diff --git a/examples/custom_dtype.py b/examples/custom_dtype.py
index a98f3414f6..b9a47b8bc7 100644
--- a/examples/custom_dtype.py
+++ b/examples/custom_dtype.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import pytest
 
 import zarr
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
 from zarr.core.dtype import ZDType, data_type_registry
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import (
     DataTypeValidationError,
@@ -30,6 +29,8 @@
     DTypeJSON,
     check_dtype_spec_v2,
 )
+from zarr.core.types import JSON
+from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 # This is the int2 array data type
 int2_dtype_cls = type(np.dtype("int2"))
diff --git a/src/zarr/abc/codec.py b/src/zarr/abc/codec.py
index f8a5447a70..51df240a73 100644
--- a/src/zarr/abc/codec.py
+++ b/src/zarr/abc/codec.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.metadata import Metadata
 from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, NDBuffer
-from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords, concurrent_map
+from zarr.core.common import concurrent_map
 from zarr.core.config import config
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
     from zarr.core.indexing import SelectorTuple
     from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayMetadata
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 __all__ = [
     "ArrayArrayCodec",
diff --git a/src/zarr/abc/metadata.py b/src/zarr/abc/metadata.py
index a56f986645..92cc9a63eb 100644
--- a/src/zarr/abc/metadata.py
+++ b/src/zarr/abc/metadata.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing import Self
 
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 from dataclasses import dataclass, fields
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/abc/store.py b/src/zarr/abc/store.py
index 1fbdb3146c..7fbd9cdce2 100644
--- a/src/zarr/abc/store.py
+++ b/src/zarr/abc/store.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
     from typing import Any, Self, TypeAlias
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike
 
 __all__ = ["ByteGetter", "ByteSetter", "Store", "set_or_delete"]
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py b/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
index 78b68caf73..20d9da7ed2 100644
--- a/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
+++ b/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
@@ -22,12 +22,6 @@
 from zarr.core.array_spec import ArrayConfigLike, parse_array_config
 from zarr.core.buffer import NDArrayLike
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    JSON,
-    AccessModeLiteral,
-    ChunkCoords,
-    DimensionNames,
-    MemoryOrder,
-    ZarrFormat,
     _default_zarr_format,
     _warn_write_empty_chunks_kwarg,
 )
@@ -57,7 +51,15 @@
     from zarr.abc.codec import Codec
     from zarr.core.buffer import NDArrayLikeOrScalar
     from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import ChunkKeyEncoding
+    from zarr.core.types import (
+        JSON,
+        AccessModeLiteral,
+        ChunkCoords,
+        DimensionNames,
+        MemoryOrder,
+    )
     from zarr.storage import StoreLike
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
     # TODO: this type could use some more thought
     ArrayLike = AsyncArray[ArrayV2Metadata] | AsyncArray[ArrayV3Metadata] | Array | npt.NDArray[Any]
diff --git a/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py b/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
index ed1ae2cf2a..5f27c8c9d3 100644
--- a/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
+++ b/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
@@ -30,17 +30,17 @@
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArrayConfigLike
     from zarr.core.buffer import NDArrayLike, NDArrayLikeOrScalar
     from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import ChunkKeyEncoding, ChunkKeyEncodingLike
-    from zarr.core.common import (
+    from zarr.core.dtype import ZDTypeLike
+    from zarr.core.types import (
         JSON,
         AccessModeLiteral,
         ChunkCoords,
         DimensionNames,
         MemoryOrder,
         ShapeLike,
-        ZarrFormat,
     )
-    from zarr.core.dtype import ZDTypeLike
     from zarr.storage import StoreLike
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 __all__ = [
     "array",
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/blosc.py b/src/zarr/codecs/blosc.py
index f89f127852..47580db0d6 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/blosc.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/blosc.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import BytesBytesCodec
 from zarr.core.buffer.cpu import as_numpy_array_wrapper
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, parse_enum, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_enum, parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import HasItemSize
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 class BloscShuffle(Enum):
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/bytes.py b/src/zarr/codecs/bytes.py
index 7576119c82..f3b99aadde 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/bytes.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/bytes.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import ArrayBytesCodec
 from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, NDArrayLike, NDBuffer
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, parse_enum, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_enum, parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import HasEndianness
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     from typing import Self
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 class Endian(Enum):
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/crc32c_.py b/src/zarr/codecs/crc32c_.py
index c2e30f689a..16d94846ca 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/crc32c_.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/crc32c_.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 from crc32c import crc32c
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import BytesBytesCodec
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/gzip.py b/src/zarr/codecs/gzip.py
index 9e6515a4d1..a8193a5ac9 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/gzip.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/gzip.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import BytesBytesCodec
 from zarr.core.buffer.cpu import as_numpy_array_wrapper
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 def parse_gzip_level(data: JSON) -> int:
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/sharding.py b/src/zarr/codecs/sharding.py
index 888d258649..6b6e4e4156 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/sharding.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/sharding.py
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@
 )
 from zarr.core.chunk_grids import ChunkGrid, RegularChunkGrid
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    ChunkCoords,
-    ChunkCoordsLike,
     parse_enum,
     parse_named_configuration,
     parse_shapelike,
@@ -52,14 +50,15 @@
     morton_order_iter,
 )
 from zarr.core.metadata.v3 import parse_codecs
+from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords, ChunkCoordsLike
 from zarr.registry import get_ndbuffer_class, get_pipeline_class, register_codec
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable, Iterator
     from typing import Self
 
