diff --git a/weed/mq/schema/schema.go b/weed/mq/schema/schema.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5cb7a8df1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/weed/mq/schema/schema.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package schema
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/pb/schema_pb"
+)
+
+type Schema struct {
+	RecordType *schema_pb.RecordType
+	indexedFields []*schema_pb.Field
+}
+
+func NewSchema(recordType *schema_pb.RecordType) (*Schema, error) {
+	var indexedFields []*schema_pb.Field
+	var largestIndex int32
+	for _, field := range recordType.Fields {
+		if field.Index > largestIndex {
+			largestIndex = field.Index
+		}
+		if field.Index < 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("field %s index %d is negative", field.Name, field.Index)
+		}
+	}
+	indexedFields = make([]*schema_pb.Field, largestIndex+1)
+	for _, field := range recordType.Fields {
+		indexedFields[field.Index] = field
+	}
+	return &Schema{
+		RecordType: recordType,
+		indexedFields: indexedFields,
+	}, nil
+}