diff --git a/file_previews.c b/file_previews.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1aaba7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/file_previews.c
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include "defines.h"
+
+char* text(char *path, unsigned long *file_size);
+char* preview_file(char *path, unsigned long file_size){ 
+	/* this calls "file" on path */
+	/* TODO(2025-06-13T01:26:16) fix the noisy buffer */
+
+	char *file_buffer;
+	unsigned long cmd_size = 0;
+
+	static char *cmd_str = "file --mime-type -b ./\"";
+	unsigned long cmd_len = strlen(cmd_str);
+	unsigned int path_len = strlen(path);
+	char *cmd = malloc((cmd_len + path_len) + 2);
+	memset(cmd, ' ', cmd_len + path_len);
+	memcpy(cmd, cmd_str, cmd_len);
+	memcpy(cmd + cmd_len, path, path_len);
+	cmd[cmd_len + path_len] = '\"';
+	cmd[cmd_len + path_len + 1] = '\0';
+
+	FILE *cmd_open = popen(cmd, "r");
+	char *line;
+	size_t size = 0;
+	char *tmp = getline(&line, &size, cmd_open);
+	cmd_size = strlen(line);
+	pclose(cmd_open);
+
+	if (strstr(line, "text")) {
+		file_buffer = text(path, &file_size);
+	} else {
+		file_buffer = malloc(cmd_size + 1);
+		memset(file_buffer, ' ', cmd_size);
+		memcpy(file_buffer, line, cmd_size);
+		file_buffer[cmd_size] = '\0';
+	}
+	free(cmd);
+	return file_buffer;
+
+}
+char* text(char *path, unsigned long *file_size) {
+
+	char *file_buffer = malloc(*file_size + 1);
+	FILE *fp = fopen(path, "r");
+	fread(file_buffer, *file_size, 1, fp);
+	file_buffer[*file_size] = '\0';
+
+	return file_buffer;
+}
+/*
+  	FILE *cmd_open = popen(cmd, "r");
+	memset(file_buffer, ' ', file_size);
+	fread(file_buffer, file_size, 1, cmd_open);
+	file_buffer[file_size] = '\0';
+	pclose(cmd_open);
+	return file_buffer;
+	*/
diff --git a/file_previews.h b/file_previews.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00208f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/file_previews.h
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#include "file_previews.c"
+
+char* preview_file(char *path, unsigned long file_size);