diff --git a/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteBufferInputStream.java b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteBufferInputStream.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f73de5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteBufferInputStream.java
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package com.fizzed.crux.util;
+
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+
+public class ByteBufferInputStream extends InputStream {
+
+    private final ByteBuffer buf;
+
+    public ByteBufferInputStream(ByteBuffer buffer) {
+        if (buffer == null) throw new NullPointerException();
+        buf = buffer;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized int read() {
+        if (buf.hasRemaining()) return buf.get() & 0xff;
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized int read(byte b[]) {
+        return read(0, b.length, b);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized int read(byte b[], int off, int len) {
+        if ((off | len | off + len | b.length - (off + len)) < 0) {
+            throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
+        }
+        return read(off, len, b);
+    }
+
+    private int read(int off, int len, byte[] b) {
+        if (len == 0) return 0;
+
+        int rem = buf.remaining();
+        if (rem <= 0) return -1;
+
+        if (rem > len) rem = len;
+        buf.get(b, off, rem);
+        return rem;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized long skip(long n) {
+        if (n <= 0) return 0;
+
+        int rem = buf.remaining();
+        if (n > rem) n = rem;
+
+        buf.position((int)(buf.position() + n));
+        return n;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized int available() { return buf.remaining(); }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized void mark(int readAheadLimit) { buf.mark(); }
+
+    @Override
+    public synchronized void reset() { buf.reset(); }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean markSupported() { return true; }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() {}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteInput.java b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteInput.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74a0ce7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteInput.java
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+package com.fizzed.crux.util;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+/**
+ * Generic way of providing "byte inputs" as files, byte arrays, etc. to methods.
+ */
+public class ByteInput {
+
+    protected final Path file;
+    protected final byte[] bytes;
+    protected final ByteBuffer buffer;
+    protected final InputStream in;
+    protected final boolean closeable;
+
+    static public ByteInput byteInput(Path file) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(file, "file cannot be null");
+        return new ByteInput(file, null, null, null, true);
+    }
+
+    static public ByteInput byteInput(File file) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(file, "file cannot be null");
+        return new ByteInput(file.toPath(), null, null, null, true);
+    }
+
+    static public ByteInput byteInput(byte[] bytes) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(bytes, "bytes cannot be null");
+        return new ByteInput(null, bytes, null, null, true);
+    }
+
+    static public ByteInput byteInput(ByteBuffer buffer) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(buffer, "buffer cannot be null");
+        return new ByteInput(null, null, buffer, null, true);
+    }
+
+    static public ByteInput byteInput(InputStream in) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(in, "input cannot be null");
+        return new ByteInput(null, null, null, in, true);
+    }
+
+    static public ByteInput byteInput(InputStream in, boolean closeable) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(in, "input cannot be null");
+        return new ByteInput(null, null, null, in, closeable);
+    }
+
+    protected Long size;
+
+    protected ByteInput(Path file, byte[] bytes, ByteBuffer buffer, InputStream in, boolean closeable) {
+        this.file = file;
+        this.bytes = bytes;
+        this.buffer = buffer;
+        this.in = in;
+        this.closeable = closeable;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * If the size is definitively known ahead of time, this is the number of bytes. Will work on files, byte arrays,
+     * and byte buffers, but others will return -1 since the size is not known definitively.
+     * @return The number of bytes this input represents or -1 if that size is not definitively known
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public long available() throws IOException {
+        if (this.file != null || this.bytes != null || this.buffer != null) {
+            return this.size();
+        } else if (this.in != null) {
+            return this.in.available();
+        }
+        return -1L;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * If the size is definitively known ahead of time, this is the number of bytes. Will work on files, byte arrays,
+     * and byte buffers, but others will return -1 since the size is not known definitively.
