diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 573461a..25d73e7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+/.cache
 /.idea
-/target
-/cmake-build-*
\ No newline at end of file
+/build
+/cmake-build-*
+/target
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 89fc06b..67c4f11 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,39 +1,38 @@
 # NOTE: This file is _not_ used as part of the main build process.
 # It exists to help IDE tools provide auto-hinting while developing the C++ bridge
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.22)
-project(slang_compiler)
+project(slang-tools)
 
 find_program(CXXBRIDGE cxxbridge)
-set(SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cxxbridge)
+set(SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cxxbridge)
 
 # Generate the Rust bridge stubs header
-# This is used by the C++ header to define an interface for Rust
-file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/rust)
-set(SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_RUST ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/rust/cxx.h)
+# This is used by the C++ header while defining the interface for Rust
+file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/rust)
+set(SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_RUST ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/rust/cxx.h)
 add_custom_command(
-        OUTPUT ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_RUST}
-        COMMAND ${CXXBRIDGE} --header -o ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_RUST}
+        OUTPUT ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_RUST}
+        COMMAND ${CXXBRIDGE} --header -o ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_RUST}
 )
 
 # Generate the Rust bridge header
 # This is used by the C++ implementation to interact with Rust
-file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/slang-compiler-sys/src)
-set(SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_INPUT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/src/lib.rs)
-set(SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/slang-compiler-sys/src/lib.rs.h)
+file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/slang-tools/src)
+set(SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_INPUT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/src/lib.rs)
+set(SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_DIR}/slang-tools/src/lib.rs.h)
 add_custom_command(
-        OUTPUT ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT}
-        COMMAND ${CXXBRIDGE} ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_INPUT} --header -o ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT}
-        DEPENDS ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_INPUT}
+        OUTPUT ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT}
+        COMMAND ${CXXBRIDGE} ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_INPUT} --header -o ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT}
+        DEPENDS ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_INPUT}
 )
 
-add_custom_target(slang_compiler_bridge DEPENDS ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_RUST} ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT})
-
-add_library(slang_compiler "src/lib.cpp")
+add_custom_target(slang_tools_bridge DEPENDS ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_RUST} ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_OUTPUT})
+add_library(slang_tools "src/lib.cpp")
 
 # Find the bridge headers
-add_dependencies(slang_compiler slang_compiler_bridge)
-target_include_directories(slang_compiler PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/src ${SLANG_COMPILER_CXXBRIDGE_DIR})
+add_dependencies(slang_tools slang_tools_bridge)
+target_include_directories(slang_tools PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/src ${SLANG_TOOLS_CXXBRIDGE_DIR})
 
 # Find the slang headers
 add_subdirectory("${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/slang" EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
-target_link_libraries(slang_compiler PRIVATE slang)
\ No newline at end of file
+target_link_libraries(slang_tools PRIVATE slang)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e5077c6..43cdb30 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0fda2ff0d084019ba4d7c6f371c95d8fd75ce3524c3cb8fb653a3023f6323e64"
 
 [[package]]
-name = "slang-compiler-sys"
+name = "slang-tools"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "cmake",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 12de9d2..1cb5624 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [package]
-name = "slang-compiler-sys"
+name = "slang-tools"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2021"
 resolver = "2"
diff --git a/src/lib.cpp b/src/lib.cpp
index fb2afb5..38a1396 100644
--- a/src/lib.cpp
+++ b/src/lib.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,33 @@
 //
 #include "lib.h"
 
-#include "slang-compiler-sys/src/lib.rs.h"
+#include <exception>
+#include <utility>
+
+#include "slang-tools/src/lib.rs.h"
+
+namespace slang_compiler {
+
+class slang_exception final : public std::exception {
+public:
+  slang_exception(SlangResult result) : result_{result} {}
+
+  const char *what() const noexcept override { return what_.c_str(); }
+
+private:
+  SlangResult result_;
+  std::string what_;
+};
+
+} // namespace slang_compiler
+
+#define SLANG_TOOLS_CHECK(expr)                                                \
+  [&]() {                                                                      \
+    const SlangResult result = expr;                                           \
+    if (SLANG_FAILED(result)) {                                                \
+      throw slang_compiler::slang_exception(result);                           \
+    }                                                                          \
+  }();
 
 namespace slang_compiler {
 
@@ -11,8 +37,110 @@ GlobalSession::GlobalSession() {
   slang::createGlobalSession(global_session_.writeRef());
 }
 
