diff --git a/common/Makefile.am.inc b/common/Makefile.am.inc
index d39d65139..f39669036 100644
--- a/common/Makefile.am.inc
+++ b/common/Makefile.am.inc
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ libflatpak_common_la_SOURCES = \
 	common/flatpak-error.c \
 	common/flatpak-installation-private.h \
 	common/flatpak-installation.c \
+	common/flatpak-instance-private.h \
+	common/flatpak-instance.c \
 	common/valgrind-private.h \
 	$(NULL)
 
diff --git a/common/flatpak-instance-private.h b/common/flatpak-instance-private.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f9a271082
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/flatpak-instance-private.h
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright © 2018 Red Hat, Inc
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *       Matthias Clasen <mclasen@redhat.com>
+ */
+
+#if !defined(__FLATPAK_H_INSIDE__) && !defined(FLATPAK_COMPILATION)
+#error "Only <flatpak.h> can be included directly."
+#endif
+
+#ifndef __FLATPAK_INSTANCE_H__
+#define __FLATPAK_INSTANCE_H__
+
+typedef struct _FlatpakInstance FlatpakInstance;
+
+#include <glib-object.h>
+
+#define FLATPAK_TYPE_INSTANCE flatpak_instance_get_type ()
+#define FLATPAK_INSTANCE(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_CAST ((obj), FLATPAK_TYPE_INSTANCE, FlatpakInstance))
+#define FLATPAK_IS_INSTANCE(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_TYPE ((obj), FLATPAK_TYPE_INSTANCE))
+
+FLATPAK_EXTERN GType flatpak_instance_get_type (void);
+
+struct _FlatpakInstance
+{
+  GObject parent;
+};
+
+typedef struct
+{
+  GObjectClass parent_class;
+} FlatpakInstanceClass;
+
+
+#ifdef G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC
+G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC (FlatpakInstance, g_object_unref)
+#endif
+
+FLATPAK_EXTERN GPtrArray *  flatpak_instance_get_all            (void);
+
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_id             (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_app            (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_arch           (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_branch         (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_commit         (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_runtime        (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN const char * flatpak_instance_get_runtime_commit (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN int          flatpak_instance_get_pid            (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN int          flatpak_instance_get_child_pid      (FlatpakInstance *self);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN GKeyFile *   flatpak_instance_get_info           (FlatpakInstance *self);
+
+FLATPAK_EXTERN gboolean     flatpak_instance_is_running         (FlatpakInstance *self);
+
+#endif /* __FLATPAK_INSTANCE_H__ */
diff --git a/common/flatpak-instance.c b/common/flatpak-instance.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1f15776f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/flatpak-instance.c
@@ -0,0 +1,353 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright © 2018 Red Hat, Inc
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *       Matthias Clasen <mclasen@redhat.com>
+ */
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include "flatpak-utils-private.h"
+#include "flatpak-run-private.h"
+#include "flatpak-instance-private.h"
+#include "flatpak-enum-types.h"
+
+
+typedef struct _FlatpakInstancePrivate FlatpakInstancePrivate;
+
+struct _FlatpakInstancePrivate
+{
+  char     *id;
+  char     *dir;
+
+  GKeyFile *info;
+  char     *app;
+  char     *arch;
+  char     *branch;
+  char     *commit;
+  char     *runtime;
+  char     *runtime_commit;
+
+  int       pid;
+  int       child_pid;
+};
+
+G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_PRIVATE (FlatpakInstance, flatpak_instance, G_TYPE_OBJECT)
+
+static void
+flatpak_instance_finalize (GObject *object)
+{
+  FlatpakInstance *self = FLATPAK_INSTANCE (object);
