diff --git a/examples/client.py b/examples/client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e87daa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#
+#  Copyright (c) 2023-2025 - Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH
+#
+#  This file is part of the Restate SDK for Python,
+#  which is released under the MIT license.
+#
+#  You can find a copy of the license in file LICENSE in the root
+#  directory of this repository or package, or at
+#  https://github.com/restatedev/sdk-typescript/blob/main/LICENSE
+#
+"""client.py"""
+# pylint: disable=C0116
+# pylint: disable=W0613
+
+import restate
+
+from greeter import greet
+
+async def main():
+    client = restate.create_client("http://localhost:8080")
+    res = await client.service_call(greet, arg="World")
+    print(res)
+    
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import asyncio
+    asyncio.run(main())
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e45d3e2..e30cb01 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Source = "https://github.com/restatedev/sdk-python"
 test = ["pytest", "hypercorn", "pytest-asyncio==1.1.0"]
 lint = ["mypy", "pylint"]
 harness = ["testcontainers", "hypercorn", "httpx"]
+client = ["httpx"]
 serde = ["dacite", "pydantic"]
 
 [build-system]
diff --git a/python/restate/__init__.py b/python/restate/__init__.py
index 252f8ee..00a1d03 100644
--- a/python/restate/__init__.py
+++ b/python/restate/__init__.py
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 Restate SDK for Python
 """
 
+import typing
+
 from .service import Service
 from .object import VirtualObject
 from .workflow import Workflow
@@ -26,6 +28,8 @@
 
 from .endpoint import app
 
+from .client_types import RestateClient, RestateClientSendHandle
+
 try:
     from .harness import test_harness # type: ignore
 except ImportError:
@@ -35,6 +39,18 @@
     def test_harness(app, follow_logs = False, restate_image = ""): # type: ignore
         """a dummy harness constructor to raise ImportError"""
         raise ImportError("Install restate-sdk[harness] to use this feature")
+    
+
+
+try:
+    from .client import create_client  # type: ignore
+except ImportError:
+    # we don't have the appropriate dependencies installed
+
+    # pylint: disable=unused-argument, redefined-outer-name
+    def create_client(ingress: str, headers: typing.Optional[dict] = None) -> "RestateClient":  # type: ignore
+        """a dummy client constructor to raise ImportError"""
+        raise ImportError("Install restate-sdk[client] to use this feature")
 
