diff --git a/packages/core/src/index.ts b/packages/core/src/index.ts
index c782757909..04e37bd19a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/index.ts
@@ -27,3 +27,5 @@ export { ConnectionManager } from "./lib/connection_manager.js";
 
 export { KeepAliveManager } from "./lib/keep_alive_manager.js";
 export { StreamManager } from "./lib/stream_manager.js";
+
+export { MetadataCodec, wakuMetadata } from "./lib/metadata/index.js";
diff --git a/packages/core/src/lib/metadata/index.ts b/packages/core/src/lib/metadata/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3c6892ab0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/lib/metadata/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import type { PeerId } from "@libp2p/interface/peer-id";
+import { IncomingStreamData } from "@libp2p/interface/stream-handler";
+import { encodeRelayShard } from "@waku/enr";
+import type { IMetadata, Libp2pComponents, ShardInfo } from "@waku/interfaces";
+import { proto_metadata } from "@waku/proto";
+import { Logger } from "@waku/utils";
+import all from "it-all";
+import * as lp from "it-length-prefixed";
+import { pipe } from "it-pipe";
+import { Uint8ArrayList } from "uint8arraylist";
+
+import { BaseProtocol } from "../base_protocol.js";
+
+const log = new Logger("metadata");
+
+export const MetadataCodec = "/vac/waku/metadata/1.0.0";
+
+class Metadata extends BaseProtocol {
+  private readonly shardInfo: ShardInfo;
+  private libp2pComponents: Libp2pComponents;
+  constructor(shardInfo: ShardInfo, libp2p: Libp2pComponents) {
+    super(MetadataCodec, libp2p.components);
+    this.libp2pComponents = libp2p;
+    this.shardInfo = shardInfo;
+    void libp2p.registrar.handle(MetadataCodec, (streamData) => {
+      void this.onRequest(streamData);
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Handle an incoming metadata request
+   */
+  private async onRequest(streamData: IncomingStreamData): Promise<void> {
+    try {
+      const { stream, connection } = streamData;
+      const encodedShardInfo = proto_metadata.WakuMetadataResponse.encode(
+        this.shardInfo
+      );
+
+      const encodedResponse = await pipe(
+        [encodedShardInfo],
+        lp.encode,
+        stream,
+        lp.decode,
+        async (source) => await all(source)
+      );
+
+      const remoteShardInfoResponse =
+        this.decodeMetadataResponse(encodedResponse);
+
+      // add or update the shardInfo to peer store
+      await this.libp2pComponents.peerStore.merge(connection.remotePeer, {
+        metadata: {
+          shardInfo: encodeRelayShard(remoteShardInfoResponse)
+        }
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      log.error("Error handling metadata request", error);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Make a metadata query to a peer
+   */
+  async query(peerId: PeerId): Promise<ShardInfo> {
+    const request = proto_metadata.WakuMetadataRequest.encode(this.shardInfo);
+
+    const peer = await this.getPeer(peerId);
+
+    const stream = await this.getStream(peer);
+
+    const encodedResponse = await pipe(
+      [request],
+      lp.encode,
+      stream,
+      lp.decode,
+      async (source) => await all(source)
+    );
+
+    const decodedResponse = this.decodeMetadataResponse(encodedResponse);
+
+    return decodedResponse;
+  }
+
+  private decodeMetadataResponse(encodedResponse: Uint8ArrayList[]): ShardInfo {
+    const bytes = new Uint8ArrayList();
+
+    encodedResponse.forEach((chunk) => {
+      bytes.append(chunk);
+    });
+    const response = proto_metadata.WakuMetadataResponse.decode(
+      bytes
+    ) as ShardInfo;
+
+    if (!response) log.error("Error decoding metadata response");
+
+    return response;
+  }
+}
+
+export function wakuMetadata(
+  shardInfo: ShardInfo
+): (components: Libp2pComponents) => IMetadata {
+  return (components: Libp2pComponents) => new Metadata(shardInfo, components);
+}