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 MAX_UINT_64 = 2**64 - 1
 ShardMapping = Mapping[ChunkCoords, Buffer]
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/transpose.py b/src/zarr/codecs/transpose.py
index d6310d38a4..25ea8ec412 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/transpose.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/transpose.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import ArrayArrayCodec
 from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, ChunkCoordsLike, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     from zarr.core.buffer import NDBuffer
     from zarr.core.chunk_grids import ChunkGrid
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON, ChunkCoordsLike
 
 
 def parse_transpose_order(data: JSON | Iterable[int]) -> tuple[int, ...]:
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/vlen_utf8.py b/src/zarr/codecs/vlen_utf8.py
index 28c64be1c0..69768ab178 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/vlen_utf8.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/vlen_utf8.py
@@ -8,13 +8,14 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import ArrayBytesCodec
 from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, NDBuffer
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing import Self
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 # can use a global because there are no parameters
diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/zstd.py b/src/zarr/codecs/zstd.py
index ead41e7b5f..98a4aac204 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/zstd.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/zstd.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.codec import BytesBytesCodec
 from zarr.core.buffer.cpu import as_numpy_array_wrapper
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, parse_named_configuration
+from zarr.core.common import parse_named_configuration
 from zarr.registry import register_codec
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 def parse_zstd_level(data: JSON) -> int:
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/_info.py b/src/zarr/core/_info.py
index a5b14d573a..6b1adcfacd 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/_info.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/_info.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
     import numcodecs.abc
 
     from zarr.abc.codec import ArrayArrayCodec, ArrayBytesCodec, BytesBytesCodec
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass(kw_only=True)
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/array.py b/src/zarr/core/array.py
index 311a0eb986..083549d0bc 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/array.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/array.py
@@ -50,15 +50,6 @@
     V2ChunkKeyEncoding,
 )
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    JSON,
-    ZARR_JSON,
-    ZARRAY_JSON,
-    ZATTRS_JSON,
-    ChunkCoords,
-    DimensionNames,
-    MemoryOrder,
-    ShapeLike,
-    ZarrFormat,
     _default_zarr_format,
     _warn_order_kwarg,
     ceildiv,
@@ -106,9 +97,7 @@
     ArrayMetadata,
     ArrayMetadataDict,
     ArrayV2Metadata,
-    ArrayV2MetadataDict,
     ArrayV3Metadata,
-    ArrayV3MetadataDict,
     T_ArrayMetadata,
 )
 from zarr.core.metadata.v2 import (
@@ -119,6 +108,18 @@
 )
 from zarr.core.metadata.v3 import parse_node_type_array
 from zarr.core.sync import sync
+from zarr.core.types import (
+    JSON,
+    ZARR_JSON,
+    ZARRAY_JSON,
+    ZATTRS_JSON,
+    ArrayMetadataJSON_V2,
+    ArrayMetadataJSON_V3,
+    ChunkCoords,
+    DimensionNames,
+    MemoryOrder,
+    ShapeLike,
+)
 from zarr.errors import MetadataValidationError, ZarrDeprecationWarning, ZarrUserWarning
 from zarr.registry import (
     _parse_array_array_codec,
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar
     from zarr.core.group import AsyncGroup
     from zarr.storage import StoreLike
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 # Array and AsyncArray are defined in the base ``zarr`` namespace
@@ -294,7 +296,7 @@ class AsyncArray(Generic[T_ArrayMetadata]):
     @overload
     def __init__(
         self: AsyncArray[ArrayV2Metadata],
-        metadata: ArrayV2Metadata | ArrayV2MetadataDict,
+        metadata: ArrayV2Metadata | ArrayMetadataJSON_V2,
         store_path: StorePath,
         config: ArrayConfigLike | None = None,
     ) -> None: ...
@@ -302,7 +304,7 @@ def __init__(
     @overload
     def __init__(
         self: AsyncArray[ArrayV3Metadata],
-        metadata: ArrayV3Metadata | ArrayV3MetadataDict,
+        metadata: ArrayV3Metadata | ArrayMetadataJSON_V3,
         store_path: StorePath,
         config: ArrayConfigLike | None = None,
     ) -> None: ...
@@ -962,7 +964,7 @@ async def open(
         store_path = await make_store_path(store)
         metadata_dict = await get_array_metadata(store_path, zarr_format=zarr_format)
         # TODO: remove this cast when we have better type hints
-        _metadata_dict = cast("ArrayV3MetadataDict", metadata_dict)
+        _metadata_dict = cast("ArrayMetadataJSON_V3", metadata_dict)
         return cls(store_path=store_path, metadata=_metadata_dict)
 
     @property
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/array_spec.py b/src/zarr/core/array_spec.py
index 279bf6edf0..ad11d71e7f 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/array_spec.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/array_spec.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Literal, Self, TypedDict, cast
 
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    MemoryOrder,
     parse_bool,
     parse_fill_value,
     parse_order,
@@ -16,8 +15,8 @@
     from typing import NotRequired
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import BufferPrototype
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords, MemoryOrder
 
 
 class ArrayConfigParams(TypedDict):
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/attributes.py b/src/zarr/core/attributes.py
index e699c4f66d..0be81b5aba 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/attributes.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/attributes.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from collections.abc import MutableMapping
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from zarr.core.common import JSON
+from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Iterator
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/buffer/core.py b/src/zarr/core/buffer/core.py
index 07bdb8c26e..88d4437728 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/buffer/core.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/buffer/core.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     from typing import Self
 
     from zarr.codecs.bytes import Endian
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike, ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike, ChunkCoords
 
 # Everything here is imported into ``zarr.core.buffer`` namespace.
 __all__: list[str] = []
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/buffer/cpu.py b/src/zarr/core/buffer/cpu.py
index 9da0059d0b..4fbd5e6e36 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/buffer/cpu.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/buffer/cpu.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     from typing import Self
 
     from zarr.core.buffer.core import ArrayLike, NDArrayLike
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike, ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike, ChunkCoords
 
 
 class Buffer(core.Buffer):
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/buffer/gpu.py b/src/zarr/core/buffer/gpu.py
index 4eca197222..8f731ad72a 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/buffer/gpu.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/buffer/gpu.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
     from collections.abc import Iterable
     from typing import Self
 
