diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index e3874e92d..c7f947619 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -25,4 +25,5 @@ test {
     _ = @import("Pty.zig");
     _ = @import("Command.zig");
     _ = @import("TempDir.zig");
+    _ = @import("terminal/Terminal.zig");
 }
diff --git a/src/terminal/Terminal.zig b/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a12e86385
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+//! The primary terminal emulation structure. This represents a single
+//! "terminal" containing a grid of characters and exposes various operations
+//! on that grid. This also maintains the scrollback buffer.
+const Terminal = @This();
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+/// Screen is the current screen state.
+screen: Screen,
+
+/// Cursor position.
+cursor: Cursor,
+
+/// The size of the terminal.
+rows: usize,
+cols: usize,
+
+/// Screen represents a presentable terminal screen made up of lines and cells.
+const Screen = std.ArrayListUnmanaged(Line);
+const Line = std.ArrayListUnmanaged(Cell);
+
+/// Cell is a single cell within the terminal.
+const Cell = struct {
+    /// Each cell contains exactly one character.
+    char: u32,
+
+    // TODO(mitchellh): this is where we'll track fg/bg and other attrs.
+};
+
+/// Cursor represents the cursor state.
+const Cursor = struct {
+    x: usize,
+    y: usize,
+};
+
+/// Initialize a new terminal.
+pub fn init(cols: usize, rows: usize) Terminal {
+    return .{
+        .cols = cols,
+        .rows = rows,
+        .screen = .{},
+        .cursor = .{ .x = 0, .y = 0 },
+    };
+}