A method and system for managing state data of a service in a service-oriented architecture by establishing a gateway for service-oriented state comprising: configuring an extensible, pluggable interface to support for extensible processor interfaces; data query support on service state data, automated notification capability on service state to a client; and automated data transform on service state data to a client format; defining an interface framework for interaction between a service and the gateway. The method also includes establishing an extensible meta-data definition comprising an extensible set of service state data attributes including state data qualifiers, constraints, and access mechanisms; and utilizing one or more pluggable processors configured to utilize the extensible meta-data definition for interfaces and decision making based on the meta-data.