diff --git a/policy_manager/variable.h b/policy_manager/variable.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46defbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/policy_manager/variable.h
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2014 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#ifndef CHROMEOS_PLATFORM_UPDATE_ENGINE_POLICY_MANAGER_VARIABLE_H
+#define CHROMEOS_PLATFORM_UPDATE_ENGINE_POLICY_MANAGER_VARIABLE_H
+
+#include <string>
+
+#include <base/time.h>
+
+namespace chromeos_policy_manager {
+
+// Interface to a Policy Manager variable to be implemented by the providers.
+template<typename T>
+class Variable {
+ public:
+  virtual ~Variable() {}
+
+ protected:
+  // Gets the current value of the variable. The current value is copied to a
+  // new object and returned. The caller of this method owns the object and
+  // should delete it.
+  //
+  // In case of and error getting the current value or the |timeout| timeout is
+  // exceeded, a NULL value is returned and the |errmsg| is set.
+  //
+  // The caller can pass a NULL value for |errmsg|, in which case the error
+  // message won't be set.
+  virtual const T* GetValue(base::TimeDelta timeout, std::string* errmsg) = 0;
+};
+
+}  // namespace chromeos_policy_manager
+
+#endif  // CHROMEOS_PLATFORM_UPDATE_ENGINE_POLICY_MANAGER_VARIABLE_H