diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 2eb7a6e..ab96dd4 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
     "linkml": ("https://linkml.io/linkml/", None),
     "linkml_runtime": ("https://linkml.io/linkml/", None),
     "linkml-runtime": ("https://linkml.io/linkml/", None),
+    "dask": ("https://docs.dask.org/en/stable/", None),
+    "h5py": ("https://docs.h5py.org/en/stable/", None),
 }
 
 # -- Options for HTML output -------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/pdm.lock b/pdm.lock
index 69484ac..b601942 100644
--- a/pdm.lock
+++ b/pdm.lock
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 groups = ["default", "arrays", "dask", "dev", "docs", "hdf5", "tests"]
 strategy = ["cross_platform", "inherit_metadata"]
 lock_version = "4.4.1"
-content_hash = "sha256:761d4dccd4e594b9e441dddefdb5677d22a4a94c129183e0bb8c88d9acbea1b9"
+content_hash = "sha256:37b2b742a3addd598fce4747623d941ce0b7b2f18b0c33e2a9a2015196239902"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "alabaster"
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ files = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "dask"
-version = "2024.4.0"
+version = "2024.4.1"
 requires_python = ">=3.9"
 summary = "Parallel PyData with Task Scheduling"
 groups = ["arrays", "dask", "dev", "tests"]
@@ -386,24 +386,8 @@ dependencies = [
     "toolz>=0.10.0",
 ]
 files = [
-    {file = "dask-2024.4.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f8332781ffde3d3e49df31fe4066e1eab571a87b94a11661a8ecf06e2892ee6d"},
-    {file = "dask-2024.4.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:d5be22660b332865e7e868df2f1322a75f6cacaf8dd9ec08057e6fa8a96a19ac"},
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "dask"
-version = "2024.4.0"
-extras = ["array"]
-requires_python = ">=3.9"
-summary = "Parallel PyData with Task Scheduling"
-groups = ["arrays", "dask", "dev", "tests"]
-dependencies = [
-    "dask==2024.4.0",
-    "numpy>=1.21",
-]
-files = [
-    {file = "dask-2024.4.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f8332781ffde3d3e49df31fe4066e1eab571a87b94a11661a8ecf06e2892ee6d"},
-    {file = "dask-2024.4.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:d5be22660b332865e7e868df2f1322a75f6cacaf8dd9ec08057e6fa8a96a19ac"},
+    {file = "dask-2024.4.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:cac5d28b9de7a7cfde46d6fbd8fa81f5654980d010b44d1dbe04dd13b5b63126"},
+    {file = "dask-2024.4.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:6cd8eb03ddc8dc08d6ca5b167b8de559872bc51cc2b6587d0e9dc754ab19cdf0"},
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -811,7 +795,7 @@ name = "numpy"
 version = "1.26.4"
 requires_python = ">=3.9"
 summary = "Fundamental package for array computing in Python"
-groups = ["arrays", "dask", "default", "dev", "hdf5", "tests"]
+groups = ["arrays", "default", "dev", "hdf5", "tests"]
 files = [
     {file = "numpy-1.26.4-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:9ff0f4f29c51e2803569d7a51c2304de5554655a60c5d776e35b4a41413830d0"},
     {file = "numpy-1.26.4-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:2e4ee3380d6de9c9ec04745830fd9e2eccb3e6cf790d39d7b98ffd19b0dd754a"},
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1c12a86..ce724dd 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "pydantic>=2.3.0",
     "nptyping>=2.5.0",
     "blosc2<3.0.0,>=2.5.1",
+    "numpy>=1.24.0",
 ]
 requires-python = "<4.0,>=3.9"
 readme = "README.md"
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ license = {text = "MIT"}
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 dask = [
-    "dask[array]>=2024.1.1"
+    "dask>=2024.4.0",
 ]
 hdf5 = [
     "h5py>=3.10.0"
@@ -99,9 +100,11 @@ select = [
 
 ]
 ignore = [
-    "ANN101", "ANN102", "ANN401",
+    "ANN101", "ANN102", "ANN401", "ANN204",
     # builtin type annotations
     "UP006", "UP035",
+    # | for Union types (only supported >=3.10
+    "UP007", "UP038",
     # docstrings for __init__
     "D107",
 ]
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/__init__.py b/src/numpydantic/__init__.py
index f8fd847..fc4d17d 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/__init__.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/__init__.py
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@
 apply_patches()
 
 from numpydantic.ndarray import NDArray
-
 from numpydantic.meta import update_ndarray_stub
 