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike, ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike, ChunkCoords
 
 try:
     import cupy as cp
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/chunk_grids.py b/src/zarr/core/chunk_grids.py
index 7fa1fc7e38..8ba09dec57 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/chunk_grids.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/chunk_grids.py
@@ -14,10 +14,6 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.metadata import Metadata
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    JSON,
-    ChunkCoords,
-    ChunkCoordsLike,
-    ShapeLike,
     ceildiv,
     parse_named_configuration,
     parse_shapelike,
@@ -29,6 +25,7 @@
     from typing import Self
 
     from zarr.core.array import ShardsLike
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON, ChunkCoords, ChunkCoordsLike, ShapeLike
 
 
 def _guess_chunks(
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/chunk_key_encodings.py b/src/zarr/core/chunk_key_encodings.py
index 91dfc90365..1129a3491b 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/chunk_key_encodings.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/chunk_key_encodings.py
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing import NotRequired
 
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON, ChunkCoords
+
 from zarr.abc.metadata import Metadata
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    JSON,
-    ChunkCoords,
     parse_named_configuration,
 )
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/codec_pipeline.py b/src/zarr/core/codec_pipeline.py
index 3bc3c1cfc7..fb42764f35 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/codec_pipeline.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/codec_pipeline.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     Codec,
     CodecPipeline,
 )
-from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords, concurrent_map
+from zarr.core.common import concurrent_map
 from zarr.core.config import config
 from zarr.core.indexing import SelectorTuple, is_scalar
 from zarr.errors import ZarrUserWarning
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype, NDBuffer
     from zarr.core.chunk_grids import ChunkGrid
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 T = TypeVar("T")
 U = TypeVar("U")
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/common.py b/src/zarr/core/common.py
index 4c0247426e..8354e393e4 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/common.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/common.py
@@ -5,66 +5,30 @@
 import math
 import operator
 import warnings
-from collections.abc import Iterable, Mapping, Sequence
 from enum import Enum
 from itertools import starmap
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Any,
-    Final,
-    Generic,
     Literal,
-    TypedDict,
     TypeVar,
     cast,
     overload,
 )
 
-from typing_extensions import ReadOnly
-
 from zarr.core.config import config as zarr_config
+
+# This JSON import must be outside the type-checking block to avoid breaking numcodecs. see
+# https://github.com/zarr-developers/numcodecs/issues/773.
+# This can be changed when the circular dependency between zarr python and numcodecs is resolved.
+from zarr.core.types import JSON, MEMORY_ORDER, MemoryOrder
 from zarr.errors import ZarrRuntimeWarning
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable, Iterator
-
-
-ZARR_JSON = "zarr.json"
-ZARRAY_JSON = ".zarray"
-ZGROUP_JSON = ".zgroup"
-ZATTRS_JSON = ".zattrs"
-ZMETADATA_V2_JSON = ".zmetadata"
-
-BytesLike = bytes | bytearray | memoryview
-ShapeLike = tuple[int, ...] | int
-ChunkCoords = tuple[int, ...]
-ChunkCoordsLike = Iterable[int]
-ZarrFormat = Literal[2, 3]
-NodeType = Literal["array", "group"]
-JSON = str | int | float | Mapping[str, "JSON"] | Sequence["JSON"] | None
-MemoryOrder = Literal["C", "F"]
-AccessModeLiteral = Literal["r", "r+", "a", "w", "w-"]
-ANY_ACCESS_MODE: Final = "r", "r+", "a", "w", "w-"
-DimensionNames = Iterable[str | None] | None
-
-TName = TypeVar("TName", bound=str)
-TConfig = TypeVar("TConfig", bound=Mapping[str, object])
-
-
-class NamedConfig(TypedDict, Generic[TName, TConfig]):
-    """
-    A typed dictionary representing an object with a name and configuration, where the configuration
-    is a mapping of string keys to values, e.g. another typed dictionary or a JSON object.
-
-    This class is generic with two type parameters: the type of the name (``TName``) and the type of
-    the configuration (``TConfig``).
-    """
-
-    name: ReadOnly[TName]
-    """The name of the object."""
+    from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable, Iterable, Iterator
 
-    configuration: ReadOnly[TConfig]
-    """The configuration of the object."""
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 def product(tup: ChunkCoords) -> int:
@@ -186,10 +150,10 @@ def parse_fill_value(data: Any) -> Any:
     return data
 
 
-def parse_order(data: Any) -> Literal["C", "F"]:
-    if data in ("C", "F"):
+def parse_order(data: Any) -> MemoryOrder:
+    if data in MEMORY_ORDER:
         return cast("Literal['C', 'F']", data)
-    raise ValueError(f"Expected one of ('C', 'F'), got {data} instead.")
+    raise ValueError(f"Expected one of {MEMORY_ORDER}, got {data} instead.")
 
 
 def parse_bool(data: Any) -> bool:
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/__init__.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/__init__.py
index bf09a7501e..e3eaf37e01 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/__init__.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/__init__.py
@@ -32,14 +32,13 @@
 )
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 from collections.abc import Mapping
 
 import numpy as np
 import numpy.typing as npt
 
-from zarr.core.common import JSON
 from zarr.core.dtype.npy.string import (
     FixedLengthUTF32,
     FixedLengthUTF32JSON_V2,
@@ -49,6 +48,7 @@
 )
 from zarr.core.dtype.registry import DataTypeRegistry
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 __all__ = [
     "Bool",
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/common.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/common.py
index 652b5fdbe3..ac1e9ff753 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/common.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/common.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 from typing_extensions import ReadOnly
 
-from zarr.core.common import NamedConfig
+from zarr.core.types import NamedConfig
 from zarr.errors import UnstableSpecificationWarning
 
