diff --git a/include/nickel/xalloc.h b/include/nickel/xalloc.h
index 4149f78..563c383 100644
--- a/include/nickel/xalloc.h
+++ b/include/nickel/xalloc.h
@@ -1,11 +1,25 @@
 #ifndef __NICKEL_XALLOC_H_
 #define __NICKEL_XALLOC_H_
 
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-/* header contents */
+void* ni_xmalloc(size_t size);
+void ni_free(void* ptr);
+
+void* ni_xcalloc(size_t nmemb,size_t size);
+void* ni_xrealloc(void* ptr, size_t size);
+
+char* ni_xstrdup(const char *s);
+char* ni_xstrndup(const char s[], size_t n);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/src/nickel/xalloc.c b/src/nickel/xalloc.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c48cba0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/nickel/xalloc.c
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "nickel/xalloc.h"
+
+void* ni_xmalloc(size_t size) {
+
+}
+
+void ni_free(void* ptr) {
+
+}
+
+void* ni_xcalloc(size_t nmemb,size_t size) {
+
+}
+
+void* ni_xrealloc(void* ptr, size_t size) {
+
+}
+
+char* ni_xstrdup(const char *s) {
+    
+}
+
+char* ni_xstrndup(const char s[], size_t n) {
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file