Index: src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/util/JsopUtil.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/util/JsopUtil.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/util/JsopUtil.java	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You 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.apache.jackrabbit.oak.util;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.mk.json.JsopTokenizer;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.CoreValue;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.CoreValueFactory;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.Root;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.Tree;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.commons.PathUtils;
+
+/**
+ * Utility class for working with jsop string diffs
+ * 
+ */
+public class JsopUtil {
+
+    private JsopUtil() {
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Applies the commit string to a given Root instance
+     * 
+     * 
+     * The commit string represents a sequence of operations, jsonp style:
+     * 
+     * <p>
+     * / + "test": { "a": { "id": "ref:123" }, "b": { "id" : "str:123" }}
+     * <p>
+     * or
+     * <p>
+     * "/ - "test"
+     * </p>
+     * 
+     * @param root
+     * @param commit
+     *            - the commit string
+     */
+    public static void apply(Root root, String commit, CoreValueFactory vf)
+            throws Exception {
+        int index = commit.indexOf(' ');
+        String path = commit.substring(0, index).trim();
+        commit = commit.substring(index).trim();
+
+        index = commit.indexOf(' ');
+        String op = commit.substring(0, index).trim();
+        commit = commit.substring(index).trim();
+
+        if (!"+".equals(op) && !"-".equals(op)) {
+            throw new Exception("Unknown operation " + op
+                    + ". This should be either '+' or '-'.");
+        }
+        if (commit.length() == 0) {
+            return;
+        }
+        boolean isAdd = "+".equals(op);
+        Tree c = root.getTree(path);
+        if (c == null) {
+            // TODO create intermediary?
+            throw new Exception("non existing path " + path);
+        }
+        if (isAdd) {
+            addTree(c, commit, vf);
+        } else {
+            removeTree(c, commit);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void removeTree(Tree t, String pathIn) {
+        String path = new JsopTokenizer(pathIn).readString();
+
+        Iterator<String> pathIterator = PathUtils.elements(path).iterator();
+        while (pathIterator.hasNext()) {
+            String p = pathIterator.next();
+            if (!t.hasChild(p)) {
+                return;
+            }
+            t = t.getChild(p);
+        }
+        t.remove();
+    }
+
+    private static void addTree(Tree t, String pathIn, CoreValueFactory vf)
+            throws Exception {
+        addTree(t, new JsopTokenizer(pathIn), vf);
+    }
+
+    private static void addTree(Tree t, JsopTokenizer tokenizer,
+            CoreValueFactory vf) throws Exception {
+        if (!tokenizer.matches('}')) {
+            do {
+                String key = tokenizer.readString();
+                tokenizer.read(':');
+                if (tokenizer.matches('{')) {
+                    addTree(t.addChild(key), tokenizer, vf);
+                } else {
+                    String val = tokenizer.readRawValue();
+                    if (val.startsWith("[")) {
+                        val = val.substring(val.indexOf('[') + 1,
+                                val.indexOf(']'));
+                        List<CoreValue> mvp = new ArrayList<CoreValue>();
+                        for (String v : val.split(",")) {
+                            mvp.add(vf.createValue(JsopTokenizer.decodeQuoted(v
+                                    .trim())));
+                        }
+                        t.setProperty(key, mvp);
+                    } else {
+                        t.setProperty(key, vf.createValue(JsopTokenizer
+                                .decodeQuoted(val.trim())));
+                    }
+                }
+            } while (tokenizer.matches(','));
+            if (tokenizer.getPos() != tokenizer.getLastPos()) {
+                tokenizer.read('}');
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
Index: src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/util/JsopUtilTest.java
===================================================================
--- src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/util/JsopUtilTest.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/util/JsopUtilTest.java	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You 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.apache.jackrabbit.oak.util;
+
+import static junit.framework.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static junit.framework.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.AbstractOakTest;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.ContentRepository;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.ContentSession;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.CoreValueFactory;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.Root;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.Tree;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.core.DefaultConflictHandler;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class JsopUtilTest extends AbstractOakTest {
+
+    protected ContentSession session;
+    protected Root root;
+    protected CoreValueFactory vf;
+
+    @Override
+    @Before
+    public void before() throws Exception {
+        super.before();
+        session = createAdminSession();
+        root = session.getCurrentRoot();
+        vf = session.getCoreValueFactory();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected ContentRepository createRepository() {
+        return createEmptyRepository();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void test() throws Exception {
+        Tree t = root.getTree("/");
+        assertFalse(t.hasChild("test"));
+
+        String add = "/ + \"test\": { \"a\": { \"id\": \"123\" }, \"b\": {} }";
+        JsopUtil.apply(root, add, vf);
+        root.commit(DefaultConflictHandler.OURS);
+
+        t = root.getTree("/");
+        assertTrue(t.hasChild("test"));
+
+        t = t.getChild("test");
+        assertEquals(2, t.getChildrenCount());
+        assertTrue(t.hasChild("a"));
+        assertTrue(t.hasChild("b"));
+
+        assertEquals(0, t.getChild("b").getChildrenCount());
+
+        t = t.getChild("a");
+        assertEquals(0, t.getChildrenCount());
+        assertTrue(t.hasProperty("id"));
+        assertEquals("123", t.getProperty("id").getValue().getString());
+
+        String rm = "/ - \"test\"";
+        JsopUtil.apply(root, rm, vf);
+        root.commit(DefaultConflictHandler.OURS);
+
+        t = root.getTree("/");
+        assertFalse(t.hasChild("test"));
+    }
+
+}