diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/api.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/api.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79d38a2190
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/api.py
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+#
+# (c) 2015 Brian Ccoa, <bcoca@ansible.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible 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 General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+"""
+This module adds shared support for generic api modules
+
+In order to use this module, include it as part of a custom
+module as shown below.
+
+** Note: The order of the import statements does matter. **
+
+from ansible.module_utils.basic import *
+from ansible.module_utils.api import *
+
+The 'api' module provides the following common argument specs:
+
+    * rate limit spec
+        - rate: number of requests per time unit (int)
+        - rate_limit: time window in which the limit is applied in seconds
+
+    * retry spec
+        - retries: number of attempts
+        - retry_pause: delay between attempts in seconds
+
+"""
+import time
+
+def rate_limit_argument_spec(spec=None):
+    """Creates an argument spec for working with rate limiting"""
+    arg_spec = (dict(
+        rate=dict(type='int'),
+        rate_limit=dict(type='int'),
+    ))
+    if spec:
+        arg_spec.update(spec)
+    return arg_spec
+
+def retry_argument_spec(spec=None):
+    """Creates an argument spec for working with retrying"""
+    arg_spec = (dict(
+        retries=dict(type='int'),
+        retry_pause=dict(type='float', default=1),
+    ))
+    if spec:
+        arg_spec.update(spec)
+    return arg_spec
+
+def rate_limit(rate=None, rate_limit=None):
+    """rate limiting decorator"""
+    minrate = None
+    if rate is not None and rate_limit is not None:
+        minrate = float(rate_limit) / float(rate)
+    def wrapper(f):
+        last = [0.0]
+        def ratelimited(*args,**kwargs):
+            if minrate is not None:
+                elapsed = time.clock() - last[0]
+                left = minrate - elapsed
+                if left > 0:
+                    time.sleep(left)
+                last[0] = time.clock()
+            ret = f(*args,**kwargs)
+            return ret
+        return ratelimited
+    return wrapper
+
+def retry(retries=None, retry_pause=1):
+    """Retry decorator"""
+    def wrapper(f):
+        retry_count = 0
+        def retried(*args,**kwargs):
+            if retries is not None:
+                ret = None
+                while True:
+                    retry_count += 1
+                    if retry_count >= retries:
+                        raise Exception("Retry limit exceeded: %d" % retries)
+                    try:
+                        ret = f(*args,**kwargs)
+                    except:
+                        pass
+                    if ret:
+                        break
+                    time.sleep(retry_pause)
+                return ret
+        return retried
+    return wrapper
+