diff --git a/internal/pkg/apis/config/v3/defaults.go b/internal/pkg/apis/config/v3/defaults.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fcdff2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/pkg/apis/config/v3/defaults.go
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021-present Ciena Corporation
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package config
+
+import (
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func NewDefaultConfig() *GlobalConfigSpec {
+	return &GlobalConfigSpec{
+		ApiVersion:   "v3",
+		CurrentStack: "",
+		Stacks:       []*StackConfigSpec{NewDefaultStack("default")},
+	}
+}
+
+func NewDefaultStack(name string) *StackConfigSpec {
+	return &StackConfigSpec{
+		Name:    name,
+		Server:  "localhost:55555",
+		Kafka:   "localhost:9093",
+		KvStore: "localhost:2379",
+		Tls: TlsConfigSpec{
+			UseTls: false,
+			Verify: false,
+		},
+		Grpc: GrpcConfigSpec{
+			ConnectTimeout:     5 * time.Second,
+			Timeout:            5 * time.Minute,
+			MaxCallRecvMsgSize: "4MB",
+		},
+		KvStoreConfig: KvStoreConfigSpec{
+			Timeout: 5 * time.Second,
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func (g *GlobalConfigSpec) StackByName(name string) *StackConfigSpec {
+	for _, stack := range g.Stacks {
+		if stack.Name == name {
+			return stack
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (g *GlobalConfigSpec) CurrentAsStack() *StackConfigSpec {
+	if g.CurrentStack == "" {
+		if len(g.Stacks) == 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return g.Stacks[0]
+	}
+	return g.StackByName(g.CurrentStack)
+}
+
+func (g GlobalConfigSpec) Current() *StackConfigSpec {
+	stack := g.CurrentAsStack()
+	if stack == nil {
+		if len(g.Stacks) > 1 {
+			log.New(os.Stderr, "ERROR: ", 0).
+				Fatal("multiple stacks configured without current specified")
+		}
+		log.New(os.Stderr, "ERROR: ", 0).
+			Fatalf("current stack specified, '%s', does not exist as a configured stack",
+				g.CurrentStack)
+	}
+	return stack
+}