diff --git a/src/pyDataInterface/data_service/abstract_data_service.py b/src/pyDataInterface/data_service/abstract_data_service.py
index b87299c..be5bc0c 100644
--- a/src/pyDataInterface/data_service/abstract_data_service.py
+++ b/src/pyDataInterface/data_service/abstract_data_service.py
@@ -1,14 +1,81 @@
-from abc import ABC
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import asyncio
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections.abc import Callable
-from typing import Any
+from typing import Any, TypedDict
+
+from pyDataInterface.data_service.data_service_list import DataServiceList
 
 
 class AbstractDataService(ABC):
-    __root__: "AbstractDataService"
-    _callback_manager: Any
+    __root__: AbstractDataService
+    _task_manager: AbstractTaskManager
+    _callback_manager: AbstractCallbackManager
     """
     This is a CallbackManager. Cannot type this here as this would lead to a recursive
     loop.
     """
+    _autostart_tasks: dict[str, tuple[Any]]
+    # _task_status_change_callbacks: list[Callable[[str, dict[str, Any] | None], None]]
+    # """A list of callback functions to be invoked when the status of a task (start or
+    # stop) changes."""
 
-    _task_status_change_callbacks: list[Callable[[str, dict[str, Any] | None], None]]
+
+class TaskDict(TypedDict):
+    task: asyncio.Task[None]
+    kwargs: dict[str, Any]
+
+
+class AbstractTaskManager(ABC):
+    _task_status_change_callbacks: list[Callable[[str, dict[str, Any] | None], Any]]
+    """A list of callback functions to be invoked when the status of a task (start or
+    stop) changes."""
+    _tasks: dict[str, TaskDict]
+    """A dictionary to keep track of running tasks. The keys are the names of the
+    tasks and the values are TaskDict instances which include the task itself and
+    its kwargs.
+    """
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def _set_start_and_stop_for_async_methods(self) -> None:
+        ...
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def start_autostart_tasks(self) -> None:
+        ...
+
+
+class AbstractCallbackManager(ABC):
+    service: AbstractDataService
+    callbacks: set[Callable[[str, Any], None]]
+    _list_mapping: dict[int, DataServiceList]
+    """
+    A dictionary mapping the id of the original lists to the corresponding
+    DataServiceList instances.
+    This is used to ensure that all references to the same list within the DataService
+    object point to the same DataServiceList, so that any modifications to that list can
+    be tracked consistently. The keys of the dictionary are the ids of the original
+    lists, and the values are the DataServiceList instances that wrap these lists.
+    """
+    _notification_callbacks: list[Callable[[str, str, Any], Any]] = []
+    """
+    A list of callback functions that are executed when a change occurs in the
+    DataService instance. These functions are intended to handle or respond to these
+    changes in some way, such as emitting a socket.io message to the frontend.
+
+    Each function in this list should be a callable that accepts three parameters:
+
+    - parent_path (str): The path to the parent of the attribute that was changed.
+    - name (str): The name of the attribute that was changed.
+    - value (Any): The new value of the attribute.
+
+    A callback function can be added to this list using the add_notification_callback
+    method. Whenever a change in the DataService instance occurs (or in its nested
+    DataService or DataServiceList instances), the emit_notification method is invoked,
+    which in turn calls all the callback functions in _notification_callbacks with the
+    appropriate arguments.
+
+    This implementation follows the observer pattern, with the DataService instance as
+    the "subject" and the callback functions as the "observers".
+    """