diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c1add4727288b3b64253716a13e238836e275f20..44f64940b0346c92d46da74f43a96c33a474ea97 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -137,3 +137,5 @@ flake8.txt
 
 # junit report
 junit-report.xml
+# General developer helper files
+repod/__main__.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/repod/errors.py b/repod/errors.py
index 08079a6f715df9b451f0eca7ad7eee896cc01891..dbbb4ba357b5ee3bd161511993a87732bc0676e1 100644
--- a/repod/errors.py
+++ b/repod/errors.py
@@ -12,3 +12,7 @@ class RepoManagementValidationError(RepoManagementError):
 
 class RepoManagementFileNotFoundError(RepoManagementFileError, FileNotFoundError):
     """An Error that is raised when a file can not be found"""
+
+
+class PackageError(BaseException):
+    """A generic error that can be raised when a package contains an error"""
diff --git a/repod/filehandling.py b/repod/filehandling.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a779e235fed90035424b156b4eb0aef3a9728b7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/repod/filehandling.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import hashlib
+import pathlib
+import shutil
+import typing
+
+from .errors import PackageError
+
+
+def hashsum(file: pathlib.Path) -> bytes:
+    with file.open("rb") as fh:
+        return hashlib.sha512(fh.read()).digest()
+
+
+def package_is_active(package: pathlib.Path) -> typing.Optional[str]:
+    """
+        Check the databases if the given package is active or not.
+        If it is, return the repository that it was found in.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    package: pathlib.Path
+        A name, relative or absolute path to a package file.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    str
+        Returns the name of the repository in which the package was found.
+    """
+    return None
+
+
+async def add_package_to_pool(package: pathlib.Path, pool: pathlib.Path, skip_signature: bool = False):
+    if (target := pool / package.name).exists():
+        if hashsum(package) != hashsum(target):
+            raise PackageError(f"{package.name} already exists in {pool} but with a different content.")
+
+    if not skip_signature and pathlib.Path(f"{package}.sig").exists() is False:
+        raise PackageError(f"Could not locate signature for {package.name} at {package}.sig")
+
+    if not target.parent.exists():
+        target.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    # TODO: Do we want to copy the file to a randomly generated name first,
+    # and then call path.rename() as suggested by https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/repod/-/issues/14#note_56232
+    shutil.copy2(package, pool)
+    if skip_signature is False:
+        shutil.copy2(f"{package}.sig", pool)
+
+
+async def remove_package_from_pool(package: pathlib.Path, pool: pathlib.Path):
+    if repo := package_is_active(f"{package}"):
+        raise PackageError(f"{package.name} is active in repo {repo}")
+
+    (pool / package.name).unlink()
+    if (signature := pathlib.Path(f"{(pool / package.name)}.sig")).exists():
+        signature.unlink()
+
+
+async def add_package_to_repo(
+    package: pathlib.Path, repo: pathlib.Path, pool: pathlib.Path, architecture: str, skip_signature: bool = False
+):
+    if not package.exists():
+        package = pool / package.name
+
+    if not package.exists():
+        raise PackageError(f"Cannot add package to repo because the package {package} does not exist in pool.")
+
+    if not skip_signature and (signature := pathlib.Path(f"{package}.sig")).exists() is False:
+        raise PackageError(f"Cannot add package to repo because signature file {signature} is missing")
+
+    if not (repo / architecture).exists():
+        (repo / architecture).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    if (repo / architecture / package.name).exists():
+        raise PackageError(f"Cannot activate {package} as it's already in repo {repo / architecture / package.name}")
+
+    (repo / architecture / package.name).symlink_to(package)
+
+    if not skip_signature:
+        (repo / architecture / signature.name).symlink_to(signature)
+
+
+async def remove_package_from_repo(
+    package: pathlib.Path, repo: pathlib.Path, pool: pathlib.Path, architecture: str, skip_signature: bool = False
+):
+    if not package.exists():
+        package = repo / architecture / package.name
+
+    if not package.exists():
+        raise PackageError(f"Cannot remove {package} as it's not in repo {repo}")
+
+    package.unlink()
+    if not skip_signature and (signature := pathlib.Path(f"{package}.sig")).exists():
+        signature.unlink()