diff --git a/ffi.nim b/ffi.nim
index a95898f..c268b8f 100644
--- a/ffi.nim
+++ b/ffi.nim
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ import std/[atomics, sysatomics, tables]
 import chronos, chronicles
 import
   ffi/internal/[ffi_library, ffi_macro],
-  ffi/[alloc, ffi_types, ffi_context, ffi_context_pool, ffi_thread_request, cbor_serial]
+  ffi/[
+    alloc, ffi_types, ffi_events, ffi_context, ffi_context_pool, ffi_thread_request,
+    cbor_serial,
+  ]
 
 export atomics, sysatomics, tables
 export chronos, chronicles
 export
-  atomics, alloc, ffi_library, ffi_macro, ffi_types, ffi_context, ffi_context_pool,
-  ffi_thread_request, cbor_serial
+  atomics, alloc, ffi_library, ffi_macro, ffi_types, ffi_events, ffi_context,
+  ffi_context_pool, ffi_thread_request, cbor_serial
diff --git a/ffi/ffi_events.nim b/ffi/ffi_events.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfa1b02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ffi/ffi_events.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+## Multi-listener registry primitive for FFI library-initiated events.
+##
+## Each event name maps to a `seq` of listeners; the empty event name `""`
+## is the wildcard channel and receives every dispatched event in addition
+## to its own per-name subscribers.
+##
+## This module ships the data structure only. Dispatch templates that
+## consume the registry, plus the FFIContext wiring that exposes the
+## registry to {.ffi.}-generated code, land in follow-up PRs. The
+## registry is thread-safe via an embedded `Lock`; the future dispatch
+## path acquires the lock only long enough to copy out the listener
+## slice for the event being dispatched, so re-entrant add/remove from
+## within a handler is deadlock-free by construction.
+
+import std/[locks, tables]
+import ./ffi_types
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Registry types
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+type
+  FFIEventListener* = object
+    id*: uint64
+    callback*: FFICallBack
+    userData*: pointer
+
+  FFIEventRegistry* = object
+    ## Per-context multi-listener registry. `lock` guards every mutation;
+    ## readers (dispatch path) acquire it only long enough to copy out the
+    ## listener slice for the event being dispatched.
+    lock*: Lock
+    nextId*: uint64
+      ## Monotonic id source. 0 is reserved as "invalid"; ids start at 1.
+    byEvent*: Table[string, seq[FFIEventListener]]
+    wildcard*: seq[FFIEventListener]
+
+const WildcardEventName* = ""
+  ## Empty string registers a wildcard listener that receives every event.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Registry lifecycle and mutation
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+proc initEventRegistry*(reg: var FFIEventRegistry) =
+  ## Must be called exactly once on the owning thread before the registry
+  ## is shared. The embedded `Lock` wraps a platform primitive that cannot
+  ## be safely double-initialised, so concurrent callers would hit UB at
+  ## the OS layer — the lock itself can't defend against its own init.
+  reg.lock.initLock()
+  reg.nextId = 0'u64
+  reg.byEvent = initTable[string, seq[FFIEventListener]]()
+  reg.wildcard.setLen(0)
+
+proc deinitEventRegistry*(reg: var FFIEventRegistry) =
+  ## Mirror of `initEventRegistry`: must be called exactly once, by the
+  ## same thread that owns the registry, after all other threads have
+  ## stopped using it. `deinitLock` on a platform primitive that any
+  ## thread might still be holding or about to acquire is UB at the OS
+  ## layer.
+  reg.lock.deinitLock()
+  reg.byEvent.clear()
+  reg.wildcard.setLen(0)
+
+proc addEventListener*(
+    reg: var FFIEventRegistry,
+    eventName: string,
+    callback: FFICallBack,
+    userData: pointer,
+): uint64 {.raises: [].} =
+  ## Registers `callback` for `eventName` and returns the listener's stable
+  ## id (always non-zero on success). `eventName == ""` registers a wildcard
+  ## listener that receives every dispatched event. Returns 0 if `callback`
+  ## is nil — the only documented failure mode.
