diff --git a/DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md b/DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md
index e7cc123d4d62a..4d71ffd70a2ad 100644
--- a/DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md
+++ b/DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ Fork [opensearch-project/OpenSearch](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenS
 
 OpenSearch builds using Java 14 at a minimum. This means you must have a JDK 14 installed with the environment variable `JAVA_HOME` referencing the path to Java home for your JDK 14 installation, e.g. `JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-14`.
 
-One easy way to get Java 14 on *nix is to use [sdkman](https://sdkman.io/). 
+One easy way to get Java 14 on *nix is to use [sdkman](https://sdkman.io/).
 
 ```bash
 curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash
@@ -189,6 +189,14 @@ The canonical example of this is the ICU analysis plugin. It is important for fo
 
 Another example is the `discovery-gce` plugin. It is *vital* to folks running in [GCP](https://cloud.google.com/) but useless otherwise and it depends on a dozen extra jars.
 
+### `sandbox`
+
+This is where the community can add experimental features in to OpenSearch. There are three directories inside the sandbox - `libs`, `modules` and `plugins` - which mirror the subdirectories in the project root and have the same guidelines for deciding on where a new feature goes. The artifacts from `libs` and `modules` will be automatically included in the **snapshot** distributions. Once a certain feature is deemed worthy to be included in the OpenSearch release, it will be promoted to the corresponding subdirectory in the project root. **Note**: The sandbox code do not have any other guarantees such as backwards compatibility or long term support and can be removed at any time.
+
+To exclude the modules from snapshot distributions, use the `sandbox.enabled` system property.
+
+    ./gradlew assemble -Dsandbox.enabled=false
+
 ### `qa`
 
 Honestly this is kind of in flux and we're not 100% sure where we'll end up. We welcome your thoughts and help.
diff --git a/distribution/build.gradle b/distribution/build.gradle
index 3e242aa1a2fc0..2f1624ecf6235 100644
--- a/distribution/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/build.gradle
@@ -238,6 +238,34 @@ project.rootProject.subprojects.findAll { it.parent.path == ':modules' }.each {
   restTestExpansions['expected.modules.count'] += 1
 }
 
+// copy all sandbox modules if the distribution is a snapshot
+if (VersionProperties.isOpenSearchSnapshot()) {
+  Properties sysProps = System.getProperties();
+  // setting this property to false will exclude the sandbox modules from the distribution
+  final String enableSandbox = sysProps.getProperty("sandbox.enabled", "true");
+  if(sysProps != null && enableSandbox == "true") {
+    tasks.withType(NoticeTask).configureEach {
+      project(':sandbox:libs').subprojects.each { Project lib ->
+        licensesDir lib.file('licenses')
+        source lib.file('src/main/java')
+      }
+    }
+    project.rootProject.subprojects.findAll { it.parent.path == ':sandbox:modules' }.each { Project module ->
+      File licenses = new File(module.projectDir, 'licenses')
+      if (licenses.exists()) {
+        buildNotice.configure {
+          licensesDir licenses
+          source module.file('src/main/java')
+        }
+      }
+
+      copyModule(processOutputsTaskProvider, module)
+      copyLog4jProperties(buildLog4jConfigTaskProvider, module)
+      restTestExpansions['expected.modules.count'] += 1
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 copyModule(processSystemdOutputsTaskProvider, project(':modules:systemd'))
 
 project(':test:external-modules').subprojects.each { Project testModule ->
@@ -268,7 +296,7 @@ configure(subprojects.findAll { ['archives', 'packages'].contains(it.name) }) {
    *             Properties to expand when copying packaging files             *
    *****************************************************************************/
   configurations {
-    ['libs', 'libsPluginCli', 'libsKeystoreCli', 'libsSecurityCli'].each {
+    ['libs', 'libsPluginCli', 'libsKeystoreCli'].each {
       create(it) {
         canBeConsumed = false
         canBeResolved = true
diff --git a/sandbox/build.gradle b/sandbox/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..379595a4ba087
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sandbox/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * This module provides a space in OpenSearch for the community to easily experiment with new ideas and innovate.
+ * Ideally, this is where an experimental features will reside before it can be promoted to the corresponding directory
+ * in the project root. The sandbox module contains three subdirectories, that mirror the root libs, modules and
+ * plugins directories, each with similar intention.
+ *
+ * All artifacts from the sandbox/libs and sandbox/modules will be included in the snapshot distributions automatically.
+ * During assembling distributions, however, we will check if the following two conditions are met, for including the
+ * sandbox modules,
+
+ * 1. The distribution is a snapshot i.e. the build system property build.snapshot is set to true. We use this because,
+ * it will prevent accidental inclusion of these artifacts in a release distribution.
+ *
+ * 2. The sandbox.enabled system property is set to true. This new extra flag is added because we can exclude the
+ * modules from the snapshot distributions, if needed. For instance, we may want to run performance tests on snapshots
+ * without the sandbox modules.
+ *
+ * To build the distributions without the sandbox modules,
+ *   ./gradlew assemble -Dsandbox.enabled=false
+ *
+ * Similarly we can run OpenSearch from source without the sandbox modules
+ *   ./gradlew run -Dsandbox.enabled=false
+ */
+subprojects {
+  group = 'org.opensearch.sandbox'
+}
diff --git a/sandbox/libs/build.gradle b/sandbox/libs/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a2ebb4764e89e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sandbox/libs/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+subprojects {
+  /*
+   * All subprojects are java projects using OpenSearch's standard build
+   * tools.
+   */
+  apply plugin: 'opensearch.build'
+
+  /*
+   * Subprojects may depend on the "core" lib but may not depend on any
+   * other libs. This keeps our dependencies simpler.
+   */
+  project.afterEvaluate {
+    configurations.all { Configuration conf ->
+      dependencies.matching { it instanceof ProjectDependency }.all { ProjectDependency dep ->
+        Project depProject = dep.dependencyProject
+        if (depProject != null
+          && false == depProject.path.equals(':libs:opensearch-core')
+          && depProject.path.startsWith(':libs')) {
+          throw new InvalidUserDataException("projects in :libs " +
+            "may not depend on other projects libs except " +
+            ":libs:opensearch-core but " +
+            "${project.path} depends on ${depProject.path}")
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sandbox/modules/build.gradle b/sandbox/modules/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..61afb2c568e1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sandbox/modules/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+configure(subprojects.findAll { it.parent.path == project.path }) {
+  group = 'org.opensearch.sandbox'
+  apply plugin: 'opensearch.testclusters'
+  apply plugin: 'opensearch.opensearchplugin'
+
+  opensearchplugin {
+    name project.name
+    licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/APACHE-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+    noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sandbox/plugins/build.gradle b/sandbox/plugins/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..61afb2c568e1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sandbox/plugins/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+configure(subprojects.findAll { it.parent.path == project.path }) {
+  group = 'org.opensearch.sandbox'
+  apply plugin: 'opensearch.testclusters'
+  apply plugin: 'opensearch.opensearchplugin'
+
+  opensearchplugin {
+    name project.name
+    licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/APACHE-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+    noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
+  }
+}
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index 6599a84891db4..429c2005250ea 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ project(':example-plugins').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'plugi
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'libs'))
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'modules'))
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'plugins'))
+addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'sandbox'))
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'qa'))
 addSubProjects('test', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'test/external-modules'))