+     * @return The number of bytes this input represents or -1 if that size is not definitively known
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public long size() throws IOException {
+        if (size == null) {
+            if (this.file != null) {
+                this.size = Files.size(this.file);
+            } else if (this.bytes != null) {
+                this.size = (long)this.bytes.length;
+            } else if (this.buffer != null) {
+                this.size = (long)this.buffer.remaining();
+            } else {
+                // otherwise we just don't know what size this is
+                this.size = -1l;
+            }
+        }
+        return this.size;
+    }
+
+    public InputStream open() throws IOException {
+        if (this.file != null) {
+            return Files.newInputStream(this.file);
+        } else if (this.bytes != null) {
+            return new ByteArrayInputStream(this.bytes);
+        } else if (this.buffer != null) {
+            return new ByteBufferInputStream(this.buffer);
+        } else if (this.in != null) {
+            if (this.closeable) {
+                return this.in;
+            } else {
+                // wrap input stream in an un-closeable version
+                return new UnclosableInputStream(this.in);
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("All available inputs were null (file, bytes, input)");
+        }
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/UnclosableInputStream.java b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/UnclosableInputStream.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6600b05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/UnclosableInputStream.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package com.fizzed.crux.util;
+
+import java.io.FilterInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+
+public class UnclosableInputStream extends FilterInputStream {
+
+    protected boolean closed;
+
+    public UnclosableInputStream(InputStream in) {
+        super(in);
+    }
+
+    public boolean isClosed() {
+        return this.closed;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int read() throws IOException {
+        if (this.closed) return -1;
+        return super.read();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int read(byte[] b) throws IOException {
+        if (this.closed) return -1;
+        return super.read(b);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int read(byte[] b, int off, int len) throws IOException {
+        if (this.closed) return -1;
+        return super.read(b, off, len);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int available() throws IOException {
+        if (this.closed) throw new IOException("Stream closed");
+        return super.available();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws IOException {
+        this.closed = true;
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/UnclosableOutputStream.java b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/UnclosableOutputStream.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44a4447
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crux-util/src/main/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/UnclosableOutputStream.java
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package com.fizzed.crux.util;
+
+import java.io.FilterOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+public class UnclosableOutputStream extends FilterOutputStream {
+
+    private boolean closed;
+
+    public UnclosableOutputStream(OutputStream output) {
+        super(output);
+        this.closed = false;
+    }
+
+    public boolean isClosed() {
+        return this.closed;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void write(int b) throws IOException {
+        if (closed) throw new IOException("Stream closed");
+        super.write(b);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void write(byte[] b) throws IOException {
+        if (closed) throw new IOException("Stream closed");
+        super.write(b);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void write(byte[] b, int off, int len) throws IOException {
+        if (closed) throw new IOException("Stream closed");
+        super.write(b, off, len);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void flush() throws IOException {
+        if (closed) throw new IOException("Stream closed");
+        super.flush();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws IOException {
+        this.closed = true;
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crux-util/src/test/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteBufferInputStreamTest.java b/crux-util/src/test/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteBufferInputStreamTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d6a00c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crux-util/src/test/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteBufferInputStreamTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package com.fizzed.crux.util;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+public class ByteBufferInputStreamTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void read() {
+        final ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.wrap("abcdef".getBytes());
+
+        final ByteBufferInputStream in = new ByteBufferInputStream(buf);
+        int read;
+
+        assertThat(in.available(), is(6));
+        assertThat(in.read(), is((int)'a'));
+
+        final byte[] bytes = new byte[2];
+        read = in.read(bytes);
+        assertThat(read, is(2));
+        assertThat(bytes[0], is((byte)'b'));
+        assertThat(bytes[1], is((byte)'c'));
+
+        read = in.read(bytes, 1, 1);
+        assertThat(read, is(1));
+        assertThat(bytes[1], is((byte)'d'));
+
+        assertThat(in.available(), is(2));
+        read = in.read(bytes);
+        assertThat(read, is(2));
+        assertThat(bytes[0], is((byte)'e'));
+        assertThat(bytes[1], is((byte)'f'));
+
+        // this should be EOF now
+        read = in.read(bytes);
+        assertThat(read, is(-1));
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crux-util/src/test/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteInputTest.java b/crux-util/src/test/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteInputTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..782ed42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crux-util/src/test/java/com/fizzed/crux/util/ByteInputTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+package com.fizzed.crux.util;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+
+import static com.fizzed.crux.util.ByteInput.byteInput;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+public class ByteInputTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void file() throws Exception {
+        Path file = Resources.file("/fixtures/hello.txt");
+
+        ByteInput bi = byteInput(file);
+
+        assertThat(bi.size(), is(11L));
+        assertThat(bi.available(), is(11L));
+
+        try (InputStream in = bi.open()) {
+            String s = InOuts.stringUTF8(in);
+            assertThat(s, is("I am a test"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void byteArray() throws Exception {
+        byte[] bytes = "I am a test".getBytes();
+
+        ByteInput bi = byteInput(bytes);
+
+        assertThat(bi.size(), is(11L));
+        assertThat(bi.available(), is(11L));
+
+        try (InputStream in = bi.open()) {
+            String s = InOuts.stringUTF8(in);
+            assertThat(s, is("I am a test"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void byteBuffer() throws Exception {
+        byte[] bytes = "I am a test".getBytes();
+        ByteBuffer buffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes);
+
+        ByteInput bi = byteInput(buffer);
+
+        assertThat(bi.size(), is(11L));
+        assertThat(bi.available(), is(11L));
+
+        try (InputStream in = bi.open()) {
+            String s = InOuts.stringUTF8(in);
+            assertThat(s, is("I am a test"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void inputStream() throws Exception {
+        byte[] bytes = "I am a test".getBytes();
+        ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes);
+
+        ByteInput bi = byteInput(bais);
+
+        assertThat(bi.size(), is(-1L));
+        assertThat(bi.available(), is(11L));
+
+        try (InputStream in = bi.open()) {
+            String s = InOuts.stringUTF8(in);
+            assertThat(s, is("I am a test"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void inputStreamUncloseable() throws Exception {
+        byte[] bytes = "I am a test".getBytes();
+        final AtomicBoolean closed = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+        ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes) {
+            @Override
+            public void close() throws IOException {
+                closed.set(true);
+            }
+        };
+
+        ByteInput bi1 = byteInput(bais);
+
+        try (InputStream in = bi1.open()) { }
+        assertThat(closed.get(), is(true));
+
+
+        closed.set(false);
+        ByteInput bi2 = byteInput(bais, false);
+
+        try (InputStream in = bi2.open()) { }
+        assertThat(closed.get(), is(false));
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file