diff --git a/lib/vagrant.rb b/lib/vagrant.rb
index 1cfe0abcf..138b4a47b 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant.rb
@@ -91,6 +91,22 @@ module Vagrant
     @source_root ||= Pathname.new(File.expand_path('../../', __FILE__))
   end
 
+  # Returns a superclass to use when creating a plugin for Vagrant.
+  # Given a specific version, this returns a proper superclass to use
+  # to register plugins for that version.
+  #
+  # Plugins should subclass the class returned by this method, and will
+  # be registered as soon as they have a name associated with them.
+  #
+  # @return [Class]
+  def self.plugin(version)
+    # We only support version 1 right now.
+    return Plugin::V1 if version == "1"
+
+    # Raise an error that the plugin version is invalid
+    raise ArgumentError, "Invalid plugin version API: #{version}"
+  end
+
   # Global registry of commands that are available via the CLI.
   #
   # This registry is used to look up the sub-commands that are available
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/plugin.rb b/lib/vagrant/plugin.rb
index 62da439c2..2237cfd9b 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/plugin.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/plugin.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ module Vagrant
   # (for debugging), the list of loaded plugins is stored in the {plugins}
   # array.
   class Plugin
+    # XXX: Make Plugin a module at some point
+    autoload :V1, 'vagrant/plugin/v1'
+
     # The array of gem specifications that were loaded as plugins.
     @@plugins = []
 
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1.rb b/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16d4adab9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+module Vagrant
+  class Plugin
+    # The superclass for version 1 plugins.
+    class V1
+      # Returns a list of registered plugins for this version.
+      #
+      # @return [Array]
+      def self.registered
+        @registry || []
+      end
+
+      # Set the name of the plugin. The moment that this is called, the
+      # plugin will be registered and available. Before this is called, a
+      # plugin does not exist. The name must be unique among all installed
+      # plugins.
+      #
+      # @param [String] name Name of the plugin.
+      # @return [String] The name of the plugin.
+      def self.name(name=UNSET_VALUE)
+        # The plugin should be registered if we're setting a real name on it
+        register!(self) if name != UNSET_VALUE
+
+        # Get or set the value
+        get_or_set(:name, name)
+      end
+
+      # Sets a human-friendly descrition of the plugin.
+      #
+      # @param [String] value Description of the plugin.
+      # @return [String] Description of the plugin.
+      def self.description(value=UNSET_VALUE)
+        get_or_set(:description, value)
+      end
+
+      protected
+
+      # Sentinel value denoting that a value has not been set.
+      UNSET_VALUE = Object.new
+
+      # Helper method that will set a value if a value is given, or otherwise
+      # return the already set value.
+      #
+      # @param [Symbol] key Key for the data
+      # @param [Object] value Value to store.
+      # @return [Object] Stored value.
+      def self.get_or_set(key, value=UNSET_VALUE)
+        @data ||= {}
+
+        # If no value is to be set, then return the value we have already set
+        return @data[key] if value.eql?(UNSET_VALUE)
+
+        # Otherwise set the value
+        @data[key] = value
+      end
+
+      # Registers the plugin. This makes the plugin actually work with
+      # Vagrant. Prior to registering, the plugin is merely a skeleton.
+      def self.register!(plugin)
+        # Register only on the root class
+        return V1.register!(plugin) if self != V1
+
+        # Register it into the list
+        @registry ||= []
+        @registry << plugin if !@registry.include?(plugin)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1_test.rb b/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..03011b266
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+require File.expand_path("../../../base", __FILE__)
+
+describe Vagrant::Plugin::V1 do
+  after(:each) do
+    # We want to make sure that the registered plugins remains empty
+    # after each test.
+    described_class.registered.clear
+  end
+
+  it "should be able to set and get the name" do
+    plugin = Class.new(described_class) do
+      name "foo"
+    end
+
+    plugin.name.should == "foo"
+  end
+
+  it "should be able to set and get the description" do
+    plugin = Class.new(described_class) do
+      description "bar"
+    end
+
+    plugin.description.should == "bar"
+  end
+
+  it "should have no registered plugins" do
+    described_class.registered.should be_empty
+  end
+
+  it "should register a plugin when a name is set" do
+    plugin = Class.new(described_class) do
+      name "foo"
+    end
+
+    described_class.registered.should == [plugin]
+  end
+
+  it "should register a plugin only once" do
+    plugin = Class.new(described_class) do
+      name "foo"
+      name "bar"
+    end
+
+    described_class.registered.should == [plugin]
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/vagrant_test.rb b/test/unit/vagrant_test.rb
index de2b2f379..82aeb58ff 100644
--- a/test/unit/vagrant_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/vagrant_test.rb
@@ -24,4 +24,15 @@ describe Vagrant do
   it "has a registry for provisioners" do
     described_class.provisioners.should be_a(Vagrant::Registry)
   end
+
+  describe "plugin superclass" do
+    it "returns the proper class for version 1" do
+      described_class.plugin("1").should == Vagrant::Plugin::V1
+    end
+
+    it "raises an exception if an unsupported version is given" do
+      expect { described_class.plugin("88") }.
+        to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+    end
+  end
 end