+from nptyping import Shape
+
 update_ndarray_stub()
+
+__all__ = ["NDArray", "Shape"]
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/interface/__init__.py b/src/numpydantic/interface/__init__.py
index fce5b1f..2ad3682 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/interface/__init__.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/interface/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+from numpydantic.interface.dask import DaskInterface
+from numpydantic.interface.hdf5 import H5Interface
 from numpydantic.interface.interface import Interface
 from numpydantic.interface.numpy import NumpyInterface
 
-__all__ = ["Interface", "NumpyInterface"]
+__all__ = ["Interface", "DaskInterface", "H5Interface", "NumpyInterface"]
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/interface/dask.py b/src/numpydantic/interface/dask.py
index e69de29..dd4b5e9 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/interface/dask.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/interface/dask.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+from typing import Any
+from numpydantic.interface.interface import Interface
+
+try:
+    from dask.array.core import Array as DaskArray
+except ImportError:
+    DaskArray = None
+
+
+class DaskInterface(Interface):
+    """
+    Interface for Dask :class:`~dask.array.core.Array`
+    """
+
+    input_types = (DaskArray,)
+    return_type = DaskArray
+
+    @classmethod
+    def check(cls, array: Any) -> bool:
+        """
+        check if array is a dask array
+        """
+        if DaskArray is not None and isinstance(array, DaskArray):
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    @classmethod
+    def enabled(cls) -> bool:
+        """check if we successfully imported dask"""
+        return DaskArray is not None
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/interface/hdf5.py b/src/numpydantic/interface/hdf5.py
index e69de29..61f0557 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/interface/hdf5.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/interface/hdf5.py
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any, NamedTuple, Tuple, Union, TypeAlias
+
+import numpy as np
+
+from numpydantic.interface.interface import Interface
+from numpydantic.types import NDArrayType
+
+try:
+    import h5py
+except ImportError:
+    h5py = None
+
+H5Arraylike: TypeAlias = Tuple[Union[Path, str], str]
+
+
+class H5Array(NamedTuple):
+    """Location specifier for arrays within an HDF5 file"""
+
+    file: Union[Path, str]
+    """Location of HDF5 file"""
+    path: str
+    """Path within the HDF5 file"""
+
+
+class H5Proxy:
+    """
+    Proxy class to mimic numpy-like array behavior with an HDF5 array
+
+    The attribute and item access methods only open the file for the duration of the method,
+    making it less perilous to share this object between threads and processes.
+
+    This class attempts to be a passthrough class to a :class:`h5py.Dataset` object,
+    including its attributes and item getters/setters.
+
+    When using read-only methods, no locking is attempted (beyond the HDF5 defaults),
+    but when using the write methods (setting an array value), try and use the ``locking``
+    methods of :class:`h5py.File` .
+
+    Args:
+        file (pathlib.Path | str): Location of hdf5 file on filesystem
+        path (str): Path to array within hdf5 file
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, file: Union[Path, str], path: str):
+        self.file = Path(file)
+        self.path = path
+
+    def array_exists(self) -> bool:
+        """Check that there is in fact an array at :attr:`.path` within :attr:`.file`"""
+        with h5py.File(self.file, "r") as h5f:
+            obj = h5f.get(self.path)
+            return obj is not None
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_h5array(cls, h5array: H5Array) -> "H5Proxy":
+        """Instantiate using :class:`.H5Array`"""
+        return H5Proxy(file=h5array.file, path=h5array.path)
+
+    def __getattr__(self, item: str):
+        with h5py.File(self.file, "r") as h5f:
+            obj = h5f.get(self.path)
+            return getattr(obj, item)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, item: Union[int, slice]) -> np.ndarray:
+        with h5py.File(self.file, "r") as h5f:
+            obj = h5f.get(self.path)
+            return obj[item]
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key: Union[int, slice], value: Union[int, float, np.ndarray]):
+        with h5py.File(self.file, "r+", locking=True) as h5f:
+            obj = h5f.get(self.path)
+            obj[key] = value
+
+
+class H5Interface(Interface):
+    """
+    Interface for Arrays stored as datasets within an HDF5 file.
+
+    Takes a :class:`.H5Array` specifier to select a :class:`h5py.Dataset` from a
+    :class:`h5py.File` and returns a :class:`.H5Proxy` class that acts like a
+    passthrough numpy-like interface to the dataset.
+    """
+
+    input_types = (
+        H5Array,
+        H5Arraylike,
+    )
+    return_type = H5Proxy
+
+    @classmethod
+    def enabled(cls) -> bool:
+        """Check whether h5py can be imported"""
+        return h5py is not None
+
+    @classmethod
+    def check(cls, array: Union[H5Array, Tuple[Union[Path, str], str]]) -> bool:
+        """Check that the given array is a :class:`.H5Array` or something that resembles one."""
+        if isinstance(array, H5Array):
+            return True
+
+        if isinstance(array, (tuple, list)) and len(array) == 2:
+            # check that the first arg is an hdf5 file
+            try:
+                file = Path(array[0])
+            except TypeError:
+                # not a path, we don't apply.
+                return False
+
+            if not file.exists():
+                return False
+
+            # hdf5 files are commonly given odd suffixes,
+            # so we just try and open it and see what happens
+            try:
+                with h5py.File(file, "r"):
+                    # don't check that the array exists and raise here,
+                    # this check is just for whether the validator applies or not.
+                    pass
+                return True
+            except (FileNotFoundError, OSError):
+                return False
+
+        return False
+
+    def before_validation(self, array: Any) -> NDArrayType:
+        """Create an :class:`.H5Proxy` to use throughout validation"""
+        if isinstance(array, H5Array):
+            array = H5Proxy.from_h5array(h5array=array)
+        elif isinstance(array, (tuple, list)) and len(array) == 2:
+            array = H5Proxy(file=array[0], path=array[1])
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Need to specify a file and a path within an HDF5 file to use the HDF5 Interface"
+            )
+
+        if not array.array_exists():
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"HDF5 file located at {array.file}, "
+                f"but no array found at {array.path}"
+            )
+
+        return array
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/interface/interface.py b/src/numpydantic/interface/interface.py
index d7b496d..f4c9b84 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/interface/interface.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/interface/interface.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from operator import attrgetter
-from typing import Any, Generic, List, Type, TypeVar, Tuple
+from typing import Any, Generic, Tuple, Type, TypeVar
 
