--- /dev/null
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\file\FileUsage;
+
+use Drupal\file\FileInterface;
+
+/**
+ * File usage backend interface.
+ */
+interface FileUsageInterface {
+
+ /**
+ * Records that a module is using a file.
+ *
+ * Examples:
+ * - A module that associates files with nodes, so $type would be
+ * 'node' and $id would be the node's nid. Files for all revisions are
+ * stored within a single nid.
+ * - The User module associates an image with a user, so $type would be 'user'
+ * and the $id would be the user's uid.
+ *
+ * @param \Drupal\file\FileInterface $file
+ * A file entity.
+ * @param string $module
+ * The name of the module using the file.
+ * @param string $type
+ * The type of the object that contains the referenced file.
+ * @param string $id
+ * The unique ID of the object containing the referenced file.
+ * @param int $count
+ * (optional) The number of references to add to the object. Defaults to 1.
+ */
+ public function add(FileInterface $file, $module, $type, $id, $count = 1);
+
+ /**
+ * Removes a record to indicate that a module is no longer using a file.
+ *
+ * @param \Drupal\file\FileInterface $file
+ * A file entity.
+ * @param string $module
+ * The name of the module using the file.
+ * @param string $type
+ * (optional) The type of the object that contains the referenced file. May
+ * be omitted if all module references to a file are being deleted. Defaults
+ * to NULL.
+ * @param string $id
+ * (optional) The unique ID of the object containing the referenced file.
+ * May be omitted if all module references to a file are being deleted.
+ * Defaults to NULL.
+ * @param int $count
+ * (optional) The number of references to delete from the object. Defaults
+ * to 1. Zero may be specified to delete all references to the file within a
+ * specific object.
+ */
+ public function delete(FileInterface $file, $module, $type = NULL, $id = NULL, $count = 1);
+
+ /**
+ * Determines where a file is used.
+ *
+ * @param \Drupal\file\FileInterface $file
+ * A file entity.
+ *
+ * @return array
+ * A nested array with usage data. The first level is keyed by module name,
+ * the second by object type and the third by the object id. The value of
+ * the third level contains the usage count.
+ */
+ public function listUsage(FileInterface $file);
+
+}