diff --git a/i2c.hpp b/i2c.hpp
index 6685162..4c62799 100644
--- a/i2c.hpp
+++ b/i2c.hpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <string>
 
 namespace i2c
@@ -11,4 +12,19 @@
 void rebind_controller(const std::string_view number);
 void new_device(unsigned int bus, unsigned int address,
                 std::string_view device_type);
+
+// a simple RAII wrapper for raw i2c comms
+struct RawDevice
+{
+    RawDevice(size_t bus, uint8_t address);
+    ~RawDevice();
+    RawDevice(const RawDevice&) = delete;
+    RawDevice& operator=(const RawDevice&) = delete;
+    RawDevice& operator=(RawDevice&&) = default;
+    RawDevice(RawDevice&&) = default;
+
+    int read_byte(uint8_t reg, uint8_t& val);
+
+    int fd;
+};
 } // namespace i2c