diff --git a/cmd/main-wsh.go b/cmd/main-wsh.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bcfe879d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/main-wsh.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright 2024, Command Line Inc.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+)
+
+const WaveOSC = "23198"
+
+func main() {
+	barr, err := os.ReadFile("/Users/mike/Downloads/2.png")
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println("error reading file:", err)
+		return
+	}
+	fmt.Println("file size:", len(barr))
+}
diff --git a/pkg/wshutil/wshcommands.go b/pkg/wshutil/wshcommands.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5051b09a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/wshutil/wshcommands.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// Copyright 2024, Command Line Inc.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package wshutil
+
+import "reflect"
+
+const (
+	CommandSetView         = "setview"
+	CommandSetMeta         = "setmeta"
+	CommandBlockFileAppend = "blockfile:append"
+)
+
+var CommandToTypeMap = map[string]reflect.Type{
+	CommandSetView: reflect.TypeOf(SetViewCommand{}),
+	CommandSetMeta: reflect.TypeOf(SetMetaCommand{}),
+}
+
+type Command interface {
+	GetCommand() string
+}
+
+// for unmarshalling
+type baseCommand struct {
+	Command string `json:"command"`
+}
+
+type SetViewCommand struct {
+	Command string `json:"command"`
+	View    string `json:"view"`
+}
+
+func (svc *SetViewCommand) GetCommand() string {
+	return CommandSetView
+}
+
+type SetMetaCommand struct {
+	Command string         `json:"command"`
+	Meta    map[string]any `json:"meta"`
+}
+
+func (smc *SetMetaCommand) GetCommand() string {
+	return CommandSetMeta
+}
+
+type BlockFileAppendCommand struct {
+	Command  string `json:"command"`
+	FileName string `json:"filename"`
+	Data     []byte `json:"data"`
+}
+
+func (bfac *BlockFileAppendCommand) GetCommand() string {
+	return CommandBlockFileAppend
+}
diff --git a/pkg/wshutil/wshutil.go b/pkg/wshutil/wshutil.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..516b6364
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/wshutil/wshutil.go
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+// Copyright 2024, Command Line Inc.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package wshutil
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
+)
+
+const WaveOSC = "23198"
+const WaveOSCPrefix = "\x1b]" + WaveOSC + ";"
+const HexChars = "0123456789ABCDEF"
+const BEL = 0x07
+
+var waveOSCPrefixBytes = []byte(WaveOSCPrefix)
+
+// OSC escape types
+// OSC 23198 ; (JSON | base64-JSON) ST
+// JSON = must escape all ASCII control characters ([\x00-\x1F\x7F])
+// we can tell the difference between JSON and base64-JSON by the first character: '{' or not
+
+func EncodeWaveOSCMessage(cmd Command) ([]byte, error) {
+	if cmd.GetCommand() == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Command field not set in struct")
+	}
+	ctype, ok := CommandToTypeMap[cmd.GetCommand()]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown command type %q", cmd.GetCommand())
+	}
+	cmdType := reflect.TypeOf(cmd)
+	if cmdType != ctype && (cmdType.Kind() == reflect.Pointer && cmdType.Elem() != ctype) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("command type does not match %q", cmd.GetCommand())
+	}
+	barr, err := json.Marshal(cmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error marshalling message to json: %w", err)
+	}
+	hasControlChars := false
+	for _, b := range barr {
+		if b < 0x20 || b == 0x7F {
+			hasControlChars = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if !hasControlChars {
+		// If no control characters, directly construct the output
+		// \x1b] (2) + WaveOSC + ; (1) + message + \x07 (1)
+		output := make([]byte, len(WaveOSCPrefix)+len(barr)+1)
+		copy(output, waveOSCPrefixBytes)
+		copy(output[len(WaveOSCPrefix):], barr)
+		output[len(output)-1] = BEL
+		return output, nil
+	}
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	buf.Write(waveOSCPrefixBytes)
+	escSeq := [6]byte{'\\', 'u', '0', '0', '0', '0'}
+	for _, b := range barr {
+		if b < 0x20 || b == 0x7f {
+			escSeq[4] = HexChars[b>>4]
+			escSeq[5] = HexChars[b&0x0f]
+			buf.Write(escSeq[:])
+		} else {
+			buf.WriteByte(b)
+		}
+	}
+	buf.WriteByte(BEL)
+	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+}
+
+func decodeWaveOSCMessage(data []byte) (Command, error) {
+	var baseCmd baseCommand
+	err := json.Unmarshal(data, &baseCmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling json: %w", err)
+	}
+	rtnCmd := reflect.New(CommandToTypeMap[baseCmd.Command]).Interface()
+	err = json.Unmarshal(data, rtnCmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling json: %w", err)
+	}
+	return rtnCmd.(Command), nil
+}
+
+// data does not contain the escape sequence, just the innards
+// this function implements the switch between JSON and base64-JSON
+func DecodeWaveOSCMessage(data []byte) (Command, error) {
+	if len(data) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("empty data")
+	}
+	if data[0] != '{' {
+		// decode base64
+		rtnLen := base64.StdEncoding.DecodedLen(len(data))
+		rtn := make([]byte, rtnLen)
+		nw, err := base64.StdEncoding.Decode(rtn, data)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error decoding base64: %w", err)
+		}
+		return decodeWaveOSCMessage(rtn[:nw])
+	}
+	return decodeWaveOSCMessage(data)
+}