diff --git a/ggml.c b/ggml.c
index 33459f263..8c01dcabf 100644
--- a/ggml.c
+++ b/ggml.c
@@ -18297,6 +18297,75 @@ size_t ggml_quantize_chunk(enum ggml_type type, const float * src, void * dst, i
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+struct gguf_string {
+    uint32_t n;
+    char * data;
+};
+
+union gguf_value;
+
+union gguf_value {
+    uint8_t  uint8;
+    int8_t   int8;
+    uint16_t uint16;
+    int16_t  int16;
+    uint32_t uint32;
+    int32_t  int32;
+    float    float32;
+    bool     bool_;
+
+    struct gguf_string str;
+
+    struct {
+        enum gguf_type type;
+
+        uint32_t n;
+        union gguf_value * arr;
+    } arr;
+};
+
+struct gguf_kv {
+    struct gguf_string key;
+
+    uint32_t n_bytes; // TODO: is this actually needed?
+
+    enum  gguf_type  type;
+    union gguf_value value;
+};
+
+struct gguf_header {
+    uint32_t magic;
+    uint32_t version;
+    uint32_t n_tensors;
+
+    uint32_t n_kv;
+    struct gguf_kv * kv;
+};
+
+struct gguf_tensor_info {
+    struct gguf_string name;
+
+    uint32_t n_dims;
+    uint32_t ne[GGML_MAX_DIMS];
+    uint32_t n_elements; // TODO: is this needed?
+
+    enum ggml_type type;
+
+    uint64_t offset; // must be a multiple of `ALIGNMENT`.
+};
+
+struct gguf_context {
+    struct gguf_header        header;
+    struct gguf_tensor_info * infos;
+
+    size_t alignment;
+
+    uint8_t * padding;
+    uint8_t * data;
+};
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
 int ggml_cpu_has_avx(void) {
 #if defined(__AVX__)
     return 1;
diff --git a/ggml.h b/ggml.h
index 2e700c9a0..51885917f 100644
--- a/ggml.h
+++ b/ggml.h
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@
 #define GGML_MAX_NAME          48
 #define GGML_MAX_OP_PARAMS     32
 #define GGML_DEFAULT_N_THREADS 4
+#define GGUF_DEFAULT_ALIGNMENT 32
 
 #define GGML_EXIT_SUCCESS 0
 #define GGML_EXIT_ABORTED 1
@@ -1617,23 +1618,47 @@ extern "C" {
     // gguf
     //
 
-    enum gguf_metadata_value_type {
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_UINT8   = 0,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_INT8    = 1,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_UINT16  = 2,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_INT16   = 3,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_UINT32  = 4,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_INT32   = 5,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_FLOAT32 = 6,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_BOOL    = 7,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_STRING  = 8,
-        GGUF_METADATA_VALUE_TYPE_ARRAY   = 9,
+    enum gguf_type {
+        GGUF_TYPE_UINT8   = 0,
+        GGUF_TYPE_INT8    = 1,
+        GGUF_TYPE_UINT16  = 2,
+        GGUF_TYPE_INT16   = 3,
+        GGUF_TYPE_UINT32  = 4,
+        GGUF_TYPE_INT32   = 5,
+        GGUF_TYPE_FLOAT32 = 6,
+        GGUF_TYPE_BOOL    = 7,
+        GGUF_TYPE_STRING  = 8,
+        GGUF_TYPE_ARRAY   = 9,
     };
 
-    struct gguf_string {
-        uint32_t n;
-        char * data;
-    };
+    struct gguf_context;
+
+    GGML_API struct gguf_context * gguf_gguf_init(const char * path);
+    GGML_API void                  gguf_gguf_free(struct gguf_context * ctx);
+
+    GGML_API int    gguf_get_version    (struct gguf_context * ctx);
+    GGML_API size_t gguf_get_alignment  (struct gguf_context * ctx);
+    GGML_API size_t gguf_get_data_offset(struct gguf_context * ctx);
+
+    GGML_API int            gguf_get_n_kv(struct gguf_context * ctx);
+    GGML_API const char *   gguf_get_key (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API enum gguf_type gguf_get_type(struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API void           gguf_get_val (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i, void * val);
+
+    GGML_API uint8_t      gguf_get_val_u8  (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API int8_t       gguf_get_val_i8  (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API uint16_t     gguf_get_val_u16 (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API int16_t      gguf_get_val_i16 (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API uint32_t     gguf_get_val_u32 (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API int32_t      gguf_get_val_i32 (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API float        gguf_get_val_f32 (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API bool         gguf_get_val_bool(struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    GGML_API const char * gguf_get_val_str (struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+    // TODO: arr
+
+    GGML_API int    gguf_get_n_tensors    (struct gguf_context * ctx);
+    GGML_API size_t gguf_get_tensor_offset(struct gguf_context * ctx, int i);
+
     //
     // system info
     //