diff --git a/lib/REST/Target.php b/lib/REST/Target.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bde4c6c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/REST/Target.php
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+<?php
+/** @license MIT
+ * Copyright 2017 J. King, Dustin Wilson et al.
+ * See LICENSE and AUTHORS files for details */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+namespace JKingWeb\Arsse\REST;
+
+use JKingWeb\Arsse\Misc\ValueInfo;
+
+class Target {
+    public $relative = false;
+    public $index = false;
+    public $path = [];
+    public $query = "";
+    public $fragment = "";
+    
+    public function __construct(string $target) {
+        $target = $this->parseFragment($target);
+        $target = $this->parseQuery($target);
+        $this->path = $this->parsePath($target);
+    }
+
+    public function __toString(): string {
+        $out = "";
+        $path = [];
+        foreach ($this->path as $segment) {
+            if (is_null($segment)) {
+                if (!$path) {
+                    $path[] = "..";
+                } else {
+                    continue;
+                }
+            } elseif ($segment==".") {
+                $path[] = "%2E";
+            } elseif ($segment=="..") {
+                $path[] = "%2E%2E";
+            } else {
+                $path[] = rawurlencode(ValueInfo::normalize($segment, ValueInfo::T_STRING));
+            }
+        }
+        $path = implode("/", $path);
+        if (!$this->relative) {
+            $out .= "/";
+        }
+        $out .= $path;
+        if ($this->index && strlen($path)) {
+            $out .= "/";
+        }
+        if (strlen($this->query)) {
+            $out .= "?".$this->query;
+        }
+        if (strlen($this->fragment)) {
+            $out .= "#".rawurlencode($this->fragment);
+        }
+        return $out;
+    }
+
+    public static function normalize(string $target): string {
+        return (string) new self($target);
+    }
+
+    protected function parseFragment(string $target): string {
+        // store and strip off any fragment identifier and return the target without a fragment
+        $pos = strpos($target,"#");
+        if ($pos !== false) {
+            $this->fragment = rawurldecode(substr($target, $pos + 1));
+            $target = substr($target, 0, $pos);
+        }
+        return $target;
+    }
+
+    protected function parseQuery(string $target): string {
+        // store and strip off any query string and return the target without a query
+        // note that the function assumes any fragment identifier has already been stripped off
+        // unlike the other parts the query string is currently neither parsed nor normalized
+        $pos = strpos($target,"?");
+        if ($pos !== false) {
+            $this->query = substr($target, $pos + 1);
+            $target = substr($target, 0, $pos);
+        }
+        return $target;
+    }
+
+    protected function parsePath(string $target): array {
+        // note that the function assumes any fragment identifier or query has already been stripped off
+        // syntax-based normalization is applied to the path segments (see RFC 3986 sec. 6.2.2)
+        // duplicate slashes are NOT collapsed
+        if (substr($target, 0, 1)=="/") {
+            // if the path starts with a slash, strip it off
+            $target = substr($target, 1);
+        } else {
+            // otherwise this is a relative target
+            $this->relative = true;
+        }
+        if (!strlen($target)) {
+            // if the target is an empty string, this is an index target
+            $this->index = true;
+        } elseif (substr($target, -1, 1)=="/") {
+            // if the path ends in a slash, this is an index target and the slash should be stripped off
+            $this->index = true;
+            $target = substr($target, 0, strlen($target) -1);
+        }
+        // after stripping, explode the path parts
+        if (strlen($target)) {
+            $target = explode("/", $target);
+            $out = [];
+            // resolve relative path segments and decode each retained segment
+            foreach($target as $index => $segment) {
+                if ($segment==".") {
+                    // self-referential segments can be ignored
+                    continue;
+                } elseif ($segment=="..") {
+                    if ($index==0) {
+                        // if the first path segment refers to its parent (which we don't know about) we cannot output a correct path, so we do the best we can
+                        $out[] = null;
+                    } else {
+                        // for any other segments after the first we pop off the last stored segment
+                        array_pop($out);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    // any other segment is decoded and retained
+                    $out[] = rawurldecode($segment);
+                }
+            }
+            return $out;
+        } else {
+            return [];
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/cases/REST/TestTarget.php b/tests/cases/REST/TestTarget.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..08555d8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cases/REST/TestTarget.php
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+<?php
+/** @license MIT
+ * Copyright 2017 J. King, Dustin Wilson et al.
