diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/flow/FlowRuleOperations.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/flow/FlowRuleOperations.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..498cc05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/flow/FlowRuleOperations.java
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.net.flow;
+
+import com.google.common.base.MoreObjects;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import static org.onosproject.net.flow.FlowRuleOperation.Type.*;
+
+/**
+ * A batch of flow rule operations that are broken into stages.
+ * TODO move this up to parent's package
+ */
+public class FlowRuleOperations {
+
+    private final List<Set<FlowRuleOperation>> stages;
+    private final FlowRuleOperationsContext callback; // TODO consider Optional
+
+    private FlowRuleOperations(List<Set<FlowRuleOperation>> stages,
+                               FlowRuleOperationsContext cb) {
+        this.stages = stages;
+        this.callback = cb;
+    }
+
+    // kryo-constructor
+    protected FlowRuleOperations() {
+        this.stages = Lists.newArrayList();
+        this.callback = null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the flow rule operations as sets of stages that should be
+     * executed sequentially.
+     *
+     * @return flow rule stages
+     */
+    public List<Set<FlowRuleOperation>> stages() {
+        return stages;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the callback for this batch of operations.
+     *
+     * @return callback
+     */
+    public FlowRuleOperationsContext callback() {
+        return callback;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a new builder.
+     *
+     * @return new builder
+     */
+    public static Builder builder() {
+        return new Builder();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(this)
+                .add("stages", stages)
+                .toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * A builder for constructing flow rule operations.
+     */
+    public static final class Builder {
+
+        private final ImmutableList.Builder<Set<FlowRuleOperation>> listBuilder = ImmutableList.builder();
+        private ImmutableSet.Builder<FlowRuleOperation> currentStage = ImmutableSet.builder();
+
+        // prevent use of the default constructor outside of this file; use the above method
+        private Builder() {}
+
+        /**
+         * Appends a flow rule add to the current stage.
+         *
+         * @param flowRule flow rule
+         * @return this
+         */
+        public Builder add(FlowRule flowRule) {
+            currentStage.add(new FlowRuleOperation(flowRule, ADD));
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Appends a flow rule modify to the current stage.
+         *
+         * @param flowRule flow rule
+         * @return this
+         */
+        public Builder modify(FlowRule flowRule) {
+            currentStage.add(new FlowRuleOperation(flowRule, MODIFY));
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Appends a flow rule remove to the current stage.
+         *
+         * @param flowRule flow rule
+         * @return this
+         */
+        // FIXME this is confusing, consider renaming
+        public Builder remove(FlowRule flowRule) {
+            currentStage.add(new FlowRuleOperation(flowRule, REMOVE));
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Closes the current stage.
+         */
+        private void closeStage() {
+            ImmutableSet<FlowRuleOperation> stage = currentStage.build();
+            if (!stage.isEmpty()) {
+                listBuilder.add(stage);
+            }
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Closes the current stage and starts a new one.
+         *
+         * @return this
+         */
+        public Builder newStage() {
+            closeStage();
+            currentStage = ImmutableSet.builder();
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Builds the immutable flow rule operations.
+         *
+         * @return flow rule operations
+         */
+        public FlowRuleOperations build() {
+            return build(null);
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Builds the immutable flow rule operations.
+         *
+         * @param cb the callback to call when this operation completes
+         * @return flow rule operations
+         */
+        public FlowRuleOperations build(FlowRuleOperationsContext cb) {
+            closeStage();
+            return new FlowRuleOperations(listBuilder.build(), cb);
+        }
+    }
+}