-std::unique_ptr<GlobalSession> create_global_session() {
-  return std::make_unique<GlobalSession>();
+slang::IGlobalSession &GlobalSession::getSlangSession() {
+  return *global_session_;
+}
+
+SlangResult GlobalSession::createSession(const slang::SessionDesc &desc,
+                                         slang::ISession **outSession) const {
+  return global_session_->createSession(desc, outSession);
+}
+
+std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> create_global_session() {
+  return std::make_shared<GlobalSession>();
+}
+
+Session::Session(std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> global_session,
+                 Slang::ComPtr<slang::ISession> &&session)
+    : global_session_{global_session}, session_{session} {}
+
+int64_t Session::get_loaded_module_count() const noexcept {
+  return session_->getLoadedModuleCount();
+}
+
+::SlangProfileID
+get_slang_profile_id(slang::IGlobalSession &global_session,
+                     const SlangProfileID_rs slang_profile_id) {
+  switch (slang_profile_id) {
+  case SlangProfileID_rs::spirv_1_0:
+    return global_session.findProfile("spirv_1_0");
+  }
+
+  return SLANG_PROFILE_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+::SlangTargetFlags
+get_slang_target_flags(const rust::Vec<SlangTargetFlags> &flags) noexcept {
+  uint32_t value = 0;
+  std::for_each(flags.cbegin(), flags.cend(), [&value](const auto &flag) {
+    value |= static_cast<std::underlying_type_t<SlangTargetFlags>>(flag);
+  });
+  return value;
+}
+
+std::unique_ptr<Session>
+create_session(SessionDesc session_desc,
+               std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> global_session) {
+  // The Slang session descriptor wants unowned pointers,
+  // so we copy the values from Rust into storage that
+  // survives at least through the call to `createSession`.
+  // Slang will maintain its own copy once as part of the session.
+  // I'm sure there's a better way to do this, but this works for now.
+
+  // First, convert the compiler options for each target descriptor
+  std::vector<std::string> targets_options_strings{};
+  std::vector<std::vector<slang::CompilerOptionEntry>> targets_options{};
+  for (const auto &target : session_desc.targets) {
+    std::vector<slang::CompilerOptionEntry> target_options;
+    for (const CompilerOptionEntry &target_option : target) {
+      auto& string_value_0 = targets_options_strings.emplace_back(target_option.value.string_value_0);
+      auto& string_value_1 = targets_options_strings.emplace_back(target_option.value.string_value_1);
+      auto slang_option = slang::CompilerOptionEntry{
+        .name = target_option.name,
+        .value = slang::CompilerOptionValue{
+          .kind = target_option.value.kind,
+          .intValue0 = target_option.value.int_value_0,
+          .intValue1 = target_option.value.int_value_1,
+          .stringValue0 = string_value_0.c_str(),
+          .stringValue1 = string_value_1.c_str()
+        }
+      };
+      target_options.push_back(slang_option);
+    }
+    targets_options.push_back(std::move(target_options));
+  }
+
+  // Second, convert the target descriptors
+  std::vector<slang::TargetDesc> target_descs;
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < session_desc.targets.size(); ++i) {
+    const auto& target = session_desc.targets[i];
+    auto& target_options = targets_options[i];
+
+    const auto target_desc = slang::TargetDesc{
+        .format = target.format,
+        .profile = get_slang_profile_id(global_session->getSlangSession(),
+                                        target.profile),
+        .floatingPointMode = target.floating_point_mode,
+        .lineDirectiveMode = target.line_directive_mode,
+        .forceGLSLScalarBufferLayout = target.force_glsl_scalar_buffer_layout,
+        .compilerOptionEntries = target_options.data(),
+        .compilerOptionEntryCount = static_cast<uint32_t>(target_options.size()),
+    };
+    target_descs.push_back(target_desc);
+  }
+
+  // Finally, build the session descriptor for slang.
+  const auto slang_session_desc = slang::SessionDesc{
+      .targets = target_descs.data(),
+      .targetCount = static_cast<int64_t>(target_descs.size()),
+  };
+
+  Slang::ComPtr<slang::ISession> session_ptr;
+  SLANG_TOOLS_CHECK(global_session->createSession(slang_session_desc,
+                                                  session_ptr.writeRef()));
+
+  return std::make_unique<Session>(std::move(global_session),
+                                   std::move(session_ptr));
 }
 
