diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index fd026c5..f1dbfee 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0 FATAL_ERROR)
 project(i3ipc++)
 
+string(TIMESTAMP I3IPCppBUILD_DATETIME "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+
 option(I3IPCpp_WITH_TESTS "Build unit tests executables" OFF)
 option(I3IPCpp_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build example executables" OFF)
 
@@ -58,6 +60,10 @@ target_compile_options(i3ipc++
 	PUBLIC -std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter
 )
 
+target_compile_definitions(i3ipc++
+	PRIVATE I3IPC_BUILD_DATETIME="${I3IPCppBUILD_DATETIME}"
+)
+
 if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE EQUAL "DEBUG")
 	target_compile_options(i3ipc++
 		PUBLIC -g3
diff --git a/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp b/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp
index 85c6443..9e602b1 100644
--- a/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp
+++ b/include/i3ipc++/ipc.hpp
@@ -342,6 +342,12 @@ private:
 	const std::string  m_socket_path;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Get version of i3ipc++
+ * @return the version of i3ipc++
+ */
+const version_t&  get_version();
+
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/ipc.cpp b/src/ipc.cpp
index 171f147..06d40cd 100644
--- a/src/ipc.cpp
+++ b/src/ipc.cpp
@@ -553,4 +553,19 @@ int32_t  connection::get_main_socket_fd() { return m_main_socket; }
 
 int32_t  connection::get_event_socket_fd() { return m_event_socket; }
 
+
+const version_t&  get_version() {
+#define I3IPC_VERSION_MAJOR  0
+#define I3IPC_VERSION_MINOR  3
+#define I3IPC_VERSION_PATCH  0
+	static version_t  version = {
+		.human_readable = auss_t() << I3IPC_VERSION_MAJOR << '.' << I3IPC_VERSION_MINOR << '.' << I3IPC_VERSION_PATCH  << " (built on " << I3IPC_BUILD_DATETIME << ")",
+		.loaded_config_file_name = std::string(),
+		.major = I3IPC_VERSION_MAJOR,
+		.minor = I3IPC_VERSION_MINOR,
+		.patch = I3IPC_VERSION_PATCH,
+	};
+	return version;
+}
+
 }