diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/accessor.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/accessor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8790656
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/accessor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+export type NodeDataAccessors<T> = {
+  id: (d: T) => string;
+  children: (d: T) => T[];
+  isLeaf: (d: T) => boolean;
+};
+
+export class Accessor<T> {
+  constructor(public accessors: Partial<NodeDataAccessors<T>> = {}) {}
+
+  getId(d: T): string {
+    if (this.accessors.id) {
+      return this.accessors.id(d);
+    } else if (d && typeof d === "object" && "id" in d) {
+      return d.id as string;
+    } else {
+      throw new Error("No id found for node data. Specify an id accessor.");
+    }
+  }
+
+  getChildren(d: T): null | T[] {
+    if (this.accessors.children) {
+      return this.accessors.children(d);
+    } else if (d && typeof d === "object" && "children" in d) {
+      return d.children as T[];
+    } else {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  getIsLeaf(d: T): boolean {
+    if (this.accessors.isLeaf) {
+      return this.accessors.isLeaf(d);
+    } else {
+      return !this.getChildren(d);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/arborist.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/arborist.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e101a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/arborist.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export class Arborist {
+  constructor(root: NodeStruct, accessors: Accessor)
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/create-tree.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/create-tree.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..864f18f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/create-tree.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { Accessor, NodeDataAccessors } from "./accessor";
+import { createRootNodeStruct } from "./root-node-struct";
+import { TreeStruct } from "./tree-struct";
+
+type Options<T> = NodeDataAccessors<T>;
+
+export function createTree<T>(data: T[], options: Partial<Options<T>> = {}) {
+  const accessor = new Accessor(options);
+  const root = createRootNodeStruct(data, accessor));
+  const tree =  new TreeStruct(root, accessor)
+
+  return {
+    nodes: tree.nodes
+  }
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/flatten.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/flatten.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a07be7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/flatten.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { TreeApi } from "../interfaces/tree-api";
+import { NodeStruct } from "./node-struct";
+
+export type RowStruct<T> = {
+  node: NodeStruct<T>;
+  index: number;
+};
+
+export function flatten<T>(tree: TreeApi<T>): RowStruct<T>[] {
+  const list: RowStruct<T>[] = [];
+  const queue = [...tree.root.children!];
+  let node = queue.shift();
+  let index = 0;
+  while (node) {
+    list.push({
+      node,
+      index: index++,
+    });
+    if (!node.isLeaf && tree.isOpen(node.id)) {
+      queue.unshift(...node.children!);
+    }
+    node = queue.shift();
+  }
+  return list;
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/node-struct.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/node-struct.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c870cb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/node-struct.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { Accessor } from "./accessor";
+
+export type NodeStruct<T> = {
+  id: string;
+  data: T;
+  children: NodeStruct<T>[] | null;
+  parent: NodeStruct<T> | null;
+  isLeaf: boolean;
+  level: number;
+};
+
+export function createNodeStruct<T>(args: {
+  data: T;
+  level: number;
+  parent: NodeStruct<T> | null;
+  accessor: Accessor<T>;
+}) {
+  const { data, accessor, level, parent } = args;
+  const id = accessor.getId(data);
+  const isLeaf = accessor.getIsLeaf(data);
+  const children = isLeaf ? null : accessor.getChildren(data);
+  const node: NodeStruct<T> = {
+    id,
+    isLeaf,
+    data,
+    level,
+    parent,
+    children: null,
+  };
+  if (children) {
+    node.children = children.map((child) =>
+      createNodeStruct({
+        data: child,
+        parent: node,
+        level: level + 1,
+        accessor,
+      }),
+    );
+  }
+  return node;
+}
+
+export function find<T>(
+  id: string,
+  current?: NodeStruct<T>,
+): NodeStruct<T> | null {
+  if (!current) return null;
+  if (current.id === id) return current;
+  if (current.children) {
+    for (let child of current.children) {
+      const found = find(id, child);
+      if (found) return found;
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/root-node-struct.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/root-node-struct.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7241fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/root-node-struct.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { Accessor } from "./accessor";
+import { NodeStruct, createNodeStruct } from "./node-struct";
+
+export const ROOT_ID = "__REACT_ARBORIST_INTERNAL_ROOT__";
+
+export function createRootNodeStruct<T>(data: T[], accessor: Accessor<T>) {
+  const root: NodeStruct<T> = {
+    id: ROOT_ID,
+    data: null as unknown as T,
+    level: -1,
+    isLeaf: false,
+    parent: null,
+    children: null,
+  };
+  root.children = data.map((child) =>
+    createNodeStruct({ data: child, parent: root, level: 0, accessor }),
+  );
+  return root;
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/tree-struct.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/tree-struct.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02eec73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/tree-struct.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { Accessor } from "./accessor";
+import { NodeStruct, find } from "./node-struct";
+
+/* We wrap and mutate the data provided */
+export class TreeStruct<T> {
+  constructor(
+    public root: NodeStruct<T>,
+    public accessor: Accessor<T>,
+  ) {}
+
+  get data() {
+    return this.root.children?.map((node) => node.data);
+  }
+
+  get nodes() {
+    return this.root; // maybe this returns an array
+  }
+
+  create(args: { parentId: string | null; index: number; data: T }) {
+    const { parentId, index, data } = args;
+    const parent = parentId ? find(parentId, this.root) : this.root;
+    if (!parent) return null;
+    const siblings = this.accessor.getChildren(parent.data)!;
+
+    siblings.splice(index, 0, data);
+  }
+
+  update(args: { id: string; changes: Partial<T> }) {
+    const { id, changes } = args;
+    const node = find(id, this.root);
+
+    if (node) node.data = { ...node.data, ...changes };
+  }
+
+  move(args: { id: string; parentId: string | null; index: number }) {
+    const { id, parentId, index } = args;
+    const node = find(id, this.root);
+    const parent = parentId ? find(parentId, this.root) : this.root;
+    if (!node || !parent) return;
+    const newSiblings = this.accessor.getChildren(parent.data)!;
+    const oldSiblings = this.accessor.getChildren(node.parent!.data)!;
+    const oldIndex = oldSiblings.indexOf(node.data);
+
+    newSiblings.splice(index, 0, node.data); // Add to new parent
+    oldSiblings.splice(oldIndex, 1); // Remove from old parent
+  }
+
+  destroy(args: { id: string }) {
+    const node = find(args.id, this.root);
+    if (!node) return;
+    const siblings = this.accessor.getChildren(node.parent!.data)!;
+    const index = siblings.indexOf(node.data);
+    siblings.splice(index);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/use-nodes.ts b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/use-nodes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0bed6a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/react-arborist/src/nodes/use-nodes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { Accessor, NodeDataAccessors } from "./accessor";
+import { createRootNodeStruct } from "./root-node-struct";
+
+type Options<T> = NodeDataAccessors<T>;
+
+export function useNodes<T>(data: T[], options: Partial<Options<T>> = {}) {
+  const accessor = new Accessor(options);
+  const [value, set] = useState(() => createRootNodeStruct(data, accessor));
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    set(createRootNodeStruct(data, accessor));
+  }, [data]);
+
+  return {
+    value,
+    set,
+  };
+}