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  g_free (priv->id);
+  g_free (priv->dir);
+  g_free (priv->app);
+  g_free (priv->arch);
+  g_free (priv->branch);
+  g_free (priv->commit);
+  g_free (priv->runtime);
+  g_free (priv->runtime_commit);
+
+  if (priv->info)
+    g_key_file_unref (priv->info);
+
+  G_OBJECT_CLASS (flatpak_instance_parent_class)->finalize (object);
+}
+
+static void
+flatpak_instance_class_init (FlatpakInstanceClass *klass)
+{
+  GObjectClass *object_class = G_OBJECT_CLASS (klass);
+
+  object_class->finalize = flatpak_instance_finalize;
+}
+
+static void
+flatpak_instance_init (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_id (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->id;
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_app (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->app;
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_arch (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->arch;
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_branch (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->branch;
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_commit (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->commit;
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_runtime (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->runtime;
+}
+
+const char *
+flatpak_instance_get_runtime_commit (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->runtime_commit;
+}
+
+int
+flatpak_instance_get_pid (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->pid;
+}
+
+int
+flatpak_instance_get_child_pid (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->child_pid;
+}
+
+GKeyFile *
+flatpak_instance_get_info (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  return priv->info;
+}
+
+static GKeyFile *
+get_instance_info (const char *dir)
+{
+  g_autofree char *file = NULL;
+  g_autoptr(GKeyFile) key_file = NULL;
+  g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
+
+  file = g_build_filename (dir, "info", NULL);
+
+  key_file = g_key_file_new ();
+  if (!g_key_file_load_from_file (key_file, file, G_KEY_FILE_NONE, &error))
+    {
+      g_debug ("Failed to load instance info file '%s': %s", file, error->message);
+      return NULL;
+    }
+
+  return g_steal_pointer (&key_file);
+}
+
+static int
+get_child_pid (const char *dir)
+{
+  g_autofree char *file = NULL;
+  g_autofree char *contents = NULL;
+  gsize length;
+  g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
+  g_autoptr(JsonParser) parser = NULL;
+  JsonNode *node;
+  JsonObject *obj;
+
+  file = g_build_filename (dir, "bwrapinfo.json", NULL);
+
+  if (!g_file_get_contents (file, &contents, &length, &error))
+    {
+      g_debug ("Failed to load bwrapinfo.json file '%s': %s", file, error->message);
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+  parser = json_parser_new ();
+  if (!json_parser_load_from_data (parser, contents, length, &error))
+    {
+      g_debug ("Failed to parse bwrapinfo.json file '%s': %s", file, error->message);
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+  node = json_parser_get_root (parser);
+  obj = json_node_get_object (node);
+
+  return json_object_get_int_member (obj, "child-pid");
+}
+
+static int
+get_pid (const char *dir)
+{
+  g_autofree char *file = NULL;
+  g_autofree char *contents = NULL;
+  g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
+
+  file = g_build_filename (dir, "pid", NULL);
+
+  if (!g_file_get_contents (file, &contents, NULL, &error))
+    {
+      g_debug ("Failed to load pid file '%s': %s", file, error->message);
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+  return (int) g_ascii_strtoll (contents, NULL, 10);
+}
+
+static FlatpakInstance *
+flatpak_instance_new (const char *id)
+{
+  FlatpakInstance *self = g_object_new (flatpak_instance_get_type (), NULL);
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  priv->id = g_strdup (id);
+
+  priv->dir = g_build_filename (g_get_user_runtime_dir (), ".flatpak", id, NULL);
