diff --git a/org.epic.perleditor/plugin.xml b/org.epic.perleditor/plugin.xml
index ba86c6bb..47d0eeb6 100644
--- a/org.epic.perleditor/plugin.xml
+++ b/org.epic.perleditor/plugin.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <?eclipse version="3.0"?>
 <plugin>
+   <extension-point id="tokenHandler" name="Perl Token Handler" schema="schema/tokenHandler.exsd"/>
 
     <extension point="org.eclipse.ui.editors">
         <editor
diff --git a/org.epic.perleditor/schema/tokenHandler.exsd b/org.epic.perleditor/schema/tokenHandler.exsd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c67fb40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.epic.perleditor/schema/tokenHandler.exsd
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+<!-- Schema file written by PDE -->
+<schema targetNamespace="org.epic.perleditor" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
+<annotation>
+      <appInfo>
+         <meta.schema plugin="org.epic.perleditor" id="tokenHandler" name="Perl Token Handler"/>
+      </appInfo>
+      <documentation>
+         Allows observing the Perl parsing process.
+      </documentation>
+   </annotation>
+
+   <element name="extension">
+      <annotation>
+         <appInfo>
+            <meta.element />
+         </appInfo>
+      </annotation>
+      <complexType>
+         <sequence>
+            <element ref="handler"/>
+         </sequence>
+         <attribute name="point" type="string" use="required">
+            <annotation>
+               <documentation>
+                  
+               </documentation>
+            </annotation>
+         </attribute>
+         <attribute name="id" type="string">
+            <annotation>
+               <documentation>
+                  
+               </documentation>
+            </annotation>
+         </attribute>
+         <attribute name="name" type="string">
+            <annotation>
+               <documentation>
+                  
+               </documentation>
+               <appInfo>
+                  <meta.attribute translatable="true"/>
+               </appInfo>
+            </annotation>
+         </attribute>
+      </complexType>
+   </element>
+
+   <element name="handler">
+      <complexType>
+         <attribute name="class" type="string" use="required">
+            <annotation>
+               <documentation>
+                  
+               </documentation>
+               <appInfo>
+                  <meta.attribute kind="java" basedOn=":org.epic.core.model.ITokenHandler"/>
+               </appInfo>
+            </annotation>
+         </attribute>
+      </complexType>
+   </element>
+
+   <annotation>
+      <appInfo>
+         <meta.section type="since"/>
+      </appInfo>
+      <documentation>
+         [Enter the first release in which this extension point appears.]
+      </documentation>
+   </annotation>
+
+   <annotation>
+      <appInfo>
+         <meta.section type="examples"/>
+      </appInfo>
+      <documentation>
+         [Enter extension point usage example here.]
+      </documentation>
+   </annotation>
+
+   <annotation>
+      <appInfo>
+         <meta.section type="apiinfo"/>
+      </appInfo>
+      <documentation>
+         [Enter API information here.]
+      </documentation>
+   </annotation>
+
+   <annotation>
+      <appInfo>
+         <meta.section type="implementation"/>
+      </appInfo>
+      <documentation>
+         [Enter information about supplied implementation of this extension point.]
+      </documentation>
+   </annotation>
+
+
+</schema>
diff --git a/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/ITokenHandler.java b/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/ITokenHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..93519a09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/ITokenHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package org.epic.core.model;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.epic.core.parser.PerlToken;
+
+public interface ITokenHandler
+{
+
+    void start(SourceFile sourceFile, List<PerlToken> tokens);
+    void end();
+    void handleToken(int currentTokenIdx);
+
+}
diff --git a/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/SourceFile.java b/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/SourceFile.java
index 10c1ff0e..f0413b57 100644
--- a/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/SourceFile.java
+++ b/org.epic.perleditor/src/org/epic/core/model/SourceFile.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ public class SourceFile
     private final IDocument doc;
     private List<PODComment> pods;
     private List<Package> packages;
+    private List<ITokenHandler> tokenHandlers;
     
     /**
      * Creates a SourceFile which will be reflecting contents of the given
@@ -38,6 +39,22 @@ public SourceFile(ILog log, IDocument doc)
         this.doc = doc;
         this.pods = Collections.emptyList();
         this.packages = Collections.emptyList();
+
+        this.tokenHandlers = new ArrayList<ITokenHandler>();
+        IConfigurationElement[] config = Platform.getExtensionRegistry().getConfigurationElementsFor("org.epic.perleditor.tokenHandler");
+        for (IConfigurationElement cfg: config) {
+            Object handler;
+            try {
+                handler = cfg.createExecutableExtension("class");
+                if (handler instanceof ITokenHandler) {
+                    tokenHandlers.add((ITokenHandler)handler);
+                }
+            } catch (CoreException e) {
+                PerlEditorPlugin.getDefault().getLog().log(
+                        new Status(IStatus.WARNING, PerlEditorPlugin.getUniqueIdentifier(),
+                                   "failed to load tokenHandler extension", e));
+            }
+        }
     }
     
     /**
@@ -109,7 +126,12 @@ public synchronized void parse()
         {
             try
             {
-                ParsingState state = new ParsingState(partitioner.getTokens());
+                List<PerlToken> tokens = partitioner.getTokens();
+                ParsingState state = new ParsingState(tokens, tokenHandlers);
+
+                for (ITokenHandler handler: tokenHandlers) {
+                    handler.start(this, tokens);
+                }
 
                 while (state.hasMoreTokens()) state.processToken();
                 state.finish();
@@ -125,6 +147,12 @@ public synchronized void parse()
                     "in plug-in " + PerlEditorPlugin.getPluginId(),
                     e));
             }
+            finally
+            {
+                for (ITokenHandler handler: tokenHandlers) {
+                    handler.end();
+                }
+            }
         }
         fireSourceFileChanged();
     }
@@ -160,6 +188,7 @@ private class ParsingState
         private int type;
         private int blockLevel;
         private boolean afterEnd;
+        private List<ITokenHandler> tokenHandlers;
         
         private Stack<Package> pkgStack;
         private Stack<Subroutine> subStack;
@@ -171,10 +200,11 @@ private class ParsingState
         private boolean inSubProto;
         private PerlToken baseKeyword;
         
-        public ParsingState(List<PerlToken> tokens)
+        public ParsingState(List<PerlToken> tokens, List<ITokenHandler> tokenHandlers)
         {
             this.tIndex = 0;
             this.tokens = tokens;
+            this.tokenHandlers = tokenHandlers;
             this.tokenCount = tokens.size();
             this.pkgStack = new Stack<Package>();
             this.subStack = new Stack<Subroutine>();
@@ -196,6 +226,10 @@ public void processToken() throws BadLocationException
             this.t = tokens.get(tIndex);
             this.type = t.getType();
             
+            for (ITokenHandler handler: tokenHandlers) {
+                handler.handleToken(tIndex);
+            }
+
             if (this.type == PerlTokenTypes.END)
             {
                 afterEnd = true;