diff --git a/nbt/snbt_decode.go b/nbt/snbt_decode.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d7ac89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nbt/snbt_decode.go
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+package nbt
+
+type token int
+
+const (
+	ILLEGAL token = iota
+
+	IDENT // name
+
+	INT // 12345
+	FLT // 12345.67
+
+	BYTE   // b or B
+	SHORT  // s or S
+	LONG   // l or L
+	FLOAT  // f or F
+	DOUBLE // d or D
+
+	STRING // "abc" 'def'
+
+	LPAREN // (
+	LBRACK // [
+	LBRACE // {
+	COMMA  // ,
+	PERIOD // .
+
+	RPAREN    // )
+	RBRACK    // ]
+	RBRACE    // }
+	SEMICOLON // ;
+	COLON     // :
+)
+
+const (
+	scanContinue = iota
+	scanError
+)
+
+type scanner struct {
+	step       func(c byte) int
+	parseState []int
+}
+
+func (s *scanner) stateBeginValue(c byte) int {
+	switch c {
+	case '{': // beginning of TAG_Compound
+		s.step = s.stateCompound
+	case '[': // beginning of TAG_List
+		s.step = s.stateList
+	case '"', '\'': // beginning of TAG_String
+
+	}
+	return scanError
+}
+
+func (p *scanner) stateCompound(c byte) int {
+	return scanError
+}
+
+func (p *scanner) stateList(c byte) int {
+	return scanError
+}