diff --git a/copycat/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/copycat/runtime/Coordinator.java b/copycat/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/copycat/runtime/Coordinator.java
index efc597ec080..0684bae44a5 100644
--- a/copycat/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/copycat/runtime/Coordinator.java
+++ b/copycat/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/copycat/runtime/Coordinator.java
@@ -22,10 +22,25 @@ import org.apache.kafka.copycat.util.Callback;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 /**
- * The Coordinator interface works with coordinators on other workers to manage a set of Jobs.
- * Each job is a Connector instance with associated config and triggers tasks that are then run
- * in workers. The assignment and tracking of those tasks in workers is also managed by the
- * coordinator.
+ * <p>
+ * The coordinator interface manages the interaction between workers and is the main interface for external components
+ * to make changes to the state of the cluster. For example, in distributed mode, an implementation of this class
+ * knows how to accept a connector configuration, may need to route it to the current leader worker for the cluster so
+ * the config can be written to persistent storage, and then ensures the new connector is correctly instantiated on one
+ * of the workers.
+ * </p>
+ * <p>
+ * This class must implement all the actions that can be taken on the cluster (add/remove connectors, pause/resume tasks,
+ * get state of connectors and tasks, etc). The non-Java interfaces to the cluster (REST API and CLI) are very simple
+ * wrappers of the functionality provided by this interface.
+ * </p>
+ * <p>
+ * In standalone mode, this implementation of this class will be trivial because no coordination is needed. In that case,
+ * the implementation will mainly be delegating tasks directly to other components. For example, when creating a new
+ * connector in standalone mode, there is no need to persist the config and the connector and its tasks must run in the
+ * same process, so the standalone coordinator implementation can immediately instantiate and start the connector and its
+ * tasks.
+ * </p>
  */
 public interface Coordinator {