diff --git a/include/osmocom/vty/command.h b/include/osmocom/vty/command.h
index 0fa5175..cb2edaa 100644
--- a/include/osmocom/vty/command.h
+++ b/include/osmocom/vty/command.h
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@
 #define CMD_COMPLETE_MATCH       8
 #define CMD_COMPLETE_LIST_MATCH  9
 #define CMD_SUCCESS_DAEMON      10
+#define CMD_ERR_INVALID_INDENT  11
 
 /* Argc max counts. */
 #define CMD_ARGC_MAX   256
@@ -368,6 +369,7 @@
 char *argv_concat(const char **argv, int argc, int shift);
 
 vector cmd_make_strvec(const char *);
+int cmd_make_strvec2(const char *string, char **indent, vector *strvec_p);
 void cmd_free_strvec(vector);
 vector cmd_describe_command();
 char **cmd_complete_command();
diff --git a/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h b/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h
index 544e1fa..02ba03e 100644
--- a/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h
+++ b/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 
+#include <osmocom/core/linuxlist.h>
+
 /*! \defgroup vty VTY (Virtual TTY) interface
  *  @{
  * \file vty.h */
@@ -45,6 +47,20 @@
 	VTY_SHELL_SERV
 };
 
+struct vty_parent_node {
+	struct llist_head entry;
+
+	/*! private data, specified by creator */
+	void *priv;
+
+	/*! Node status of this vty */
+	int node;
+
+	/*! When reading from a config file, these are the indenting characters expected for children of
+	 * this VTY node. */
+	char *indent;
+};
+
 /*! Internal representation of a single VTY */
 struct vty {
 	/*! underlying file (if any) */
@@ -134,6 +150,13 @@
 
 	/*! In configure mode. */
 	int config;
+
+	/*! List of parent nodes, last item is the outermost parent. */
+	struct llist_head parent_nodes;
+
+	/*! When reading from a config file, these are the indenting characters expected for children of
+	 * the current VTY node. */
+	char *indent;
 };
 
 /* Small macro to determine newline is newline only or linefeed needed. */