diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index ee959f5..87b8aca 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use crate::BunBunError;
+use crate::{routes::Route, BunBunError};
 use log::{debug, error, info, trace};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ pub struct Config {
 pub struct RouteGroup {
   pub name: String,
   pub description: Option<String>,
-  pub routes: HashMap<String, String>,
+  pub routes: HashMap<String, Route>,
 }
 
 // TODO implement rlua:
@@ -34,13 +34,6 @@ pub struct RouteGroup {
 // # Ok(())
 // # }
 
-#[derive(Deserialize, Serialize, Debug, PartialEq, Clone)]
-struct Route {
-  dest: Option<String>,
-  source: Option<String>,
-  script: Option<String>,
-}
-
 /// Attempts to read the config file. If it doesn't exist, generate one a
 /// default config file before attempting to parse it.
 pub fn read_config(config_file_path: &str) -> Result<Config, BunBunError> {
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 047f3bc..459fc30 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub struct State {
   default_route: Option<String>,
   groups: Vec<RouteGroup>,
   /// Cached, flattened mapping of all routes and their destinations.
-  routes: HashMap<String, String>,
+  routes: HashMap<String, routes::Route>,
 }
 
 #[actix_rt::main]
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ fn init_logger(
 /// Generates a hashmap of routes from the data structure created by the config
 /// file. This should improve runtime performance and is a better solution than
 /// just iterating over the config object for every hop resolution.
-fn cache_routes(groups: &[RouteGroup]) -> HashMap<String, String> {
+fn cache_routes(groups: &[RouteGroup]) -> HashMap<String, routes::Route> {
   let mut mapping = HashMap::new();
   for group in groups {
     for (kw, dest) in &group.routes {
@@ -216,11 +216,13 @@ mod cache_routes {
   use super::*;
   use std::iter::FromIterator;
 
-  fn generate_routes(routes: &[(&str, &str)]) -> HashMap<String, String> {
+  fn generate_external_routes(
+    routes: &[(&str, &str)],
+  ) -> HashMap<String, routes::Route> {
     HashMap::from_iter(
       routes
         .iter()
-        .map(|(k, v)| (String::from(*k), String::from(*v))),
+        .map(|(k, v)| ((*k).into(), routes::Route::External((*v).into()))),
     )
   }
 
@@ -234,18 +236,23 @@ mod cache_routes {
     let group1 = RouteGroup {
       name: String::from("x"),
       description: Some(String::from("y")),
-      routes: generate_routes(&[("a", "b"), ("c", "d")]),
+      routes: generate_external_routes(&[("a", "b"), ("c", "d")]),
     };
 
     let group2 = RouteGroup {
       name: String::from("5"),
       description: Some(String::from("6")),
-      routes: generate_routes(&[("1", "2"), ("3", "4")]),
+      routes: generate_external_routes(&[("1", "2"), ("3", "4")]),
     };
 
     assert_eq!(
       cache_routes(&[group1, group2]),
-      generate_routes(&[("a", "b"), ("c", "d"), ("1", "2"), ("3", "4")])
+      generate_external_routes(&[
+        ("a", "b"),
+        ("c", "d"),
+        ("1", "2"),
+        ("3", "4")
+      ])
     );
   }
 
@@ -254,29 +261,29 @@ mod cache_routes {
     let group1 = RouteGroup {
       name: String::from("x"),
       description: Some(String::from("y")),
-      routes: generate_routes(&[("a", "b"), ("c", "d")]),
+      routes: generate_external_routes(&[("a", "b"), ("c", "d")]),
     };
 
     let group2 = RouteGroup {
       name: String::from("5"),
       description: Some(String::from("6")),
-      routes: generate_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("c", "2")]),
+      routes: generate_external_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("c", "2")]),
     };
 
     assert_eq!(
       cache_routes(&[group1.clone(), group2]),
-      generate_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("c", "2")])
+      generate_external_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("c", "2")])
     );
 
     let group3 = RouteGroup {
       name: String::from("5"),
       description: Some(String::from("6")),
-      routes: generate_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("b", "2")]),
+      routes: generate_external_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("b", "2")]),
     };
 
