diff --git a/lib/Makefile.local b/lib/Makefile.local
index 0b5c4b08..93b08d15 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile.local
+++ b/lib/Makefile.local
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ libnotmuch_c_srcs =		\
 	$(dir)/sha1.c		\
 	$(dir)/built-with.c	\
 	$(dir)/string-map.c	\
+	$(dir)/indexopts.c	\
 	$(dir)/tags.c
 
 libnotmuch_cxx_srcs =		\
diff --git a/lib/add-message.cc b/lib/add-message.cc
index 7b5cb702..73bde7fa 100644
--- a/lib/add-message.cc
+++ b/lib/add-message.cc
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ _notmuch_database_link_message (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_index_file (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 			     const char *filename,
-			     notmuch_param_t unused (*indexopts),
+			     notmuch_indexopts_t unused (*indexopts),
 			     notmuch_message_t **message_ret)
 {
     notmuch_message_file_t *message_file;
diff --git a/lib/indexopts.c b/lib/indexopts.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f9b841b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/indexopts.c
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/* indexopts.c - options for indexing messages (currently a stub)
+ *
+ * Copyright © 2017 Daniel Kahn Gillmor
+ *
+ * This program 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.
+ *
+ * This program 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 this program.  If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/ .
+ *
+ * Author: Daniel Kahn Gillmor <dkg@fifthhorseman.net>
+ */
+
+#include "notmuch-private.h"
+
+notmuch_indexopts_t *
+notmuch_database_get_default_indexopts (notmuch_database_t unused (*db))
+{
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+void
+notmuch_indexopts_destroy (notmuch_indexopts_t *indexopts)
+{
+    talloc_free (indexopts);
+}
diff --git a/lib/message.cc b/lib/message.cc
index 539d3320..98a88d3a 100644
--- a/lib/message.cc
+++ b/lib/message.cc
@@ -1939,7 +1939,7 @@ _notmuch_message_frozen (notmuch_message_t *message)
 
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_message_reindex (notmuch_message_t *message,
-			 notmuch_param_t unused (*indexopts))
+			 notmuch_indexopts_t unused (*indexopts))
 {
     notmuch_database_t *notmuch = NULL;
     notmuch_status_t ret = NOTMUCH_STATUS_SUCCESS;
diff --git a/lib/notmuch.h b/lib/notmuch.h
index a64efc17..e025bc1f 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch.h
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ typedef struct _notmuch_tags notmuch_tags_t;
 typedef struct _notmuch_directory notmuch_directory_t;
 typedef struct _notmuch_filenames notmuch_filenames_t;
 typedef struct _notmuch_config_list notmuch_config_list_t;
-typedef struct _notmuch_param notmuch_param_t;
+typedef struct _notmuch_indexopts notmuch_indexopts_t;
 #endif /* __DOXYGEN__ */
 
 /**
@@ -603,7 +603,7 @@ notmuch_database_get_directory (notmuch_database_t *database,
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_index_file (notmuch_database_t *database,
 			     const char *filename,
-			     notmuch_param_t *indexopts,
+			     notmuch_indexopts_t *indexopts,
 			     notmuch_message_t **message);
 
 /**
@@ -1430,7 +1430,7 @@ notmuch_message_get_filenames (notmuch_message_t *message);
  */
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_message_reindex (notmuch_message_t *message,
-			 notmuch_param_t *indexopts);
+			 notmuch_indexopts_t *indexopts);
 
 /**
  * Message flags.
@@ -2172,6 +2172,31 @@ notmuch_config_list_move_to_next (notmuch_config_list_t *config_list);
 void
 notmuch_config_list_destroy (notmuch_config_list_t *config_list);
 
+
+/**
+ * get the current default indexing options for a given database.
+ *
+ * This object will survive until the database itself is destroyed,
+ * but the caller may also release it earlier with
+ * notmuch_indexopts_destroy.
+ *
+ * This object represents a set of options on how a message can be
+ * added to the index.  At the moment it is a featureless stub.
+ *
+ * @since libnotmuch 5.1 (notmuch 0.26)
+ */
+notmuch_indexopts_t *
+notmuch_database_get_default_indexopts (notmuch_database_t *db);
+
+/**
+ * Destroy a notmuch_indexopts_t object.
+ *
+ * @since libnotmuch 5.1 (notmuch 0.26)
+ */
+void
+notmuch_indexopts_destroy (notmuch_indexopts_t *options);
+
+
 /**
  * interrogate the library for compile time features
  *
diff --git a/notmuch-reindex.c b/notmuch-reindex.c
index 44223042..bceac722 100644
--- a/notmuch-reindex.c
+++ b/notmuch-reindex.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ handle_sigint (unused (int sig))
  */
 static int
 reindex_query (notmuch_database_t *notmuch, const char *query_string,
-	       notmuch_param_t *indexopts)
+	       notmuch_indexopts_t *indexopts)
 {
     notmuch_query_t *query;
     notmuch_messages_t *messages;
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ notmuch_reindex_command (notmuch_config_t *config, int argc, char *argv[])
     struct sigaction action;
     int opt_index;
     int ret;
-    notmuch_param_t *indexopts = NULL;
+    notmuch_indexopts_t *indexopts = NULL;
 
     /* Set up our handler for SIGINT */
     memset (&action, 0, sizeof (struct sigaction));