diff --git a/libmapper/app.c b/libmapper/app.c
index 501a191..3bdd0c6 100644
--- a/libmapper/app.c
+++ b/libmapper/app.c
@@ -140,10 +140,14 @@
 static int subtree_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	int r = 0;
+	int op = 0;
 	static const char* token = ":";
 	char* tmp = NULL;
 	char* namespace = NULL;
 	char* interface = NULL;
+	sd_bus *conn = NULL;
+	sd_event *loop = NULL;
+	mapper_async_subtree *subtree = NULL;
 
 	if (argc != 3) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s subtree-remove "
@@ -151,6 +155,8 @@
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
+	op = MAPPER_OP_REMOVE;
+
 	namespace = strtok_r(argv[2], token, &tmp);
 	interface = strtok_r(NULL, token, &tmp);
 	if ((namespace == NULL) || (interface == NULL)) {
@@ -158,6 +164,43 @@
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
+	r = sd_bus_default_system(&conn);
+	if(r < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error connecting to system bus: %s\n",
+				strerror(-r));
+		goto finish;
+	}
+
+	r = sd_event_default(&loop);
+	if (r < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error obtaining event loop: %s\n",
+				strerror(-r));
+		goto finish;
+	}
+
+	r = sd_bus_attach_event(conn, loop, SD_EVENT_PRIORITY_NORMAL);
+	if (r < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to attach system bus to event loop: %s\n",
+				strerror(-r));
+		goto finish;
+	}
+
+	r = mapper_subtree_async(conn, loop, namespace, interface, quit, loop,
+				&subtree, op);
+	if(r < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error configuring subtree list: %s\n",
+				strerror(-r));
+		goto finish;
+	}
+
+	r = sd_event_loop(loop);
+	if(r < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error starting event loop: %s\n",
+				strerror(-r));
+		goto finish;
+	}
+
+finish:
 	exit(r < 0 ? EXIT_FAILURE : EXIT_SUCCESS);
 }
 
diff --git a/libmapper/mapper.c b/libmapper/mapper.c
index 962b4e0..194041e 100644
--- a/libmapper/mapper.c
+++ b/libmapper/mapper.c
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@
 	int retry;
 };
 
+struct mapper_async_subtree
+{
+};
+
 static int async_wait_match_introspection_complete(sd_bus_message *, void *,
 		sd_bus_error *);
 static int async_wait_check_done(mapper_async_wait *);
@@ -374,6 +378,20 @@
 	return r;
 }
 
+int mapper_subtree_async(sd_bus *conn,
+		sd_event *loop,
+		char *namespace,
+		char *interface,
+		void (*callback)(int, void *),
+		void *userdata,
+		mapper_async_subtree **t,
+		int op)
+{
+	int r = 0;
+
+	return r;
+}
+
 int mapper_get_object(sd_bus *conn, const char *obj, sd_bus_message **reply)
 {
 	sd_bus_error error = SD_BUS_ERROR_NULL;
diff --git a/libmapper/mapper.h b/libmapper/mapper.h
index 7459e15..8fa5db6 100644
--- a/libmapper/mapper.h
+++ b/libmapper/mapper.h
@@ -4,11 +4,19 @@
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
+typedef enum mapper_operation
+{
+	MAPPER_OP_REMOVE = 1
+} mapper_operation;
 typedef struct mapper_async_wait mapper_async_wait;
+typedef struct mapper_async_subtree mapper_async_subtree;
 void mapper_wait_async_free(mapper_async_wait *);
+void mapper_subtree_async_free(mapper_async_subtree *);
 
 int mapper_wait_async(sd_bus *, sd_event *, char *[],
 		void (*)(int, void *), void *, mapper_async_wait **);
+int mapper_subtree_async(sd_bus *, sd_event *, char *, char *,
+		void (*)(int, void *), void *, mapper_async_subtree **, int);
 int mapper_get_service(sd_bus *conn, const char *obj, char **service);
 int mapper_get_object(sd_bus *conn, const char *obj, sd_bus_message **reply);
 #ifdef __cplusplus