diff --git a/lifecycle_msgs/CMakeLists.txt b/lifecycle_msgs/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0b6e466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycle_msgs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+
+project(lifecycle_msgs)
+
+if(NOT WIN32)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra")
+endif()
+
+find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
+find_package(rosidl_default_generators REQUIRED)
+find_package(std_msgs REQUIRED)
+
+set(msg_files
+  "msg/Transition.msg"
+)
+set(srv_files
+  "srv/ChangeState.srv"
+  "srv/GetState.srv"
+)
+
+rosidl_generate_interfaces(${PROJECT_NAME}
+  ${msg_files}
+  ${srv_files}
+  DEPENDENCIES std_msgs
+  ADD_LINTER_TESTS
+)
+
+ament_export_dependencies(rosidl_default_runtime)
+
+ament_package()
diff --git a/lifecycle_msgs/msg/Transition.msg b/lifecycle_msgs/msg/Transition.msg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d21d96b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycle_msgs/msg/Transition.msg
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Default values for primary states
+# as described on
+# http://design.ros2.org/articles/node_lifecycle.html
+
+uint8 STATE_UNKNOWN = 0
+uint8 STATE_UNCONFIGURED = 1
+uint8 STATE_INACTIVE = 2
+uint8 STATE_ACTIVE = 3
+uint8 STATE_FINALIZED = 4
+
+uint8 start_state
+uint8 goal_state
diff --git a/lifecycle_msgs/package.xml b/lifecycle_msgs/package.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4303c32c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycle_msgs/package.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format2.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
+<package format="2">
+  <name>lifecycle_msgs</name>
+  <version>0.0.0</version>
+  <description>A package containing some lifecycle related message and service definitions.</description>
+  <maintainer email="karsten@osrfoundation.org">Karsten Knese</maintainer>
+  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>
+
+  <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>
+  <buildtool_depend>rosidl_default_generators</buildtool_depend>
+
+  <build_depend>std_msgs</build_depend>
+
+  <exec_depend>rosidl_default_runtime</exec_depend>
+  <exec_depend>std_msgs</exec_depend>
+
+  <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>
+
+  <export>
+    <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
+  </export>
+</package>
diff --git a/lifecycle_msgs/srv/ChangeState.srv b/lifecycle_msgs/srv/ChangeState.srv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..55228e0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycle_msgs/srv/ChangeState.srv
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+uint8 TRANSITION_CONFIGURING = 10
+uint8 TRANSITION_CLEANINGUP = 11
+uint8 TRANSITION_SHUTTINGDOWN = 12
+uint8 TRANSITION_ACTIVATING = 13
+uint8 TRANSITION_DEACTIVATING = 14
+uint8 TRANSITION_ERRORPROCESSING = 15
+
+string node_name
+uint8 transition
+---
+bool success
diff --git a/lifecycle_msgs/srv/GetState.srv b/lifecycle_msgs/srv/GetState.srv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b66e0b8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycle_msgs/srv/GetState.srv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+string node_name
+---
+uint8 current_state