diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7cbc27f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+set(headers
+    src/esphttpdutils.h
+)
+
+set(sources
+    src/esphttpdutils.cpp
+)
+
+set(dependencies
+    esp_http_server
+    nghttp
+
+    cpputils
+    espchrono
+    espcpputils
+    expected
+    fmt
+)
+
+idf_component_register(
+    INCLUDE_DIRS
+        src
+    SRCS
+        ${headers}
+        ${sources}
+    REQUIRES
+        ${dependencies}
+)
+
+target_compile_options(${COMPONENT_TARGET}
+    PRIVATE
+        -fstack-reuse=all
+        -fstack-protector-all
+        -Wno-unused-function
+        -Wno-deprecated-declarations
+        -Wno-missing-field-initializers
+        -Wno-parentheses
+)
diff --git a/src/esphttpdutils.cpp b/src/esphttpdutils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fa1c84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/esphttpdutils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+#include "esphttpdutils.h"
+
+// esp-idf includes
+#include <esp_log.h>
+#include <http_parser.h>
+
+// 3rdparty lib includes
+#include <fmt/core.h>
+
+// local includes
+#include "futurecpp.h"
+#include "espcppmacros.h"
+
+namespace esphttpdutils {
+namespace {
+constexpr const char * const TAG = "ESPHTTPDUTILS";
+}
+
+void urldecode(char *dst, const char *src)
+{
+    while (*src)
+    {
+        char a, b;
+        if ((*src == '%') && ((a = src[1]) && (b = src[2])) && (std::isxdigit(a) && std::isxdigit(b)))
+        {
+            if (a >= 'a')
+                a -= 'a'-'A';
+            if (a >= 'A')
+                a -= ('A' - 10);
+            else
+                a -= '0';
+
+            if (b >= 'a')
+                b -= 'a'-'A';
+            if (b >= 'A')
+                b -= ('A' - 10);
+            else
+                b -= '0';
+
+            *dst++ = 16*a+b;
+            src+=3;
+        }
+        else if (*src == '+')
+        {
+            *dst++ = ' ';
+            src++;
+        }
+        else
+            *dst++ = *src++;
+    }
+
+    *dst++ = '\0';
+}
+
+tl::expected<void, std::string> urlverify(std::string_view str)
+{
+    http_parser_url puri;
+    http_parser_url_init(&puri);
+    if (const auto result = http_parser_parse_url(str.data(), str.size(), 0, &puri); result != 0)
+        return tl::make_unexpected(fmt::format("http_parser_parse_url() failed with {}", result));
+    return {};
+}
+
+const char *errorToStatus(httpd_err_code_t error)
+{
+    switch (error)
+    {
+    case HTTPD_501_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED:   return "501 Method Not Implemented";
+    case HTTPD_505_VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED:    return "505 Version Not Supported";
+    case HTTPD_400_BAD_REQUEST:              return "400 Bad Request";
+    case HTTPD_401_UNAUTHORIZED:             return "401 Unauthorized";
+    case HTTPD_403_FORBIDDEN:                return "403 Forbidden";
+    case HTTPD_404_NOT_FOUND:                return "404 Not Found";
+    case HTTPD_405_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED:       return "405 Method Not Allowed";
+    case HTTPD_408_REQ_TIMEOUT:              return "408 Request Timeout";
+    case HTTPD_414_URI_TOO_LONG:             return "414 URI Too Long";
+    case HTTPD_411_LENGTH_REQUIRED:          return "411 Length Required";
+    case HTTPD_431_REQ_HDR_FIELDS_TOO_LARGE: return "431 Request Header Fields Too Large";
+    default:
+        ESP_LOGW(TAG, "unknown httpd_err_code_t(%i)", std::to_underlying(error));
+        [[fallthrough]];
+    case HTTPD_500_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR:    return "500 Internal Server Error";
+    }
+}
+
+esp_err_t webserver_resp_send_succ(httpd_req_t *req, const char *type, std::string_view body)
+{
+    CALL_AND_EXIT_ON_ERROR(httpd_resp_set_type, req, type)
+    CALL_AND_EXIT_ON_ERROR(httpd_resp_send, req, body.data(), body.size())
+
+    return ESP_OK;
+}
+
+esp_err_t webserver_resp_send_err(httpd_req_t *req, httpd_err_code_t error, const char *type, std::string_view body)
+{
+    CALL_AND_EXIT_ON_ERROR(httpd_resp_set_status, req, errorToStatus(error))
+    CALL_AND_EXIT_ON_ERROR(httpd_resp_set_type, req, type)
+    CALL_AND_EXIT_ON_ERROR(httpd_resp_send, req, body.data(), body.size())
+
+    return ESP_OK;
+}
+
+} // namespace esphttpdutils
+
diff --git a/src/esphttpdutils.h b/src/esphttpdutils.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..435356c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/esphttpdutils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#pragma once
+
+// system includes
+#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
+
+// esp-idf includes
+#include <esp_http_server.h>
+
+// 3rdparty lib includes
+#include <tl/expected.hpp>
+
+namespace esphttpdutils {
+
+template<typename T> T htmlentities(const T &val) { return val; } // TODO
+template<typename T> T htmlentities(T &&val) { return val; } // TODO
+
+void urldecode(char *dst, const char *src);
+
+tl::expected<void, std::string> urlverify(std::string_view str);
+
+const char *errorToStatus(httpd_err_code_t error);
+
+esp_err_t webserver_resp_send_succ(httpd_req_t *req, const char *type, std::string_view body);
+esp_err_t webserver_resp_send_err(httpd_req_t *req, httpd_err_code_t error, const char *type, std::string_view body);
+
+} // namespace esphttpdutils