diff --git a/lib/ansible/group.py b/lib/ansible/group.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..704c64611da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/group.py
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+# (c) 2012, Michael DeHaan <michael.dehaan@gmail.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+#############################################
+
+# from ansible import errors
+
+class Group(object):
+    """ 
+    Group of ansible hosts
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, name=None):
+        self.name = name
+        self.hosts = []
+        self.vars = {}
+        self.child_groups = []
+        self.parent_groups = []
+        if self.name is None:
+           raise Exception("group name is required")
+
+    def add_child_group(self, group):
+        if self == group:
+            raise Exception("can't add group to itself")
+        self.child_groups.append(group)
+        group.parent_groups.append(self)
+
+    def add_host(self, host):
+        self.hosts.append(host)
+        host.add_group(self)
+
+    def set_variable(self, key, value):
+        self.vars[key] = value
+
+    def get_hosts(self):
+        hosts = []
+        for kid in self.child_groups:
+            hosts.extend(kid.get_hosts())
+        hosts.extend(self.hosts)
+        return hosts 
+
+    def get_variables(self):
+        vars = {}
+        # FIXME: verify this variable override order is what we want
+        for ancestor in self.get_ancestors():
+           vars.update(ancestor.get_variables())
+        vars.update(self.vars)
+        return vars
+
+    def _get_ancestors(self):
+        results = {}
+        for g in self.parent_groups:
+            results[g.name] = g
+            results.update(g._get_ancestors())
+        return results
+
+    def get_ancestors(self):
+        return self._get_ancestors().values()
+
+
+
diff --git a/lib/ansible/host.py b/lib/ansible/host.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5b7efea1509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/host.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# (c) 2012, Michael DeHaan <michael.dehaan@gmail.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+#############################################
+
+from ansible import errors
+import ansible.constants as C
+
+class Host(object):
+    """ 
+    Group of ansible hosts
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, name=None, port=None):
+        self.name = name
+        self.vars = {}
+        self.groups = []
+        if port and port != C.DEFAULT_REMOTE_PORT:
+            self.set_variable('ansible_ssh_port', int(port))
+
+        if self.name is None:
+            raise Exception("host name is required")
+
+    def add_group(self, group):
+        self.groups.append(group)
+
+    def set_variable(self, key, value):
+        self.vars[key]=value;
+
+    def get_groups(self):
+        groups = {}
+        for g in self.groups:
+            groups[g.name] = g
+            ancestors = g.get_ancestors()
+            for a in ancestors:
+                groups[a.name] = a                
+        return groups.values()
+
+    def get_variables(self):
+        results = {}
+        for group in self.groups:
+            results.update(group.get_variables())
+        results.update(self.vars)
+        results['inventory_hostname'] = self.name
+        groups = self.get_groups()
+        results['group_names'] = [ g.name for g in groups if g.name != 'all']
+        return results
+