diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/resource/appresource.go b/pkg/kinflate/resource/appresource.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac267baec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/resource/appresource.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package resource
+
+import (
+	kutil "k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/kinflate/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/loader"
+)
+
+func ResourcesFromPath(path string, loader loader.Loader) ([]*Resource, error) {
+	content, err := loader.Load(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	objs, err := kutil.Decode(content)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var res []*Resource
+	for _, obj := range objs {
+		res = append(res, &Resource{Data: obj})
+	}
+	return res, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/resource/appresource_test.go b/pkg/kinflate/resource/appresource_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7225d15ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/resource/appresource_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package resource
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"reflect"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/loader"
+)
+
+var encoded = []byte(`apiVersion: v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: dply1
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: dply2
+`)
+
+type fakeLoader struct {
+}
+
+func (l fakeLoader) New(newRoot string) (loader.Loader, error) {
+	return l, nil
+}
+
+func (l fakeLoader) Load(location string) ([]byte, error) {
+	return encoded, nil
+}
+
+func makeUnconstructed(name string) *unstructured.Unstructured {
+	return &unstructured.Unstructured{
+		Object: map[string]interface{}{
+			"apiVersion": "v1",
+			"kind":       "Deployment",
+			"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+				"name": name,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAppResourceList_Resources(t *testing.T) {
+	l := fakeLoader{}
+	expected := []*Resource{
+		{Data: makeUnconstructed("dply1")},
+		{Data: makeUnconstructed("dply2")},
+	}
+
+	resources, _ := ResourcesFromPath("fake/path", l)
+	if len(resources) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("%#v should contain 2 appResource, but got %d", resources, len(resources))
+	}
+
+	for i, r := range resources {
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(r.Data, expected[i].Data) {
+			t.Fatalf("expected %v, but got %v", expected[i].Data, r.Data)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/tree/builder.go b/pkg/kinflate/tree/builder.go
index d0c445147..1f4da8db6 100644
--- a/pkg/kinflate/tree/builder.go
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/tree/builder.go
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ func (l *ManifestLoader) loadKObjectFromFile(filename string, into types.KObject
 		return err
 	}
 
-	_, err = kutil.Decode(content, into)
+	_, err = kutil.DecodeToKObject(content, into)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go
index 30b206a3a..04389ad13 100644
--- a/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go
@@ -31,10 +31,8 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/kinflate/types"
 )
 
-// Decode decodes a list of objects in byte array format.
-// Decoded object will be inserted in `into` if it's not nil. Otherwise, it will
-// construct a new map and return it.
-func Decode(in []byte, into types.KObject) (types.KObject, error) {
+// Decode decodes a list of objects in byte array format
+func Decode(in []byte) ([]*unstructured.Unstructured, error) {
 	decoder := k8syaml.NewYAMLOrJSONDecoder(bytes.NewReader(in), 1024)
 	objs := []*unstructured.Unstructured{}
 
@@ -50,6 +48,17 @@ func Decode(in []byte, into types.KObject) (types.KObject, error) {
 	if err != io.EOF {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	return objs, nil
+}
+
+// DecodeToKObject decodes a list of objects in byte array format.
+// Decoded object will be inserted in `into` if it's not nil. Otherwise, it will
+// construct a new map and return it.
+func DecodeToKObject(in []byte, into types.KObject) (types.KObject, error) {
+	objs, err := Decode(in)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	if into == nil {
 		into = types.KObject{}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go
index 439f47ab1..7754e1d57 100644
--- a/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ func makeConfigMaps(name1InGVKN, name2InGVKN, name1InObj, name2InObj string) typ
 	}
 }
 
-func TestDecode(t *testing.T) {
+func TestDecodeToKObject(t *testing.T) {
 	expected := makeConfigMaps("cm1", "cm2", "cm1", "cm2")
-	m, err := Decode(encoded, nil)
+	m, err := DecodeToKObject(encoded, nil)
+	fmt.Printf("%v\n", m)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}