diff --git a/packages/interfaces/src/index.ts b/packages/interfaces/src/index.ts
index 80b653ddbf..6ce8738a0d 100644
--- a/packages/interfaces/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/interfaces/src/index.ts
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ export * from "./misc.js";
 export * from "./libp2p.js";
 export * from "./keep_alive_manager.js";
 export * from "./dns_discovery.js";
+export * from "./metadata.js";
diff --git a/packages/interfaces/src/libp2p.ts b/packages/interfaces/src/libp2p.ts
index e657000e3a..daef10606b 100644
--- a/packages/interfaces/src/libp2p.ts
+++ b/packages/interfaces/src/libp2p.ts
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@ import type { Libp2pInit, Libp2pOptions } from "libp2p";
 import type { identifyService } from "libp2p/identify";
 import type { PingService } from "libp2p/ping";
 
+import { IMetadata } from "./metadata";
+
 export type Libp2pServices = {
   ping: PingService;
+  metadata?: IMetadata;
   pubsub?: GossipSub;
   identify: ReturnType<ReturnType<typeof identifyService>>;
 };
diff --git a/packages/interfaces/src/metadata.ts b/packages/interfaces/src/metadata.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f37bcba0f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/interfaces/src/metadata.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import type { PeerId } from "@libp2p/interface/peer-id";
+
+import type { ShardInfo } from "./enr.js";
+import type { IBaseProtocol } from "./protocols.js";
+
+export interface IMetadata extends IBaseProtocol {
+  query(peerId: PeerId): Promise<ShardInfo | undefined>;
+}
diff --git a/packages/proto/src/index.ts b/packages/proto/src/index.ts
index 9608cafa94..87153e250c 100644
--- a/packages/proto/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/proto/src/index.ts
@@ -13,3 +13,5 @@ export { PushResponse } from "./lib/light_push.js";
 export * as proto_store from "./lib/store.js";
 
 export * as proto_peer_exchange from "./lib/peer_exchange.js";
+
+export * as proto_metadata from './lib/metadata.js'
diff --git a/packages/proto/src/lib/metadata.proto b/packages/proto/src/lib/metadata.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..445e898ec3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/proto/src/lib/metadata.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+
+message WakuMetadataRequest {
+  optional uint32 cluster_id = 1;
+  repeated uint32 shards = 2;
+}
+
+message WakuMetadataResponse {
+  optional uint32 cluster_id = 1;
+  repeated uint32 shards = 2;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/proto/src/lib/metadata.ts b/packages/proto/src/lib/metadata.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..edb8994baa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/proto/src/lib/metadata.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/* eslint-disable import/export */
+/* eslint-disable complexity */
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-namespace */
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-unnecessary-boolean-literal-compare */
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-empty-interface */
+
+import { encodeMessage, decodeMessage, message } from 'protons-runtime'
+import type { Codec } from 'protons-runtime'
+import type { Uint8ArrayList } from 'uint8arraylist'
+
+export interface WakuMetadataRequest {
+  clusterId?: number
+  shards: number[]
+}
+
+export namespace WakuMetadataRequest {
+  let _codec: Codec<WakuMetadataRequest>
+
+  export const codec = (): Codec<WakuMetadataRequest> => {
+    if (_codec == null) {
+      _codec = message<WakuMetadataRequest>((obj, w, opts = {}) => {
+        if (opts.lengthDelimited !== false) {
+          w.fork()
+        }
+
+        if (obj.clusterId != null) {
+          w.uint32(8)
+          w.uint32(obj.clusterId)
+        }
+
+        if (obj.shards != null) {
+          for (const value of obj.shards) {
+            w.uint32(16)
+            w.uint32(value)
