diff --git a/pkg/util/utilfn/utilfn.go b/pkg/util/utilfn/utilfn.go
index 795c5f8fd..9cd6c118a 100644
--- a/pkg/util/utilfn/utilfn.go
+++ b/pkg/util/utilfn/utilfn.go
@@ -768,14 +768,24 @@ func SliceIdx[T comparable](arr []T, elem T) int {
 	return -1
 }
 
+// removes an element from a slice and modifies the original slice (the backing elements)
+// if it removes the last element from the slice, it will return nil so we free the original slice's backing memory
 func RemoveElemFromSlice[T comparable](arr []T, elem T) []T {
-	rtn := make([]T, 0, len(arr))
-	for _, e := range arr {
-		if e != elem {
-			rtn = append(rtn, e)
-		}
+	idx := SliceIdx(arr, elem)
+	if idx == -1 {
+		return arr
 	}
-	return rtn
+	if len(arr) == 1 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return append(arr[:idx], arr[idx+1:]...)
+}
+
+func AddElemToSliceUniq[T comparable](arr []T, elem T) []T {
+	if SliceIdx(arr, elem) != -1 {
+		return arr
+	}
+	return append(arr, elem)
 }
 
 func MoveSliceIdxToFront[T any](arr []T, idx int) []T {
diff --git a/pkg/wps/wps.go b/pkg/wps/wps.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a380d8d85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/wps/wps.go
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+// Copyright 2024, Command Line Inc.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+// wave pubsub system
+package wps
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/wavetermdev/thenextwave/pkg/util/utilfn"
+)
+
+// this broker interface is mostly generic
+// strong typing and event types can be defined elsewhere
+
+type WaveEvent struct {
+	Event  string   `json:"event"`
+	Scopes []string `json:"scopes,omitempty"`
+	Sender string   `json:"sender,omitempty"`
+	Data   any      `json:"data,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type SubscriptionRequest struct {
+	Event     string   `json:"event"`
+	Scopes    []string `json:"scopes,omitempty"`
+	AllScopes bool     `json:"allscopes,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type Client interface {
+	ClientId() string
+	SendEvent(event WaveEvent)
+}
+
+type BrokerSubscription struct {
+	AllSubs   []string            // clientids of client subscribed to "all" events
+	ScopeSubs map[string][]string // clientids of client subscribed to specific scopes
+}
+
+type Broker struct {
+	Lock      *sync.Mutex
+	ClientMap map[string]Client
+	SubMap    map[string]*BrokerSubscription
+}
+
+func (b *Broker) Subscribe(subscriber Client, sub SubscriptionRequest) {
+	b.Lock.Lock()
+	defer b.Lock.Unlock()
+	clientId := subscriber.ClientId()
+	bs := b.SubMap[sub.Event]
+	if bs == nil {
+		bs = &BrokerSubscription{
+			AllSubs:   []string{},
+			ScopeSubs: make(map[string][]string),
+		}
+		b.SubMap[sub.Event] = bs
+	}
+	if sub.AllScopes {
+		bs.AllSubs = utilfn.AddElemToSliceUniq(bs.AllSubs, clientId)
+	}
+	for _, scope := range sub.Scopes {
+		scopeSubs := bs.ScopeSubs[scope]
+		scopeSubs = utilfn.AddElemToSliceUniq(scopeSubs, clientId)
+		bs.ScopeSubs[scope] = scopeSubs
+	}
+}
+
+func (bs *BrokerSubscription) IsEmpty() bool {
+	return len(bs.AllSubs) == 0 && len(bs.ScopeSubs) == 0
+}
+
+func (b *Broker) Unsubscribe(subscriber Client, sub SubscriptionRequest) {
+	b.Lock.Lock()
+	defer b.Lock.Unlock()
+	clientId := subscriber.ClientId()
+	bs := b.SubMap[sub.Event]
+	if bs == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if sub.AllScopes {
+		bs.AllSubs = utilfn.RemoveElemFromSlice(bs.AllSubs, clientId)
+	}
+	for _, scope := range sub.Scopes {
+		scopeSubs := bs.ScopeSubs[scope]
+		scopeSubs = utilfn.RemoveElemFromSlice(scopeSubs, clientId)
+		if len(scopeSubs) == 0 {
+			delete(bs.ScopeSubs, scope)
+		} else {
+			bs.ScopeSubs[scope] = scopeSubs
+		}
+	}
+	if bs.IsEmpty() {
+		delete(b.SubMap, sub.Event)
+	}
+}
+
+func (b *Broker) UnsubscribeAll(subscriber Client) {
+	b.Lock.Lock()
+	defer b.Lock.Unlock()
+	clientId := subscriber.ClientId()
+	delete(b.ClientMap, clientId)
+	for eventType, bs := range b.SubMap {
+		bs.AllSubs = utilfn.RemoveElemFromSlice(bs.AllSubs, clientId)
+		for scope, scopeSubs := range bs.ScopeSubs {
+			scopeSubs = utilfn.RemoveElemFromSlice(scopeSubs, clientId)
+			if len(scopeSubs) == 0 {
+				delete(bs.ScopeSubs, scope)
+			} else {
+				bs.ScopeSubs[scope] = scopeSubs
+			}
+		}
+		if bs.IsEmpty() {
+			delete(b.SubMap, eventType)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (b *Broker) Publish(subscriber Client, event WaveEvent) {
+	clientIds := b.getMatchingClientIds(event)
+	for _, clientId := range clientIds {
+		client := b.ClientMap[clientId]
+		if client != nil {
+			client.SendEvent(event)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (b *Broker) getMatchingClientIds(event WaveEvent) []string {
+	b.Lock.Lock()
+	defer b.Lock.Unlock()
+	bs := b.SubMap[event.Event]
+	if bs == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	clientIds := make(map[string]bool)
+	for _, clientId := range bs.AllSubs {
+		clientIds[clientId] = true
+	}
+	for _, scope := range event.Scopes {
+		for _, clientId := range bs.ScopeSubs[scope] {
+			clientIds[clientId] = true
+		}
+	}
+	var rtn []string
+	for clientId := range clientIds {
+		rtn = append(rtn, clientId)
+	}
+	return rtn
+}