 EndiannessStr = Literal["little", "big"]
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bool.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bool.py
index 37371cd0cd..88197ab6b3 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bool.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bool.py
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, ZDType
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True, kw_only=True, slots=True)
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bytes.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bytes.py
index b7c764dcd9..0cba7e3e75 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bytes.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/bytes.py
@@ -3,11 +3,10 @@
 import base64
 import re
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import ClassVar, Literal, Self, TypedDict, TypeGuard, cast, overload
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, ClassVar, Literal, Self, TypedDict, TypeGuard, cast, overload
 
 import numpy as np
 
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, NamedConfig, ZarrFormat
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import (
     DataTypeValidationError,
     DTypeConfig_V2,
@@ -20,6 +19,10 @@
 )
 from zarr.core.dtype.npy.common import check_json_str
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, ZDType
+from zarr.core.types import JSON, NamedConfig
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 BytesLike = np.bytes_ | str | bytes | int
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/common.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/common.py
index 67644449a0..39594a5999 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/common.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/common.py
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@
 )
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 IntLike = SupportsInt | SupportsIndex | bytes | str
 FloatLike = SupportsIndex | SupportsFloat | bytes | str
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/complex.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/complex.py
index 2f432a9e0a..e451dac98b 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/complex.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/complex.py
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, ZDType
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/float.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/float.py
index 3113bc5b61..941b9281f6 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/float.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/float.py
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, ZDType
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py
index 01a79142a3..d8a223dc59 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, ZDType
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 _NumpyIntDType = (
     np.dtypes.Int8DType
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/string.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/string.py
index 32375a1c71..f45317d10f 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/string.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/string.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 
-from zarr.core.common import NamedConfig
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import (
     DataTypeValidationError,
     DTypeConfig_V2,
@@ -34,10 +33,12 @@
     get_endianness_from_numpy_dtype,
 )
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TDType_co, ZDType
+from zarr.core.types import NamedConfig
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 _NUMPY_SUPPORTS_VLEN_STRING = hasattr(np.dtypes, "StringDType")
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/structured.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/structured.py
index a0e3b0fbd4..5089116ed1 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/structured.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/structured.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 
-from zarr.core.common import NamedConfig
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import (
     DataTypeValidationError,
     DTypeConfig_V2,
@@ -23,9 +22,11 @@
     check_json_str,
 )
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+from zarr.core.types import NamedConfig
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 StructuredScalarLike = list[object] | tuple[object, ...] | bytes | int
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/time.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/time.py
index d523e16940..7bf1a925af 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/time.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/time.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 from typing_extensions import ReadOnly
 
-from zarr.core.common import NamedConfig
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import (
     DataTypeValidationError,
     DTypeConfig_V2,
@@ -35,9 +34,11 @@
     get_endianness_from_numpy_dtype,
 )
 from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, ZDType
+from zarr.core.types import NamedConfig
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 TimeDeltaLike = str | int | bytes | np.timedelta64 | timedelta | None
 DateTimeLike = str | int | bytes | np.datetime64 | datetime | None
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/registry.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/registry.py
index cb9ab50044..c83009654e 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/registry.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/registry.py
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from importlib.metadata import EntryPoint
 
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar, ZDType
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 # This class is different from the other registry classes, which inherit from
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/wrapper.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/wrapper.py
index 776aea81d8..53fe56c944 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/wrapper.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/wrapper.py
@@ -39,8 +39,9 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
     from zarr.core.dtype.common import DTypeJSON, DTypeSpec_V2, DTypeSpec_V3
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 # This the upper bound for the scalar types we support. It's numpy scalars + str,
 # because the new variable-length string dtype in numpy does not have a corresponding scalar type
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/group.py b/src/zarr/core/group.py
index 4bdc7b549f..be478a4b5c 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/group.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/group.py
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@
 from zarr.core.attributes import Attributes
 from zarr.core.buffer import default_buffer_prototype
 from zarr.core.common import (
+    parse_shapelike,
+)
+from zarr.core.config import config
+from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata
+from zarr.core.sync import SyncMixin, sync
+from zarr.core.types import (
     JSON,
     ZARR_JSON,
     ZARRAY_JSON,
@@ -45,12 +51,7 @@
     DimensionNames,
     NodeType,
     ShapeLike,
-    ZarrFormat,
-    parse_shapelike,
 )
-from zarr.core.config import config
-from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata
-from zarr.core.sync import SyncMixin, sync
 from zarr.errors import (
     ContainsArrayError,
     ContainsGroupError,
@@ -77,8 +78,9 @@
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArrayConfig, ArrayConfigLike
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype
     from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import ChunkKeyEncodingLike
-    from zarr.core.common import MemoryOrder
     from zarr.core.dtype import ZDTypeLike
+    from zarr.core.types import MemoryOrder
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("zarr.group")
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/indexing.py b/src/zarr/core/indexing.py
index 15cf6f0f1a..c3cf01422c 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/indexing.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/indexing.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     from zarr.core.array import Array, AsyncArray
     from zarr.core.buffer import NDArrayLikeOrScalar
     from zarr.core.chunk_grids import ChunkGrid
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 
 IntSequence = list[int] | npt.NDArray[np.intp]
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/metadata/__init__.py b/src/zarr/core/metadata/__init__.py
index 43b5ec98fe..05c34981d2 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
 from typing import TypeAlias, TypeVar
 
-from .v2 import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV2MetadataDict
-from .v3 import ArrayV3Metadata, ArrayV3MetadataDict
+from ..types import ArrayMetadataJSON_V2, ArrayMetadataJSON_V3
+from .v2 import ArrayV2Metadata
+from .v3 import ArrayV3Metadata
 
