diff --git a/importer/exporter.c b/importer/exporter.c
index 34fbfd7..a8e8941 100644
--- a/importer/exporter.c
+++ b/importer/exporter.c
@@ -70,3 +70,71 @@ int ipfs_exporter_to_file(const unsigned char* hash, const char* file_name, cons
 
 	return 1;
 }
+
+/**
+ * get a file by its hash, and write the data to a file
+ * @param hash the base58 multihash of the cid
+ * @param file_name the file name to write to
+ * @returns true(1) on success
+ */
+int ipfs_exporter_to_console(const unsigned char* hash, const struct FSRepo* fs_repo) {
+	// convert hash to cid
+	struct Cid* cid = NULL;
+	if ( ipfs_cid_decode_hash_from_base58(hash, strlen((char*)hash), &cid) == 0) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	// find block
+	struct Node* read_node = NULL;
+	if (ipfs_merkledag_get(cid->hash, cid->hash_length, &read_node, fs_repo) == 0) {
+		ipfs_cid_free(cid);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	// no longer need the cid
+	ipfs_cid_free(cid);
+
+	// process blocks
+	struct NodeLink* link = read_node->head_link;
+	printf("Links:[");
+	while (link != NULL) {
+		unsigned char b58[100];
+		ipfs_cid_hash_to_base58(link->hash, link->hash_size, b58, 100);
+		printf("{\"Name\":\"%s\",\"Hash\":\"%s\",\"Size\":%lu}", (link->name != NULL ? link->name : ""), (char*)b58, link->t_size);
+		link = link->next;
+	}
+	printf("],\"Data\":\"");
+	for(size_t i = 0LU; i < read_node->data_size; i++) {
+		printf("%02x", read_node->data[i]);
+	}
+	printf("\"}\n");
+
+	if (read_node != NULL)
+		ipfs_node_free(read_node);
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
+
+/***
+ * Called from the command line with ipfs object get [hash]. Retrieves the object pointed to by hash, and displays its block data (links and data elements)
+ * @param argc number of arguments
+ * @param argv arguments
+ * @returns true(1) on success
+ */
+int ipfs_exporter_object_get(int argc, char** argv) {
+	struct FSRepo* fs_repo = NULL;
+
+	// open the repo
+	int retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_new(NULL, NULL, &fs_repo);
+	if (retVal == 0) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_open(fs_repo);
+	if (retVal == 0) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	// find hash
+	retVal = ipfs_exporter_to_console((unsigned char*)argv[3], fs_repo);
+	return retVal;
+}
diff --git a/importer/importer.c b/importer/importer.c
index 24fc431..d58cda0 100644
--- a/importer/importer.c
+++ b/importer/importer.c
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
 #include "ipfs/importer/importer.h"
 #include "ipfs/merkledag/merkledag.h"
 #include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/fs_repo.h"
+#include "ipfs/unixfs/unixfs.h"
 
 #define MAX_DATA_SIZE 262144 // 1024 * 256;
 
@@ -16,27 +19,48 @@
  * @param node the node to add to
  * @returns number of bytes read
  */
-size_t ipfs_import_chunk(FILE* file, struct Node* node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo) {
+size_t ipfs_import_chunk(FILE* file, struct Node* parent_node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo, size_t* total_size) {
 	unsigned char buffer[MAX_DATA_SIZE];
 	size_t bytes_read = fread(buffer, 1, MAX_DATA_SIZE, file);
 
-	if (node->data_size == 0) {
-		ipfs_node_set_data(node, buffer, bytes_read);
-	} else {
-		// create a new node, and link to the parent
-		struct Node* new_node = NULL;
-		ipfs_node_new_from_data(buffer, bytes_read, &new_node);
-		// persist
-		ipfs_merkledag_add(new_node, fs_repo);
-		// put link in parent node
-		struct NodeLink* new_link = NULL;
-		ipfs_node_link_create("", new_node->hash, new_node->hash_size, &new_link);
-		ipfs_node_add_link(node, new_link);
-		ipfs_node_free(new_node);
-	}
+	// create a new node
+	struct Node* new_node = NULL;
+	ipfs_node_new_from_data(buffer, bytes_read, &new_node);
+	// persist
+	ipfs_merkledag_add(new_node, fs_repo);
+	// put link in parent node
+	struct NodeLink* new_link = NULL;
+	ipfs_node_link_create("", new_node->hash, new_node->hash_size, &new_link);
+	new_link->t_size = new_node->data_size;
+	*total_size += new_link->t_size;
+	ipfs_node_add_link(parent_node, new_link);
+	ipfs_node_free(new_node);
+	// save the parent_node if it is time...
 	if (bytes_read != MAX_DATA_SIZE) {
+		// build UnixFS for file
+		struct UnixFS* unix_fs;
+		if (ipfs_unixfs_new(&unix_fs) == 0) {
+			return 0;
+		}
+		unix_fs->data_type = UNIXFS_FILE;
+		unix_fs->file_size = *total_size;
+		// now encode unixfs and put in parent_node->data
+		size_t temp_size = ipfs_unixfs_protobuf_encode_size(unix_fs);
+		unsigned char temp[temp_size];
+		size_t bytes_written;
+		if (ipfs_unixfs_protobuf_encode(unix_fs, temp, temp_size, &bytes_written) == 0) {
+			ipfs_unixfs_free(unix_fs);
+			return 0;
+		}
+		parent_node->data_size = bytes_written;
+		parent_node->data = (unsigned char*)malloc(bytes_written);
+		if (parent_node->data == NULL) {
+			ipfs_unixfs_free(unix_fs);
+			return 0;
+		}
+		memcpy(parent_node->data, temp, bytes_written);
 		// persist the main node
-		ipfs_merkledag_add(node, fs_repo);
+		ipfs_merkledag_add(parent_node, fs_repo);
 	}
 	return bytes_read;
 }
@@ -44,21 +68,22 @@ size_t ipfs_import_chunk(FILE* file, struct Node* node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo)
 /**
  * Creates a node based on an incoming file
  * @param file_name the file to import
- * @param node the root node (could have links to others)
+ * @param parent_node the root node (has links to others)
  * @returns true(1) on success
  */
-int ipfs_import_file(const char* fileName, struct Node** node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo) {
+int ipfs_import_file(const char* fileName, struct Node** parent_node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo) {
 	int retVal = 1;
 	int bytes_read = MAX_DATA_SIZE;
+	size_t total_size = 0;
 
