diff --git a/.chloggen/statsd-public-config.yaml b/.chloggen/statsd-public-config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e9f20e678d37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/statsd-public-config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: enhancement
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: receiver/statsd
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Make all types within the config struct public
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [38186]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext: This allows programmatically generating the receiver's config using the module's public types.
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: [api]
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/config.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/config.go
index 150c4aecd6ea..4a1f08ba5cde 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/config.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/config.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/confignet"
 	"go.uber.org/multierr"
 
-	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
 )
 
 // Config defines configuration for StatsD receiver.
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/config_test.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/config_test.go
index f755ea6f0920..3a39e945f94a 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/config_test.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/config_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap/xconfmap"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/metadata"
-	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
 )
 
 func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/factory.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/factory.go
index f3cf38da4d5a..7c07226458fa 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/factory.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/factory.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/metadata"
-	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
 )
 
 const (
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/metric_translator.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/metric_translator.go
similarity index 97%
rename from receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/metric_translator.go
rename to receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/metric_translator.go
index 1cec9821cffd..8ceee545b70b 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/metric_translator.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/metric_translator.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-package protocol // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+package parser // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser"
 
 import (
 	"sort"
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/metric_translator_test.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/metric_translator_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/metric_translator_test.go
rename to receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/metric_translator_test.go
index 95f18b16f01f..6354e3c75420 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/metric_translator_test.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/metric_translator_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-package protocol
+package parser
 
 import (
 	"testing"
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/package_test.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/package_test.go
similarity index 91%
rename from receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/package_test.go
rename to receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/package_test.go
index 9f01ff63e427..feabbe79a524 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/package_test.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/package_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-package protocol
+package parser
 
 import (
 	"testing"
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/parser.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/parser.go
similarity index 68%
rename from receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/parser.go
rename to receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/parser.go
index 431847816ded..dc33a8eff1cc 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/parser.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/parser.go
@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-package protocol // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+package parser // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser"
 
 import (
 	"net"
 
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/client"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pmetric"
+
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
 )
 
 // Parser is something that can map input StatsD strings to OTLP Metric representations.
 type Parser interface {
-	Initialize(enableMetricType bool, enableSimpleTags bool, isMonotonicCounter bool, enableIPOnlyAggregation bool, sendTimerHistogram []TimerHistogramMapping) error
+	Initialize(enableMetricType bool, enableSimpleTags bool, isMonotonicCounter bool, enableIPOnlyAggregation bool, sendTimerHistogram []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping) error
 	GetMetrics() []BatchMetrics
 	Aggregate(line string, addr net.Addr) error
 }
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/statsd_parser.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/statsd_parser.go
similarity index 87%
rename from receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/statsd_parser.go
rename to receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/statsd_parser.go
index 062403bedc52..bfa2e537fb5c 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/statsd_parser.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/statsd_parser.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-package protocol // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+package parser // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser"
 
 import (
 	"errors"
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pmetric"
 	semconv "go.opentelemetry.io/collector/semconv/v1.22.0"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
+
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -25,11 +27,7 @@ var (
 	errEmptyMetricValue = errors.New("empty metric value")
 )
 
-type (
-	MetricType   string // From the statsd line e.g., "c", "g", "h"
-	TypeName     string // How humans describe the MetricTypes ("counter", "gauge")
-	ObserverType string // How the server will aggregate histogram and timings ("gauge", "summary")
-)
+type MetricType string // From the statsd line e.g., "c", "g", "h"
 
 const (
 	tagMetricType = "metric_type"
@@ -40,46 +38,17 @@ const (
 	TimingType       MetricType = "ms"
 	DistributionType MetricType = "d"
 
-	CounterTypeName      TypeName = "counter"
-	GaugeTypeName        TypeName = "gauge"
-	HistogramTypeName    TypeName = "histogram"
-	TimingTypeName       TypeName = "timing"
-	TimingAltTypeName    TypeName = "timer"
-	DistributionTypeName TypeName = "distribution"
-
-	GaugeObserver     ObserverType = "gauge"
-	SummaryObserver   ObserverType = "summary"
-	HistogramObserver ObserverType = "histogram"
-	DisableObserver   ObserverType = "disabled"
-
-	DefaultObserverType = DisableObserver
-
 	receiverName = "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver"
 )
 
-type TimerHistogramMapping struct {
-	StatsdType   TypeName        `mapstructure:"statsd_type"`
-	ObserverType ObserverType    `mapstructure:"observer_type"`
-	Histogram    HistogramConfig `mapstructure:"histogram"`
-	Summary      SummaryConfig   `mapstructure:"summary"`
-}
-
-type HistogramConfig struct {
-	MaxSize int32 `mapstructure:"max_size"`
-}
-
-type SummaryConfig struct {
-	Percentiles []float64 `mapstructure:"percentiles"`
-}
-
 type ObserverCategory struct {
-	method             ObserverType
+	method             protocol.ObserverType
 	histogramConfig    structure.Config
 	summaryPercentiles []float64
 }
 
 var defaultObserverCategory = ObserverCategory{
-	method: DefaultObserverType,
+	method: protocol.DefaultObserverType,
 }
 
