diff --git a/Proxmox/Makefile b/Proxmox/Makefile
index ccae0d3..8bae031 100644
--- a/Proxmox/Makefile
+++ b/Proxmox/Makefile
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ PERL_MODULES=\
     Sys/Command.pm \
     Sys/File.pm \
     Sys/Net.pm \
+    UI.pm \
+    UI/Base.pm \
+    UI/Gtk3.pm \
+    UI/StdIO.pm \
 
 .PHONY: install
 install: $(PERL_MODULES)
diff --git a/Proxmox/UI.pm b/Proxmox/UI.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f502f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Proxmox/UI.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package Proxmox::UI;
+
+# a few simple abstractions to be a bit more general over what UI is in use, this is basically an
+# UI², a User-Interface Interface
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Carp;
+
+use Proxmox::UI::Gtk3;
+use Proxmox::UI::StdIO;
+
+my $ui = undef;
+
+sub init_gtk {
+    my ($state) = @_;
+
+    croak "overriding existing UI!" if defined($ui);
+
+    $ui = Proxmox::UI::Gtk3->new($state);
+
+    return $ui;
+}
+sub init_stdio {
+    my ($state) = @_;
+
+    croak "overriding existing UI!" if defined($ui);
+
+    $ui = Proxmox::UI::StdIO->new($state);
+
+    return $ui;
+}
+
+sub get_ui {
+    return $ui // croak "no UI initialized!";
+}
+
+sub message {
+    my ($msg) = @_;
+    get_ui()->message($msg);
+}
+
+sub error {
+    my ($msg) = @_;
+    get_ui()->error($msg);
+}
+
+sub prompt {
+    my ($query) = @_;
+    return get_ui()->prompt($query);
+}
+
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/Proxmox/UI/Base.pm b/Proxmox/UI/Base.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19fd46c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Proxmox/UI/Base.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package Proxmox::UI::Base;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Carp;
+
+sub new {
+    my ($this, $state) = @_;
+
+    my $class = ref($this) || $this;
+
+    my $self = bless { state => $state }, $class;
+
+    return $self;
+}
+
+sub message {
+    my ($self, $msg) = @_;
+
+    croak "implement me in sub-class";
+}
+
+sub error {
+    my ($self, $msg) = @_;
+
+    croak "implement me in sub-class";
+}
+
+sub prompt {
+    my ($self, $query) = @_;
+
+    croak "implement me in sub-class";
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/Proxmox/UI/Gtk3.pm b/Proxmox/UI/Gtk3.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf8334b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Proxmox/UI/Gtk3.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package Proxmox::UI::Gtk3;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Gtk3;
+
+use base qw(Proxmox::UI::Base);
+
+sub message {
+    my ($self, $msg) = @_;
+
+    my $window = $self->{state}->{window};
+    my $dialog = Gtk3::MessageDialog->new($window, 'modal', 'info', 'ok', $msg);
+    $dialog->run();
+    $dialog->destroy();
+}
+
+sub error {
+    my ($self, $msg) = @_;
+
+    my $window = $self->{state}->{window};
+    my $dialog = Gtk3::MessageDialog->new($window, 'modal', 'error', 'ok', $msg);
+    $dialog->run();
+    $dialog->destroy();
+}
+
+sub prompt {
+    my ($self, $query) = @_;
+
+    my $window = $self->{state}->{window};
+    my $dialog = Gtk3::MessageDialog->new($window, 'modal', 'question', 'ok-cancel', $query);
+    my $response = $dialog->run();
+    $dialog->destroy();
+
+    return ($response // '') eq 'ok';
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/Proxmox/UI/StdIO.pm b/Proxmox/UI/StdIO.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba8ca6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Proxmox/UI/StdIO.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package Proxmox::UI::StdIO;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use base qw(Proxmox::UI::Base);
+
+sub message {
+    my ($self, $msg) = @_;
+
+    print STDOUT "message: $msg\n";
+}
+
+sub error {
+    my ($self, $msg) = @_;
+
+    print STDOUT "error: $msg\n";
+}
+
+sub prompt {
+    my ($self, $query) = @_;
+
+    print STDOUT "prompt: $query\n";
+
+    my $response = <STDIN> // ''; # FIXME: error handling?
+
+    chomp($response);
+
+    return lc($response) eq 'ok';
+}
+
+1;