     assert_eq!(
       cache_routes(&[group1, group3]),
-      generate_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("b", "2"), ("c", "d")])
+      generate_external_routes(&[("a", "1"), ("b", "2"), ("c", "d")])
     );
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/routes.rs b/src/routes.rs
index 06b20ab..7158b18 100644
--- a/src/routes.rs
+++ b/src/routes.rs
@@ -8,12 +8,11 @@ use handlebars::Handlebars;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use log::debug;
 use percent_encoding::{utf8_percent_encode, AsciiSet, CONTROLS};
-use serde::Deserialize;
+use serde::{de::Visitor, Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::fmt;
 use std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
 
-type StateData = Data<Arc<RwLock<State>>>;
-
 /// https://url.spec.whatwg.org/#fragment-percent-encode-set
 const FRAGMENT_ENCODE_SET: &AsciiSet = &CONTROLS
   .add(b' ')
@@ -23,6 +22,67 @@ const FRAGMENT_ENCODE_SET: &AsciiSet = &CONTROLS
   .add(b'`')
   .add(b'+');
 
+type StateData = Data<Arc<RwLock<State>>>;
+
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Clone)]
+pub enum Route {
+  External(String),
+  Path(String),
+}
+
+impl Serialize for Route {
+  fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+  where
+    S: Serializer,
+  {
+    match self {
+      Self::External(s) => serializer.serialize_str(s),
+      Self::Path(s) => serializer.serialize_str(s),
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Route {
+  fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Route, D::Error>
+  where
+    D: Deserializer<'de>,
+  {
+    struct RouteVisitor;
+    impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for RouteVisitor {
+      type Value = Route;
+
+      fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str("string")
+      }
+
+      fn visit_str<E>(self, value: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
+      where
+        E: serde::de::Error,
+      {
+        // Return early if it's a path, don't go through URL parsing
+        if std::path::Path::new(value).exists() {
+          debug!("Parsed {} as a valid local path.", value);
+          Ok(Route::Path(value.into()))
+        } else {
+          debug!("{} does not exist on disk, assuming web path.", value);
+          Ok(Route::External(value.into()))
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    deserializer.deserialize_str(RouteVisitor)
+  }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Display for Route {
+  fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+    match self {
+      Self::External(s) => write!(f, "raw path ({})", s),
+      Self::Path(s) => write!(f, "file path ({})", s),
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 #[get("/ls")]
 pub async fn list(
   data: Data<Arc<RwLock<State>>>,
@@ -59,7 +119,10 @@ pub async fn hop(
           .app_data::<Handlebars>()
           .unwrap()
           .render_template(
-            &path,
+            match path {
+              Route::Path(s) => s, // TODO: try resolve path
+              Route::External(s) => s,
+            },
             &template_args::query(
               utf8_percent_encode(&args, FRAGMENT_ENCODE_SET).to_string(),
             ),
@@ -77,11 +140,11 @@ pub async fn hop(
 ///
 /// The first element in the tuple describes the route, while the second element
 /// returns the remaining arguments. If none remain, an empty string is given.
-fn resolve_hop(
+fn resolve_hop<'a>(
   query: &str,
-  routes: &HashMap<String, String>,
+  routes: &'a HashMap<String, Route>,
   default_route: &Option<String>,
-) -> (Option<String>, String) {
+) -> (Option<&'a Route>, String) {
   let mut split_args = query.split_ascii_whitespace().peekable();
   let command = match split_args.peek() {
     Some(command) => command,
@@ -94,7 +157,7 @@ fn resolve_hop(
   match (routes.get(*command), default_route) {
     // Found a route
     (Some(resolved), _) => (
-      Some(resolved.clone()),
+      Some(resolved),
       match split_args.next() {
         // Discard the first result, we found the route using the first arg
         Some(_) => {
@@ -113,7 +176,7 @@ fn resolve_hop(
       let args = split_args.join(" ");
       debug!("Using default route {} with args {}", route, args);
       match routes.get(route) {
-        Some(v) => (Some(v.to_owned()), args),
+        Some(v) => (Some(v), args),
         None => (None, String::new()),
       }
     }
@@ -160,15 +223,69 @@ pub async fn opensearch(data: StateData, req: HttpRequest) -> impl Responder {
     )
 }
 
