Granular inventory management with conflict resolution at a target is provided. A client receives inventory management requests, as default settings and/or from a server. Each request includes action instance(s), which have an action key, action type, action detail(s), a precedence, and a sequence number. The client identifies a conflict if two instances have the same action type but incompatible detail(s). The client resolves the conflict, based on precedence and sometimes also on sequence numbers. The client performs the resulting action instance(s), and results are sent back for inclusion in an inventory report. Action details may specify a schedule for recurring actions. A precedence may be specified by an administrator or be built-in. Default and other requests may be defined by viewing inventory classes in a graphical user interface, entering an action based on inventory class(es), and entering target device group selection(s). Inventory classes may be captured from a live system.