+
+  priv->pid = get_pid (priv->dir);
+  priv->child_pid = get_child_pid (priv->dir);
+  priv->info = get_instance_info (priv->dir);
+
+  if (priv->info)
+    {
+      priv->app = g_key_file_get_string (priv->info,
+          FLATPAK_METADATA_GROUP_APPLICATION, FLATPAK_METADATA_KEY_NAME, NULL);
+      priv->runtime = g_key_file_get_string (priv->info,
+          FLATPAK_METADATA_GROUP_APPLICATION, FLATPAK_METADATA_KEY_RUNTIME, NULL);
+
+      priv->arch = g_key_file_get_string (priv->info,
+          FLATPAK_METADATA_GROUP_INSTANCE, FLATPAK_METADATA_KEY_ARCH, NULL);
+      priv->branch = g_key_file_get_string (priv->info,
+          FLATPAK_METADATA_GROUP_INSTANCE, FLATPAK_METADATA_KEY_BRANCH, NULL);
+      priv->commit = g_key_file_get_string (priv->info,
+          FLATPAK_METADATA_GROUP_INSTANCE, FLATPAK_METADATA_KEY_APP_COMMIT, NULL);
+      priv->runtime_commit = g_key_file_get_string (priv->info,
+          FLATPAK_METADATA_GROUP_INSTANCE, FLATPAK_METADATA_KEY_RUNTIME_COMMIT, NULL);
+    }
+
+  return self;
+}
+
+GPtrArray *
+flatpak_instance_get_all (void)
+{
+  g_autoptr(GPtrArray) instances = NULL;
+  g_autofree char *base_dir = NULL;
+  g_auto(GLnxDirFdIterator) iter = { 0 };
+  struct dirent *dent;
+
+  instances = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func ((GDestroyNotify) g_object_unref);
+  base_dir = g_build_filename (g_get_user_runtime_dir (), ".flatpak", NULL);
+
+  if (!glnx_dirfd_iterator_init_at (AT_FDCWD, base_dir, FALSE, &iter, NULL))
+    return g_steal_pointer (&instances);
+
+  while (TRUE)
+    {
+      if (!glnx_dirfd_iterator_next_dent_ensure_dtype (&iter, &dent, NULL, NULL))
+        break;
+
+      if (dent == NULL)
+        break;
+
+      if (dent->d_type == DT_DIR)
+        {
+          g_autofree char *ref_file = g_strconcat (dent->d_name, "/.ref", NULL);
+          struct stat statbuf;
+          struct flock l = {
+            .l_type = F_WRLCK,
+            .l_whence = SEEK_SET,
+            .l_start = 0,
+            .l_len = 0
+          };
+          glnx_autofd int lock_fd = openat (iter.fd, ref_file, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
+          if (lock_fd != -1 &&
+              fstat (lock_fd, &statbuf) == 0 &&
+              /* Only gc if created at least 3 secs ago, to work around race mentioned in flatpak_run_allocate_id() */
+              statbuf.st_mtime + 3 < time (NULL) &&
+              fcntl (lock_fd, F_GETLK, &l) == 0 &&
+              l.l_type == F_UNLCK)
+            {
+              /* The instance is not used, remove it */
+              g_debug ("Cleaning up unused container id %s", dent->d_name);
+              glnx_shutil_rm_rf_at (iter.fd, dent->d_name, NULL, NULL);
+              continue;
+            }
+
+          g_ptr_array_add (instances, flatpak_instance_new (dent->d_name));
+        }
+    }
+
+  return g_steal_pointer (&instances);
+}
+
+gboolean
+flatpak_instance_is_running (FlatpakInstance *self)
+{
+  FlatpakInstancePrivate *priv = flatpak_instance_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  if (priv->dir)
+    {
+      g_autofree char *ref_file = g_strconcat (priv->dir, "/.ref", NULL);
+      struct stat statbuf;
+      struct flock l = {
+        .l_type = F_WRLCK,
+        .l_whence = SEEK_SET,
+        .l_start = 0,
+        .l_len = 0
+      };
+      glnx_autofd int lock_fd = open (ref_file, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
+      if (lock_fd != -1 &&
+          fstat (lock_fd, &statbuf) == 0 &&
+          /* Only gc if created at least 3 secs ago, to work around race mentioned in flatpak_run_allocate_id() */
+          statbuf.st_mtime + 3 < time (NULL) &&
+          fcntl (lock_fd, F_GETLK, &l) == 0 &&
+          l.l_type == F_UNLCK)
+        {
+          /* The instance is not used, remove it */
+          g_debug ("Cleaning up unused container id %s", priv->id);
+          glnx_shutil_rm_rf_at (-1, priv->dir, NULL, NULL);
+
+          g_clear_pointer (&priv->dir, g_free);
+        }
+    }
+
+  return priv->dir != NULL;
+}
+