re-export submodules
+from .state import *
diff --git a/python-cffi/libnetplan_build.py b/python-cffi/libnetplan_build.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..07be6ed09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-cffi/libnetplan_build.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Copyright (C) 2023 Canonical, Ltd.
+# Author: Lukas Märdian <slyon@ubuntu.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; version 3.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+from cffi import FFI
+ffibuilder = FFI()
+
+# cdef() expects a single string declaring the C types, functions and
+# globals needed to use the shared object. It must be in valid C syntax.
+ffibuilder.cdef("""
+    typedef struct netplan_state NetplanState;
+    typedef enum {
+        NETPLAN_BACKEND_NONE,
+        NETPLAN_BACKEND_NETWORKD,
+        NETPLAN_BACKEND_NM,
+        NETPLAN_BACKEND_OVS,
+        NETPLAN_BACKEND_MAX_,
+    } NetplanBackend;
+    NetplanState* netplan_state_new();
+    void netplan_state_reset(NetplanState* np_state);
+    void netplan_state_clear(NetplanState** np_state);
+    NetplanBackend netplan_state_get_backend(const NetplanState* np_state);
+""")
+
+# set_source() gives the name of the python extension module to
+# produce, and some C source code as a string.  This C code needs
+# to make the declarated functions, types and globals available,
+# so it is often just the "#include".
+ffibuilder.set_source_pkgconfig("_libnetplan0", ['netplan', 'glib-2.0'],
+"""
+     #include "netplan/netplan.h"   // the C header of the library
+""",
+     libraries=['netplan', 'glib-2.0'])   # library name, for the linker
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    ffibuilder.compile(verbose=False)
diff --git a/python-cffi/meson.build b/python-cffi/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e288709ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-cffi/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+pymod = import('python')
+python = pymod.find_installation('python3')
+
+
+
+#https://mesonbuild.com/FAQ.html#but-i-really-want-to-use-wildcards
+out = run_command('sh', '-c', 'python3 libnetplan_build.py && find -name _libnetplan*.so', check: true)
+cffi_so = out.stdout().strip().split('\n')
+message(cffi_so)
+
+bindings_sources = '''
+  __init__.py
+  state.py
+'''.split()
+
+bindings = python.install_sources(
+    [bindings_sources, cffi_so],
+    subdir: 'netplan')
diff --git a/python-cffi/state.py b/python-cffi/state.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca7f309a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python-cffi/state.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2023 Canonical, Ltd.
+# Author: Lukas Märdian <slyon@ubuntu.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; version 3.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+from ._libnetplan import ffi, lib
+
+class State():
+    def __init__(self):
+        state = lib.netplan_state_new()
+        print(lib.netplan_state_get_backend(state))