diff --git a/src/client/consumer.ml b/src/client/consumer.ml
index 3cf92658..89288080 100644
--- a/src/client/consumer.ml
+++ b/src/client/consumer.ml
@@ -1,20 +1,27 @@
 (** Consumer that accepts items from a bounded queue *)
 
+type 'a t = {
+  active: unit -> bool;  (** Still running? Must be fast and thread-safe *)
+  tick: unit -> unit;
+      (** Regularly called, eg to emit metrics, check timeouts, etc. Must be
+          thread safe. *)
+  shutdown: on_done:(unit -> unit) -> unit;
+      (** Shutdown the consumer as soon as possible, call [on_done()] once it's
+          done. *)
+}
 (** A consumer for signals of type ['a] *)
-class type ['a] t = object
-  method register : 'a Bounded_queue.t -> unit
 
-  method active : unit -> bool
+type 'a consumer = 'a t
 
-  method start : on_done:(unit -> unit) -> unit
+let[@inline] active (self : _ t) = self.active ()
 
-  method shutdown : on_done:(unit -> unit) -> unit
+let[@inline] shutdown (self : _ t) ~on_done = self.shutdown ~on_done
+
+module Builder = struct
+  type 'a t = { start_consuming: 'a Bounded_queue.t -> 'a consumer }
+  (** A builder that will create a consumer for a given queue, start the
+      consumer so it starts consuming from the queue, and return the consumer.
+  *)
+
+  let start_consuming (self : _ t) bq = self.start_consuming bq
 end
-
-let register (self : _ #t) q = self#register q
-
-let active (self : _ #t) = self#active ()
-
-let start (self : _ #t) ~on_done = self#start ~on_done
-
-let shutdown (self : _ #t) ~on_done = self#shutdown ~on_done