 ArrayMetadata: TypeAlias = ArrayV2Metadata | ArrayV3Metadata
-ArrayMetadataDict: TypeAlias = ArrayV2MetadataDict | ArrayV3MetadataDict
+ArrayMetadataDict: TypeAlias = ArrayMetadataJSON_V2 | ArrayMetadataJSON_V3
 T_ArrayMetadata = TypeVar("T_ArrayMetadata", ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata)
 
 __all__ = [
     "ArrayMetadata",
     "ArrayMetadataDict",
+    "ArrayMetadataJSON_V2",
+    "ArrayMetadataJSON_V3",
     "ArrayV2Metadata",
-    "ArrayV2MetadataDict",
     "ArrayV3Metadata",
-    "ArrayV3MetadataDict",
 ]
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/metadata/common.py b/src/zarr/core/metadata/common.py
index 44d3eb292b..1ff6c2fd08 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/metadata/common.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/metadata/common.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 def parse_attributes(data: dict[str, JSON] | None) -> dict[str, JSON]:
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py b/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py
index 9ad6b3bc42..a60392d71c 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import warnings
 from collections.abc import Iterable, Sequence
 from functools import cached_property
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, TypeAlias, TypedDict, cast
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, TypeAlias, cast
 
 import numcodecs.abc
 
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from zarr.core.chunk_grids import RegularChunkGrid
 from zarr.core.dtype import get_data_type_from_json
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import OBJECT_CODEC_IDS, DTypeSpec_V2
+from zarr.core.types import JSON, ZARRAY_JSON, ZATTRS_JSON, MemoryOrder
 from zarr.errors import ZarrUserWarning
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -19,7 +20,6 @@
     import numpy.typing as npt
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import (
         TBaseDType,
         TBaseScalar,
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
         TScalar_co,
         ZDType,
     )
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 import json
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field, fields, replace
@@ -37,25 +38,11 @@
 from zarr.core.array_spec import ArrayConfig, ArraySpec
 from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import parse_separator
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    JSON,
-    ZARRAY_JSON,
-    ZATTRS_JSON,
-    MemoryOrder,
     parse_shapelike,
 )
 from zarr.core.config import config, parse_indexing_order
 from zarr.core.metadata.common import parse_attributes
 
-
-class ArrayV2MetadataDict(TypedDict):
-    """
-    A typed dictionary model for Zarr format 2 metadata.
-    """
-
-    zarr_format: Literal[2]
-    attributes: dict[str, JSON]
-
-
 # Union of acceptable types for v2 compressors
 CompressorLikev2: TypeAlias = dict[str, JSON] | numcodecs.abc.Codec | None
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/metadata/v3.py b/src/zarr/core/metadata/v3.py
index 6f79fb4b09..1282195c74 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/metadata/v3.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/metadata/v3.py
@@ -1,19 +1,20 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, TypedDict
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from zarr.abc.metadata import Metadata
 from zarr.core.buffer.core import default_buffer_prototype
 from zarr.core.dtype import VariableLengthUTF8, ZDType, get_data_type_from_json
 from zarr.core.dtype.common import check_dtype_spec_v3
+from zarr.core.types import JSON, ZARR_JSON, ChunkCoords, DimensionNames
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing import Self
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype
     from zarr.core.chunk_grids import ChunkGrid
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ChunkCoords
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import TBaseDType, TBaseScalar
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 
 import json
@@ -26,10 +27,6 @@
 from zarr.core.chunk_grids import ChunkGrid, RegularChunkGrid
 from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import ChunkKeyEncoding, ChunkKeyEncodingLike
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    JSON,
-    ZARR_JSON,
-    ChunkCoords,
-    DimensionNames,
     parse_named_configuration,
     parse_shapelike,
 )
@@ -127,15 +124,6 @@ def parse_storage_transformers(data: object) -> tuple[dict[str, JSON], ...]:
     )
 
 
-class ArrayV3MetadataDict(TypedDict):
-    """
-    A typed dictionary model for zarr v3 metadata.
-    """
-
-    zarr_format: Literal[3]
-    attributes: dict[str, JSON]
-
-
 @dataclass(frozen=True, kw_only=True)
 class ArrayV3Metadata(Metadata):
     shape: ChunkCoords
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/sync_group.py b/src/zarr/core/sync_group.py
index 39d8a17992..ca2d54b937 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/sync_group.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/sync_group.py
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
 
