diff --git a/include/common/xml.h b/include/common/xml.h
index 7bc8eb26..3cfa5539 100644
--- a/include/common/xml.h
+++ b/include/common/xml.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #define LABWC_XML_H
 
 #include <libxml/tree.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
 
 /*
  * Converts dotted attributes into nested nodes.
@@ -26,4 +27,42 @@
  */
 void lab_xml_expand_dotted_attributes(xmlNode *root);
 
+/* Returns true if the node only contains a string or is empty */
+bool lab_xml_node_is_leaf(xmlNode *node);
+
+bool lab_xml_get_node(xmlNode *node, const char *key, xmlNode **dst_node);
+bool lab_xml_get_string(xmlNode *node, const char *key, char *s, size_t len);
+bool lab_xml_get_int(xmlNode *node, const char *key, int *i);
+bool lab_xml_get_bool(xmlNode *node, const char *key, bool *b);
+
+static inline xmlNode *
+lab_xml_get_next_child(xmlNode *child)
+{
+	if (!child) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	do {
+		child = child->next;
+	} while (child && child->type != XML_ELEMENT_NODE);
+
+	return child;
+}
+
+static inline void
+lab_xml_get_key_and_content(xmlNode *node, char **name, char **content)
+{
+	if (node) {
+		*name = (char *)node->name;
+		*content = (char *)xmlNodeGetContent(node);
+	}
+}
+
+#define LAB_XML_FOR_EACH(parent, child, key, content) \
+	for ((child) = (parent)->children, \
+		lab_xml_get_key_and_content((child), &(key), &(content)); \
+		(child); \
+		xmlFree((xmlChar *)(content)), \
+		(child) = lab_xml_get_next_child(child), \
+		lab_xml_get_key_and_content((child), &(key), &(content)))
+
 #endif /* LABWC_XML_H */
diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 6f835f22..f9e9d1d9 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -5532,6 +5532,7 @@ sub process {
 			if ($starts_with_if_while_etc && !length($s)
 					&& $filename ne "include/view.h"
 					&& $filename ne "include/common/array.h"
+					&& $filename ne "include/common/xml.h"
 					&& $filename ne "include/ssd-internal.h") {
 				CHK("BRACES", "[labwc-custom] open brace { expected after if/while/for/switch - even with single statement blocks");
 			}
diff --git a/src/common/xml.c b/src/common/xml.c
index 08ec18b6..df8c26e4 100644
--- a/src/common/xml.c
+++ b/src/common/xml.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <strings.h>
 #include "common/xml.h"
+#include "common/parse-bool.h"
 
 /*
  * Converts an attribute A.B.C="X" into <C><B><A>X</A></B></C>
@@ -129,3 +130,69 @@ lab_xml_expand_dotted_attributes(xmlNode *parent)
 		lab_xml_expand_dotted_attributes(node);
 	}
 }
+
+bool
+lab_xml_node_is_leaf(xmlNode *node)
+{
+	if (node->type != XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {
+		return false;
+	}
+	for (xmlNode *child = node->children; child; child = child->next) {
+		if (child->type != XML_TEXT_NODE) {
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
+static bool
+get_node(xmlNode *node, const char *key, xmlNode **dst_node, bool leaf_only)
+{
+	for (xmlNode *child = node->last; child; child = child->prev) {
+		if (child->type != XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		if (leaf_only && !lab_xml_node_is_leaf(child)) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		if (!strcasecmp((char *)child->name, key)) {
+			*dst_node = child;
+			return true;
+		}
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
+bool
+lab_xml_get_node(xmlNode *node, const char *key, xmlNode **dst_node)
+{
+	return get_node(node, key, dst_node, /* leaf_only */ false);
+}
+
+bool
+lab_xml_get_string(xmlNode *node, const char *key, char *s, size_t len)
+{
+	xmlNode *child;
+	if (get_node(node, key, &child, /* leaf_only */ true)) {
+		xmlChar *content = xmlNodeGetContent(child);
+		g_strlcpy(s, (char *)content, len);
+		xmlFree(content);
+		return true;
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
+bool
+lab_xml_get_bool(xmlNode *node, const char *key, bool *b)
+{
+	xmlNode *child;
+	if (get_node(node, key, &child, /* leaf_only */ true)) {
+		char *s = (char *)xmlNodeGetContent(child);
+		int ret = parse_bool(s, -1);
+		if (ret >= 0) {
+			*b = ret;
+			return true;
+		}
+	}
+	return false;
+}
diff --git a/t/meson.build b/t/meson.build
index 66534a2c..6aafc1e9 100644
--- a/t/meson.build
+++ b/t/meson.build
@@ -5,12 +5,14 @@ test_lib = static_library(
     '../src/common/mem.c',
     '../src/common/string-helpers.c',
     '../src/common/xml.c',
+    '../src/common/parse-bool.c',
   ),
   include_directories: [labwc_inc],
   dependencies: [
 		dep_cmocka,
 		glib,
 		xml2,
+		wlroots,
 	],
 )