 from nptyping.shape_expression import check_shape
 
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ class Interface(ABC, Generic[T]):
     Abstract parent class for interfaces to different array formats
     """
 
+    input_types: Tuple[Any, ...]
     return_type: Type[T]
     priority: int = 0
 
@@ -109,6 +110,18 @@ def array_types(cls) -> Tuple[NDArrayType, ...]:
         """Return types for all enabled interfaces"""
         return tuple([i.return_type for i in cls.interfaces()])
 
+    @classmethod
+    def input_types(cls) -> Tuple[Any, ...]:
+        """Input types for all enabled interfaces"""
+        in_types = []
+        for iface in cls.interfaces():
+            if isinstance(iface.input_types, tuple | list):
+                in_types.extend(iface.input_types)
+            else:
+                in_types.append(iface.input_types)
+
+        return tuple(in_types)
+
     @classmethod
     def match(cls, array: Any) -> Type["Interface"]:
         """
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/interface/numpy.py b/src/numpydantic/interface/numpy.py
index 5bea417..fae7baf 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/interface/numpy.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/interface/numpy.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class NumpyInterface(Interface):
     Numpy :class:`~numpy.ndarray` s!
     """
 
+    input_types = (ndarray, list)
     return_type = ndarray
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/meta.py b/src/numpydantic/meta.py
index 27e242d..d42b9b3 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/meta.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/meta.py
@@ -3,9 +3,12 @@
 """
 
 from pathlib import Path
+from warnings import warn
 
 from numpydantic.interface import Interface
 
+_BUILTIN_IMPORTS = ("import typing", "import pathlib")
+
 
 def generate_ndarray_stub() -> str:
     """
@@ -14,11 +17,16 @@ def generate_ndarray_stub() -> str:
 
     import_strings = [
         f"from {arr.__module__} import {arr.__name__}"
-        for arr in Interface.array_types()
+        for arr in Interface.input_types()
+        if arr.__module__ != "builtins"
     ]
+    import_strings.extend(_BUILTIN_IMPORTS)
     import_string = "\n".join(import_strings)
 
-    class_names = [arr.__name__ for arr in Interface.array_types()]
+    class_names = [
+        arr.__name__ if arr.__module__ != "typing" else str(arr)
+        for arr in Interface.input_types()
+    ]
     class_union = " | ".join(class_names)
     ndarray_type = "NDArray = " + class_union
 
@@ -32,8 +40,11 @@ def update_ndarray_stub() -> None:
     """
     from numpydantic import ndarray
 
-    stub_string = generate_ndarray_stub()
+    try:
+        stub_string = generate_ndarray_stub()
 