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod route {
+  use super::*;
+  use serde_yaml::{from_str, to_string};
+  use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
+
+  #[test]
+  fn deserialize_relative_path() {
+    let tmpfile = NamedTempFile::new_in(".").unwrap();
+    let path = format!("{}", tmpfile.path().display());
+    let path = path.get(path.rfind(".").unwrap()..).unwrap();
+    let path = std::path::Path::new(path);
+    assert!(path.is_relative());
+    let path = path.to_str().unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(from_str::<Route>(path).unwrap(), Route::Path(path.into()));
+  }
+
+  #[test]
+  fn deserialize_absolute_path() {
+    let tmpfile = NamedTempFile::new().unwrap();
+    let path = format!("{}", tmpfile.path().display());
+    assert!(tmpfile.path().is_absolute());
+    assert_eq!(from_str::<Route>(&path).unwrap(), Route::Path(path));
+  }
+
+  #[test]
+  fn deserialize_http_path() {
+    assert_eq!(
+      from_str::<Route>("http://google.com").unwrap(),
+      Route::External("http://google.com".into())
+    );
+  }
+
+  #[test]
+  fn deserialize_https_path() {
+    assert_eq!(
+      from_str::<Route>("https://google.com").unwrap(),
+      Route::External("https://google.com".into())
+    );
+  }
+
+  #[test]
+  fn serialize() {
+    assert_eq!(
+      &to_string(&Route::External("hello world".into())).unwrap(),
+      "---\nhello world"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+      &to_string(&Route::Path("hello world".into())).unwrap(),
+      "---\nhello world"
+    );
+  }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod resolve_hop {
   use super::*;
 
-  fn generate_route_result(
-    keyword: &str,
+  fn generate_route_result<'a>(
+    keyword: &'a Route,
     args: &str,
-  ) -> (Option<String>, String) {
-    (Some(String::from(keyword)), String::from(args))
+  ) -> (Option<&'a Route>, String) {
+    (Some(keyword), String::from(args))
   }
 
   #[test]
@@ -193,31 +310,49 @@ mod resolve_hop {
 
   #[test]
   fn only_default_routes_some_default_yields_default_hop() {
-    let mut map = HashMap::new();
-    map.insert(String::from("google"), String::from("https://example.com"));
+    let mut map: HashMap<String, Route> = HashMap::new();
+    map.insert(
+      "google".into(),
+      Route::External("https://example.com".into()),
+    );
     assert_eq!(
       resolve_hop("hello world", &map, &Some(String::from("google"))),
-      generate_route_result("https://example.com", "hello world"),
+      generate_route_result(
+        &Route::External("https://example.com".into()),
+        "hello world"
+      ),
     );
   }
 
   #[test]
   fn non_default_routes_some_default_yields_non_default_hop() {
-    let mut map = HashMap::new();
-    map.insert(String::from("google"), String::from("https://example.com"));
+    let mut map: HashMap<String, Route> = HashMap::new();
+    map.insert(
+      "google".into(),
+      Route::External("https://example.com".into()),
+    );
     assert_eq!(
       resolve_hop("google hello world", &map, &Some(String::from("a"))),
-      generate_route_result("https://example.com", "hello world"),
+      generate_route_result(
+        &Route::External("https://example.com".into()),
+        "hello world"
+      ),
     );
   }
 
   #[test]
   fn non_default_routes_no_default_yields_non_default_hop() {
-    let mut map = HashMap::new();
-    map.insert(String::from("google"), String::from("https://example.com"));
+    let mut map: HashMap<String, Route> = HashMap::new();
+    map.insert(
+      "google".into(),
+      Route::External("https://example.com".into()),
+    );
     assert_eq!(
       resolve_hop("google hello world", &map, &None),
-      generate_route_result("https://example.com", "hello world"),
+      generate_route_result(
+        &Route::External("https://example.com".into()),
+        "hello world"
+      ),
     );
   }
 }