diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index ba0fd0c9..382c9791 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -111,6 +111,24 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.build.Builder) void {
 
     const compile_all = b.step("compile-all", "Compile all examples and applications");
     compile_all.dependOn(b.getInstallStep());
+
+    // compiles the `libmach` shared library
+    const lib = b.addSharedLibrary("mach", "src/bindings.zig", .unversioned);
+    const app_pkg = std.build.Pkg{
+        .name = "app",
+        .source = .{ .path = "src/platform/libmach.zig" },
+    };
+    lib.addPackage(app_pkg);
+    lib.addPackage(gpu.pkg);
+    lib.addPackage(glfw.pkg);
+    const gpu_options = gpu.Options{
+        .glfw_options = @bitCast(@import("gpu/libs/mach-glfw/build.zig").Options, options.glfw_options),
+        .gpu_dawn_options = @bitCast(@import("gpu/libs/mach-gpu-dawn/build.zig").Options, options.gpu_dawn_options),
+    };
+    glfw.link(b, lib, options.glfw_options);
+    gpu.link(b, lib, gpu_options);
+    lib.setOutputDir("./libmach/build");
+    lib.install();
 }
 
 pub const Options = struct {
diff --git a/libmach/.gitignore b/libmach/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b018793c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmach/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+build/
+test
diff --git a/libmach/Makefile b/libmach/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f5dd8ce8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmach/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+build/libmach.dylib: ../build.zig ../src/*.zig ../src/**/*.zig
+	cd ..; zig build
+
+test: test.c build/libmach.dylib
+	clang -L./build -lmach -o test test.c
+
+test_c: test
+	# my best attempt at cross-platform dynamic linking (for now)
+	DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=./build LD_LIBRARY_OATH=./build ./test
+
+test_lisp: build/libmach.dylib
+	sbcl --load test.lisp
diff --git a/libmach/README.md b/libmach/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a30f077c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmach/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# libmach
+
+Build the `libmach` dynamic library by running `make` (or running `zig build` in the parent directory).
+The resulting binary should be located in `libmach/build/`.
+
+Test the functionality of `libmach` using `make test_c` and `make test_lisp`.
+These commands use C and Lisp to call into `libmach`, and both should show a blank window for exactly 1 second.
+
+Note: `make test_lisp` requires a relatively recent version of Steel Bank Common Lisp (`sbcl`) to be installed.
+
+You can find the Zig source code for `libmach` in `src/bindings.zig`.
diff --git a/libmach/test.c b/libmach/test.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4583a45b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmach/test.c
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+typedef void mach_core_callback(void*);
+
+// `libmach` exported API bindings
+void mach_core_set_init(mach_core_callback);
+void mach_core_set_update(mach_core_callback);
+void mach_core_set_deinit(mach_core_callback);
+void mach_run(void);
+void core_set_should_close(void*);
+float core_delta_time(void*);
+
+static float elapsed = 0;
+
+void my_init(void* core) {
+  printf("My init!\n");
+}
+
+void my_update(void* core) {
+  float dt = core_delta_time(core);
+  if (elapsed < 1.0) {
+    elapsed += dt;
+  } else {
+    core_set_should_close(core);
+  }
+  printf("My update! total time = %f\n", elapsed);
+}
+
+void my_deinit(void* core) {
+  printf("My deinit!\n");
+}
+
+int main() {
+  mach_core_set_init(my_init);
+  mach_core_set_update(my_update);
+  mach_core_set_deinit(my_deinit);
+  mach_run();
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/libmach/test.lisp b/libmach/test.lisp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9423b4ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmach/test.lisp
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+;; Tests the behavior of `libmach` using Common Lisp's CFFI
+;; This Lisp script is basically a one-to-one translation of `test.c`
+
+(ql:quickload :cffi)
+
+(defpackage :cffi-user
+  (:use :cl :cffi))
+
+(in-package :cffi-user)
+
+(define-foreign-library libmach
+  (t (:default "./build/libmach")))
+   
+(use-foreign-library libmach)
+
+;; Note: CFFI automatically translates C_style names into lispier kebab-case ones
+
+;; typedef void mach_core_callback(void*);
