diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/lib/utils/communication.js b/app/assets/javascripts/lib/utils/communication.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3af2afe5a101cf0bbdb7f40fe419ea4a33d1c7b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/lib/utils/communication.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/**
+ * @module communication
+ */
+
+/**
+ * [RxJS Observable Subject]{@link https://rxjs.dev/api/index/class/Subject}
+ * @typedef {Object} RxSubject
+ */
+
+import { Subject } from 'rxjs';
+
+const channels = {};
+
+/**
+ * Open a channel on the communication harness
+ * @param {Object} [options]
+ * @param {String} [options.name] - The name of the channel to retrieve or create
+ * @returns {RxSubject} The requested channel, if it exists, or else a new channel
+ */
+export function openChannel({ name }) {
+  let channel = channels[name];
+
+  if (!channel) {
+    channel = new Subject();
+    channels[name] = channel;
+  }
+
+  return channel;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Remove references to a channel from the communication harness
+ * @param {Object} [options]
+ * @param {String} [options.name] - The name of the channel to flush (forget/dereference)
+ */
+export function flushChannel({ name }) {
+  channels[name] = null;
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 73778428426c4adfe6dfb6316a977b58d7d90a42..34d728b454d93362f21a2a8efcb6d4ad5607ed96 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@
     "rehype-raw": "^6.1.1",
     "remark-parse": "^10.0.1",
     "remark-rehype": "^10.1.0",
+    "rxjs": "7.5.5",
     "scrollparent": "^2.0.1",
     "select2": "3.5.2-browserify",
     "smooshpack": "^0.0.62",
diff --git a/spec/frontend/lib/utils/communication_spec.js b/spec/frontend/lib/utils/communication_spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f58ea78656aae073d92779d8e787894ede98f913
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/frontend/lib/utils/communication_spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+import { openChannel, flushChannel } from '~/lib/utils/communication';
+
+describe('communication', () => {
+  describe('openChannel', () => {
+    let channel;
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      channel = openChannel({ name: 'channel' });
+    });
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+      flushChannel({ name: 'channel' });
+    });
+
+    it("should return a 'nextable' object", () => {
+      expect(channel.next).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
+      expect(channel.error).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
+      expect(channel.complete).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
+    });
+
+    it('should return an observable Subject', () => {
+      expect(channel.subscribe).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
+      expect(channel.thrownError).toBeNull();
+      expect(channel.closed).toBe(false);
+      expect(channel.observed).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('should always return the same channel for a given name', () => {
+      expect(channel).toBe(openChannel({ name: 'channel' }));
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('flushChannel', () => {
+    it('should not return the same channel if the channel is flushed between opens', () => {
+      const channel = openChannel({ name: 'channel' });
+
+      flushChannel({ name: 'channel' });
+
+      expect(channel).not.toBe(openChannel({ name: 'channel' }));
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('channel', () => {
+    let channel;
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      channel = openChannel({ name: 'channel' });
+    });
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+      flushChannel({ name: 'channel' });
+    });
+
+    it('should send events to observers', () => {
+      const events = [];
+
+      channel.subscribe((event) => {
+        events.push(event.message);
+      });
+
+      channel.next({ message: 'sent' });
+
+      expect(events).toEqual(['sent']);
+    });
+
+    it('should pass on a completion to observers', () => {
+      channel.subscribe({
+        complete: () => expect(true).toBe(true), // We just want to test that this runs
+      });
+
+      channel.complete();
+    });
+
+    it('should not send events after completing', () => {
+      const events = [];
+
+      channel.subscribe({ next: (event) => events.push(event) });
+      channel.complete();
+
+      channel.next({ name: 'sent' });
+
+      expect(events).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('should pass on an error to observers', async () => {
+      let caught;
+
+      channel.subscribe({
+        error: (e) => {
+          caught = e;
+        },
+      });
+
+      channel.error('broke');
+
+      expect(caught).toBe('broke');
+    });
+
+    it('should not send events after erroring', () => {
+      const events = [];
+
+      channel.subscribe({
+        next: (e) => events.push(e),
+        error: () => {
+          /* swallow errors */
+        },
+      });
+
+      channel.next('a');
+      channel.next('b');
+      channel.error('error');
+      channel.next('c');
+
+      expect(events).toStrictEqual(['a', 'b']);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 236523c3625171dd65040a779bd0a9f1efa7f33a..bd9ce254c7ea93208b53e7d8b37a960efb3b826d 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -10757,6 +10757,13 @@ rw@1:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/rw/-/rw-1.3.3.tgz#3f862dfa91ab766b14885ef4d01124bfda074fb4"
   integrity sha1-P4Yt+pGrdmsUiF700BEkv9oHT7Q=
 
+rxjs@7.5.5:
+  version "7.5.5"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/rxjs/-/rxjs-7.5.5.tgz#2ebad89af0f560f460ad5cc4213219e1f7dd4e9f"
+  integrity sha512-sy+H0pQofO95VDmFLzyaw9xNJU4KTRSwQIGM6+iG3SypAtCiLDzpeG8sJrNCWn2Up9km+KhkvTdbkrdy+yzZdw==
+  dependencies:
+    tslib "^2.1.0"
+
 sade@^1.7.3:
   version "1.8.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/sade/-/sade-1.8.1.tgz#0a78e81d658d394887be57d2a409bf703a3b2701"