diff --git a/R/executionSettings.R b/R/executionSettings.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fca6cf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/executionSettings.R
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+
+# ExecutionSettings ----
+
+#' @description
+#' An R6 class to define an ExecutionSettings object
+#'
+#' @export
+ExecutionSettings <- R6::R6Class(
+  classname = "ExecutionSettings",
+  public = list(
+    initialize = function(connectionDetails = NULL,
+                          connection = NULL,
+                          cdmDatabaseSchema = NULL,
+                          workDatabaseSchema = NULL,
+                          tempEmulationSchema = NULL,
+                          targetCohortTable = NULL,
+                          cdmSourceName = NULL) {
+      stopifnot(is.null(connectionDetails) || is.null(connection))
+      .setClass(private = private, key = "connectionDetails", value = connectionDetails, class = "ConnectionDetails")
+      .setClass(private = private, key = ".connection", value = connection,
+                class = "DatabaseConnectorJdbcConnection", nullable = TRUE)
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".cdmDatabaseSchema", value = cdmDatabaseSchema)
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".workDatabaseSchema", value = workDatabaseSchema)
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".tempEmulationSchema", value = tempEmulationSchema)
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".targetCohortTable", value = targetCohortTable)
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".cdmSourceName", value = cdmSourceName)
+    },
+    
+    getDbms = function() {
+      dbms <- private$connectionDetails$dbms
+      return(dbms)
+    },
+    
+    # connect to database
+    connect = function() {
+      
+      # check if private$connection is NULL
+      conObj <- private$.connection
+      if (is.null(conObj)) {
+        private$.connection <- DatabaseConnector::connect(private$connectionDetails)
+      } else{
+        cli::cat_bullet(
+          "Connection object already open",
+          bullet = "info",
+          bullet_col = "blue"
+        )
+      }
+    },
+    
+    # disconnect to database
+    disconnect = function() {
+      
+      # check if private$connection is NULL
+      conObj <- private$.connection
+      if (class(conObj) == "DatabaseConnectorJdbcConnection") {
+        # disconnect connection
+        DatabaseConnector::disconnect(private$.connection)
+        private$.connection <- NULL
+      }
+      
+      cli::cat_bullet(
+        "Connection object has been disconected",
+        bullet = "info",
+        bullet_col = "blue"
+      )
+      invisible(conObj)
+    },
+    
+    #TODO make this more rigorous
+    # add warning if no connection available
+    getConnection = function() {
+      conObj <- private$.connection
+      return(conObj)
+    }
+    
+  ),
+  
+  private = list(
+    connectionDetails = NULL,
+    .connection = NULL,
+    .cdmDatabaseSchema = NULL,
+    .workDatabaseSchema = NULL,
+    .tempEmulationSchema = NULL,
+    .targetCohortTable = NULL,
+    .cdmSourceName = NULL
+  ),
+  
+  active = list(
+    
+    cdmDatabaseSchema = function(value) {
+      # return the value if nothing added
+      if(missing(value)) {
+        cds <- private$.cdmDatabaseSchema
+        return(cds)
+      }
+      # replace the cdmDatabaseSchema
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".cdmDatabaseSchema", value = value)
+      cli::cat_bullet(
+        glue::glue("Replaced {crayon::cyan('cdmDatabaseSchema')} with {crayon::green(value)}"),
+        bullet = "info",
+        bullet_col = "blue"
+      )
+    },
+    
+    workDatabaseSchema = function(value) {
+      # return the value if nothing added
+      if(missing(value)) {
+        cds <- private$.workDatabaseSchema
+        return(cds)
+      }
+      # replace the workDatabaseSchema
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".workDatabaseSchema", value = value)
+      cli::cat_bullet(
+        glue::glue("Replaced {crayon::cyan('workDatabaseSchema')} with {crayon::green(value)}"),
+        bullet = "info",
+        bullet_col = "blue"
+      )
+    },
+    
+    
+    tempEmulationSchema = function(value) {
+      # return the value if nothing added
+      if(missing(value)) {
+        tes <- private$.tempEmulationSchema
+        return(tes)
+      }
+      # replace the tempEmulationSchema
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".tempEmulationSchema", value = value)
+      cli::cat_bullet(
+        glue::glue("Replaced {crayon::cyan('tempEmulationSchema')} with {crayon::green(value)}"),
+        bullet = "info",
+        bullet_col = "blue"
+      )
+    },
+    
+    targetCohortTable = function(value) {
+      # return the value if nothing added
+      if(missing(value)) {
+        tct <- private$.targetCohortTable
+        return(tct)
+      }
+      # replace the targetCohortTable
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".targetCohortTable", value = value)
+      cli::cat_bullet(
+        glue::glue("Replaced {crayon::cyan('targetCohortTable')} with {crayon::green(value)}"),
+        bullet = "info",
+        bullet_col = "blue"
+      )
+    },
+    
+    cdmSourceName = function(value) {
+      # return the value if nothing added
+      if(missing(value)) {
+        csn <- private$.cdmSourceName
+        return(csn)
+      }
+      # replace the cdmSourceName
+      .setString(private = private, key = ".cdmSourceName", value = value)
+      cli::cat_bullet(
+        glue::glue("Replaced {crayon::cyan('cdmSourceName')} with {crayon::green(value)}"),
+        bullet = "info",
+        bullet_col = "blue"
+      )
+    }
+    
+  )
+)