diff --git a/doc/writing-python-agents.md b/doc/writing-python-agents.md
index aeb4acbd6..1b87e753a 100644
--- a/doc/writing-python-agents.md
+++ b/doc/writing-python-agents.md
@@ -1,90 +1,90 @@
 # Resource Agent guide for Python
 
 ## Introduction
 
 A simple library for authoring resource agents in Python is
 provided in the `ocf.py` library.
 
 Agents written in Python should be ideally compatible both with Python
 2.7+ and Python 3.3+.
 
 The library provides various helper constants and functions, a logging
 implementation as well as a run loop and metadata generation facility.
 
 ## Constants
 
 The following OCF constants are provided:
 
 * `OCF_SUCCESS`
 * `OCF_ERR_GENERIC`
 * `OCF_ERR_ARGS`
 * `OCF_ERR_UNIMPLEMENTED`
 * `OCF_ERR_PERM`
 * `OCF_ERR_INSTALLED`
 * `OCF_ERR_CONFIGURED`
 * `OCF_NOT_RUNNING`
 * `OCF_RUNNING_MASTER`
 * `OCF_FAILED_MASTER`
 * `OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE`
 * `HA_DEBUG`
 * `HA_DATEFMT`
 * `HA_LOGFACILITY`
 * `HA_LOGFILE`
 * `HA_DEBUGLOG`
 * `OCF_ACTION` -- Set to `$__OCF_ACTION` if set, or to the first command line argument.
 
 ## Logger
 
 The `logger` variable holds a Python standard log object with its
 formatter set to follow the OCF standard logging format.
 
 Example:
 
 ``` python
 
 from ocf import logger
 
 logger.error("Something went terribly wrong.")
 
 ```
 
 ## Helper functions
 
 * `ocf_exit_reason`: Prints the exit error string to stderr.
 * `have_binary`: Returns True if the given binary is available.
 * `is_true`: Converts an OCF truth value to a Python boolean.
 * `get_parameter`: Looks up the matching `OCF_RESKEY_` environment variable.
-* `Metadata`: Class which helps to generate the XML metadata.
+* `Agent`: Class which helps to generate the XML metadata.
 * `run`: OCF run loop implementation.
 
 ## Run loop and metadata example
 
 ``` python
+import os
+import sys
+
 OCF_FUNCTIONS_DIR="%s/lib/heartbeat" % os.environ.get("OCF_ROOT")
 sys.path.append(OCF_FUNCTIONS_DIR)
 import ocf
 
 def start_action(argument):
     print("The start action receives the argument as a parameter: {}".format(argument))
 
 
 def main():
-    metadata = ocf.Metadata("example-agent",
-                            shortdesc="This is an example agent",
-                            longdesc="An example of how to " +
-                            "write an agent in Python using the ocf " +
-                            "Python library.")
-    metadata.add_parameter("argument",
-                           shortdesc="Example argument",
-                           longdesc="This argument is just an example.",
-                           content_type="string",
-                           default="foobar")
-    metadata.add_action("start", timeout=60)
-    ocf.run(metadata,
-            handlers={
-                "start": start_action
-            })
+    agent = ocf.Agent("example-agent",
+                      shortdesc="This is an example agent",
+                      longdesc="An example of how to " +
+                      "write an agent in Python using the ocf " +
+                      "Python library.")
+    agent.add_parameter("argument",
+                        shortdesc="Example argument",
+                        longdesc="This argument is just an example.",
+                        content_type="string",
+                        default="foobar")
+    agent.add_action("start", timeout=60, handler=start_action)
+    agent.run()
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()
 ```
diff --git a/heartbeat/ocf.py b/heartbeat/ocf.py
index 451a41dec..72ec90820 100644
--- a/heartbeat/ocf.py
+++ b/heartbeat/ocf.py
@@ -1,397 +1,441 @@
 #
 # Copyright (c) 2016 Red Hat, Inc, Oyvind Albrigtsen
 #                    All Rights Reserved.
 #
 #
 # This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 # modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 # License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 # version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 #
 # This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 # Lesser General Public License for more details.
 #
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 # License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
 # 
 
 import sys, os, logging, syslog
 
 argv=sys.argv
 env=os.environ
 
 #
 # 	Common variables for the OCF Resource Agents supplied by
 # 	heartbeat.
 #
 
 OCF_SUCCESS=0
 OCF_ERR_GENERIC=1
 OCF_ERR_ARGS=2
 OCF_ERR_UNIMPLEMENTED=3
 OCF_ERR_PERM=4
 OCF_ERR_INSTALLED=5
 OCF_ERR_CONFIGURED=6
 OCF_NOT_RUNNING=7
 