-    pyi_file = Path(ndarray.__file__).with_suffix(".pyi")
-    with open(pyi_file, "w") as pyi:
-        pyi.write(stub_string)
+        pyi_file = Path(ndarray.__file__).with_suffix(".pyi")
+        with open(pyi_file, "w") as pyi:
+            pyi.write(stub_string)
+    except Exception as e:
+        warn(f"ndarray.pyi stub file could not be generated: {e}", stacklevel=1)
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/ndarray.py b/src/numpydantic/ndarray.py
index f4d51ee..aab2a81 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/ndarray.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/ndarray.py
@@ -165,9 +165,6 @@ class NDArray(NPTypingType, metaclass=NDArrayMeta):
         - https://docs.pydantic.dev/latest/usage/types/custom/#handling-third-party-types
     """
 
-    def __init__(self: T):
-        pass
-
     __args__: Tuple[ShapeType, DtypeType] = (Any, Any)
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/src/numpydantic/types.py b/src/numpydantic/types.py
index a54d814..f54968e 100644
--- a/src/numpydantic/types.py
+++ b/src/numpydantic/types.py
@@ -4,12 +4,11 @@
 Note that these are types as in python typing types, not classes.
 """
 
-from typing import Any, Protocol, Tuple, TypeVar, Union, runtime_checkable
+from typing import Any, Protocol, Tuple, runtime_checkable
 
 import numpy as np
 from nptyping import DType
 
-
 ShapeType = Tuple[int, ...] | Any
 DtypeType = np.dtype | str | type | Any | DType
 
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index e69de29..e84033c 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import pytest
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional, Union, Type
+
+import h5py
+import numpy as np
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+
+from numpydantic.interface.hdf5 import H5Array
+from numpydantic import NDArray, Shape
+from nptyping import Number
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def model_rgb() -> Type[BaseModel]:
+    class RGB(BaseModel):
+        array: Optional[
+            Union[
+                NDArray[Shape["* x, * y"], Number],
+                NDArray[Shape["* x, * y, 3 r_g_b"], Number],
+                NDArray[Shape["* x, * y, 3 r_g_b, 4 r_g_b_a"], Number],
+            ]
+        ] = Field(None)
+
+    return RGB
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
+def h5file(tmp_path) -> h5py.File:
+    h5f = h5py.File(tmp_path / "file.h5", "w")
+    yield h5f
+    h5f.close()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
+def h5_array(h5file) -> H5Array:
+    """trivial hdf5 array used for testing array existence"""
+    path = "/data"
+    h5file.create_dataset(path, data=np.zeros((3, 4)))
+    return H5Array(file=Path(h5file.filename), path=path)
diff --git a/tests/test_interface/__init__.py b/tests/test_interface/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test_interface/conftest.py b/tests/test_interface/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24f286e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_interface/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import pytest
+
+import numpy as np
+import dask.array as da
+
+from numpydantic import interface
+from tests.conftest import h5_array, h5file
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(
+    scope="function",
+    params=[
+        ([[1, 2], [3, 4]], interface.NumpyInterface),
+        (np.zeros((3, 4)), interface.NumpyInterface),
+        (h5_array, interface.H5Interface),
+        (da.random.random((10, 10)), interface.DaskInterface),
+    ],
+    ids=["numpy_list", "numpy", "H5Array", "dask"],
+)
+def interface_type(request):
+    return request.param
diff --git a/tests/test_interface/test_dask.py b/tests/test_interface/test_dask.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51122d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_interface/test_dask.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import pytest
+
+import dask.array as da
+from pydantic import ValidationError
+
+from numpydantic.interface import DaskInterface
+
+
+def test_dask_enabled():
+    """
+    We need dask to be available to run these tests :)
+    """
+    assert DaskInterface.enabled()
+
+
+def test_dask_check(interface_type):
+    if interface_type[1] is DaskInterface:
+        assert DaskInterface.check(interface_type[0])
+    else:
+        assert not DaskInterface.check(interface_type[0])
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "array,passes",
+    [
+        (da.random.random((5, 10)), True),
+        (da.random.random((5, 10, 3)), True),
+        (da.random.random((5, 10, 3, 4)), True),
+        (da.random.random((5, 10, 4)), False),
+        (da.random.random((5, 10, 3, 6)), False),
+        (da.random.random((5, 10, 4, 6)), False),
+    ],
+)
+def test_dask_shape(model_rgb, array, passes):
+    if passes:
+        model_rgb(array=array)
+    else:
+        with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
+            model_rgb(array=array)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skip("TODO")
+def test_dask_dtype():
+    pass
diff --git a/tests/test_interface/test_hdf5.py b/tests/test_interface/test_hdf5.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test_interface/test_numpy.py b/tests/test_interface/test_numpy.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29