diff --git a/core/coreapi/interface/interface.go b/core/coreapi/interface/interface.go
index 7809c8b99..3e0e3d460 100644
--- a/core/coreapi/interface/interface.go
+++ b/core/coreapi/interface/interface.go
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ type CoreAPI interface {
 	// Key returns an implementation of Key API.
 	Key() KeyAPI
 
+	// ObjectAPI returns an implementation of Object API
+	Object() ObjectAPI
+
 	// ResolvePath resolves the path using Unixfs resolver
 	ResolvePath(context.Context, Path) (Path, error)
 
@@ -205,8 +208,16 @@ type ObjectAPI interface {
 	// * 'unixfs-dir' - Empty UnixFS directory
 	WithType(string) options.ObjectNewOption
 
-	// Put imports the node into merkledag
-	Put(context.Context, Node) (Path, error)
+	// Put imports the data into merkledag
+	Put(context.Context, io.Reader, ...options.ObjectPutOption) (Path, error)
+
+	// WithInputEnc is an option for Put which specifies the input encoding of the
+	// data. Default is "json".
+	//
+	// Supported encodings:
+	// * "protobuf"
+	// * "json"
+	WithInputEnc(e string) options.ObjectPutOption
 
 	// Get returns the node for the path
 	Get(context.Context, Path) (Node, error)
diff --git a/core/coreapi/interface/options/object.go b/core/coreapi/interface/options/object.go
index 6a144ab2b..fe86a1cde 100644
--- a/core/coreapi/interface/options/object.go
+++ b/core/coreapi/interface/options/object.go
@@ -4,11 +4,16 @@ type ObjectNewSettings struct {
 	Type string
 }
 
+type ObjectPutSettings struct {
+	InputEnc string
+}
+
 type ObjectAddLinkSettings struct {
 	Create bool
 }
 
 type ObjectNewOption func(*ObjectNewSettings) error
+type ObjectPutOption func(*ObjectPutSettings) error
 type ObjectAddLinkOption func(*ObjectAddLinkSettings) error
 
 func ObjectNewOptions(opts ...ObjectNewOption) (*ObjectNewSettings, error) {
@@ -25,6 +30,20 @@ func ObjectNewOptions(opts ...ObjectNewOption) (*ObjectNewSettings, error) {
 	return options, nil
 }
 
+func ObjectPutOptions(opts ...ObjectPutOption) (*ObjectPutSettings, error) {
+	options := &ObjectPutSettings{
+		InputEnc: "json",
+	}
+
+	for _, opt := range opts {
+		err := opt(options)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return options, nil
+}
+
 func ObjectAddLinkOptions(opts ...ObjectAddLinkOption) (*ObjectAddLinkSettings, error) {
 	options := &ObjectAddLinkSettings{
 		Create: false,
@@ -48,6 +67,13 @@ func (api *ObjectOptions) WithType(t string) ObjectNewOption {
 	}
 }
 
+func (api *ObjectOptions) WithInputEnc(e string) ObjectPutOption {
+	return func(settings *ObjectPutSettings) error {
+		settings.InputEnc = e
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 func (api *ObjectOptions) WithCreate(create bool) ObjectAddLinkOption {
 	return func(settings *ObjectAddLinkSettings) error {
 		settings.Create = create
diff --git a/core/coreapi/object.go b/core/coreapi/object.go
index 91e6aff65..915c5ed8c 100644
--- a/core/coreapi/object.go
+++ b/core/coreapi/object.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package coreapi
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
-	"errors"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 
@@ -15,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	ft "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/unixfs"
 
 	node "gx/ipfs/QmNwUEK7QbwSqyKBu3mMtToo8SUc6wQJ7gdZq4gGGJqfnf/go-ipld-format"
+	cid "gx/ipfs/QmeSrf6pzut73u6zLQkRFQ3ygt3k6XFT2kjdYP8Tnkwwyg/go-cid"
 )
 
 type ObjectAPI struct {
@@ -43,8 +43,14 @@ func (api *ObjectAPI) New(ctx context.Context, opts ...caopts.ObjectNewOption) (
 	return n, nil
 }
 
-func (api *ObjectAPI) Put(context.Context, coreiface.Node) (coreiface.Path, error) {
-	return nil, errors.New("todo") // TODO: implement using dag api.
+func (api *ObjectAPI) Put(ctx context.Context, src io.Reader, opts ...caopts.ObjectPutOption) (coreiface.Path, error) {
+	options, err := caopts.ObjectPutOptions(opts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	dagApi := api.Dag()
+	return dagApi.Put(ctx, src, dagApi.WithInputEnc(options.InputEnc), dagApi.WithCodec(cid.DagProtobuf))
 }
 
 func (api *ObjectAPI) Get(ctx context.Context, path coreiface.Path) (coreiface.Node, error) {
diff --git a/core/coredag/dagtransl.go b/core/coredag/dagtransl.go
index 10a76c052..c17a677a2 100644
--- a/core/coredag/dagtransl.go
+++ b/core/coredag/dagtransl.go
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@ type InputEncParsers map[string]FormatParsers
 
 // DefaultInputEncParsers is InputEncParser that is used everywhere
 var DefaultInputEncParsers = InputEncParsers{
-	"json": defaultJSONParsers,
-	"raw":  defaultRawParsers,
-	"cbor": defaultCborParsers,
+	"json":     defaultJSONParsers,
+	"raw":      defaultRawParsers,
+	"cbor":     defaultCborParsers,
+	"protobuf": defaultProtobufParsers,
 }
 
 var defaultJSONParsers = FormatParsers{
@@ -46,6 +47,11 @@ var defaultCborParsers = FormatParsers{
 	"dag-cbor": cborRawParser,
 }
 
+var defaultProtobufParsers = FormatParsers{
+	"protobuf": dagpbRawParser,
+	"dag-pb":   dagpbRawParser,
+}
+
 // ParseInputs uses DefaultInputEncParsers to parse io.Reader described by
 // input encoding and format to an instance of ipld Node
 func ParseInputs(ienc, format string, r io.Reader, mhType uint64, mhLen int) ([]node.Node, error) {