 # Non-standard values.
 #
 # OCF does not include the concept of master/slave resources so we
 #   need to extend it so we can discover a resource's complete state.
 #
 # OCF_RUNNING_MASTER:  
 #    The resource is in "master" mode and fully operational
 # OCF_FAILED_MASTER:
 #    The resource is in "master" mode but in a failed state
 # 
 # The extra two values should only be used during a probe.
 #
 # Probes are used to discover resources that were started outside of
 #    the CRM and/or left behind if the LRM fails.
 # 
 # They can be identified in RA scripts by checking for:
 #   [ "${__OCF_ACTION}" = "monitor" -a "${OCF_RESKEY_CRM_meta_interval}" = "0" ]
 # 
 # Failed "slaves" should continue to use: OCF_ERR_GENERIC
 # Fully operational "slaves" should continue to use: OCF_SUCCESS
 #
 OCF_RUNNING_MASTER=8
 OCF_FAILED_MASTER=9
 
 
 ## Own logger handler that uses old-style syslog handler as otherwise
 ## everything is sourced from /dev/syslog
 class SyslogLibHandler(logging.StreamHandler):
 	"""
 	A handler class that correctly push messages into syslog
 	"""
 	def emit(self, record):
 		syslog_level = {
 			logging.CRITICAL:syslog.LOG_CRIT,
 			logging.ERROR:syslog.LOG_ERR,
 			logging.WARNING:syslog.LOG_WARNING,
 			logging.INFO:syslog.LOG_INFO,
 			logging.DEBUG:syslog.LOG_DEBUG,
 			logging.NOTSET:syslog.LOG_DEBUG,
 		}[record.levelno]
 
 		msg = self.format(record)
 
 		# syslog.syslog can not have 0x00 character inside or exception
 		# is thrown
 		syslog.syslog(syslog_level, msg.replace("\x00","\n"))
 		return
 
 
 OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE = env.get("OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE")
 
 OCF_ACTION = env.get("__OCF_ACTION")
 if OCF_ACTION is None and len(argv) == 2:
 	OCF_ACTION = argv[1]
 
 HA_DEBUG = env.get("HA_debug", 0)
 HA_DATEFMT = env.get("HA_DATEFMT", "%b %d %T ")
 HA_LOGFACILITY = env.get("HA_LOGFACILITY")
 HA_LOGFILE = env.get("HA_LOGFILE")
 HA_DEBUGLOG = env.get("HA_DEBUGLOG")
 
 logging.basicConfig()
 log = logging.getLogger(os.path.basename(argv[0]))
 log.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
 ## add logging to stderr
 if sys.stdout.isatty():
 	seh = logging.StreamHandler(stream=sys.stderr)
 	if HA_DEBUG == 0:
 		seh.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 	sehformatter = logging.Formatter('%(filename)s(%(OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE)s)[%(process)s]:\t%(asctime)s%(levelname)s: %(message)s', datefmt=HA_DATEFMT)
 	seh.setFormatter(sehformatter)
 	log.addHandler(seh)
 
 ## add logging to syslog
 if HA_LOGFACILITY:
 	slh = SyslogLibHandler()
 	if HA_DEBUG == 0:
 		slh.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 	slhformatter = logging.Formatter('%(levelname)s: %(message)s')
 	slh.setFormatter(slhformatter)
 	log.addHandler(slh)
 
 ## add logging to file
 if HA_LOGFILE:
 	lfh = logging.FileHandler(HA_LOGFILE)
 	if HA_DEBUG == 0:
 		lfh.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 	lfhformatter = logging.Formatter('%(filename)s(%(OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE)s)[%(process)s]:\t%(asctime)s%(levelname)s: %(message)s', datefmt=HA_DATEFMT)
 	lfh.setFormatter(lfhformatter)
 	log.addHandler(lfh)
 
 ## add debug logging to file
 if HA_DEBUGLOG and HA_LOGFILE != HA_DEBUGLOG:
 	dfh = logging.FileHandler(HA_DEBUGLOG)
 	if HA_DEBUG == 0:
 		dfh.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 	dfhformatter = logging.Formatter('%(filename)s(%(OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE)s)[%(process)s]:\t%(asctime)s%(levelname)s: %(message)s', datefmt=HA_DATEFMT)
 	dfh.setFormatter(dfhformatter)
 	log.addHandler(dfh)
 
 logger = logging.LoggerAdapter(log, {'OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE': OCF_RESOURCE_INSTANCE})
 
 
+_exit_reason_set = False
+
 def ocf_exit_reason(msg):
 	"""
 	Print exit error string to stderr.
 