 __all__ = [
     "Service",
@@ -54,6 +70,9 @@ def test_harness(app, follow_logs = False, restate_image = ""): # type: ignore
     "TerminalError",
     "app",
     "test_harness",
+    "create_client",
+    "RestateClient",
+    "RestateClientSendHandle",
     "gather",
     "as_completed",
     "wait_completed",
diff --git a/python/restate/client.py b/python/restate/client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c9a170
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/restate/client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,206 @@
+#
+#  Copyright (c) 2023-2025 - Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH
+#
+#  This file is part of the Restate SDK for Python,
+#  which is released under the MIT license.
+#
+#  You can find a copy of the license in file LICENSE in the root
+#  directory of this repository or package, or at
+#  https://github.com/restatedev/sdk-typescript/blob/main/LICENSE
+#
+"""
+This is a basic remote client for the Restate service.
+"""
+
+from datetime import timedelta
+import httpx
+import typing
+
+from .client_types import RestateClient, RestateClientSendHandle
+
+from .context import HandlerType
+from .serde import BytesSerde, JsonSerde, Serde
+from .handler import handler_from_callable
+
+I = typing.TypeVar('I')
+O = typing.TypeVar('O')
+
+class Client(RestateClient):
+    """
+    A basic client for connecting to the Restate service.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, ingress: str, headers: typing.Optional[dict] = None):
+        self.ingress = ingress
+        self.headers = headers or {}
+        self.client = httpx.AsyncClient(base_url=ingress, headers=self.headers)
+
+        
+    async def do_call(self,
+                tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                parameter: I,
+                key: typing.Optional[str] = None,
+                send_delay: typing.Optional[timedelta] = None,
+                send: bool = False,
+                idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                headers: typing.Dict[str,str] | None = None
+                ) -> O:
+        """Make an RPC call to the given handler"""
+        target_handler = handler_from_callable(tpe)
+        service=target_handler.service_tag.name
+        handler=target_handler.name
+        input_serde = target_handler.handler_io.input_serde
+        output_serde = target_handler.handler_io.output_serde
+
+        content_type = target_handler.handler_io.accept
+        if headers is None:
+            headers = {}
+        if headers.get('Content-Type') is None:
+            headers['Content-Type'] = content_type
+
+        return await self.do_raw_call(service=service,
+                                       handler=handler,
+                                       input_param=parameter,
+                                       input_serde=input_serde,
+                                       output_serde=output_serde,
+                                       key=key,
+                                       send_delay=send_delay,
+                                       send=send,
+                                       idempotency_key=idempotency_key,
+                                       headers=headers)
+
+    async def do_raw_call(self,
+                 service: str,
+                 handler:str,
+                 input_param: I,
+                 input_serde: Serde[I],
+                 output_serde: Serde[O],
+                 key: typing.Optional[str] = None,
+                 send_delay: typing.Optional[timedelta] = None,
+                 send: bool = False,
+                 idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                 headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None
+                 ) -> O:
+        """Make an RPC call to the given handler"""
+        parameter = input_serde.serialize(input_param)
+        if headers is not None:
+            headers_kvs = list(headers.items())
+        else:
+            headers_kvs = []
+        if send_delay is not None:
+            ms = int(send_delay.total_seconds() * 1000)
+        else:
+            ms = None
+            
+        res = await self.post(service=service, handler=handler, send=send, content=parameter, headers=headers_kvs, key=key, delay=ms, idempotency_key=idempotency_key)
+        return output_serde.deserialize(res)  # type: ignore
+
+    async def post(self, /,
+                   service: str,
+                   handler: str,
+                   send: bool,
+                   content: bytes,
+                   headers: typing.List[typing.Tuple[(str, str)]] | None = None,
+                   key: str | None = None,
+                   delay: int | None = None,
+                   idempotency_key: str | None = None) -> bytes:
+        """
+        Send a POST request to the Restate service.
+        """
+        endpoint = service
+        if key:
+            endpoint += f"/{key}"
+        endpoint += f"/{handler}"
+        if send:
+            endpoint += "/send"
+            if delay is not None:
+                endpoint = endpoint + f"?delay={delay}"
+        dict_headers = dict(headers) if headers is not None else {}
+        if idempotency_key is not None:
+            dict_headers['Idempotency-Key'] = idempotency_key
+        res = await self.client.post(endpoint,
+                          headers=dict_headers,
+                          content=content)
+        res.raise_for_status()
+        return res.content
+
+
+    @typing.final 
+    @typing.override 
+    async def service_call(self,
+                     tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                     arg: I,
+                     idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                     headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None
+                     ) -> O:
+        coro = await self.do_call(tpe, arg, idempotency_key=idempotency_key, headers=headers)
+        return coro
+
+
+    @typing.final 
+    @typing.override 
+    async def object_call(self,
+                    tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                    key: str,
+                    arg: I,
+                    idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                    headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None
+                    ) -> O:
+        coro = await self.do_call(tpe, arg, key, idempotency_key=idempotency_key, headers=headers)
+        return coro
+
+    
+    @typing.final 
+    @typing.override 
+    async def workflow_call(self,
+                        tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                        key: str,
+                        arg: I,
+                        idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                        headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None
+                        ) -> O:
+        return await self.object_call(tpe, key, arg, idempotency_key=idempotency_key, headers=headers)
+
+   
+    @typing.final 
+    @typing.override 
+    async def generic_call(self, service: str, handler: str, arg: bytes, key: str | None = None, idempotency_key: str | None = None, headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> bytes:
+        serde = BytesSerde()
+        call_handle = await self.do_raw_call(service=service,
+                                handler=handler,
+                                input_param=arg,
+                                input_serde=serde,
+                                output_serde=serde,
+                                key=key,
+                                idempotency_key=idempotency_key,
+                                headers=headers)
+        return call_handle
+
+    @typing.final 
+    @typing.override 
+    async def generic_send(self, service: str, handler: str, arg: bytes, key: str | None = None, send_delay: timedelta | None = None, idempotency_key: str | None = None, headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> RestateClientSendHandle:
+        serde = BytesSerde()
+        output_serde: Serde[dict] = JsonSerde()
+
+        send_handle_json = await self.do_raw_call(service=service,
+                                handler=handler,
+                                input_param=arg,
+                                input_serde=serde,
+                                output_serde=output_serde,
+                                key=key,
+                                send_delay=send_delay,
+                                send=True,
+                                idempotency_key=idempotency_key,
+                                headers=headers)
+
+        return RestateClientSendHandle(send_handle_json.get('invocationId', ''), 200) # TODO: verify
+
+
+def create_client(ingress: str, headers: typing.Optional[dict] = None) -> RestateClient:
+    """
+    Create a new Restate client.
+    """
+    return Client(ingress, headers)
+
+
+
diff --git a/python/restate/client_types.py b/python/restate/client_types.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9c069b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/restate/client_types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+#
+#  Copyright (c) 2023-2025 - Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH
+#
+#  This file is part of the Restate SDK for Python,
+#  which is released under the MIT license.
+#
+#  You can find a copy of the license in file LICENSE in the root
+#  directory of this repository or package, or at
+#  https://github.com/restatedev/sdk-typescript/blob/main/LICENSE
+#
+"""
+Type definitions for the Restate client.
+"""
+import abc
+from datetime import timedelta
+import typing
+
+from .context import HandlerType
+
+I = typing.TypeVar('I')
+O = typing.TypeVar('O')
+
+class RestateClientSendHandle:
+    """
+    A handle for a send operation.
+    This is used to track the status of a send operation.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, invocation_id: str, status_code: int):
+        self.invocation_id = invocation_id
+        self.status_code = status_code
+ 
+class RestateClient(abc.ABC):
+    """
+    An abstract base class for a Restate client.
+    This class defines the interface for a Restate client.
+    """
+
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    async def service_call(self,
+                tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                arg: I,
+                idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> O:
+        """Make an RPC call to the given handler"""
+        pass
+    
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    async def object_call(self,
+                    tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                    key: str,
+                    arg: I,
+                    idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                    headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> O:
+        """Make an RPC call to the given object handler"""
+        pass
+
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    async def workflow_call(self,
+                        tpe: HandlerType[I, O],
+                        key: str,
+                        arg: I,
+                        idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                        headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> O:
+        """Make an RPC call to the given workflow handler"""
+        pass
+    
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    async def generic_call(self, service: str, handler: str, arg: bytes,
+                            key: str | None = None,
+                            idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                            headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> bytes:
+          """Make a generic RPC call to the given service and handler"""
+          pass
+      
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    async def generic_send(self, service: str, handler: str, arg: bytes,
+                            key: str | None = None,
+                            send_delay: timedelta | None = None,
+                            idempotency_key: str | None = None,
+                            headers: typing.Dict[str, str] | None = None) -> RestateClientSendHandle:
+        """Make a generic send operation to the given service and handler"""
+        pass
\ No newline at end of file