 } // namespace slang_compiler
diff --git a/src/lib.h b/src/lib.h
index c5e7c42..037bfbb 100644
--- a/src/lib.h
+++ b/src/lib.h
@@ -15,11 +15,27 @@ namespace slang_compiler {
 class GlobalSession {
 public:
   explicit GlobalSession();
+  [[nodiscard]] SlangResult createSession(const slang::SessionDesc& desc, slang::ISession** outSession) const;
+
+  slang::IGlobalSession& getSlangSession();
 
 private:
   Slang::ComPtr<slang::IGlobalSession> global_session_;
 };
 
-std::unique_ptr<GlobalSession> create_global_session();
+std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> create_global_session();
+
+struct SessionDesc;
+class Session {
+public:
+  Session(std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> global_session, Slang::ComPtr<slang::ISession>&& session);
+  [[nodiscard]] int64_t get_loaded_module_count() const noexcept;
+
+private:
+  const std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> global_session_;
+  Slang::ComPtr<slang::ISession> session_;
+};
+
+std::unique_ptr<Session> create_session(SessionDesc session_desc, std::shared_ptr<GlobalSession> global_session);
 
 } // namespace slang_compiler
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 491f734..604fc3e 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,19 +1,179 @@
+use crate::ffi::{SessionDesc, SlangMatrixLayoutMode};
+
 #[cxx::bridge(namespace = "slang_compiler")]
 mod ffi {
+    #[namespace = ""]
+    #[repr(i32)]
+    enum SlangCompileTarget {
+        SLANG_TARGET_UNKNOWN,
+        SLANG_TARGET_NONE,
+        SLANG_GLSL,
+        SLANG_HLSL = 5,
+        SLANG_SPIRV
+    }
+
+    // SlangProfileID is a combination of anonymous enum and preprocessor hack ultimately used
+    // to generate switch statements for the various supported profiles - see `slang-profile-defs.h`
+    // We'll define the names here and let C++ deal with mapping them to the ID
+    #[namespace = ""]
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum SlangProfileID_rs {
+        spirv_1_0,
+    }
+
+    // SlangTargetFlags is an anonymous enum in C++, use a shared enum (in the `slang_compiler` namespace)
+    // here as a nicer API. Also means we need to manage the values by hand instead of relying on cxx.
+    // https://stackoverflow.com/a/7147049
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum SlangTargetFlags {
+        SLANG_TARGET_FLAG_PARAMETER_BLOCKS_USE_REGISTER_SPACES = 32,
+        SLANG_TARGET_FLAG_GENERATE_WHOLE_PROGRAM = 256,
+        SLANG_TARGET_FLAG_DUMP_IR = 512,
+        SLANG_TARGET_FLAG_GENERATE_SPIRV_DIRECTLY = 1024,
+    }
+
+    #[namespace = ""]
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum SlangFloatingPointMode {
+        SLANG_FLOATING_POINT_MODE_DEFAULT,
+        SLANG_FLOATING_POINT_MODE_FAST,
+        SLANG_FLOATING_POINT_MODE_PRECISE,
+    }
+
+    #[namespace = ""]
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum SlangLineDirectiveMode {
+        SLANG_LINE_DIRECTIVE_MODE_DEFAULT,
+        SLANG_LINE_DIRECTIVE_MODE_NONE,
+        SLANG_LINE_DIRECTIVE_MODE_STANDARD,
+        SLANG_LINE_DIRECTIVE_MODE_GLSL,
+        SLANG_LINE_DIRECTIVE_MODE_SOURCE_MAP,
+    }
+
+    #[namespace = ""]
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum SlangMatrixLayoutMode {
+        SLANG_MATRIX_LAYOUT_MODE_UNKNOWN,
+        SLANG_MATRIX_LAYOUT_ROW_MAJOR,
+        SLANG_MATRIX_LAYOUT_COLUMN_MAJOR,
+    }
+
+    // Some slang enums are defined in the root namespace
+    #[namespace = ""]
+    unsafe extern "C++" {
+        include!("slang.h");
