diff --git a/source/mijin/virtual_filesystem/filesystem.hpp b/source/mijin/virtual_filesystem/filesystem.hpp
index db21c4b..b7ae653 100644
--- a/source/mijin/virtual_filesystem/filesystem.hpp
+++ b/source/mijin/virtual_filesystem/filesystem.hpp
@@ -40,6 +40,21 @@ struct FileInfo
     bool isHidden : 1 = false;
 };
 
+// basically just a thin wrapper around adapter + path, for utility
+class PathReference
+{
+private:
+    class FileSystemAdapter* adapter_;
+    fs::path path_;
+public:
+    PathReference(class FileSystemAdapter* adapter, fs::path path) noexcept : adapter_(adapter), path_(std::move(path)) {}
+
+    [[nodiscard]] class FileSystemAdapter* getAdapter() const noexcept { return adapter_; }
+    [[nodiscard]] const fs::path& getPath() const noexcept { return path_; }
+    [[nodiscard]] inline FileInfo getInfo() const;
+    [[nodiscard]] inline StreamError open(FileOpenMode mode, std::unique_ptr<Stream>& outStream) const;
+};
+
 class FileSystemAdapter
 {
 public:
@@ -50,6 +65,8 @@ public:
     [[nodiscard]] virtual std::vector<FileInfo> listFiles(const fs::path& folder) = 0;
     [[nodiscard]] virtual FileInfo getFileInfo(const fs::path& file) = 0;
     [[nodiscard]] virtual StreamError open(const fs::path& path, FileOpenMode mode, std::unique_ptr<Stream>& outStream) = 0;
+
+    [[nodiscard]] PathReference getPath(fs::path path) noexcept { return PathReference(this, std::move(path)); }
 };
 
 class OSFileSystemAdapter : public FileSystemAdapter
@@ -68,6 +85,16 @@ public:
 // public functions
 //
 
+inline FileInfo PathReference::getInfo() const
+{
+    return adapter_->getFileInfo(path_);
+}
+
+inline StreamError PathReference::open(FileOpenMode mode, std::unique_ptr<Stream>& outStream) const
+{
+    return adapter_->open(path_, mode, outStream);
+}
+
 inline std::string formatFileType(const FileInfo& info)
 {
     if (info.isFolder) {