     from zarr.abc.store import Store
     from zarr.core.array import Array
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
     from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 def create_nodes(
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/types.py b/src/zarr/core/types.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ffb785633c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/zarr/core/types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+"""Type definitions and typed constants for Zarr data structures."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections.abc import Iterable, Mapping, Sequence
+from typing import Final, Generic, Literal, NotRequired, TypeVar
+
+from typing_extensions import ReadOnly, TypedDict
+
+NodeType = Literal["array", "group"]
+"""The names of the nodes in a Zarr hierarchy."""
+
+
+BytesLike = bytes | bytearray | memoryview
+
+ChunkCoords = tuple[int, ...]
+
+ShapeLike = tuple[int, ...] | int
+"""A shape, either as a tuple of integers or a single integer."""
+
+JSON = str | int | float | Mapping[str, "JSON"] | Sequence["JSON"] | None
+"""A JSON value."""
+
+MemoryOrder = Literal["C", "F"]
+"""Memory order represented as a string using NumPy / Zarr V2 conventions."""
+
+MEMORY_ORDER: Final = "C", "F"
+
+DimensionSeparator_V2 = Literal[".", "/"]
+"""The possible values for the dimension separator in Zarr V2 array metadata."""
+
+ChunkCoordsLike = Iterable[int]
+AccessModeLiteral = Literal["r", "r+", "a", "w", "w-"]
+ACCESS_MODE_LITERAL: Final = "r", "r+", "a", "w", "w-"
+
+DimensionNames = Iterable[str | None] | None
+"""The possible types for the dimension names in Zarr V3 array metadata."""
+
+
+TName = TypeVar("TName", bound=str)
+TConfig = TypeVar("TConfig", bound=Mapping[str, object])
+
+
+class NamedConfig(TypedDict, Generic[TName, TConfig]):
+    """
+    A typed dictionary representing an object with a name and configuration, where the configuration
+    is a mapping of string keys to values, e.g. another typed dictionary or a JSON object.
+
+    This class is generic with two type parameters: the type of the name (``TName``) and the type of
+    the configuration (``TConfig``).
+    """
+
+    name: ReadOnly[TName]
+    """The name of the object."""
+
+    configuration: ReadOnly[TConfig]
+    """The configuration of the object."""
+
+
+ZARR_JSON: Final = "zarr.json"
+ZARRAY_JSON: Final = ".zarray"
+ZGROUP_JSON: Final = ".zgroup"
+ZATTRS_JSON: Final = ".zattrs"
+ZMETADATA_V2_JSON: Final = ".zmetadata"
+
+
+class CodecJSON_V2(TypedDict, Generic[TName]):
+    """The JSON representation of a codec for Zarr V2"""
+
+    id: ReadOnly[TName]
+
+
+class GroupMetadataJSON_V2(TypedDict):
+    """
+    A typed dictionary model for Zarr format 2 group metadata.
+    """
+
+    zarr_format: Literal[2]
+
+
+class ArrayMetadataJSON_V2(TypedDict):
+    """
+    A typed dictionary model for Zarr format 2 metadata.
+    """
+
+    zarr_format: Literal[2]
+    shape: tuple[int, ...]
+    chunks: tuple[int, ...]
+    dtype: str | tuple[tuple[str, object], ...]
+    compressor: CodecJSON_V2[str] | None
+    fill_value: object | None
+    order: MemoryOrder
+    filters: tuple[CodecJSON_V2[str], ...] | None
+    dimension_separator: NotRequired[DimensionSeparator_V2]
+
+
+class GroupMetadataJSON_V3(TypedDict):
+    """
+    A typed dictionary model for Zarr format 2 group metadata.
+    """
+
+    zarr_format: Literal[3]
+    node_type: Literal["group"]
+    attributes: NotRequired[Mapping[str, JSON]]
+
+
+class ArrayMetadataJSON_V3(TypedDict):
+    """
+    A typed dictionary model for zarr v3 metadata.
+    """
+
+    zarr_format: Literal[3]
+    node_type: Literal["array"]
+    data_type: str | NamedConfig[str, Mapping[str, object]]
+    shape: tuple[int, ...]
+    chunk_grid: NamedConfig[str, Mapping[str, object]]
+    chunk_key_encoding: NamedConfig[str, Mapping[str, object]]
+    fill_value: object
+    codecs: tuple[str | NamedConfig[str, Mapping[str, object]], ...]
+    attributes: NotRequired[Mapping[str, JSON]]
+    storage_transformers: NotRequired[tuple[NamedConfig[str, Mapping[str, object]], ...]]
+    dimension_names: NotRequired[tuple[str | None]]
diff --git a/src/zarr/registry.py b/src/zarr/registry.py
index fc3ffd7f7c..9363f12808 100644
--- a/src/zarr/registry.py
+++ b/src/zarr/registry.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
         CodecPipeline,
     )
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, NDBuffer
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 __all__ = [
     "Registry",
diff --git a/src/zarr/storage/_common.py b/src/zarr/storage/_common.py
index 3a63b30e9b..8ba6ee663a 100644
--- a/src/zarr/storage/_common.py
+++ b/src/zarr/storage/_common.py
@@ -7,13 +7,12 @@
 
 from zarr.abc.store import ByteRequest, Store
 from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, default_buffer_prototype
-from zarr.core.common import (
-    ANY_ACCESS_MODE,
+from zarr.core.types import (
+    ACCESS_MODE_LITERAL,
     ZARR_JSON,
     ZARRAY_JSON,
     ZGROUP_JSON,
     AccessModeLiteral,
-    ZarrFormat,
 )
 from zarr.errors import ContainsArrayAndGroupError, ContainsArrayError, ContainsGroupError
 from zarr.storage._local import LocalStore
@@ -28,6 +27,7 @@
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from zarr.core.buffer import BufferPrototype
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 def _dereference_path(root: str, path: str) -> str:
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ async def open(cls, store: Store, path: str, mode: AccessModeLiteral | None = No
         if mode is None:
             return await cls._create_open_instance(store, path)
 
-        if mode not in ANY_ACCESS_MODE:
-            raise ValueError(f"Invalid mode: {mode}, expected one of {ANY_ACCESS_MODE}")
+        if mode not in ACCESS_MODE_LITERAL:
+            raise ValueError(f"Invalid mode: {mode}, expected one of {ACCESS_MODE_LITERAL}")
 
         if store.read_only:
             # Don't allow write operations on a read-only store
diff --git a/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py b/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py
index bbb934cc7d..f71bc49563 100644
--- a/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py
+++ b/src/zarr/storage/_fsspec.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
     from fsspec.mapping import FSMap
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import BufferPrototype
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike
 
 
 ALLOWED_EXCEPTIONS: tuple[type[Exception], ...] = (
diff --git a/src/zarr/storage/_obstore.py b/src/zarr/storage/_obstore.py
index e1469a991e..3a34dd87d5 100644
--- a/src/zarr/storage/_obstore.py
+++ b/src/zarr/storage/_obstore.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
     from obstore.store import ObjectStore as _UpstreamObjectStore
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike
 
