A method comprising: receiving, by a forwarding manager for an internal forwarding path executed by at least one packet processor of a forwarding unit of a network device, one or more packet processing operations from a control unit of the network device, wherein the internal forwarding path defines a forwarding path within the network device; generating, by the forwarding manager based on the one or more packet processing operations, a plurality of element nodes (30, 110) each comprising a unique token, wherein a first element node of the plurality of element nodes includes a token reference set to a value for the token of a second element node of the plurality of element nodes, wherein forwarding path elements are represented using element nodes, wherein each of the forwarding path elements comprises one of a lookup tree, a lookup table, a rate limiter, a policer, and a counter, and wherein a token for an element node is a value that uniquely identifies the element node representing the represented forwarding path element; generating, by the forwarding manager, a dependencies structure that includes one or more dependencies that each indicates, for a particular element node of the plurality of element nodes, a plurality of other element nodes of the plurality of element nodes that include a token reference set to a value for the token of the particular element node, wherein generating the dependencies structure comprises generating a first dependency of the one or more dependencies, the first dependency comprising a mapping, based on the token reference of the first element node set to the value for the token of the second element node, from the token of the second element node to the token of the first element node; configuring, by the forwarding manager based on the element nodes and the dependencies structure, the internal forwarding path to include respective forwarding path elements for the plurality of element nodes; processing, by the at least one packet processor, a packet received by the forwarding unit by executing the forwarding path elements to forward the packet along the internal forwarding path; and by the forwarding manager, in response to receiving a subsequent packet processing operation, generating a new element node to update the second element node, the new element node comprising a token set to the value for the token of the second element node; configuring the internal forwarding path to include a new forwarding path element corresponding to the new element node; and based on the dependencies structure, setting a next hop of the first forwarding path element corresponding to the first element node to the new forwarding path element corresponding to the new element node. receiving, by a forwarding manager for an internal forwarding path executed by at least one packet processor of a forwarding unit of a network device, one or more packet processing operations from a control unit of the network device, wherein the internal forwarding path defines a forwarding path within the network device; generating, by the forwarding manager based on the one or more packet processing operations, a plurality of element nodes (30, 110) each comprising a unique token, wherein a first element node of the plurality of element nodes includes a token reference set to a value for the token of a second element node of the plurality of element nodes, wherein forwarding path elements are represented using element nodes, wherein each of the forwarding path elements comprises one of a lookup tree, a lookup table, a rate limiter, a policer, and a counter, and wherein a token for an element node is a value that uniquely identifies the element node representing the represented forwarding path element; generating, by the forwarding manager, a dependencies structure that includes one or more dependencies that each indicates, for a particular element node of the plurality of element nodes, a plurality of other element nodes of the plurality of element nodes that include a token reference set to a value for the token of the particular element node, wherein generating the dependencies structure comprises generating a first dependency of the one or more dependencies, the first dependency comprising a mapping, based on the token reference of the first element node set to the value for the token of the second element node, from the token of the second element node to the token of the first element node; configuring, by the forwarding manager based on the element nodes and the dependencies structure, the internal forwarding path to include respective forwarding path elements for the plurality of element nodes; processing, by the at least one packet processor, a packet received by the forwarding unit by executing the forwarding path elements to forward the packet along the internal forwarding path; and by the forwarding manager, in response to receiving a subsequent packet processing operation, generating a new element node to update the second element node, the new element node comprising a token set to the value for the token of the second element node; configuring the internal forwarding path to include a new forwarding path element corresponding to the new element node; and based on the dependencies structure, setting a next hop of the first forwarding path element corresponding to the first element node to the new forwarding path element corresponding to the new element node.