diff --git a/cmd/uncloud/service/root.go b/cmd/uncloud/service/root.go
index df169f01..5329876b 100644
--- a/cmd/uncloud/service/root.go
+++ b/cmd/uncloud/service/root.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ func NewRootCommand() *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Manage services in an Uncloud cluster.",
 	}
 	cmd.AddCommand(
+		NewInspectCommand(),
 		NewListCommand(),
 		NewRmCommand(),
 		NewRunCommand(),
diff --git a/internal/cli/client/service.go b/internal/cli/client/service.go
index 9a159316..295c5f29 100644
--- a/internal/cli/client/service.go
+++ b/internal/cli/client/service.go
@@ -36,6 +36,35 @@ type MachineContainerID struct {
 	ContainerID string
 }
 
+type Service struct {
+	ID   string
+	Name string
+}
+
+// NewService creates a new Service object with the specified name that can be used to run service containers.
+// It doesn't create  anything in the cluster yet.
+func (cli *Client) NewService(ctx context.Context, name string) (*Service, error) {
+	// Optimistically check if a service with the specified name already exists.
+	// TODO: introduce a distributed lock to hold for all service related operations.
+	_, err := cli.InspectService(ctx, name)
+	if err == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("service with name '%s' already exists", name)
+	}
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("inspect service: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	id, err := secret.NewID()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("generate service ID: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return &Service{
+		ID:   id,
+		Name: name,
+	}, nil
+}
+
 func (cli *Client) RunService(ctx context.Context, spec api.ServiceSpec) (RunServiceResponse, error) {
 	var resp RunServiceResponse
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/service_test.go b/test/e2e/service_test.go
index 15f7a185..0b4802af 100644
--- a/test/e2e/service_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/service_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,28 @@ import (
 	"uncloud/internal/ucind"
 )
 
+func TestService(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	clusterName := "ucind-test.service"
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	c, _ := createTestCluster(t, clusterName, ucind.CreateClusterOptions{Machines: 1}, true)
+
+	cli, err := c.Machines[0].Connect(ctx)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	t.Run("container lifecycle", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		name := "busybox-container-lifecycle"
+		svc, err := cli.NewService(ctx, name)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, svc.ID)
+		assert.Equal(t, name, svc.Name)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestRunService(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()