 // StatsDParser supports the Parse method for parsing StatsD messages with Tags.
@@ -146,20 +115,20 @@ type statsDMetricDescription struct {
 	attrs      attribute.Set
 }
 
-func (t MetricType) FullName() TypeName {
+func (t MetricType) FullName() protocol.TypeName {
 	switch t {
 	case GaugeType:
-		return GaugeTypeName
+		return protocol.GaugeTypeName
 	case CounterType:
-		return CounterTypeName
+		return protocol.CounterTypeName
 	case TimingType:
-		return TimingTypeName
+		return protocol.TimingTypeName
 	case HistogramType:
-		return HistogramTypeName
+		return protocol.HistogramTypeName
 	case DistributionType:
-		return DistributionTypeName
+		return protocol.DistributionTypeName
 	}
-	return TypeName(fmt.Sprintf("unknown(%s)", t))
+	return protocol.TypeName(fmt.Sprintf("unknown(%s)", t))
 }
 
 func (p *StatsDParser) resetState(when time.Time) {
@@ -167,7 +136,7 @@ func (p *StatsDParser) resetState(when time.Time) {
 	p.instrumentsByAddress = make(map[netAddr]*instruments)
 }
 
-func (p *StatsDParser) Initialize(enableMetricType bool, enableSimpleTags bool, isMonotonicCounter bool, enableIPOnlyAggregation bool, sendTimerHistogram []TimerHistogramMapping) error {
+func (p *StatsDParser) Initialize(enableMetricType bool, enableSimpleTags bool, isMonotonicCounter bool, enableIPOnlyAggregation bool, sendTimerHistogram []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping) error {
 	p.resetState(timeNowFunc())
 
 	p.histogramEvents = defaultObserverCategory
@@ -180,21 +149,21 @@ func (p *StatsDParser) Initialize(enableMetricType bool, enableSimpleTags bool,
 	// Note: validation occurs in ("../".Config).validate()
 	for _, eachMap := range sendTimerHistogram {
 		switch eachMap.StatsdType {
-		case HistogramTypeName, DistributionTypeName:
+		case protocol.HistogramTypeName, protocol.DistributionTypeName:
 			p.histogramEvents.method = eachMap.ObserverType
 			p.histogramEvents.histogramConfig = expoHistogramConfig(eachMap.Histogram)
 			p.histogramEvents.summaryPercentiles = eachMap.Summary.Percentiles
-		case TimingTypeName, TimingAltTypeName:
+		case protocol.TimingTypeName, protocol.TimingAltTypeName:
 			p.timerEvents.method = eachMap.ObserverType
 			p.timerEvents.histogramConfig = expoHistogramConfig(eachMap.Histogram)
 			p.timerEvents.summaryPercentiles = eachMap.Summary.Percentiles
-		case CounterTypeName, GaugeTypeName:
+		case protocol.CounterTypeName, protocol.GaugeTypeName:
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func expoHistogramConfig(opts HistogramConfig) structure.Config {
+func expoHistogramConfig(opts protocol.HistogramConfig) structure.Config {
 	var r []structure.Option
 	if opts.MaxSize >= structure.MinSize {
 		r = append(r, structure.WithMaxSize(opts.MaxSize))
@@ -331,9 +300,9 @@ func (p *StatsDParser) Aggregate(line string, addr net.Addr) error {
 	case TimingType, HistogramType, DistributionType:
 		category := p.observerCategoryFor(parsedMetric.description.metricType)
 		switch category.method {
-		case GaugeObserver:
+		case protocol.GaugeObserver:
 			instrument.timersAndDistributions = append(instrument.timersAndDistributions, buildGaugeMetric(parsedMetric, timeNowFunc()))
-		case SummaryObserver:
+		case protocol.SummaryObserver:
 			raw := parsedMetric.sampleValue()
 			if existing, ok := instrument.summaries[parsedMetric.description]; !ok {
 				instrument.summaries[parsedMetric.description] = summaryMetric{
@@ -348,7 +317,7 @@ func (p *StatsDParser) Aggregate(line string, addr net.Addr) error {
 					percentiles: category.summaryPercentiles,
 				}
 			}
-		case HistogramObserver:
+		case protocol.HistogramObserver:
 			raw := parsedMetric.sampleValue()
 			var agg *histogramStructure
 			if existing, ok := instrument.histograms[parsedMetric.description]; ok {
@@ -366,7 +335,7 @@ func (p *StatsDParser) Aggregate(line string, addr net.Addr) error {
 				uint64(raw.count), // Note! Rounding float64 to uint64 here.
 			)
 
