diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/repository/changes.go b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/repository/changes.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..75ff2aa29b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/repository/changes.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package repository
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	provisioning "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apis/provisioning/v0alpha1"
+)
+
+func Changes(source []FileTreeEntry, target *provisioning.ResourceList) ([]FileChange, error) {
+	lookup := make(map[string]*provisioning.ResourceListItem, len(target.Items))
+	for _, item := range target.Items {
+		if item.Path == "" {
+			if item.Group != "folder.grafana.app" {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("empty path on a non folder")
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		lookup[item.Path] = &item
+	}
+
+	changes := make([]FileChange, 0, len(source))
+	for _, file := range source {
+		if !file.Blob {
+			continue // skip folder references?
+		}
+
+		check, ok := lookup[file.Path]
+		if ok {
+			if check.Hash != file.Hash {
+				changes = append(changes, FileChange{
+					Action:      FileActionUpdated,
+					Path:        file.Path,
+					Ref:         file.Hash,
+					PreviousRef: check.Hash,
+				})
+			}
+			delete(lookup, file.Path)
+		} else {
+			changes = append(changes, FileChange{
+				Action: FileActionCreated, // or previously ignored/failed
+				Path:   file.Path,
+				Ref:    file.Hash,
+			})
+		}
+	}
+
+	// File that were previously added, but are not in the current list
+	for _, v := range lookup {
+		changes = append(changes, FileChange{
+			Path:        v.Path,
+			PreviousRef: v.Hash,
+			Action:      FileActionDeleted,
+		})
+	}
+
+	return changes, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/repository/changes_test.go b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/repository/changes_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..642c86ef4d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/repository/changes_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+package repository
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	provisioning "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apis/provisioning/v0alpha1"
+)
+
+func TestChanges(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("start the same", func(t *testing.T) {
+		source, target := getBase(t)
+		changes, err := Changes(source, target)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Empty(t, changes)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("create a source file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		source, target := getBase(t)
+		source = append(source, FileTreeEntry{Path: "muta.json", Hash: "xyz", Blob: true})
+
+		changes, err := Changes(source, target)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, changes, 1)
+		require.Equal(t, FileChange{
+			Action: FileActionCreated,
+			Path:   "muta.json",
+			Ref:    "xyz",
+		}, changes[0])
+	})
+
+	t.Run("delete a source file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		source, target := getBase(t)
+		source = []FileTreeEntry{source[0]}
+
+		changes, err := Changes(source, target)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, changes, 1)
+		require.Equal(t, FileChange{
+			Action:      FileActionDeleted,
+			Path:        "adsl62h.yaml",
+			PreviousRef: "ce5d497c4deadde6831162ce8509e2b2b1776237",
+		}, changes[0])
+	})
+
+	t.Run("modify a file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		source, target := getBase(t)
+		source[1].Hash = "different"
+
+		changes, err := Changes(source, target)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, changes, 1)
+		require.Equal(t, FileChange{
+			Action:      FileActionUpdated,
+			Path:        "adsl62h.yaml",
+			Ref:         "different",
+			PreviousRef: "ce5d497c4deadde6831162ce8509e2b2b1776237",
+		}, changes[0])
+	})
+}
+
+func getBase(t *testing.T) (source []FileTreeEntry, target *provisioning.ResourceList) {
+	target = &provisioning.ResourceList{}
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(`{
+		"kind": "ResourceList",
+		"apiVersion": "provisioning.grafana.app/v0alpha1",
+		"metadata": {},
+		"items": [
+			{
+				"path": "",
+				"group": "folder.grafana.app",
+				"resource": "folders",
+				"name": "simplelocal-3794ab9",
+				"hash": "",
+				"title": "Simple local"
+			},
+			{
+				"path": "ad4lwp2.yaml",
+				"group": "dashboard.grafana.app",
+				"resource": "dashboards",
+				"name": "ad4lwp2-xofjsuo-mr5blr1zwimlfi0ds0pyrrpd",
+				"hash": "ca83d64b9c4a23fed975aacdf47e7de8878b4ae0",
+				"title": "Test two",
+				"folder": "simplelocal-3794ab9"
+			},
+			{
+				"path": "adsl62h.yaml",
+				"group": "dashboard.grafana.app",
+				"resource": "dashboards",
+				"name": "adsl62h-hrw-f-fvlt2dghp-gufrc4lisksgmq-c",
+				"hash": "ce5d497c4deadde6831162ce8509e2b2b1776237",
+				"title": "Test one",
+				"folder": "simplelocal-3794ab9"
+			}
+		]
+	}`), target)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	source = []FileTreeEntry{
+		{Path: "ad4lwp2.yaml", Hash: "ca83d64b9c4a23fed975aacdf47e7de8878b4ae0", Blob: true},
+		{Path: "adsl62h.yaml", Hash: "ce5d497c4deadde6831162ce8509e2b2b1776237", Blob: true},
+	}
+
+	return // named values!
+}