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (opts.lengthDelimited !== false) {
+          w.ldelim()
+        }
+      }, (reader, length) => {
+        const obj: any = {
+          shards: []
+        }
+
+        const end = length == null ? reader.len : reader.pos + length
+
+        while (reader.pos < end) {
+          const tag = reader.uint32()
+
+          switch (tag >>> 3) {
+            case 1:
+              obj.clusterId = reader.uint32()
+              break
+            case 2:
+              obj.shards.push(reader.uint32())
+              break
+            default:
+              reader.skipType(tag & 7)
+              break
+          }
+        }
+
+        return obj
+      })
+    }
+
+    return _codec
+  }
+
+  export const encode = (obj: Partial<WakuMetadataRequest>): Uint8Array => {
+    return encodeMessage(obj, WakuMetadataRequest.codec())
+  }
+
+  export const decode = (buf: Uint8Array | Uint8ArrayList): WakuMetadataRequest => {
+    return decodeMessage(buf, WakuMetadataRequest.codec())
+  }
+}
+
+export interface WakuMetadataResponse {
+  clusterId?: number
+  shards: number[]
+}
+
+export namespace WakuMetadataResponse {
+  let _codec: Codec<WakuMetadataResponse>
+
+  export const codec = (): Codec<WakuMetadataResponse> => {
+    if (_codec == null) {
+      _codec = message<WakuMetadataResponse>((obj, w, opts = {}) => {
+        if (opts.lengthDelimited !== false) {
+          w.fork()
+        }
+
+        if (obj.clusterId != null) {
+          w.uint32(8)
+          w.uint32(obj.clusterId)
+        }
+
+        if (obj.shards != null) {
+          for (const value of obj.shards) {
+            w.uint32(16)
+            w.uint32(value)
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (opts.lengthDelimited !== false) {
+          w.ldelim()
+        }
+      }, (reader, length) => {
+        const obj: any = {
+          shards: []
+        }
+
+        const end = length == null ? reader.len : reader.pos + length
+
+        while (reader.pos < end) {
+          const tag = reader.uint32()
+
+          switch (tag >>> 3) {
+            case 1:
+              obj.clusterId = reader.uint32()
+              break
+            case 2:
+              obj.shards.push(reader.uint32())
+              break
+            default:
+              reader.skipType(tag & 7)
+              break
+          }
+        }
+
+        return obj
+      })
+    }
+
+    return _codec
+  }
+
+  export const encode = (obj: Partial<WakuMetadataResponse>): Uint8Array => {
+    return encodeMessage(obj, WakuMetadataResponse.codec())
+  }
+
+  export const decode = (buf: Uint8Array | Uint8ArrayList): WakuMetadataResponse => {
+    return decodeMessage(buf, WakuMetadataResponse.codec())
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/sdk/src/create.ts b/packages/sdk/src/create.ts
index c3ed95ead6..11668689ee 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/src/create.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk/src/create.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   DefaultUserAgent,
   wakuFilter,
   wakuLightPush,
+  wakuMetadata,
   WakuNode,
   WakuOptions,
   wakuStore
@@ -16,11 +17,13 @@ import { enrTree, wakuDnsDiscovery } from "@waku/dns-discovery";
 import type {
   CreateLibp2pOptions,
   FullNode,
+  IMetadata,
   Libp2p,
   Libp2pComponents,
   LightNode,
   ProtocolCreateOptions,
-  RelayNode
+  RelayNode,
+  ShardInfo
 } from "@waku/interfaces";
 import { wakuPeerExchangeDiscovery } from "@waku/peer-exchange";
 import { RelayCreateOptions, wakuGossipSub, wakuRelay } from "@waku/relay";
@@ -54,6 +57,7 @@ export async function createLightNode(
   }
 
   const libp2p = await defaultLibp2p(
+    options.shardInfo,
     undefined,
     libp2pOptions,
     options?.userAgent
@@ -90,6 +94,7 @@ export async function createRelayNode(
   }
 
   const libp2p = await defaultLibp2p(
+    options.shardInfo,
     wakuGossipSub(options),
     libp2pOptions,
     options?.userAgent
