diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/examples/source/simple/SimpleSource.java b/examples/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/examples/source/simple/SimpleSource.java
index 44a108bc..40800a35 100644
--- a/examples/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/examples/source/simple/SimpleSource.java
+++ b/examples/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/examples/source/simple/SimpleSource.java
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public long getPending() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public List<Integer> getPartitions() {
+    public List<Integer> getActivePartitions() {
         return Sourcer.defaultPartitions();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Service.java b/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Service.java
index d327a7a0..6f76a5d7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Service.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Service.java
@@ -269,11 +269,19 @@ public void partitionsFn(
             return;
         }
 
-        List<Integer> partitions = this.sourcer.getPartitions();
+        List<Integer> partitions = this.sourcer.getActivePartitions();
+        Integer totalPartitions = this.sourcer.getTotalPartitions();
+
+        SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse.Result.Builder resultBuilder =
+                SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse.Result.newBuilder()
+                        .addAllPartitions(partitions);
+
+        if (totalPartitions != null) {
+            resultBuilder.setTotalPartitions(totalPartitions);
+        }
+
         responseObserver.onNext(SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse.newBuilder()
-                .setResult(
-                        SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse.Result.newBuilder()
-                                .addAllPartitions(partitions))
+                .setResult(resultBuilder)
                 .build());
         responseObserver.onCompleted();
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Sourcer.java b/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Sourcer.java
index 3cf58307..0504f833 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Sourcer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/Sourcer.java
@@ -62,6 +62,39 @@ public static List<Integer> defaultPartitions() {
      * is in a case like Kafka, where a reader can read from multiple Kafka partitions.
      *
      * @return list of partitions
+     * @deprecated Use {@link #getActivePartitions()} instead. This method will be removed in a future release.
      */
-    public abstract List<Integer> getPartitions();
+    @Deprecated
+    public List<Integer> getPartitions() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * method returns the active partitions associated with the source, will be used by the platform to determine
+     * the partitions to which the watermark should be published. If the source doesn't have partitions,
+     * `defaultPartitions()` can be used to return the default partitions.
+     * In most cases, the defaultPartitions() should be enough; the cases where we need to implement custom getActivePartitions()
+     * is in a case like Kafka, where a reader can read from multiple Kafka partitions.
+     * <p>
+     * Note: For backward compatibility, if this method is not overridden, it will fall back to {@link #getPartitions()}.
+     * New implementations should override this method instead of getPartitions().
+     *
+     * @return list of active partitions
+     */
+    public List<Integer> getActivePartitions() {
+        // Fall back to deprecated getPartitions() for backward compatibility
+        return getPartitions();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * method returns the total number of partitions in the source.
+     * This is optional and can be used by the platform for informational purposes.
+     * By default, this returns null indicating that the total partitions information is not available.
+     * Override this method if your source knows the total number of partitions.
+     *
+     * @return total number of partitions, or null if not available
+     */
+    public Integer getTotalPartitions() {
+        return null;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/SourcerTestKit.java b/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/SourcerTestKit.java
index 21cc6e98..ab6d9bca 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/SourcerTestKit.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/SourcerTestKit.java
@@ -245,6 +245,18 @@ public void onCompleted() {
          * @throws Exception if the request fails
          */
         public List<Integer> sendGetPartitionsRequest() throws Exception {
+            return sendGetPartitionsRequestWithTotal().getPartitions();
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * sendGetPartitionsRequestWithTotal sends a getPartitions request to the server
+         * and returns both the partitions list and total partitions count.
+         *
+         * @return the partitions response containing partitions list and optional total partitions
+         *
+         * @throws Exception if the request fails
+         */
+        public PartitionsResult sendGetPartitionsRequestWithTotal() throws Exception {
             CompletableFuture<SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse> future = new CompletableFuture<>();
             StreamObserver<SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse> observer = new StreamObserver<>() {
 
@@ -267,7 +279,23 @@ public void onCompleted() {
                 }
             };
             sourceStub.partitionsFn(Empty.newBuilder().build(), observer);
-            return future.get().getResult().getPartitionsList();
+            SourceOuterClass.PartitionsResponse.Result result = future.get().getResult();
+            Integer totalPartitions = result.hasTotalPartitions() ? result.getTotalPartitions() : null;
+            return new PartitionsResult(result.getPartitionsList(), totalPartitions);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * PartitionsResult holds the result of a partitions request.
+     */
+    @Getter
+    public static class PartitionsResult {
+        private final List<Integer> partitions;
+        private final Integer totalPartitions;
+
+        public PartitionsResult(List<Integer> partitions, Integer totalPartitions) {
+            this.partitions = partitions;
+            this.totalPartitions = totalPartitions;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/proto/source/v1/source.proto b/src/main/proto/source/v1/source.proto
index 2de4add8..aae5a7c4 100644
--- a/src/main/proto/source/v1/source.proto
+++ b/src/main/proto/source/v1/source.proto
@@ -192,8 +192,10 @@ message PendingResponse {
  */
 message PartitionsResponse {
   message Result {
-    // Required field holding the list of partitions.
+    // Required field holding the list of active partitions.
     repeated int32 partitions = 1;
+    // Total number of partitions in the source
+    optional int32 total_partitions = 2;
   }
   // Required field holding the result.
   Result result = 1;
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerErrTest.java b/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerErrTest.java
index f2cc9a5d..5c69a132 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerErrTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerErrTest.java
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ public void nack(NackRequest request) {
         }
 
         @Override
-        public List<Integer> getPartitions() {
+        public List<Integer> getActivePartitions() {
             return Sourcer.defaultPartitions();
         }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerTest.java b/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerTest.java
index 6c3f05c2..877feca0 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/numaproj/numaflow/sourcer/ServerTest.java
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ public void read(ReadRequest request, OutputObserver observer) {
         }
 
         @Override
-        public List<Integer> getPartitions() {
+        public List<Integer> getActivePartitions() {
             return Sourcer.defaultPartitions();
         }