 __all__ = ["ObjectStore"]
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/storage/_wrapper.py b/src/zarr/storage/_wrapper.py
index f21d378191..700caadf06 100644
--- a/src/zarr/storage/_wrapper.py
+++ b/src/zarr/storage/_wrapper.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
     from zarr.abc.store import ByteRequest
     from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer, BufferPrototype
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike
 
 from zarr.abc.store import Store
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/testing/buffer.py b/src/zarr/testing/buffer.py
index 8cbfb2414a..05eb65f36f 100644
--- a/src/zarr/testing/buffer.py
+++ b/src/zarr/testing/buffer.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     from collections.abc import Iterable
     from typing import Self
 
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 
 __all__ = [
diff --git a/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py b/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py
index d0726c3dd9..64d3527557 100644
--- a/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py
+++ b/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py
@@ -16,13 +16,14 @@
 from zarr.core.array import Array
 from zarr.core.chunk_grids import RegularChunkGrid
 from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import DefaultChunkKeyEncoding
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
 from zarr.core.dtype import get_data_type_from_native_dtype
 from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata
 from zarr.core.sync import sync
+from zarr.core.types import JSON
 from zarr.storage import MemoryStore, StoreLike
 from zarr.storage._common import _dereference_path
 from zarr.storage._utils import normalize_path
+from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 # Copied from Xarray
 _attr_keys = st.text(st.characters(), min_size=1)
diff --git a/src/zarr/testing/utils.py b/src/zarr/testing/utils.py
index 3cb7f5cb99..1d915f3a93 100644
--- a/src/zarr/testing/utils.py
+++ b/src/zarr/testing/utils.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 from zarr.core.buffer import Buffer
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import BytesLike
+    from zarr.core.types import BytesLike
 
 __all__ = ["assert_bytes_equal"]
 
diff --git a/src/zarr/types.py b/src/zarr/types.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2aff88d13b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/zarr/types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+"""Public type definitions and constants"""
+
+from typing import Literal
+
+from zarr.core.types import (
+    ArrayMetadataJSON_V2,
+    ArrayMetadataJSON_V3,
+    GroupMetadataJSON_V2,
+    GroupMetadataJSON_V3,
+)
+
+__all__ = [
+    "ArrayMetadataJSON_V2",
+    "ArrayMetadataJSON_V3",
+    "GroupMetadataJSON_V2",
+    "GroupMetadataJSON_V3",
+    "ZarrFormat",
+]
+ZarrFormat = Literal[2, 3]
+"""The versions of Zarr that are supported."""
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index a1bf423c06..d2e3094a02 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     _parse_chunk_key_encoding,
 )
 from zarr.core.chunk_grids import RegularChunkGrid, _auto_partition
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, DimensionNames, parse_shapelike
+from zarr.core.common import parse_shapelike
 from zarr.core.config import config as zarr_config
 from zarr.core.dtype import (
     get_data_type_from_native_dtype,
@@ -41,8 +41,15 @@
     from zarr.abc.codec import Codec
     from zarr.core.array import CompressorsLike, FiltersLike, SerializerLike, ShardsLike
     from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import ChunkKeyEncoding, ChunkKeyEncodingLike
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords, MemoryOrder, ShapeLike, ZarrFormat
     from zarr.core.dtype.wrapper import ZDType
+    from zarr.core.types import (
+        JSON,
+        ChunkCoords,
+        DimensionNames,
+        MemoryOrder,
+        ShapeLike,
+    )
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 async def parse_store(
diff --git a/tests/package_with_entrypoint/__init__.py b/tests/package_with_entrypoint/__init__.py
index ae86378cb5..9bcc50802e 100644
--- a/tests/package_with_entrypoint/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/package_with_entrypoint/__init__.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     from typing import Any, ClassVar, Literal, Self
 
     from zarr.core.array_spec import ArraySpec
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 class TestEntrypointCodec(ArrayBytesCodec):
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index 12acf80589..e1b40e91f5 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
     from pathlib import Path
 
     from zarr.abc.store import Store
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, MemoryOrder, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON, MemoryOrder
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 import contextlib
 from typing import Literal
diff --git a/tests/test_array.py b/tests/test_array.py
index 74201a4017..09b3857fa5 100644
--- a/tests/test_array.py
+++ b/tests/test_array.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 from zarr.core.buffer import NDArrayLike, NDArrayLikeOrScalar, default_buffer_prototype
 from zarr.core.chunk_grids import _auto_partition
 from zarr.core.chunk_key_encodings import ChunkKeyEncodingParams
-from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat, ceildiv
+from zarr.core.common import ceildiv
 from zarr.core.dtype import (
     DateTime64,
     Float32,
@@ -69,11 +69,13 @@
     ZarrUserWarning,
 )
 from zarr.storage import LocalStore, MemoryStore, StorePath
+from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 from .test_dtype.conftest import zdtype_examples
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from zarr.core.metadata.v3 import ArrayV3Metadata
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("store", ["local", "memory", "zip"], indirect=["store"])
diff --git a/tests/test_attributes.py b/tests/test_attributes.py
index 4ce40e2cb0..5746419f6f 100644
--- a/tests/test_attributes.py
+++ b/tests/test_attributes.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import zarr.core.attributes
 import zarr.storage
 from tests.conftest import deep_nan_equal
-from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
+from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("zarr_format", [2, 3])
diff --git a/tests/test_codecs/test_codecs.py b/tests/test_codecs/test_codecs.py
index a2dad41a1b..c774049521 100644
--- a/tests/test_codecs/test_codecs.py
+++ b/tests/test_codecs/test_codecs.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     from zarr.abc.codec import Codec
     from zarr.abc.store import Store
     from zarr.core.buffer.core import NDArrayLikeOrScalar
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords, MemoryOrder
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords, MemoryOrder
 
