diff --git a/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueService.java b/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99498ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package org.irods.jargon.irodsext.jwt;
+
+import io.jsonwebtoken.Claims;
+import io.jsonwebtoken.Jws;
+
+/**
+ * Interface for a service to (with proper configuration) issue JWTs for use
+ * with plug-in microservices
+ * 
+ * @author Mike Conway - NIEHS
+ *
+ */
+public interface JwtIssueService {
+
+	/**
+	 * Given a subject, issue a proper JWT that can be understood by Metalnx plugins
+	 * 
+	 * @param subject {@code String} with the subject for the JWT claim
+	 * @return {@code String} with the JWT token
+	 */
+	String issueJwtToken(String subject);
+
+	/**
+	 * Given a JWT token, return the decoded claims
+	 * 
+	 * @param token {@code String} with the JWT token
+	 * @return {@link Jws} with the associated claims
+	 */
+	Jws<Claims> decodeJwtToken(String token);
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueServiceImpl.java
index 36b0c05..dc084b2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/irods/jargon/irodsext/jwt/JwtIssueServiceImpl.java
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  * @author Mike Conway - NIEHS
  *
  */
-public class JwtIssueServiceImpl {
+public class JwtIssueServiceImpl implements JwtIssueService {
 
 	public static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(JwtIssueServiceImpl.class);
 
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ public JwtIssueServiceImpl(final JwtServiceConfig jwtServiceConfig) {
 		myKey = Keys.hmacShaKeyFor(jwtServiceConfig.getSecret().getBytes());
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * 
+	 * @see
+	 * org.irods.jargon.irodsext.jwt.JwtIssueService#issueJwtToken(java.lang.String)
+	 */
+	@Override
 	public String issueJwtToken(final String subject) {
 		log.info("issueJwtToken()");
 
@@ -52,6 +59,13 @@ public String issueJwtToken(final String subject) {
 
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * 
+	 * @see org.irods.jargon.irodsext.jwt.JwtIssueService#decodeJwtToken(java.lang.
+	 * String)
+	 */
+	@Override
 	public Jws<Claims> decodeJwtToken(final String token) {
 		log.info("decodeJwtToken()");
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/src/test/java/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e94951
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Manifest-Version: 1.0
+Class-Path: 
+