@@ -134,6 +139,7 @@ export async function createFullNode(
   }
 
   const libp2p = await defaultLibp2p(
+    options.shardInfo,
     wakuGossipSub(options),
     libp2pOptions,
     options?.userAgent
@@ -169,7 +175,12 @@ type PubsubService = {
   pubsub?: (components: Libp2pComponents) => GossipSub;
 };
 
+type MetadataService = {
+  metadata?: (components: Libp2pComponents) => IMetadata;
+};
+
 export async function defaultLibp2p(
+  shardInfo?: ShardInfo,
   wakuGossipSub?: PubsubService["pubsub"],
   options?: Partial<CreateLibp2pOptions>,
   userAgent?: string
@@ -191,6 +202,10 @@ export async function defaultLibp2p(
     ? { pubsub: wakuGossipSub }
     : {};
 
+  const metadataService: MetadataService = shardInfo
+    ? { metadata: wakuMetadata(shardInfo) }
+    : {};
+
   return createLibp2p({
     connectionManager: {
       minConnections: 1
@@ -204,6 +219,7 @@ export async function defaultLibp2p(
         agentVersion: userAgent ?? DefaultUserAgent
       }),
       ping: pingService(),
+      ...metadataService,
       ...pubsubService,
       ...options?.services
     }
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/metadata.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/metadata.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b8bd961436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/metadata.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
+import { MetadataCodec } from "@waku/core";
+import { decodeRelayShard } from "@waku/enr";
+import type { LightNode, ShardInfo } from "@waku/interfaces";
+import { createLightNode } from "@waku/sdk";
+import { shardInfoToPubsubTopics } from "@waku/utils";
+import chai, { expect } from "chai";
+import chaiAsPromised from "chai-as-promised";
+
+import { delay, tearDownNodes } from "../src/index.js";
+import { makeLogFileName } from "../src/log_file.js";
+import { NimGoNode } from "../src/node/node.js";
+
+chai.use(chaiAsPromised);
+
+describe("Metadata Protocol", () => {
+  let waku: LightNode;
+  let nwaku1: NimGoNode;
+
+  beforeEach(function () {
+    nwaku1 = new NimGoNode(makeLogFileName(this) + "1");
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async function () {
+    this.timeout(15000);
+    await tearDownNodes([nwaku1], waku);
+  });
+
+  describe("connections", function () {
+    it("same cluster, same shard: nodes connect", async function () {
+      this.timeout(55_000);
+
+      const shardInfo: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 1,
+        shards: [1]
+      };
+
+      await nwaku1.start({
+        relay: true,
+        discv5Discovery: true,
+        peerExchange: true,
+        clusterId: shardInfo.clusterId,
+        pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo)
+      });
+
+      const nwaku1Ma = await nwaku1.getMultiaddrWithId();
+      const nwaku1PeerId = await nwaku1.getPeerId();
+
+      waku = await createLightNode({ shardInfo });
+      await waku.start();
+      await waku.libp2p.dialProtocol(nwaku1Ma, MetadataCodec);
+
+      const shardInfoRes =
+        await waku.libp2p.services.metadata?.query(nwaku1PeerId);
+      expect(shardInfoRes).to.not.be.undefined;
+      expect(shardInfoRes?.clusterId).to.equal(shardInfo.clusterId);
+      expect(shardInfoRes?.shards).to.deep.equal(shardInfo.shards);
+
+      const activeConnections = waku.libp2p.getConnections();
+      expect(activeConnections.length).to.equal(1);
+    });
+
+    it("same cluster, different shard: nodes connect", async function () {
+      this.timeout(55_000);
+
+      const shardInfo1: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 1,
+        shards: [1]
+      };
+
+      const shardInfo2: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 1,
+        shards: [2]
+      };
+
+      await nwaku1.start({
+        relay: true,
+        discv5Discovery: true,
+        peerExchange: true,
+        clusterId: shardInfo1.clusterId,
+        pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo1)
