diff --git a/tools/nfdc/module.hpp b/tools/nfdc/module.hpp
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+++ b/tools/nfdc/module.hpp
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+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2016,  Regents of the University of California,
+ *                           Arizona Board of Regents,
+ *                           Colorado State University,
+ *                           University Pierre & Marie Curie, Sorbonne University,
+ *                           Washington University in St. Louis,
+ *                           Beijing Institute of Technology,
+ *                           The University of Memphis.
+ *
+ * This file is part of NFD (Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon).
+ * See AUTHORS.md for complete list of NFD authors and contributors.
+ *
+ * NFD is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms
+ * of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation,
+ * either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * NFD is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
+ * without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+ * PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+ * NFD, e.g., in COPYING.md file.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef NFD_TOOLS_NFDC_MODULE_HPP
+#define NFD_TOOLS_NFDC_MODULE_HPP
+
+#include "core/common.hpp"
+#include <ndn-cxx/management/nfd-controller.hpp>
+
+namespace nfd {
+namespace tools {
+namespace nfdc {
+
+using ndn::nfd::Controller;
+using ndn::nfd::CommandOptions;
+
+/** \brief provides access to an NFD management module
+ *  \note This type is an interface. It should not have member fields.
+ */
+class Module
+{
+public:
+  virtual
+  ~Module() = default;
+
+  /** \brief collect status from NFD
+   *  \pre no other fetchStatus is in progress
+   *  \param controller a controller through which StatusDataset can be requested
+   *  \param onSuccess invoked when status has been collected into this instance
+   *  \param onFailure passed to controller.fetch
+   *  \param options passed to controller.fetch
+   */
+  virtual void
+  fetchStatus(Controller& controller,
+              const function<void()>& onSuccess,
+              const Controller::CommandFailCallback& onFailure,
+              const CommandOptions& options) = 0;
+
+  /** \brief format collected status as XML
+   *  \pre fetchStatus has been successful
+   *  \param os output stream
+   */
+  virtual void
+  formatStatusXml(std::ostream& os) const = 0;
+
+  /** \brief format collected status as text
+   *  \pre fetchStatus has been successful
+   *  \param os output stream
+   */
+  virtual void
+  formatStatusText(std::ostream& os) const = 0;
+};
+
+} // namespace nfdc
+} // namespace tools
+} // namespace nfd
+
+#endif // NFD_TOOLS_NFDC_MODULE_HPP