+  if callback.isNil():
+    return 0
+
+  var assigned: uint64 = 0
+
+  withLock reg.lock:
+    reg.nextId.inc()
+    assigned = reg.nextId
+    let listener =
+      FFIEventListener(id: assigned, callback: callback, userData: userData)
+    if eventName.len == 0:
+      reg.wildcard.add(listener)
+    else:
+      reg.byEvent.mgetOrPut(eventName, @[]).add(listener)
+  return assigned
+
+proc removeEventListener*(reg: var FFIEventRegistry, id: uint64): bool {.raises: [].} =
+  ## Removes the listener with `id`. Returns true on success, false if no
+  ## listener with that id exists. Safe to call from inside a dispatch:
+  ## the in-flight snapshot still delivers exactly once to the listener
+  ## being removed.
+  if id == 0'u64:
+    return false
+
+  var removed = false
+
+  withLock reg.lock:
+    for i in 0 ..< reg.wildcard.len:
+      if reg.wildcard[i].id == id:
+        reg.wildcard.delete(i)
+        removed = true
+        break
+    if not removed:
+      var emptyKey = ""
+      var prune = false
+      for key, listeners in reg.byEvent.mpairs:
+        var idx = -1
+        for i in 0 ..< listeners.len:
+          if listeners[i].id == id:
+            idx = i
+            break
+        if idx >= 0:
+          listeners.delete(idx)
+          removed = true
+          if listeners.len == 0:
+            emptyKey = key
+            prune = true
+          break
+      if prune:
+        reg.byEvent.del(emptyKey)
+  return removed
+
+proc removeAllEventListeners*(reg: var FFIEventRegistry) {.raises: [].} =
+  ## Drops every registered listener (per-event and wildcard). Does not
+  ## reset the listener-id counter — subsequent `addEventListener` calls
+  ## still return strictly increasing ids.
+  withLock reg.lock:
+    reg.wildcard.setLen(0)
+    reg.byEvent.clear()
+
+proc snapshotListeners*(
+    reg: var FFIEventRegistry, eventName: string
+): seq[FFIEventListener] {.raises: [].} =
+  ## Returns a copy of the listener slice for `eventName`, plus every
+  ## wildcard listener. The copy is what makes re-entrant add/remove from
+  ## inside a handler deadlock-free: dispatch holds the lock only for the
+  ## duration of the copy, then iterates the copy outside the lock.
+  var snap: seq[FFIEventListener] = @[]
+  withLock reg.lock:
+    if eventName.len > 0:
+      # `getOrDefault` returns an empty seq when the key is absent —
+      # avoids the raising `[]` operator path.
+      for l in reg.byEvent.getOrDefault(eventName):
+        snap.add(l)
+    for l in reg.wildcard:
+      snap.add(l)
+  return snap
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_event_listener.nim b/tests/unit/test_event_listener.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..432b6ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_event_listener.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+## Unit tests for the `FFIEventRegistry` primitive — the multi-listener
+## data structure that will back `<lib>_add_event_listener` /
+## `<lib>_remove_event_listener` once the dispatch wiring lands.
+##
+## These tests exercise the registry directly (no FFI thread, no dispatch
+## templates) so they stay fast and pin down the registry's mutation and
+## snapshot semantics in isolation.
+
+import std/locks
+import unittest2
+import ffi
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Tiny helpers — a thread-safe sink each listener writes into so we can
+# assert which callbacks would fire and in what order once dispatch lands.
+# Today only `tagCb`'s presence is exercised; the recorder is also used to
+# make sure listener bookkeeping doesn't accidentally invoke callbacks.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+type Recorder = object
+  lock: Lock
+  hits: seq[string] # tag captured from `userData` per invocation
+  retCodes: seq[cint]
+  payloads: seq[string]
+
+proc initRecorder(r: var Recorder) =
+  r.lock.initLock()
+
+proc deinitRecorder(r: var Recorder) =
+  r.lock.deinitLock()
+
+proc record(r: var Recorder, tag: string, retCode: cint, payload: string) =
+  acquire(r.lock)
+  r.hits.add(tag)
+  r.retCodes.add(retCode)
+  r.payloads.add(payload)
+  release(r.lock)
+
+# Each listener is identified by a `Tag` passed through `userData`.
