diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5abbb3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'uri'
+
+module Rackstash
+  module Adapters
+    class << self
+      # Register a concrete adapter class which can be instanciated with a
+      # certain log device (e.g. a file name, an IO object, a URL specifying a
+      # log target, ...). With the provided `matchers`, a class can describe
+      # which kind of log devices are suitable to be used with it:
+      #
+      # * `String` with only lower-case characters - When passing a string with
+      #   only lower-case characters, we register it as the scheme of a URL.
+      #   When retrieving an adapter for a URL in {[]}, we check if the URL's
+      #   scheme matches this string.
+      # * `String` with other characters - When passing a string that doesn't
+      #   look like a URL scheme, we assume it to represent a class name. When
+      #   retrieving a matching adapter for a device, we check if the name of
+      #   the device's class matches this string. This can be used to register
+      #   an adapter for a device which might not be loaded (yet), e.g. from an
+      #   external gem. If possible, you should register the adapter for the
+      #   actual class instead of its name.
+      # * `Symbol` - When passing a symbol, we check if the resolved device
+      #   responds to an equally named method.
+      # * An object responding to the `===` method - When retrieving an adapter
+      #   for a device, we are comparing the matcher object to the device. This
+      #   is the same comparison as done in a `case ... when` statement in Ruby.
+      #   Usually, the matcher object is either a class or module (in which case
+      #   we check if the device object inherits from the matcher) or a proc,
+      #   accepting an object as its first parameter. When checking this
+      #   matcher, the proc gets called with the device as its parameter. If the
+      #   proc returns a truethy value, we use it to build the adapter instance.
+      #
+      # @param adapter_class [Class] a concrete adapter class
+      # @param matchers [Array<String, Symbol, #===>] a list of specifications
+      #   for log devices the `adapter_class` can forward logs to.
+      # @raise [TypeError] if the passed adapter_class is not a class
+      #   inheriting from {Adapters::Adapter}
+      # @return [Class] the `adapter_class`
+      def register(adapter_class, *matchers)
+        unless adapter_class.is_a?(Class) && adapter_class < Adapters::Adapter
+          raise TypeError, 'adapter_class must be a class and inherit from ' +
+            'Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter'
+        end
+
+        matchers.flatten.each do |matcher|
+          case matcher
+          when String
+            matcher = matcher.to_s
+            if matcher =~ /\A[a-z0-9]+\z/
+              # If the matcher is a lower-case string, we assume it is a URL
+              # scheme.
+              adapter_schemes[matcher.downcase] = adapter_class
+            else
+              # If it starts with a upper-case characters, we assume it is a
+              # class name.
+
+              # Since we use `compare_by_identity` for types, we need to ensure
+              # that we can override existing class names.
+              adapter_types.delete_if { |key, _value| key == matcher }
+              adapter_types[matcher] = adapter_class
+            end
+          when Symbol, ->(o) { o.respond_to?(:===) }
+            adapter_types[matcher] = adapter_class
+          else
+            # Should not be reached by "normal" objects since `Object` already
+            # responds to `===` (which is the same as `==` by default)
+            raise TypeError, "unknown matcher: #{matcher.inspect}"
+          end
+        end
+
+        adapter_class
+      end
+
+      # Try to build an adapter instance from the passed `device`. If the
+      # `device` is already an {Adapter}, it is returned unchanged. If not, we
+      # attempt to identify a suitable adapter class from the {register}ed
+      # classes and return a new adapter instance.
+      #
+      # if no suitable adapter can be found, we raise an `ArgumentError`.
+      #
+      # @param device [Adapters::Adapter, Object] a log device which should be
+      #   wrapped in an {Adapter}. If it is already an adapter, the `device` is
+      #   returned unchanged.
+      # @raise [ArgumentError] if no suitable adapter could be found for the
+      #   provided `device`
+      # @return [Adapters::Adapter] the resolved adapter instance
+      def [](device)
+        return device if device.is_a?(Adapters::Adapter)
+
+        adapter   = adapter_by_uri(device)
+        adapter ||= adapter_by_type(device)
+
+        unless adapter
+          raise ArgumentError, "No log adapter found for #{device.inspect}"
+        end
+        adapter
+      end
+
+      private
+
+      def adapter_by_uri(uri)
+        uri = URI(uri) rescue return
+        scheme = uri.scheme || uri.opaque
+
+        return unless scheme
+        adapter_class = adapter_schemes.fetch(scheme.to_s.downcase) { return }
+
+        if adapter_class.respond_to?(:from_uri)
+          adapter_class.from_uri(uri)
+        else
+          adapter_class.new(uri)
+        end
+      end
+
+      def adapter_by_type(device)
+        adapter_types.each do |type, adapter_class|
+          suitable =
+            if type.is_a?(Symbol)
+              device.respond_to?(type)
+            elsif type.is_a?(String)
+              device.class.ancestors.any? { |klass| type == klass.name }
+            else
+              type === device
+            end
+
+          return adapter_class.new(device) if suitable
+        end
+        nil
+      end
+
+      def adapter_schemes
+        @adapter_schemes ||= {}
+      end
+
+      def adapter_types
+        @adapter_types ||= {}.compare_by_identity
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapters/adapter.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapters/adapter.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36b1bdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapters/adapter.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'rackstash/adapters'
+require 'rackstash/encoders/json'
+
+module Rackstash
+  module Adapters
+    # The Adapter wraps a raw external log device like a file, an IO object like
+    # `STDOUT`, the system's syslog or even the connection to a TCP server with
+    # a common interface. At the end of a {Flow}, it is responsible to finally
+    # store the filtered and encoded log event.
