1 files changed, 18 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/clustercontroller-core/src/main/java/com/yahoo/vespa/clustercontroller/core/RemoteClusterControllerTask.java b/clustercontroller-core/src/main/java/com/yahoo/vespa/clustercontroller/core/RemoteClusterControllerTask.java
index e4519a02632..d082158edc7 100644
--- a/clustercontroller-core/src/main/java/com/yahoo/vespa/clustercontroller/core/RemoteClusterControllerTask.java
+++ b/clustercontroller-core/src/main/java/com/yahoo/vespa/clustercontroller/core/RemoteClusterControllerTask.java
@@ -39,16 +39,30 @@ public abstract class RemoteClusterControllerTask {
      */
     public boolean isFailed() { return false; }
 
+    public enum FailureCondition {
+        LEADERSHIP_LOST,
+        DEADLINE_EXCEEDED
+    }
+
     /**
-     *  If the task response has been deferred due to hasVersionAckDependency(),
-     *  handleLeadershipLost() will be invoked on the task if the cluster controller
+     *  If the task completion has been deferred due to hasVersionAckDependency(),
+     *  this method will be invoked if a failure occurs before the version has
+     *  been successfully ACKed.
+     *
+     *  LEADERSHIP_LOST will be the failure condition if the cluster controller
      *  discovers it has lost leadership in the time between task execution and
-     *  deferred response send time.
+     *  deferred completion time.
+     *
+     *  DEADLINE_EXCEEDED will be the failure condition if the completion has been
+     *  deferred for more than a configurable amount of time.
      *
      *  This method will also be invoked if the controller is signalled to shut down
      *  before the dependent cluster version has been published.
+     *
+     *  The task implementation is responsible for communicating the appropriate
+     *  error semantics to the caller who initially scheduled the task.
      */
-    public void handleLeadershipLost() {}
+    public void handleFailure(FailureCondition condition) {}
 
     public boolean isCompleted() {
         synchronized (monitor) {