+(defctype mach-core-callback :pointer)
+
+;; void mach_core_set_init(mach_core_callback);
+(defcfun "mach_core_set_init" :void
+  (callback mach-core-callback))
+
+;; void mach_core_set_update(mach_core_callback);
+(defcfun "mach_core_set_update" :void
+  (callback mach-core-callback))
+
+;; void mach_core_set_deinit(mach_core_callback);
+(defcfun "mach_core_set_deinit" :void
+  (callback mach-core-callback))
+
+;; void mach_run(void);
+(defcfun "mach_run" :void)
+
+;; void core_set_should_close(void*);
+(defcfun "core_set_should_close" :void (core :pointer))
+
+;; float core_delta_time(void*);
+(defcfun "core_delta_time" :float (core :pointer))
+
+(defcallback my-init :void ((core :pointer))
+  (format t "Hello from my-init!~%"))
+
+(defvar *elapsed* 0.0)
+
+(defcallback my-update :void ((core :pointer))
+  (format t "Hello from my-update ~a~%" *elapsed*)
+  (if (< *elapsed* 1.0)
+      (incf *elapsed* (core-delta-time core))
+      (core-set-should-close core)))
+
+(defcallback my-deinit :void ((core :pointer))
+  (format t "Hello from my-deinit!~%"))
+
+(mach-core-set-init (callback my-init))
+
+(mach-core-set-update (callback my-update))
+
+(mach-core-set-deinit (callback my-deinit))
+
+(mach-run)
+
+(sb-ext:exit)
diff --git a/src/bindings.zig b/src/bindings.zig
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..71f5e78c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/bindings.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const gpu = @import("gpu");
+const Core = @import("Core.zig");
+const libmach = @import("platform/libmach.zig");
+const native = @import("platform/native.zig");
+
+// Current Limitations:
+// 1. Currently, ecs seems to be using some weird compile-time type trickery, so I'm not exactly sure how
+// `engine` should be integrated into the C API
+// 2. Core might need to expose more state so more API functions can be exposed (for example, the WebGPU API)
+// 3. Be very careful about arguments, types, memory, etc - any mismatch will result in undefined behavior
+
+pub const App = libmach;
+
+pub export fn mach_core_set_init(core_init: libmach.CoreCallback) void {
+    std.debug.print("mach core set init\n", .{});
+    libmach.core_callbacks.core_init = core_init;
+}
+
+pub export fn mach_core_set_deinit(core_deinit: libmach.CoreCallback) void {
+    std.debug.print("mach core set deinit\n", .{});
+    libmach.core_callbacks.core_deinit = core_deinit;
+}
+
+pub export fn mach_core_set_update(core_update: libmach.CoreCallback) void {
+    std.debug.print("mach core set update\n", .{});
+    libmach.core_callbacks.core_update = core_update;
+}
+
+pub export fn mach_run() void {
+    if (libmach.core_callbacks.core_init == null) {
+        std.debug.print("Did not provide a core_init callback\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    if (libmach.core_callbacks.core_update == null) {
+        std.debug.print("Did not provide a core_update callback\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    if (libmach.core_callbacks.core_deinit == null) {
+        std.debug.print("Did not provide a core_deinit callback\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    native.main() catch unreachable;
+}
+
+pub export fn core_set_should_close(core: *Core) void {
+    core.*.setShouldClose(true);
+}
+
+pub export fn core_delta_time(core: *Core) f32 {
+    return core.*.delta_time;
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/libmach.zig b/src/platform/libmach.zig
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d521cf07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/libmach.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const Core = @import("../Core.zig");
+const gpu = @import("gpu");
+const ecs = @import("ecs");
+
+pub const App = @This();
+
+// Zig says that *App has a size of 0 bits, and it won't compile if
+// pub const core_callback_t = fn (*App, *Core) callconv(.C) void;
+// What is *App needed for anyway?
+pub const CoreCallback = fn (*Core) callconv(.C) void;
+
+pub const CoreCallbacks = struct {
+    core_init: ?CoreCallback,
+    core_update: ?CoreCallback,
+    core_deinit: ?CoreCallback,
+};
+
+pub var core_callbacks = CoreCallbacks {
+    .core_init = null,
+    .core_update = null,
+    .core_deinit = null,
+};
+
+pub fn init(_: *App, core: *Core) !void {
+    core_callbacks.core_init.?(core);
+}
+
+pub fn deinit(_: *App, core: *Core) void {
+    core_callbacks.core_deinit.?(core);
+}
+
+pub fn update(_: *App, core: *Core) !void {
+    core_callbacks.core_update.?(core);
+}