+    #
+    # Each concrete adapter can register itself so that it can be used to wrap
+    # any compatible log device with {Rackstash::Adapters.[]}.
+    #
+    # @abstract Subclasses need to override at least {#write_single} to
+    #   implement a concrete log adapter.
+    class Adapter
+      # Register the current class as an adapter for the provided matchers.
+      #
+      # This is a convenience method intended to be used by sub-classes of this
+      # abstract parent class to register themselves as adapters.
+      #
+      # @param matchers [Array<String, Symbol, #===>] a list of specifications
+      #   for log devices the current adapter can forward logs to.
+      # @return [self]
+      # @see Adapter.register
+      def self.register_for(*matchers)
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register(self, *matchers)
+      end
+
+      # Create a new adapter instance.
+      #
+      # Usually, this method is overwritten by child classes to accept a
+      # suitable log device which will be used to write log lines to. When
+      # registering the adapter class, {Rackstash::Adapters.[]} will call
+      # {initialize} with a single argument: the log device.
+      def initialize(*)
+      end
+
+      # Close the underlying log device if supported by it.
+      #
+      # This method needs to be overwritten in child classes. By default, this
+      # method does nothing.
+      #
+      # @return [void]
+      def close
+      end
+
+      # Close and re-open the underlying log device if supported by it.
+      #
+      # This method needs to be overwritten in child classes. By default, this
+      # method does nothing.
+      #
+      # @return [void]
+      def reopen
+      end
+
+      # Write a log line to the log device. This method is called by the flow
+      # with a formatted log event.
+      #
+      # @param log [Object] the encoded log event
+      # @return [nil]
+      def write(log)
+        write_single(log)
+        nil
+      end
+
+      # Write a single log line to the log device.
+      #
+      # This method needs to be overwritten in child classes to write the
+      # encoded log event to the adapter's device. By default, this method
+      # raises a `NotImplementedError`.
+      #
+      # @param log [Object] the encoded log event
+      # @return [void]
+      # @raise NotImplementedError
+      def write_single(log)
+        raise NotImplementedError, 'write needs to be implemented in a sub class'
+      end
+
+      private
+
+      # Helper method to ensure that a log line passed to {#write} is a string
+      # that ends in a newline character by mutating the object is required.
+      #
+      # @param line [#to_s] a log line
+      # @return [String] a string with a trailing newline character (`"\n"`)
+      def normalize_line(line)
+        line = line.to_s
+        line << "\n".freeze unless line.end_with?("\n".freeze)
+        line
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/adapters/adapter_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/adapters/adapter_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7833d5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/rackstash/adapters/adapter_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'rackstash/adapters/adapter'
+
+describe Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter do
+  let(:adapter) { Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter.new }
+
+  describe '#initialize' do
+    it 'accepts any arguments' do
+      Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter.new
+      Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter.new(:foo)
+      Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter.new(123, [:foo])
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#close' do
+    it 'does nothing' do
+      expect(adapter.close).to be nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#reopen' do
+    it 'does nothing' do
+      expect(adapter.reopen).to be nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#write' do
+    it 'calls write_single' do
+      expect(adapter).to receive(:write_single).with('a log line')
+      adapter.write('a log line')
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#write_single' do
+    it 'is not implemented in the abstract base class' do
+      expect { adapter.write('something') }.to raise_error(NotImplementedError)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/adapters_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/adapters_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1594308
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/rackstash/adapters_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'rackstash/adapters'
+
+describe Rackstash::Adapters do
+  around(:each) do |example|
+    types = Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types)
+    schemes = Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_schemes)
+
+    Rackstash::Adapters.instance_variable_set(:@adapter_types, nil)
+    Rackstash::Adapters.instance_variable_set(:@adapter_schemes, nil)
+
+    example.run
+
+    Rackstash::Adapters.instance_variable_set(:@adapter_types, types)
+    Rackstash::Adapters.instance_variable_set(:@adapter_schemes, schemes)
+  end
+
+  let(:adapter) {
+    Class.new(Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter) do
+      def self.from_uri(*args)
+        new(*args)
+      end
+    end
+  }
+
+  describe '#register' do
+    it 'can register a class' do
+      expect {
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, Class.new
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, String
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, Numeric
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, Integer
+      }.to change { Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types).size }
+        .from(0).to(4)
+      expect(Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_schemes).size).to eql 0
+    end
+
+    it 'can register a class name (upper-case String)' do
+      expect {
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, '❤'
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, ''
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, 'Hello::World'
+      }.to change { Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types).size }
+        .from(0).to(3)
+
+      # Registering 'Hello::World' a second time overwrites the first one
+      expect {
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register(adapter, 'Hello::World')
+      }.not_to change { Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types).size }
+
+      expect(Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_schemes).size).to eql 0
+    end
+
+    it 'can register a method name (symbol)' do
+      expect {
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, :foo