+type Tag = object
+  name: string
+  rec: ptr Recorder
+
+proc tagCb(
+    retCode: cint, msg: ptr cchar, len: csize_t, userData: pointer
+) {.cdecl, gcsafe, raises: [].} =
+  let t = cast[ptr Tag](userData)
+  var payload = newString(int(len))
+  if len > 0 and not msg.isNil:
+    copyMem(addr payload[0], msg, int(len))
+  record(t[].rec[], t[].name, retCode, payload)
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Tests
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+suite "FFIEventRegistry mutation":
+  test "addEventListener assigns monotonically increasing non-zero ids":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    var rec: Recorder
+    initRecorder(rec)
+    defer:
+      deinitRecorder(rec)
+    var t = Tag(name: "a", rec: addr rec)
+
+    let id1 = addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr t)
+    let id2 = addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr t)
+    let id3 = addEventListener(reg, "", tagCb, addr t)
+    check id1 == 1'u64
+    check id2 == 2'u64
+    check id3 == 3'u64
+
+  test "addEventListener returns 0 when callback is nil":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    let id = addEventListener(reg, "evt", nil, nil)
+    check id == 0'u64
+
+  test "removeEventListener returns false for unknown ids":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    check not removeEventListener(reg, 0'u64)
+    check not removeEventListener(reg, 99'u64)
+
+  test "removeEventListener removes from per-event seq and wildcard":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    var rec: Recorder
+    initRecorder(rec)
+    defer:
+      deinitRecorder(rec)
+    var t = Tag(name: "a", rec: addr rec)
+
+    let id1 = addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr t)
+    let id2 = addEventListener(reg, "", tagCb, addr t)
+
+    check removeEventListener(reg, id1)
+    check removeEventListener(reg, id2)
+    # Second remove of the same id is a no-op.
+    check not removeEventListener(reg, id1)
+
+    let snap = snapshotListeners(reg, "evt")
+    check snap.len == 0
+
+suite "FFIEventRegistry snapshot semantics":
+  test "snapshot includes both per-event listeners and wildcards":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    var rec: Recorder
+    initRecorder(rec)
+    defer:
+      deinitRecorder(rec)
+    var a = Tag(name: "a", rec: addr rec)
+    var b = Tag(name: "b", rec: addr rec)
+    var c = Tag(name: "c", rec: addr rec)
+
+    discard addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr a)
+    discard addEventListener(reg, "other", tagCb, addr b)
+    discard addEventListener(reg, "", tagCb, addr c)
+
+    let snapEvt = snapshotListeners(reg, "evt")
+    check snapEvt.len == 2 # listener for "evt" + wildcard
+
+    let snapOther = snapshotListeners(reg, "other")
+    check snapOther.len == 2 # listener for "other" + wildcard
+
+    let snapUnknown = snapshotListeners(reg, "no-subscriber")
+    check snapUnknown.len == 1 # only the wildcard
+
+  test "snapshot is a copy: post-snapshot mutation does not affect it":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    var rec: Recorder
+    initRecorder(rec)
+    defer:
+      deinitRecorder(rec)
+    var t = Tag(name: "a", rec: addr rec)
+
+    let id1 = addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr t)
+    let snap = snapshotListeners(reg, "evt")
+    check snap.len == 1
+
+    # Mutating the registry after the snapshot must not retroactively
+    # shrink or grow the snapshot we already captured.
+    check removeEventListener(reg, id1)
+    discard addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr t)
+    check snap.len == 1
+    check snap[0].id == id1
+
+suite "removeAllEventListeners":
+  test "drops every listener (per-event and wildcard)":
+    var reg: FFIEventRegistry
+    initEventRegistry(reg)
+    defer:
+      deinitEventRegistry(reg)
+    var rec: Recorder
+    initRecorder(rec)
+    defer:
+      deinitRecorder(rec)
+    var a = Tag(name: "a", rec: addr rec)
+    var b = Tag(name: "b", rec: addr rec)
+
+    discard addEventListener(reg, "evt", tagCb, addr a)
+    discard addEventListener(reg, WildcardEventName, tagCb, addr b)
+    removeAllEventListeners(reg)
+
+    check snapshotListeners(reg, "evt").len == 0
+    check snapshotListeners(reg, WildcardEventName).len == 0