diff --git a/core/core.go b/core/core.go
index 7f422e82825deb6766051ed5ea5fe54b9cf37a85..495addb58b08fbafd127afc72cb5bdadd5589041 100644
--- a/core/core.go
+++ b/core/core.go
@@ -17,19 +17,28 @@
 package core
 
 import (
+  // TODO: [ben] swap out go-events with eris-db/event (currently unused)
+  events "github.com/tendermint/go-events"
+
   config    "github.com/eris-ltd/eris-db/config"
   consensus "github.com/eris-ltd/eris-db/consensus"
+  // manager   "github.com/eris-ltd/eris-db/manager"
 )
 
 // Core is the high-level structure
 type Core struct {
   chainId string
+  evsw    *events.EventSwitch
   // pipe    Pipe
 }
 
 func NewCore(chainId string, consensusConfig *config.ModuleConfig,
   managerConfig *config.ModuleConfig) *Core {
 
+  // start new event switch, TODO: [ben] replace with eris-db/event
+  evsw := events.NewEventSwitch()
+  evsw.Start()
+
   consensus.NewConsensusEngine(consensusConfig)
 
   // create state
@@ -42,3 +51,10 @@ func NewCore(chainId string, consensusConfig *config.ModuleConfig,
   // create servers
   return &Core{}
 }
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Explicit switch that can later be abstracted into an `Engine` definition
+// where the Engine defines the explicit interaction of a specific application
+// manager with a consensus engine.
+// TODO: [ben] before such Engine abstraction,
+// think about many-manager-to-one-consensus
diff --git a/manager/eris-mint/eris-mint_test.go b/manager/eris-mint/eris-mint_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..51633878f0b638a7ee6cd3445fd1828aa0415a66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manager/eris-mint/eris-mint_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Copyright 2015, 2016 Eris Industries (UK) Ltd.
+// This file is part of Eris-RT
+
+// Eris-RT is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+
+// Eris-RT is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Eris-RT.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package erismint
+
+import (
+  "fmt"
+  "testing"
+
+  assert "github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestCompatibleConsensus(t *testing.T) {
+  // TODO: [ben] expand by constructing and elemetary testing for each listed
+  // compatible consensus engine
+
+  for _, listedConsensus := range compatibleConsensus {
+    assert.Equal(t, IsCompatibleConsensus(listedConsensus), true,
+      fmt.Sprintf("ErisMint (%s) failed compatibility test with consensus %s",
+      GetErisMintVersion(), listedConsensus))
+  }
+}
diff --git a/manager/eris-mint/pipe.go b/manager/eris-mint/pipe.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5fb7f499feef2972f80a81cf21e8df6119fed077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manager/eris-mint/pipe.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+// Copyright 2015, 2016 Eris Industries (UK) Ltd.
+// This file is part of Eris-RT
+
+// Eris-RT is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+
+// Eris-RT is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Eris-RT.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package erismint
+
+type ErisMintPipe struct {
+
+}
+
+func NewErisMintPipe() *ErisMintPipe {
+  return &ErisMintPipe{}
+}
diff --git a/manager/eris-mint/version.go b/manager/eris-mint/version.go
index bfc3b18c18c8335f686e0a3ffa56436c80594969..96f42c5f60791b85a0a74c8f674d39fb3753ab80 100644
--- a/manager/eris-mint/version.go
+++ b/manager/eris-mint/version.go
@@ -31,7 +31,23 @@ const (
   erisMintVersionPatch     = 0
 )
 
+// Define the compatible consensus engines this application manager
+// is compatible and has been tested with.
+var compatibleConsensus = [...]string {
+  "tendermint-0.6",
+  "tmsp-0.6",
+}
+
 func GetErisMintVersion() *version.VersionIdentifier {
   return version.New(erisMintClientIdentifier, erisMintVersionMajor,
     erisMintVersionMinor, erisMintVersionPatch)
 }
+
+func IsCompatibleConsensus(consensusMinorVersion string) bool {
+  for _, supported := range compatibleConsensus {
+    if consensusMinorVersion == supported {
+      return true
+    }
+  }
+  return false
+}
diff --git a/manager/manager.go b/manager/manager.go
index e525321c7c50dcddc7a58efac4c71c474019b775..77e0d9b8b835d196150b099b7c0519b9ff227d3b 100644
--- a/manager/manager.go
+++ b/manager/manager.go
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@
 // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 // along with Eris-RT.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-// version provides the current Eris-DB version and a VersionIdentifier
-// for the modules to identify their version with.
-
 package manager
 
 import (
@@ -32,10 +29,12 @@ import (
 // NOTE: [ben] Currently we only have a single `generic` definition
 // of an application.  It is feasible this will be insufficient to support
 // different types of applications later down the line.
-func NewApplication(moduleConfig *config.ModuleConfig) (types.Application,
+func NewApplication(moduleConfig *config.ModuleConfig,
+  consensusMinorVersion string) (types.Application,
   error) {
   switch moduleConfig.Name {
   case "erismint" :
+
     return newErisMintPH(moduleConfig)
   }
   return nil, fmt.Errorf("PLACEHOLDER")