+        type SlangCompileTarget;
+        type SlangFloatingPointMode;
+        type SlangLineDirectiveMode;
+        type SlangMatrixLayoutMode;
+    }
+
+    #[namespace = "slang"]
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum CompilerOptionName {
+        MacroDefine
+    }
+
+    #[namespace = "slang"]
+    #[repr(u32)]
+    enum CompilerOptionValueKind {
+        Int,
+        String,
+    }
+
+    #[namespace = "slang"]
+    unsafe extern "C++" {
+        include!("slang.h");
+        type CompilerOptionName;
+        type CompilerOptionValueKind;
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Clone)]
+    struct CompilerOptionValue {
+        kind: CompilerOptionValueKind,
+        int_value_0: i32,
+        int_value_1: i32,
+        string_value_0: String,
+        string_value_1: String,
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Clone)]
+    struct CompilerOptionEntry {
+        name: CompilerOptionName,
+        value: CompilerOptionValue,
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Clone)]
+    struct TargetDesc {
+        format: SlangCompileTarget,
+        profile: SlangProfileID_rs,
+        flags: Vec<SlangTargetFlags>,
+        floating_point_mode: SlangFloatingPointMode,
+        line_directive_mode: SlangLineDirectiveMode,
+        force_glsl_scalar_buffer_layout: bool,
+        compiler_option_entries: Vec<CompilerOptionEntry>,
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Clone)]
+    struct PreprocessorMacroDesc {
+        name: String,
+        value: String,
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Clone)]
+    struct SessionDesc {
+        targets: Vec<TargetDesc>,
+        default_matrix_layout_mode: SlangMatrixLayoutMode,
+        search_paths: Vec<String>,
+        preprocessor_macros: Vec<PreprocessorMacroDesc>,
+        enable_effect_annotations: bool,
+        allow_glsl_syntax: bool,
+        compiler_option_entries: Vec<CompilerOptionEntry>,
+    }
+
     unsafe extern "C++" {
         include!("lib.h");
 
         type GlobalSession;
-        fn create_global_session() -> UniquePtr<GlobalSession>;
+        fn create_global_session() -> SharedPtr<GlobalSession>;
+
+        type Session;
+        #[must_use]
+        fn get_loaded_module_count(self: &Session) -> i64;
+
+        #[must_use]
+        fn create_session(session_desc: SessionDesc, global_session: SharedPtr<GlobalSession>) -> Result<UniquePtr<Session>>;
+    }
+}
+
+impl Default for SessionDesc {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        SessionDesc {
+            targets: vec![],
+            default_matrix_layout_mode: SlangMatrixLayoutMode::SLANG_MATRIX_LAYOUT_ROW_MAJOR,
+            search_paths: vec![],
+            preprocessor_macros: vec![],
+            enable_effect_annotations: false,
+            allow_glsl_syntax: false,
+            compiler_option_entries: vec![],
+        }
     }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
-    use crate::ffi::create_global_session;
+    use crate::ffi::{create_global_session, create_session};
 
     #[test]
     fn can_create_global_session() {
         let _global_session = create_global_session();
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn can_create_session() {
+        let global_session = create_global_session();
+        let session = create_session(Default::default(), global_session).expect("unable to create session");
+
+        assert_eq!(session.get_loaded_module_count(), 0);
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file