-		case DisableObserver:
+		case protocol.DisableObserver:
 			// No action.
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/statsd_parser_test.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/statsd_parser_test.go
similarity index 96%
rename from receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/statsd_parser_test.go
rename to receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/statsd_parser_test.go
index bfdab7167128..99797063cae6 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol/statsd_parser_test.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser/statsd_parser_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-package protocol
+package parser
 
 import (
 	"errors"
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/internal/coreinternal/metricstestutil"
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
 )
 
 func Test_ParseMessageToMetric(t *testing.T) {
@@ -1049,7 +1050,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_Aggregate(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			var err error
 			p := &StatsDParser{}
-			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(false, false, false, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
+			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(false, false, false, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
 			p.lastIntervalTime = time.Unix(611, 0)
 			addr, _ := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", "1.2.3.4:5678")
 			addrKey := newNetAddr(addr)
@@ -1158,7 +1159,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateByAddress(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			p := &StatsDParser{}
-			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
+			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
 			p.lastIntervalTime = time.Unix(611, 0)
 			for i, addr := range tt.addresses {
 				for _, line := range tt.input[i] {
@@ -1266,7 +1267,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateWithMetricType(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			var err error
 			p := &StatsDParser{}
-			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
+			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
 			p.lastIntervalTime = time.Unix(611, 0)
 			addr, _ := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", "1.2.3.4:5678")
 			addrKey := newNetAddr(addr)
@@ -1336,7 +1337,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateWithIsMonotonicCounter(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			var err error
 			p := &StatsDParser{}
-			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(false, false, true, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
+			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(false, false, true, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
 			p.lastIntervalTime = time.Unix(611, 0)
 			addr, _ := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", "1.2.3.4:5678")
 			addrKey := newNetAddr(addr)
@@ -1463,7 +1464,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateTimerWithSummary(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			var err error
 			p := &StatsDParser{}
-			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(false, false, false, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "summary"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "summary", Summary: SummaryConfig{Percentiles: []float64{0, 95, 99}}}}))
+			assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(false, false, false, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "summary"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "summary", Summary: protocol.SummaryConfig{Percentiles: []float64{0, 95, 99}}}}))
 			addr, _ := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", "1.2.3.4:5678")
 			addrKey := newNetAddr(addr)
 			for _, line := range tt.input {
@@ -1480,7 +1481,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateTimerWithSummary(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestStatsDParser_Initialize(t *testing.T) {
 	p := &StatsDParser{}
-	assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
+	assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
 	teststatsdDMetricdescription := statsDMetricDescription{
 		name:       "test",
 		metricType: "g",
@@ -1493,13 +1494,13 @@ func TestStatsDParser_Initialize(t *testing.T) {
 	p.instrumentsByAddress[addrKey] = instrument
 	assert.Len(t, p.instrumentsByAddress, 1)
 	assert.Len(t, p.instrumentsByAddress[addrKey].gauges, 1)
-	assert.Equal(t, GaugeObserver, p.timerEvents.method)
-	assert.Equal(t, GaugeObserver, p.histogramEvents.method)
+	assert.Equal(t, protocol.GaugeObserver, p.timerEvents.method)
+	assert.Equal(t, protocol.GaugeObserver, p.histogramEvents.method)
 }
 
 func TestStatsDParser_GetMetricsWithMetricType(t *testing.T) {
 	p := &StatsDParser{}
-	assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
+	assert.NoError(t, p.Initialize(true, false, false, false, []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"}, {StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"}}))
 	instrument := newInstruments(nil)
 	instrument.gauges[testDescription("statsdTestMetric1", "g",
 		[]string{"mykey", "metric_type"}, []string{"myvalue", "gauge"})] = buildGaugeMetric(
@@ -1563,14 +1564,14 @@ func TestStatsDParser_GetMetricsWithMetricType(t *testing.T) {
 func TestStatsDParser_Mappings(t *testing.T) {
 	type testCase struct {
 		name    string
-		mapping []TimerHistogramMapping
+		mapping []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping
 		expect  map[string]string
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range []testCase{
 		{
 			name: "timer-gauge-histo-summary",
-			mapping: []TimerHistogramMapping{
+			mapping: []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 				{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"},
 				{StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "summary"},
 			},
@@ -1581,7 +1582,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_Mappings(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "histo-to-summary",
-			mapping: []TimerHistogramMapping{
+			mapping: []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 				{StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "summary"},
 			},
 			expect: map[string]string{
@@ -1590,7 +1591,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_Mappings(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "timer-summary-histo-gauge",
-			mapping: []TimerHistogramMapping{
+			mapping: []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 				{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "summary"},
 				{StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "gauge"},
 			},
@@ -1601,7 +1602,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_Mappings(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "timer-to-gauge",
-			mapping: []TimerHistogramMapping{
+			mapping: []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 				{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "gauge"},
 			},
 			expect: map[string]string{
@@ -1646,7 +1647,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_ScopeIsIncluded(t *testing.T) {
 	testAddress, _ := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", "1.2.3.4:5678")
 
