diff --git a/clusterd b/clusterd
index 8ee7aea..fcefac3 100755
--- a/clusterd
+++ b/clusterd
@@ -1366,6 +1366,17 @@ sub clp_rx_CMD {
 	return 1;
 }
 
+# send_tcp_cp($socket,$cb,$timeout,@args)
+#
+# send a cluster protocoll message over an async tcp socket.
+#
+# assume $CLUSTER_PW is valid
+#
+sub send_tcp_cp {
+	my ($s,$cb,$timeout,@args)=@_;
+	my $data=sign($CLUSTER_PW,encode(@args));
+	My::Select::INET::send_tcp($s,pack('n',length($data)).$data,$timeout,$cb);
+}
 #----------------------------------------------------------
 
 #our $CLUSTER_PW;