+      }.to change { Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types).size }
+        .from(0).to(1)
+      expect(Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_schemes).size).to eql 0
+    end
+
+    it 'can register a proc' do
+      expect {
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, ->(o) { o.respond_to?(:write) }
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, -> {}
+      }.to change { Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types).size }
+        .from(0).to(2)
+      expect(Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_schemes).size).to eql 0
+    end
+
+    it 'can register a scheme (lower-case String)' do
+      expect {
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, 'customscheme'
+      }.to change { Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_schemes).size }
+        .from(0).to(1)
+      expect(Rackstash::Adapters.send(:adapter_types).size).to eql 0
+    end
+
+    it 'rejects invalid adapter classes' do
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters.register nil, :foo }
+        .to raise_error(TypeError)
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters.register Class.new, :foo }
+        .to raise_error(TypeError)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#[]' do
+    context 'with a registered class' do
+      let(:device_class) { Class.new }
+
+      before do
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, device_class
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter if the class was found' do
+        device = device_class.new
+
+        expect(device_class).to receive(:===).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter if any parent class was found' do
+        inherited_device = Class.new(device_class).new
+
+        expect(device_class).to receive(:===).with(inherited_device).and_call_original
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(inherited_device).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[inherited_device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'raises if no class was found' do
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:new)
+        expect { Rackstash::Adapters['foo'] }.to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with a registered class name' do
+      before do
+        class SpecDevice; end
+        class InheritedSpecDevice < SpecDevice; end
+
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, 'SpecDevice'
+      end
+
+      after do
+        Object.send :remove_const, :InheritedSpecDevice
+        Object.send :remove_const, :SpecDevice
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter if the class was found' do
+        device = SpecDevice.new
+
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter if any parent class was found' do
+        inherited_device = InheritedSpecDevice.new
+
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(inherited_device).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[inherited_device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'raises if no class was found' do
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:new)
+        expect { Rackstash::Adapters['foo'] }.to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with a registered symbol' do
+      before do
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, :foo
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter if it responds to the registered method' do
+        device = Struct.new(:foo).new('foo')
+
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'raises if it does not respond to the registered method' do
+        device = Struct.new(:bar).new('bar')
+
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:new)
+        expect { Rackstash::Adapters[device] }.to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with a registered proc' do
+      let(:device) { Object.new }
+
+      it 'creates an adapter if the proc returns true' do
+        checker = proc { true }
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, checker
+
+        expect(checker).to receive(:===).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'does not create an adapter if the proc returns false' do
+        checker = proc { false }
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, checker
+
+        expect(checker).to receive(:===).with(device).and_call_original
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:new)
+        expect { Rackstash::Adapters[device] }.to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with a registered scheme' do
+      before do
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, 'dummy'
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter from the scheme' do
+        raw_uri = 'dummy://example.com'
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:from_uri).with(URI(raw_uri)).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[raw_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'creates an adapter from a URI' do
+        uri = URI('dummy://example.com')
+        expect(adapter).to receive(:from_uri).with(uri).and_call_original
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+      end
+
+      it 'raises if no scheme was found' do
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:new)
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:from_uri)
+        expect { Rackstash::Adapters['unknown://example.com'] }
+          .to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+        expect { Rackstash::Adapters[URI('unknown://example.com')] }
+          .to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+      end
+
+      context 'and a registered class' do
+        before do
+          Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, Object
+        end
+
+        it 'falls though on invalid URI' do
+          invalid_uri = '::'
+
+          expect(adapter).to_not receive(:from_uri)
+          # from the fallback
+          expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(invalid_uri).and_call_original
+          expect(Rackstash::Adapters[invalid_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+        end
+
+        it 'falls though if no scheme was found' do
+          unknown_uri = 'unknown://example.com'
+
+          expect(adapter).to_not receive(:from_uri)
+          expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(unknown_uri).and_call_original
+          expect(Rackstash::Adapters[unknown_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapters::Adapter
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with an existing adapter object' do
+      it 'just returns the object' do
+        adapter_instance = adapter.new
+        Rackstash::Adapters.register adapter, Object
+
+        expect(adapter).to_not receive(:new)
+        expect(Rackstash::Adapters[adapter_instance]).to equal adapter_instance
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end