diff --git a/tools/src/bin/parser/main.rs b/tools/src/bin/parser/main.rs
index dda1452..056416a 100644
--- a/tools/src/bin/parser/main.rs
+++ b/tools/src/bin/parser/main.rs
@@ -17,12 +17,11 @@ struct Args {
 fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let args = Args::parse();
 
-    let repo_contents = std::fs::read_dir(args.repo).unwrap();
+    let repo = Repo::new(&args.repo);
+    println!("{:#?}", repo);
 
-    let target_str = std::fs::read_to_string(args.target)?;
-    let recipe: Recipe = toml::from_str(&target_str)?;
+    let recipe: Option<&Recipe> = repo.get_recipe(&args.target);
     println!("{recipe:#?}");
-    let r = tools::recipe::validate_recipe(&recipe);
-    println!("valid?  {r:#?}");
+
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/tools/src/recipe.rs b/tools/src/recipe.rs
index 480615a..4465d5d 100644
--- a/tools/src/recipe.rs
+++ b/tools/src/recipe.rs
@@ -54,9 +54,18 @@ pub struct Recipe {
     outputs: Option<Vec<String>>,
 }
 
-pub fn validate_recipe(recipe: &Recipe) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    // if recipe.inputs.len() == 0 {
-    //     Err("recipe has no inputs!");
-    // }
-    Ok(())
+impl Recipe {
+    pub fn from_file(file: &std::path::PathBuf) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
+        let recipe_contents = std::fs::read_to_string(file)?;
+        let recipe: Recipe = toml::from_str(&recipe_contents)?;
+        // let r = recipe.validate_recipe();
+        Ok(recipe)
+    }
+
+    fn validate_recipe(self: &Self) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        // if recipe.inputs.len() == 0 {
+        //     Err("recipe has no inputs!");
+        // }
+        Ok(())
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tools/src/repo.rs b/tools/src/repo.rs
index 3e966a8..b7861f7 100644
--- a/tools/src/repo.rs
+++ b/tools/src/repo.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,56 @@
 use crate::recipe::Recipe;
 
+#[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Repo {
     path: String,
     recipes: std::collections::HashMap<String, Recipe>,
 }
+
+impl Repo {
+    pub fn new(path: &str) -> Self {
+        let mut repo = Self {
+            path: std::string::String::from(path),
+            recipes: std::collections::HashMap::<String, Recipe>::new(),
+        };
+        repo.add_dir(path).unwrap();
+        repo
+    }
+
+    pub fn get_recipe(self: &Self, recipe_name: &str) -> Option<&Recipe> {
+        self.recipes.get(recipe_name)
+    }
+
+    fn add_dir(self: &mut Self, path: &str) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        // println!("reading Recipes from {path}");
+        let dir_entries = std::fs::read_dir(path).unwrap();
+        for dir_entry in dir_entries {
+            let dir_entry = dir_entry.unwrap();
+            let file_type = dir_entry.file_type().unwrap();
+            // println!("trying {:?} ({:?})", dir_entry, file_type);
+            if file_type.is_file() {
+                let path = dir_entry.path();
+                match self.add_file(&path) {
+                    Ok(()) => {
+                        // println!("added {:?}", dir_entry);
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        println!("failed to read recipe from {:?}: {:?}", path, e);
+                    }
+                }
+            } else if file_type.is_dir() {
+                let _ = self.add_dir(dir_entry.path().to_str().unwrap());
+            }
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    fn add_file(self: &mut Self, path: &std::path::PathBuf) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        // println!("reading Recipe from {:?}", path);
+        if let Some(recipe_name) = path.file_stem() {
+            let key = recipe_name.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
+            let value = crate::Recipe::from_file(path)?;
+            self.recipes.insert(key, value);
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}