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
diff --git a/tests/test_codecs/test_transpose.py b/tests/test_codecs/test_transpose.py
index 06ec668ad3..45ac6e454f 100644
--- a/tests/test_codecs/test_transpose.py
+++ b/tests/test_codecs/test_transpose.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from zarr import AsyncArray, config
 from zarr.abc.store import Store
 from zarr.codecs import TransposeCodec
-from zarr.core.common import MemoryOrder
+from zarr.core.types import MemoryOrder
 from zarr.storage import StorePath
 
 from .test_codecs import _AsyncArrayProxy
diff --git a/tests/test_common.py b/tests/test_common.py
index 0944c3375a..64ecb442fb 100644
--- a/tests/test_common.py
+++ b/tests/test_common.py
@@ -6,13 +6,12 @@
 import pytest
 
 from zarr.core.common import (
-    ANY_ACCESS_MODE,
-    AccessModeLiteral,
     parse_name,
     parse_shapelike,
     product,
 )
 from zarr.core.config import parse_indexing_order
+from zarr.core.types import ACCESS_MODE_LITERAL, AccessModeLiteral
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Iterable
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ def test_access_modes() -> None:
     """
     Test that the access modes type and variable for run-time checking are equivalent.
     """
-    assert set(ANY_ACCESS_MODE) == set(get_args(AccessModeLiteral))
+    assert set(ACCESS_MODE_LITERAL) == set(get_args(AccessModeLiteral))
 
 
 # todo: test
diff --git a/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_common.py b/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_common.py
index bd77866fc0..81eb794fc6 100644
--- a/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_common.py
+++ b/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_common.py
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@
 )
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 json_float_v2_roundtrip_cases: tuple[tuple[JSONFloatV2, float | np.floating[Any]], ...] = (
diff --git a/tests/test_dtype_registry.py b/tests/test_dtype_registry.py
index aedda5272c..c27a93b193 100644
--- a/tests/test_dtype_registry.py
+++ b/tests/test_dtype_registry.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Generator
 
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 from .test_dtype.conftest import zdtype_examples
 
diff --git a/tests/test_group.py b/tests/test_group.py
index e5cfe82daa..05f866fda7 100644
--- a/tests/test_group.py
+++ b/tests/test_group.py
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@
     from _pytest.compat import LEGACY_PATH
 
     from zarr.core.buffer.core import Buffer
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON, ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(params=["local", "memory", "zip"])
diff --git a/tests/test_indexing.py b/tests/test_indexing.py
index 24b4b65505..8a1fe417ae 100644
--- a/tests/test_indexing.py
+++ b/tests/test_indexing.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
     from zarr.core.buffer import BufferPrototype
     from zarr.core.buffer.core import Buffer
-    from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords
+    from zarr.core.types import ChunkCoords
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/test_info.py b/tests/test_info.py
index 28c8803c83..5a81b338f9 100644
--- a/tests/test_info.py
+++ b/tests/test_info.py
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 
 from zarr.codecs.bytes import BytesCodec
 from zarr.core._info import ArrayInfo, GroupInfo, human_readable_size
-from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
 from zarr.core.dtype.npy.int import Int32
+from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 ZARR_FORMATS = [2, 3]
 
diff --git a/tests/test_metadata/test_consolidated.py b/tests/test_metadata/test_consolidated.py
index e23444cf93..e4f38cfc3f 100644
--- a/tests/test_metadata/test_consolidated.py
+++ b/tests/test_metadata/test_consolidated.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from zarr.abc.store import Store
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/test_metadata/test_v3.py b/tests/test_metadata/test_v3.py
index 4f385afa6d..df40527ea7 100644
--- a/tests/test_metadata/test_v3.py
+++ b/tests/test_metadata/test_v3.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
     from typing import Any
 
     from zarr.abc.codec import Codec
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 from zarr.core.metadata.v3 import (
diff --git a/tests/test_properties.py b/tests/test_properties.py
index 705cfd1b59..2938df44d7 100644
--- a/tests/test_properties.py
+++ b/tests/test_properties.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from numpy.testing import assert_array_equal
 
 from zarr.core.buffer import default_buffer_prototype
+from zarr.core.types import ZARR_JSON, ZARRAY_JSON
 
 pytest.importorskip("hypothesis")
 
@@ -15,9 +16,9 @@
 from hypothesis import assume, given, settings
 
 from zarr.abc.store import Store
-from zarr.core.common import ZARR_JSON, ZARRAY_JSON, ZATTRS_JSON
 from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata
 from zarr.core.sync import sync
+from zarr.core.types import ZATTRS_JSON
 from zarr.testing.strategies import (
     array_metadata,
     arrays,
diff --git a/tests/test_store/test_core.py b/tests/test_store/test_core.py
index a3850de90f..04dd53dcb3 100644
--- a/tests/test_store/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/test_store/test_core.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 import zarr
 from zarr import Group
-from zarr.core.common import AccessModeLiteral, ZarrFormat
+from zarr.core.types import AccessModeLiteral
 from zarr.storage import FsspecStore, LocalStore, MemoryStore, StoreLike, StorePath, ZipStore
 from zarr.storage._common import contains_array, contains_group, make_store_path
 from zarr.storage._utils import (
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     _relativize_path,
     normalize_path,
 )
+from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(
diff --git a/tests/test_store/test_fsspec.py b/tests/test_store/test_fsspec.py
index 82a96b5d1e..e931dae61d 100644
--- a/tests/test_store/test_fsspec.py
+++ b/tests/test_store/test_fsspec.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
     import botocore.client
     import s3fs
 
-    from zarr.core.common import JSON
+    from zarr.core.types import JSON
 
 
 # Warning filter due to https://github.com/boto/boto3/issues/3889
diff --git a/tests/test_store/test_memory.py b/tests/test_store/test_memory.py
index 0b6bae757d..3149e2fa15 100644
--- a/tests/test_store/test_memory.py
+++ b/tests/test_store/test_memory.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from zarr.testing.utils import gpu_test
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from zarr.core.common import ZarrFormat
+    from zarr.types import ZarrFormat
 
 
 # TODO: work out where this warning is coming from and fix it