 	Allows the OCF agent to provide a string describing
 	why the exit code was returned.
 	"""
+	global _exit_reason_set
 	cookie = env.get("OCF_EXIT_REASON_PREFIX", "ocf-exit-reason:")
 	sys.stderr.write("{}{}\n".format(cookie, msg))
 	sys.stderr.flush()
 	logger.error(msg)
+	_exit_reason_set = True
 
 
 def have_binary(name):
 	"""
 	True if binary exists, False otherwise.
 	"""
 	def _access_check(fn):
 		return (os.path.exists(fn) and
 				os.access(fn, os.F_OK | os.X_OK) and
 				not os.path.isdir(fn))
 	if _access_check(name):
 		return True
 	path = env.get("PATH", os.defpath).split(os.pathsep)
 	seen = set()
 	for dir in path:
 		dir = os.path.normcase(dir)
 		if dir not in seen:
 			seen.add(dir)
 			name2 = os.path.join(dir, name)
 			if _access_check(name2):
 				return True
 	return False
 
 
 def is_true(val):
 	"""
 	Convert an OCF truth value to a
 	Python boolean.
 	"""
 	return val in ("yes", "true", "1", 1, "YES", "TRUE", "ja", "on", "ON", True)
 
 
 def is_probe():
 	"""
 	A probe is defined as a monitor operation
 	with an interval of zero. This is called
 	by Pacemaker to check the status of a possibly
 	not running resource.
 	"""
 	return (OCF_ACTION == "monitor" and
 			env.get("OCF_RESKEY_CRM_meta_interval", "") == "0")
 
 
 def get_parameter(name, default=None):
 	"""
 	Extract the parameter value from the environment
 	"""
 	return env.get("OCF_RESKEY_{}".format(name), default)
 
 
 class Parameter(object):
 	def __init__(self, name, shortdesc, longdesc, content_type, unique, required, default):
 		self.name = name
 		self.shortdesc = shortdesc
 		self.longdesc = longdesc
 		self.content_type = content_type
 		self.unique = unique
 		self.required = required
 		self.default = default
 
 	def __str__(self):
+		return self.to_xml()
+
+	def to_xml(self):
 		ret = '<parameter name="' + self.name + '"'
 		if self.unique:
 			ret += ' unique="1"'
 		if self.required:
 			ret += ' required="1"'
 		ret += ">\n"
 		ret += '<longdesc lang="en">' + self.longdesc + '</longdesc>' + "\n"
 		ret += '<shortdesc lang="en">' + self.shortdesc + '</shortdesc>' + "\n"
 		ret += '<content type="' + self.content_type + '"'
 		if self.default is not None:
 			ret += ' default="{}"'.format(self.default)
 		ret += " />\n"
 		ret += "</parameter>\n"
 		return ret
 
 
+
 class Action(object):
 	def __init__(self, name, timeout, interval, depth):
 		self.name = name
 		self.timeout = timeout
 		self.interval = interval
 		self.depth = depth
 
 	def __str__(self):
+		return self.to_xml()
+
+	def to_xml(self):
 		def opt(s, name, var):
 			if var is not None:
 				if type(var) == int:
 					var = "{}s".format(var)
 				return s + ' {}="{}"'.format(name, var)
 			return s
 		ret = '<action name="{}"'.format(self.name)
 		ret = opt(ret, "timeout", self.timeout)
 		ret = opt(ret, "interval", self.interval)
 		ret = opt(ret, "depth", self.depth)
 		ret += " />\n"
 		return ret
 
 
-class Metadata(object):
+class Agent(object):
 	"""
-	Metadata XML generator helper.
+	OCF Resource Agent metadata XML generator helper.
+
+	Use add_parameter/add_action to define parameters
+	and actions for the agent. Then call run() to
+	start the agent main loop.
+
+	See doc/writing-python-agents.md for an example
+	of how to use it.
 	"""
 
 	def __init__(self, name, shortdesc, longdesc):
 		self.name = name
 		self.shortdesc = shortdesc
 		self.longdesc = longdesc
 		self.parameters = []
 		self.actions = []
+		self._handlers = {}
 
 	def add_parameter(self, name, shortdesc="", longdesc="", content_type="string", unique=False, required=False, default=None):
 		for param in self.parameters:
 			if param.name == name:
 				raise ValueError("Parameter {} defined twice in metadata".format(name))
 		self.parameters.append(Parameter(name=name,
 										 shortdesc=shortdesc,
 										 longdesc=longdesc,
 										 content_type=content_type,
 										 unique=unique,
 										 required=required,
 										 default=default))
 		return self
 
-	def add_action(self, name, timeout=None, interval=None, depth=None):
+	def add_action(self, name, timeout=None, interval=None, depth=None, handler=None):
 		self.actions.append(Action(name=name,
 								   timeout=timeout,
 								   interval=interval,
 								   depth=depth))
+		if handler is not None:
+			self._handlers[name] = handler
 		return self
 
 	def __str__(self):
+		return self.to_xml()
+
+	def to_xml(self):
 		return """<?xml version="1.0"?>
 <!DOCTYPE resource-agent SYSTEM "ra-api-1.dtd">
 <resource-agent name="{name}">
 <version>1.0</version>
 <longdesc lang="en">
 {longdesc}
 </longdesc>
 <shortdesc lang="en">{shortdesc}</shortdesc>
 
