diff --git a/include/xgboost/c_api.h b/include/xgboost/c_api.h
index d28b5098be9e..ffa3a6c79f42 100644
--- a/include/xgboost/c_api.h
+++ b/include/xgboost/c_api.h
@@ -1508,6 +1508,83 @@ XGB_DLL int XGBoosterFeatureScore(BoosterHandle handle, const char *config,
  * @{
  */
 
+/**
+ * @brief Handle to tracker.
+ *
+ *   There are currently two types of tracker in XGBoost, first one is `rabit`, while the
+ *   other one is `federated`.
+ *
+ *   This is still under development.
+ */
+typedef void *TrackerHandle; /* NOLINT */
+
+/**
+ * @brief Create a new tracker.
+ *
+ * @param config JSON encoded parameters.
+ *
+ *   - dmlc_communicator: String, the type of tracker to create. Available options are `rabit`
+ *                        and `federated`.
+ *   - n_workers: Integer, the number of workers.
+ *   - port: (Optional) Integer, the port this tracker should listen to.
+ *   - timeout: (Optional) Integer, timeout in seconds for various networking operations.
+ *
+ *   Some configurations are `rabit` specific:
+ *   - host: (Optional) String, Used by the the `rabit` tracker to specify the address of the host.
+ *
+ *   Some `federated` specific configurations:
+ *   - federated_secure: Boolean, whether this is a secure server.
+ *   - server_key_path: Path to the server key. Used only if this is a secure server.
+ *   - server_cert_path: Path to the server certificate. Used only if this is a secure server.
+ *   - client_cert_path: Path to the client certificate. Used only if this is a secure server.
+ *
+ * @param handle The handle to the created tracker.
+ *
+ * @return 0 for success, -1 for failure.
+ */
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerCreate(char const *config, TrackerHandle *handle);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Get the arguments needed for running workers. This should be called after
+ *        XGTrackerRun() and XGTrackerWait()
+ *
+ * @param handle The handle to the tracker.
+ * @param args The arguments returned as a JSON document.
+ *
+ * @return 0 for success, -1 for failure.
+ */
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerWorkerArgs(TrackerHandle handle, char const **args);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Run the tracker.
+ *
+ * @param handle The handle to the tracker.
+ *
+ * @return 0 for success, -1 for failure.
+ */
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerRun(TrackerHandle handle);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Wait for the tracker to finish, should be called after XGTrackerRun().
+ *
+ * @param handle The handle to the tracker.
+ * @param config JSON encoded configuration. No argument is required yet, preserved for
+ *        the future.
+ *
+ * @return 0 for success, -1 for failure.
+ */
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerWait(TrackerHandle handle, char const *config);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Free a tracker instance. XGTrackerWait() is called internally. If the tracker
+ *        cannot close properly, manual interruption is required.
+ *
+ * @param handle The handle to the tracker.
+ *
+ * @return 0 for success, -1 for failure.
+ */
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerFree(TrackerHandle handle);
+
 /*!
  * \brief Initialize the collective communicator.
  *
diff --git a/src/c_api/coll_c_api.cc b/src/c_api/coll_c_api.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01713dbad419
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/c_api/coll_c_api.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2023, XGBoost Contributors
+ */
+#include <chrono>       // for seconds
+#include <cstddef>      // for size_t
+#include <future>       // for future
+#include <memory>       // for unique_ptr
+#include <string>       // for string
+#include <type_traits>  // for is_same_v, remove_pointer_t
+#include <utility>      // for pair
+
+#include "../collective/tracker.h"  // for RabitTracker
+#include "c_api_error.h"            // for API_BEGIN
+#include "xgboost/c_api.h"
+#include "xgboost/collective/result.h"  // for Result
+#include "xgboost/json.h"               // for Json
+#include "xgboost/string_view.h"        // for StringView
+
+#if defined(XGBOOST_USE_FEDERATED)
+#include "../../plugin/federated/federated_tracker.h"  // for FederatedTracker
+#else
+#include "../common/error_msg.h"  // for NoFederated
+#endif
+
+using namespace xgboost;  // NOLINT
+
+namespace {
+using TrackerHandleT =
+    std::pair<std::unique_ptr<collective::Tracker>, std::shared_future<collective::Result>>;
+
+TrackerHandleT *GetTrackerHandle(TrackerHandle handle) {
+  xgboost_CHECK_C_ARG_PTR(handle);
+  auto *ptr = static_cast<TrackerHandleT *>(handle);
+  CHECK(ptr);
+  return ptr;
+}
+
+struct CollAPIEntry {
+  std::string ret_str;
+};
+using CollAPIThreadLocalStore = dmlc::ThreadLocalStore<CollAPIEntry>;
+
+void WaitImpl(TrackerHandleT *ptr) {
+  std::chrono::seconds wait_for{100};
+  auto fut = ptr->second;
+  while (fut.valid()) {
+    auto res = fut.wait_for(wait_for);
+    CHECK(res != std::future_status::deferred);
+    if (res == std::future_status::ready) {
+      auto const &rc = ptr->second.get();
+      CHECK(rc.OK()) << rc.Report();
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+}
+}  // namespace
+
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerCreate(char const *config, TrackerHandle *handle) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  xgboost_CHECK_C_ARG_PTR(config);
+
+  Json jconfig = Json::Load(config);
+
+  auto type = RequiredArg<String>(jconfig, "dmlc_communicator", __func__);
+  std::unique_ptr<collective::Tracker> tptr;
+  if (type == "federated") {
+#if defined(XGBOOST_USE_FEDERATED)
+    tptr = std::make_unique<collective::FederatedTracker>(jconfig);
+#else
+    LOG(FATAL) << error::NoFederated();
+#endif  // defined(XGBOOST_USE_FEDERATED)
+  } else if (type == "rabit") {
+    tptr = std::make_unique<collective::RabitTracker>(jconfig);
+  } else {
+    LOG(FATAL) << "Unknown communicator:" << type;
+  }
+
+  auto ptr = new TrackerHandleT{std::move(tptr), std::future<collective::Result>{}};
+  static_assert(std::is_same_v<std::remove_pointer_t<decltype(ptr)>, TrackerHandleT>);
+
+  xgboost_CHECK_C_ARG_PTR(handle);
+  *handle = ptr;
+  API_END();
+}
+
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerWorkerArgs(TrackerHandle handle, char const **args) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  auto *ptr = GetTrackerHandle(handle);
+  auto &local = *CollAPIThreadLocalStore::Get();
+  local.ret_str = Json::Dump(ptr->first->WorkerArgs());
+  xgboost_CHECK_C_ARG_PTR(args);
+  *args = local.ret_str.c_str();
+  API_END();
+}
+
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerRun(TrackerHandle handle) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  auto *ptr = GetTrackerHandle(handle);
+  CHECK(!ptr->second.valid()) << "Tracker is already running.";
+  ptr->second = ptr->first->Run();
+  API_END();
+}
+
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerWait(TrackerHandle handle, char const *config) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  auto *ptr = GetTrackerHandle(handle);
+  xgboost_CHECK_C_ARG_PTR(config);
+  auto jconfig = Json::Load(StringView{config});
+  WaitImpl(ptr);
+  API_END();
+}
+
+XGB_DLL int XGTrackerFree(TrackerHandle handle) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  auto *ptr = GetTrackerHandle(handle);
+  WaitImpl(ptr);
+  delete ptr;
+  API_END();
+}
diff --git a/src/collective/tracker.h b/src/collective/tracker.h
index 24e47bb4e776..f336a82f9ee5 100644
--- a/src/collective/tracker.h
+++ b/src/collective/tracker.h
@@ -114,6 +114,9 @@ class RabitTracker : public Tracker {
   // record for how to reach out to workers if error happens.
   std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::int32_t>> worker_error_handles_;
   // listening socket for incoming workers.
+  //
+  // At the moment, the listener calls accept without first polling. We can add an
+  // additional unix domain socket to allow cancelling the accept.
   TCPSocket listener_;
 
