diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/ClusterMetadataService.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/ClusterMetadataService.java
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+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/ClusterMetadataService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.cluster;
+
+/**
+ * Service for obtaining metadata information about the cluster.
+ */
+public interface ClusterMetadataService {
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the current cluster metadata.
+     * @return cluster metadata
+     */
+    ClusterMetadata getClusterMetadata();
+
+    /**
+     * Updates the cluster metadata.
+     * @param metadata new metadata
+     */
+    void setClusterMetadata(ClusterMetadata metadata);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the local controller node representing this instance.
+     * @return local controller node
+     */
+    ControllerNode getLocalNode();
+}