+ * See LICENSE and AUTHORS files for details */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+namespace JKingWeb\Arsse\TestCase\REST;
+
+use JKingWeb\Arsse\REST\Target;
+
+/** @covers \JKingWeb\Arsse\REST\Target<extended> */
+class TestTarget extends \JKingWeb\Arsse\Test\AbstractTest {
+
+    /** @dataProvider provideTargetUrls */
+    public function testParseTargetUrl(string $target, array $path, bool $relative, bool $index, string $query, string $fragment, string $normalized) {
+        $test = new Target($target);
+        $this->assertEquals($path, $test->path, "Path does not match");
+        $this->assertSame($path, $test->path, "Path does not match exactly");
+        $this->assertSame($relative, $test->relative, "Relative flag does not match");
+        $this->assertSame($index, $test->index, "Index flag does not match");
+        $this->assertSame($query, $test->query, "Query does not match");
+        $this->assertSame($fragment, $test->fragment, "Fragment does not match");
+    }
+
+    /** @dataProvider provideTargetUrls */
+    public function testNormalizeTargetUrl(string $target, array $path, bool $relative, bool $index, string $query, string $fragment, string $normalized) {
+        $test = new Target("");
+        $test->path = $path;
+        $test->relative = $relative;
+        $test->index = $index;
+        $test->query = $query;
+        $test->fragment = $fragment;
+        $this->assertSame($normalized, (string) $test);
+        $this->assertSame($normalized, Target::normalize($target));
+    }
+
+    public function provideTargetUrls() {
+        return [
+            ["/",                      [],                false, true,  "",    "",    "/"],
+            ["",                       [],                true,  true,  "",    "",    ""],
+            ["/index.php",             ["index.php"],     false, false, "",    "",    "/index.php"],
+            ["index.php",              ["index.php"],     true,  false, "",    "",    "index.php"],
+            ["/ook/",                  ["ook"],           false, true,  "",    "",    "/ook/"],
+            ["ook/",                   ["ook"],           true,  true,  "",    "",    "ook/"],
+            ["/eek/../ook/",           ["ook"],           false, true,  "",    "",    "/ook/"],
+            ["eek/../ook/",            ["ook"],           true,  true,  "",    "",    "ook/"],
+            ["/./ook/",                ["ook"],           false, true,  "",    "",    "/ook/"],
+            ["./ook/",                 ["ook"],           true,  true,  "",    "",    "ook/"],
+            ["/../ook/",               [null,"ook"],      false, true,  "",    "",    "/../ook/"],
+            ["../ook/",                [null,"ook"],      true,  true,  "",    "",    "../ook/"],
+            ["0",                      ["0"],             true,  false, "",    "",    "0"],
+            ["%6f%6F%6b",              ["ook"],           true,  false, "",    "",    "ook"],
+            ["%2e%2E%2f%2E%2Fook%2f",  [".././ook/"],     true,  false, "",    "",    "..%2F.%2Fook%2F"],
+            ["%2e%2E/%2E/ook%2f",      ["..",".","ook/"], true,  false, "",    "",    "%2E%2E/%2E/ook%2F"],
+            ["...",                    ["..."],           true,  false, "",    "",    "..."],
+            ["%2e%2e%2e",              ["..."],           true,  false, "",    "",    "..."],
+            ["/?",                     [],                false, true,  "",    "",    "/"],
+            ["/#",                     [],                false, true,  "",    "",    "/"],
+            ["/?#",                    [],                false, true,  "",    "",    "/"],
+            ["#%2e",                   [],                true,  true,  "",    ".",   "#."],
+            ["?%2e",                   [],                true,  true,  "%2e", "",    "?%2e"],
+            ["?%2e#%2f",               [],                true,  true,  "%2e", "/",   "?%2e#%2F"],
+            ["#%2e?%2f",               [],                true,  true,  "",    ".?/", "#.%3F%2F"],
+        ];
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/phpunit.xml b/tests/phpunit.xml
index 8ffa2b62..167ab875 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit.xml
+++ b/tests/phpunit.xml
@@ -65,15 +65,16 @@
         <file>cases/Db/SQLite3/Database/TestLabel.php</file>
         <file>cases/Db/SQLite3/Database/TestCleanup.php</file>
     </testsuite>
-    <testsuite name="Controllers">
-        <testsuite name="NCNv1">
-            <file>cases/REST/NextCloudNews/TestVersions.php</file>
-            <file>cases/REST/NextCloudNews/TestV1_2.php</file>
-        </testsuite>
-        <testsuite name="TTRSS">
-            <file>cases/REST/TinyTinyRSS/TestAPI.php</file>
-            <file>cases/REST/TinyTinyRSS/TestIcon.php</file>
-        </testsuite>
+    <testsuite name="REST">
+        <file>cases/REST/TestTarget.php</file>
+    </testsuite>
+    <testsuite name="NCNv1">
+        <file>cases/REST/NextCloudNews/TestVersions.php</file>
+        <file>cases/REST/NextCloudNews/TestV1_2.php</file>
+    </testsuite>
+    <testsuite name="TTRSS">
+        <file>cases/REST/TinyTinyRSS/TestAPI.php</file>
+        <file>cases/REST/TinyTinyRSS/TestIcon.php</file>
     </testsuite>
     <testsuite name="Refresh service">
         <file>cases/Service/TestService.php</file>