diff --git a/maybe.go b/maybe.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aaef28b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maybe.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
+)
+
+// either a value or an error
+type maybe struct {
+	proto.Message
+	error
+}