 	FILE* file = fopen(fileName, "rb");
-	retVal = ipfs_node_new(node);
+	retVal = ipfs_node_new(parent_node);
 	if (retVal == 0)
 		return 0;
 
 	// add all nodes
 	while ( bytes_read == MAX_DATA_SIZE) {
-		bytes_read = ipfs_import_chunk(file, *node, fs_repo);
+		bytes_read = ipfs_import_chunk(file, *parent_node, fs_repo, &total_size);
 	}
 	fclose(file);
 
@@ -76,7 +101,7 @@ int ipfs_import(int argc, char** argv) {
 	 * param 1: add
 	 * param 2: filename
 	 */
-	struct Node* node = NULL;
+	struct Node* directory_node = NULL;
 	struct FSRepo* fs_repo = NULL;
 
 	// open the repo
@@ -87,20 +112,20 @@ int ipfs_import(int argc, char** argv) {
 	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_open(fs_repo);
 
 	// import the file(s)
-	retVal = ipfs_import_file(argv[2], &node, fs_repo);
+	retVal = ipfs_import_file(argv[2], &directory_node, fs_repo);
 
 	// give some results to the user
 	int buffer_len = 100;
 	unsigned char buffer[buffer_len];
-	retVal = ipfs_cid_hash_to_base58(node->hash, node->hash_size, buffer, buffer_len);
+	retVal = ipfs_cid_hash_to_base58(directory_node->hash, directory_node->hash_size, buffer, buffer_len);
 	if (retVal == 0) {
 		printf("Unable to generate hash\n");
 		return 0;
 	}
 	printf("added %s %s\n", buffer, argv[2]);
 
-	if (node != NULL)
-		ipfs_node_free(node);
+	if (directory_node != NULL)
+		ipfs_node_free(directory_node);
 	if (fs_repo != NULL)
 		ipfs_repo_fsrepo_free(fs_repo);
 
diff --git a/include/ipfs/importer/exporter.h b/include/ipfs/importer/exporter.h
index 58aad67..395199c 100644
--- a/include/ipfs/importer/exporter.h
+++ b/include/ipfs/importer/exporter.h
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@
  * @returns true(1) on success
  */
 int ipfs_exporter_to_file(const unsigned char* hash, const char* file_name, const struct FSRepo* fs_repo);
+
+int ipfs_exporter_object_get(int argc, char** argv);
+
diff --git a/main/ipfs b/main/ipfs
index 6fce399..388725d 100755
Binary files a/main/ipfs and b/main/ipfs differ
diff --git a/main/main.c b/main/main.c
index 525e679..2fdc626 100644
--- a/main/main.c
+++ b/main/main.c
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "ipfs/repo/init.h"
 #include "ipfs/importer/importer.h"
+#include "ipfs/importer/exporter.h"
 
 void stripit(int argc, char** argv) {
 	char tmp[strlen(argv[argc])];
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ void strip_quotes(int argc, char** argv) {
 
 #define INIT 1
 #define ADD 2
+#define OBJECT_GET 3
 
 /***
  * Basic parsing of command line arguments to figure out where the user wants to go
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@ int parse_arguments(int argc, char** argv) {
 	if (strcmp("add", argv[1]) == 0) {
 		return ADD;
 	}
+	if (strcmp("object", argv[1]) == 0 && argc > 2 && strcmp("get", argv[2]) == 0) {
+		return OBJECT_GET;
+	}
 	return -1;
 }
 
@@ -53,5 +58,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 	case (ADD):
 		ipfs_import(argc, argv);
 		break;
+	case (OBJECT_GET):
+		ipfs_exporter_object_get(argc, argv);
+		break;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/merkledag/merkledag.c b/merkledag/merkledag.c
index 2f57aea..37bf4bc 100644
--- a/merkledag/merkledag.c
+++ b/merkledag/merkledag.c
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ int ipfs_merkledag_add(struct Node* node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo) {
 }
 
 /***
- * Retrieves a node from the datastore based on the cid
- * @param cid the key to look for
+ * Retrieves a node from the datastore based on the hash
+ * @param hash the key to look for
+ * @param hash_size the length of the key
  * @param node the node to be created
  * @param fs_repo the repository
  * @returns true(1) on success