diff --git a/.space/CODEOWNERS b/.space/CODEOWNERS
index e1d14540755..65dc5cf1b37 100644
--- a/.space/CODEOWNERS
+++ b/.space/CODEOWNERS
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 /compiler/backend/ "Kotlin JVM"
 /compiler/backend.common.jvm/ "Kotlin JVM"
 /compiler/backend-common/ "Kotlin JVM" "Kotlin JS" "Kotlin Native" "Kotlin Wasm"
+/compiler/build-tools/ "Kotlin Build Tools"
 /compiler/builtins-serializer/ "Kotlin Compiler Core"
 /compiler/cli/ "Kotlin Compiler Core"
 /compiler/cli/cli-js/ "Kotlin JS" "Kotlin Wasm"
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/README.md b/compiler/build-tools/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d9b1c97570b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+## Build Tools
+
+Please refer to the [Build Tools API readme](./build-tools-api/README.md).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/README.md b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dc1954a4181
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+## Build Tools API
+
+This module contains public interfaces for Kotlin build tools. 
+Using APIs from this module should be the preferred way to work with Kotlin compiler when integrating Kotlin builds into different build systems.
+The Kotlin stdlib of at least Kotlin 1.4 is expected to be a dependency of a consumer of the API. 
+
+The default implementation of the API is located in the [build-tools-impl](../build-tools-impl) directory.
+Interfaces implementation are expected to be loaded using the [ServiceLoader](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/ServiceLoader.html).
+The purpose of such a segregation is to allow using this API with different Kotlin compiler versions. 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/build.gradle.kts b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/build.gradle.kts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8988966394a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/build.gradle.kts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+plugins {
+    kotlin("jvm")
+    id("jps-compatible")
+}
+
+configureKotlinCompileTasksGradleCompatibility()
+
+dependencies {
+    compileOnly(kotlinStdlib())
+}
+
+publish()
+
+standardPublicJars()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/buildtools/api/CompilationService.kt b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/buildtools/api/CompilationService.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ed6da9c9fa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-api/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/buildtools/api/CompilationService.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010-2023 JetBrains s.r.o. and Kotlin Programming Language contributors.
+ * Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the license/LICENSE.txt file.
+ */
+
+package org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.api
+
+/**
+ * A facade for invoking compilation in Kotlin compiler. It allows to use compiler in different modes.
+ * TODO: add a mention where to see the available modes after implementing them
+ */
+interface CompilationService {
+    fun compile()
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/build.gradle.kts b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/build.gradle.kts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..115ef62ac92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/build.gradle.kts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+plugins {
+    kotlin("jvm")
+    id("jps-compatible")
+}
+
+dependencies {
+    api(project(":compiler:build-tools:build-tools-api"))
+    implementation(kotlinStdlib())
+}
+
+publish()
+
+standardPublicJars()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/buildtools/internal/CompilationServiceImpl.kt b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/buildtools/internal/CompilationServiceImpl.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fc2ba32c439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/buildtools/internal/CompilationServiceImpl.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010-2023 JetBrains s.r.o. and Kotlin Programming Language contributors.
+ * Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the license/LICENSE.txt file.
+ */
+
+package org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.internal
+
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.api.CompilationService
+
+internal class CompilationServiceImpl : CompilationService {
+    override fun compile() {
+        println("I'm simulating compilation, nothing more yet")
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.api.CompilationService b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.api.CompilationService
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..015ff5725db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/build-tools/build-tools-impl/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.api.CompilationService
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+org.jetbrains.kotlin.buildtools.internal.CompilationServiceImpl
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gradle/verification-metadata.xml b/gradle/verification-metadata.xml
index a62eb3905d4..445035c7784 100644
--- a/gradle/verification-metadata.xml
+++ b/gradle/verification-metadata.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
          <trust file=".*[.]pom" regex="true"/>
          <trust file="kotlin-native-prebuilt-.*" regex="true"/>
          <trust group="gradle" name="gradle" file="gradle-.*-src[.]zip" regex="true"/>
+         <trust group="org.jetbrains.kotlin" name="build-tools-api" version="1.9.[0-9](-.+)?" regex="true"/>
+         <trust group="org.jetbrains.kotlin" name="build-tools-impl" version="1.9.[0-9](-.+)?" regex="true"/>
          <trust group="org.jetbrains.kotlin" name="builtins" version="1.9.[0-9](-.+)?" regex="true"/>
          <trust group="org.jetbrains.kotlin" name="kotlin-android-extensions" version="1.9.[0-9](-.+)?" regex="true"/>
          <trust group="org.jetbrains.kotlin" name="kotlin-annotation-processing-embeddable" version="1.9.[0-9](-.+)?" regex="true"/>
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index ae32a0779c2..99302773ffb 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -378,6 +378,9 @@ if (!buildProperties.inJpsBuildIdeaSync) {
             ":prepare:ide-plugin-dependencies:kotlin-compiler-fir-for-ide"
 }
 
+include ":compiler:build-tools:build-tools-api",
+        ":compiler:build-tools:build-tools-impl"
+
 void intellij(String imlPath) {
     File imlFile = new File("${rootDir}/intellij/community/plugins/kotlin/${imlPath}")
     imlFile = imlFile.exists() ? imlFile : new File("${rootDir}/intellij/plugins/kotlin/${imlPath}")