diff --git a/include/libcamera/request.h b/include/libcamera/request.h
index 5eb012e41b4a377b..38a6f008d53dc53a 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/request.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/request.h
@@ -21,6 +21,16 @@ class Buffer;
 class Camera;
 class Stream;
 
+enum AeState {
+	Inactive,
+	Searching,
+	Converged,
+};
+
+struct IPAMetaData {
+	AeState aeState;
+	bool ready;
+};
 
 class Request
 {
@@ -41,6 +51,7 @@ public:
 	const std::map<Stream *, Buffer *> &buffers() const { return bufferMap_; }
 	int addBuffer(std::unique_ptr<Buffer> buffer);
 	Buffer *findBuffer(Stream *stream) const;
+	const IPAMetaData &metaData() const { return metaData_; };
 
 	uint64_t cookie() const { return cookie_; }
 	Status status() const { return status_; }
@@ -60,6 +71,7 @@ private:
 	ControlList controls_;
 	std::map<Stream *, Buffer *> bufferMap_;
 	std::unordered_set<Buffer *> pending_;
+	IPAMetaData metaData_;
 
 	const uint64_t cookie_;
 	Status status_;
diff --git a/src/libcamera/request.cpp b/src/libcamera/request.cpp
index ebae99b07c696512..226a10b6a3c048c5 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/request.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/request.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,40 @@ namespace libcamera {
 
 LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(Request)
 
+/**
+ * \enum AeState
+ * State of Auto Exposure algorithm
+ * \var AeState::Inactive
+ * AE not running
+ * \var AeState::Searching
+ * AE is not converged to a good value and is adjusting exposure parameters.
+ * \var AeState::Converged
+ * AE has found good exposure values for the current scene.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * \struct IPAMetaData
+ * \brief Meta data describing the state of the IPA
+ *
+ * Container for IPA meta data. The intended creator of this object is an IPA
+ * and the intended consumer is applications. Applications access the object
+ * thru the Request object that corresponds to the specific capture event
+ * that generated the meta data.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * \var IPAMetaData::aeState
+ * \brief Holds the state of the Auto Exposure algorithm
+ */
+
+/**
+ * \var IPAMetaData::ready
+ * \brief Flag to indicate the pipeline have validated the meta data
+ *
+ * The meta data should not be returned to the application by the specific
+ * pipeline handler implementation before this flag is set to true.
+ */
+
 /**
  * \enum Request::Status
  * Request completion status
@@ -55,7 +89,7 @@ LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(Request)
  *
  */
 Request::Request(Camera *camera, uint64_t cookie)
-	: camera_(camera), controls_(camera), cookie_(cookie),
+	: camera_(camera), controls_(camera), metaData_({}), cookie_(cookie),
 	  status_(RequestPending), cancelled_(false)
 {
 }
@@ -157,6 +191,12 @@ Buffer *Request::findBuffer(Stream *stream) const
 	return it->second;
 }
 
+/**
+ * \fn Request::metaData()
+ * \brief Retrieve the request's meta data
+ * \return The meta data associated with the request
+ */
+
 /**
  * \fn Request::cookie()
  * \brief Retrieve the cookie set when the request was created