 	err := p.Initialize(true, false, false, false,
-		[]TimerHistogramMapping{
+		[]protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 			{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "summary"},
 			{StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "histogram"},
 		},
@@ -1685,18 +1686,18 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateTimerWithHistogram(t *testing.T) {
 	// histogram size to a small number and then setting the maximum range
 	// to test at scale 0, which is easy to reason about.  The tests use
 	// max size 10, so tests w/ a range of 2**10 appear below.
-	normalMapping := []TimerHistogramMapping{
+	normalMapping := []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 		{
 			StatsdType:   "timer",
 			ObserverType: "histogram",
-			Histogram: HistogramConfig{
+			Histogram: protocol.HistogramConfig{
 				MaxSize: 10,
 			},
 		},
 		{
 			StatsdType:   "histogram",
 			ObserverType: "histogram",
-			Histogram: HistogramConfig{
+			Histogram: protocol.HistogramConfig{
 				MaxSize: 10,
 			},
 		},
@@ -1719,7 +1720,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_AggregateTimerWithHistogram(t *testing.T) {
 		name     string
 		input    []string
 		expected pmetric.Metrics
-		mapping  []TimerHistogramMapping
+		mapping  []protocol.TimerHistogramMapping
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "basic",
@@ -1937,7 +1938,7 @@ func TestStatsDParser_IPOnlyAggregation(t *testing.T) {
 	testAddr02, _ := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", "1.2.3.4:8765")
 
 	err := p.Initialize(true, false, false, true,
-		[]TimerHistogramMapping{
+		[]protocol.TimerHistogramMapping{
 			{StatsdType: "timer", ObserverType: "summary"},
 			{StatsdType: "histogram", ObserverType: "histogram"},
 		},
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol/protocol.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol/protocol.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2d8e6c51f070
--- /dev/null
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol/protocol.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package protocol // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/protocol"
+
+type (
+	TypeName     string // How humans describe the MetricTypes ("counter", "gauge")
+	ObserverType string // How the server will aggregate histogram and timings ("gauge", "summary")
+)
+
+const (
+	CounterTypeName      TypeName = "counter"
+	GaugeTypeName        TypeName = "gauge"
+	HistogramTypeName    TypeName = "histogram"
+	TimingTypeName       TypeName = "timing"
+	TimingAltTypeName    TypeName = "timer"
+	DistributionTypeName TypeName = "distribution"
+
+	GaugeObserver     ObserverType = "gauge"
+	SummaryObserver   ObserverType = "summary"
+	HistogramObserver ObserverType = "histogram"
+	DisableObserver   ObserverType = "disabled"
+
+	DefaultObserverType = DisableObserver
+)
+
+type TimerHistogramMapping struct {
+	StatsdType   TypeName        `mapstructure:"statsd_type"`
+	ObserverType ObserverType    `mapstructure:"observer_type"`
+	Histogram    HistogramConfig `mapstructure:"histogram"`
+	Summary      SummaryConfig   `mapstructure:"summary"`
+}
+
+type HistogramConfig struct {
+	MaxSize int32 `mapstructure:"max_size"`
+}
+
+type SummaryConfig struct {
+	Percentiles []float64 `mapstructure:"percentiles"`
+}
diff --git a/receiver/statsdreceiver/receiver.go b/receiver/statsdreceiver/receiver.go
index f5114d6c66dc..788a387359e4 100644
--- a/receiver/statsdreceiver/receiver.go
+++ b/receiver/statsdreceiver/receiver.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/metadata"
-	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/protocol"
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/parser"
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/statsdreceiver/internal/transport"
 )
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ type statsdReceiver struct {
 	server       transport.Server
 	reporter     *reporter
 	obsrecv      *receiverhelper.ObsReport
-	parser       protocol.Parser
+	parser       parser.Parser
 	nextConsumer consumer.Metrics
 	cancel       context.CancelFunc
 }
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func newReceiver(
 		nextConsumer: nextConsumer,
 		obsrecv:      obsrecv,
 		reporter:     rep,
-		parser: &protocol.StatsDParser{
+		parser: &parser.StatsDParser{
 			BuildInfo: set.BuildInfo,
 		},
 	}