   Result Bootstrap(std::vector<WorkerProxy>* p_workers);
diff --git a/src/common/error_msg.h b/src/common/error_msg.h
index 94703fd15c83..995fe11d5191 100644
--- a/src/common/error_msg.h
+++ b/src/common/error_msg.h
@@ -97,5 +97,7 @@ constexpr StringView InvalidCUDAOrdinal() {
 }
 
 void MismatchedDevices(Context const* booster, Context const* data);
+
+inline auto NoFederated() { return "XGBoost is not compiled with federated learning support."; }
 }  // namespace xgboost::error
 #endif  // XGBOOST_COMMON_ERROR_MSG_H_
diff --git a/tests/cpp/collective/test_coll_c_api.cc b/tests/cpp/collective/test_coll_c_api.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d80fbc14073d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cpp/collective/test_coll_c_api.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2023, XGBoost Contributors
+ */
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <xgboost/c_api.h>
+
+#include <chrono>  // for ""s
+#include <thread>  // for thread
+
+#include "../../../src/collective/tracker.h"
+#include "test_worker.h"   // for SocketTest
+#include "xgboost/json.h"  // for Json
+
+namespace xgboost::collective {
+namespace {
+class TrackerAPITest : public SocketTest {};
+}  // namespace
+
+TEST_F(TrackerAPITest, CAPI) {
+  TrackerHandle handle;
+  Json config{Object{}};
+  config["dmlc_communicator"] = String{"rabit"};
+  config["n_workers"] = 2;
+  config["timeout"] = 1;
+  auto config_str = Json::Dump(config);
+  auto rc = XGTrackerCreate(config_str.c_str(), &handle);
+  ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+  rc = XGTrackerRun(handle);
+  ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+
+  std::thread bg_wait{[&] {
+    Json config{Object{}};
+    auto config_str = Json::Dump(config);
+    auto rc = XGTrackerWait(handle, config_str.c_str());
+    ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+  }};
+
+  char const* cargs;
+  rc = XGTrackerWorkerArgs(handle, &cargs);
+  ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+  auto args = Json::Load(StringView{cargs});
+
+  std::string host;
+  ASSERT_TRUE(GetHostAddress(&host).OK());
+  ASSERT_EQ(host, get<String const>(args["DMLC_TRACKER_URI"]));
+  auto port = get<Integer const>(args["DMLC_TRACKER_PORT"]);
+  ASSERT_NE(port, 0);
+
+  std::vector<std::thread> workers;
+  using namespace std::chrono_literals;  // NOLINT
+  for (std::int32_t r = 0; r < 2; ++r) {
+    workers.emplace_back([=] { WorkerForTest w{host, static_cast<std::int32_t>(port), 1s, 2, r}; });
+  }
+  for (auto& w : workers) {
+    w.join();
+  }
+
+  rc = XGTrackerFree(handle);
+  ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+
+  bg_wait.join();
+}
+}  // namespace xgboost::collective