--- /dev/null
+#ifndef _TEXT_PROTO_H
+#define _TEXT_PROTO_H 1
+
+// Utility functions to serialize protobufs on disk.
+// We use the text format because it's friendlier
+// for a user to look at and edit.
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace google {
+namespace protobuf {
+class Message;
+} // namespace protobuf
+} // namespace google
+
+bool load_proto_from_file(const std::string &filename, google::protobuf::Message *msg);
+bool save_proto_to_file(const google::protobuf::Message &msg, const std::string &filename);
+
+#endif // !defined(_TEXT_PROTO_H)