 <parameters>
 {parameters}
 </parameters>
 
 <actions>
 {actions}
 </actions>
 
 </resource-agent>
 """.format(name=self.name,
 		   longdesc=self.longdesc,
 		   shortdesc=self.shortdesc,
-		   parameters="".join(str(p) for p in self.parameters),
-		   actions="".join(str(a) for a in self.actions))
+		   parameters="".join(p.to_xml() for p in self.parameters),
+		   actions="".join(a.to_xml() for a in self.actions))
+
+	def run(self):
+		run(self)
 
 
-def run(metadata, handlers):
+def run(agent, handlers=None):
 	"""
 	Main loop implementation for resource agents.
 	Does not return.
 
 	Arguments:
 
-	metadata: Metadata structure generated by ocf.Metadata
+	agent: Agent object.
 
 	handlers: Dict of action name to handler function.
 
 	Handler functions can take parameters as arguments,
 	the run loop will read parameter values from the
 	environment and pass to the handler.
 	"""
 	import inspect
 
+	agent._handlers.update(handlers or {})
+	handlers = agent._handlers
+
 	def check_required_params():
-		for p in metadata.parameters:
+		for p in agent.parameters:
 			if p.required and get_parameter(p.name) is None:
 				ocf_exit_reason("{}: Required parameter not set".format(p.name))
 				sys.exit(OCF_ERR_CONFIGURED)
 
 	def call_handler(func):
 		if hasattr(inspect, 'signature'):
 			params = inspect.signature(func).parameters.keys()
 		else:
 			params = inspect.getargspec(func).args
-		def default_for_parameter(paramname):
-			for meta in metadata.parameters:
-				if meta.name == paramname:
-					return meta.default
-			return None
-		arglist = [get_parameter(p, default_for_parameter(p)) for p in params]
-		rc = func(*arglist)
-		if rc is None:
-			rc = OCF_SUCCESS
-		return rc
+		def value_for_parameter(param):
+			val = get_parameter(val)
+			if val is not None:
+				return val
+			for p in agent.parameters:
+				if p.name == param:
+					return p.default
+		arglist = [value_for_parameter(p) for p in params]
+		try:
+			rc = func(*arglist)
+			if rc is None:
+				rc = OCF_SUCCESS
+			return rc
+		except Exception as err:
+			if not _exit_reason_set:
+				ocf_exit_reason(str(err))
+			else:
+				logger.error(str(err))
+			return OCF_ERR_GENERIC
+
+	if len(sys.argv) == 2 and sys.argv[1] in ("-h", "--help"):
+		sys.stdout.write("usage: %s {%s}\n\n" % (sys.argv[0], "|".join(sorted(handlers.keys()))) +
+		                 "Expects to have a fully populated OCF RA compliant environment set.\n")
+		sys.exit(OCF_SUCCESS)
 
 	if OCF_ACTION is None:
 		ocf_exit_reason("No action argument set")
 		sys.exit(OCF_ERR_UNIMPLEMENTED)
 	if OCF_ACTION in ('meta-data', 'usage', 'methods'):
-		sys.stdout.write(str(metadata) + "\n")
+		sys.stdout.write(agent.to_xml() + "\n")
 		sys.exit(OCF_SUCCESS)
 
 	check_required_params()
 	if OCF_ACTION in handlers:
 		rc = call_handler(handlers[OCF_ACTION])
 		sys.exit(rc)
 	sys.exit(OCF_ERR_UNIMPLEMENTED)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
 	import unittest
 
 	class TestMetadata(unittest.TestCase):
 		def test_noparams_noactions(self):
-			m = Metadata("foo", shortdesc="shortdesc", longdesc="longdesc")
+			m = Agent("foo", shortdesc="shortdesc", longdesc="longdesc")
 			self.assertEqual("""<?xml version="1.0"?>
 <!DOCTYPE resource-agent SYSTEM "ra-api-1.dtd">
 <resource-agent name="foo">
 <version>1.0</version>
 <longdesc lang="en">
 longdesc
 </longdesc>
 <shortdesc lang="en">shortdesc</shortdesc>
 
 <parameters>
 
 </parameters>
 
 <actions>
 
 </actions>
 
 </resource-agent>
 """, str(m))
 
 		def test_params_actions(self):
-			m = Metadata("foo", shortdesc="shortdesc", longdesc="longdesc")
+			m = Agent("foo", shortdesc="shortdesc", longdesc="longdesc")
 			m.add_parameter("testparam")
 			m.add_action("start")
 			self.assertEqual(str(m.actions[0]), '<action name="start" />\n')
 
 	unittest.main()