+      });
+
+      const nwaku1Ma = await nwaku1.getMultiaddrWithId();
+      const nwaku1PeerId = await nwaku1.getPeerId();
+
+      waku = await createLightNode({ shardInfo: shardInfo2 });
+      await waku.start();
+      await waku.libp2p.dialProtocol(nwaku1Ma, MetadataCodec);
+
+      const shardInfoRes =
+        await waku.libp2p.services.metadata?.query(nwaku1PeerId);
+      expect(shardInfoRes).to.not.be.undefined;
+      expect(shardInfoRes?.clusterId).to.equal(shardInfo1.clusterId);
+      expect(shardInfoRes?.shards).to.deep.equal(shardInfo1.shards);
+
+      const activeConnections = waku.libp2p.getConnections();
+      expect(activeConnections.length).to.equal(1);
+    });
+
+    it("different cluster, same shard: nodes don't connect", async function () {
+      this.timeout(55_000);
+
+      const shardInfo1: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 1,
+        shards: [1]
+      };
+
+      const shardInfo2: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 2,
+        shards: [1]
+      };
+
+      await nwaku1.start({
+        relay: true,
+        discv5Discovery: true,
+        peerExchange: true,
+        clusterId: shardInfo1.clusterId,
+        pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo1)
+      });
+
+      const nwaku1Ma = await nwaku1.getMultiaddrWithId();
+
+      waku = await createLightNode({ shardInfo: shardInfo2 });
+      await waku.start();
+      await waku.libp2p.dialProtocol(nwaku1Ma, MetadataCodec);
+
+      // add a delay to make sure the connection is closed from the other side
+      await delay(100);
+
+      const activeConnections = waku.libp2p.getConnections();
+      expect(activeConnections.length).to.equal(0);
+    });
+
+    it("different cluster, different shard: nodes don't connect", async function () {
+      this.timeout(55_000);
+
+      const shardInfo1: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 1,
+        shards: [1]
+      };
+
+      const shardInfo2: ShardInfo = {
+        clusterId: 2,
+        shards: [2]
+      };
+
+      await nwaku1.start({
+        relay: true,
+        discv5Discovery: true,
+        peerExchange: true,
+        clusterId: shardInfo1.clusterId,
+        pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo1)
+      });
+
+      const nwaku1Ma = await nwaku1.getMultiaddrWithId();
+
+      waku = await createLightNode({ shardInfo: shardInfo2 });
+      await waku.start();
+      await waku.libp2p.dialProtocol(nwaku1Ma, MetadataCodec);
+
+      // add a delay to make sure the connection is closed from the other side
+      await delay(100);
+
+      const activeConnections = waku.libp2p.getConnections();
+      expect(activeConnections.length).to.equal(0);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("PeerStore has remote peer's shard info after successful connection", async function () {
+    const shardInfo: ShardInfo = {
+      clusterId: 1,
+      shards: [1]
+    };
+
+    await nwaku1.start({
+      relay: true,
+      discv5Discovery: true,
+      peerExchange: true,
+      clusterId: shardInfo.clusterId,
+      pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo)
+    });
+
+    const nwaku1Ma = await nwaku1.getMultiaddrWithId();
+    const nwaku1PeerId = await nwaku1.getPeerId();
+
+    waku = await createLightNode({ shardInfo });
+    await waku.start();
+    await waku.libp2p.dialProtocol(nwaku1Ma, MetadataCodec);
+
+    // delay to ensure the connection is estabilished and shardInfo is updated
+    await delay(500);
+
+    const encodedShardInfo = (
+      await waku.libp2p.peerStore.get(nwaku1PeerId)
+    ).metadata.get("shardInfo");
+    expect(encodedShardInfo).to.not.be.undefined;
+
+    const metadataShardInfo = decodeRelayShard(encodedShardInfo!);
+    expect(metadataShardInfo).not.be.undefined;
+
+    expect(metadataShardInfo!.clusterId).to.eq(shardInfo.clusterId);
+    expect(metadataShardInfo.shards).to.deep.eq(shardInfo.shards);
+  });
+});