diff --git a/modules/common/src/main/scala/docspell/common/Glob.scala b/modules/common/src/main/scala/docspell/common/Glob.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5eba3f73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/common/src/main/scala/docspell/common/Glob.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+package docspell.common
+
+import cats.implicits._
+import cats.data.NonEmptyList
+import io.circe.{Decoder, Encoder}
+
+/** A very simple glob supporting only `*` and `?`. */
+final case class Glob(pattern: Glob.Pattern) {
+  def matches(in: String): Boolean =
+    pattern.parts
+      .zipWith(Glob.split(in, Glob.separator))(_.matches(_))
+      .forall(identity)
+
+  def asString: String =
+    pattern.asString
+}
+
+object Glob {
+  private val separator = '/'
+
+  def apply(str: String): Glob =
+    Glob(Pattern(split(str, separator).map(makeSegment)))
+
+  case class Pattern(parts: NonEmptyList[Segment])  {
+    def asString =
+      parts.map(_.asString).toList.mkString(separator.toString)
+  }
+
+  object Pattern {
+    def apply(s0: Segment, sm: Segment*): Pattern =
+      Pattern(NonEmptyList.of(s0, sm: _*))
+  }
+
+  case class Segment(tokens: NonEmptyList[Token]) {
+    def matches(in: String): Boolean =
+      consume(in).exists(_.isEmpty)
+
+    def consume(in: String): Option[String] =
+      tokens.foldLeft(in.some) { (rem, token) =>
+        rem.flatMap(token.consume)
+      }
+
+    def asString: String =
+      tokens.toList.map(_.asString).mkString
+  }
+  object Segment {
+    def apply(t0: Token, ts: Token*): Segment =
+      Segment(NonEmptyList.of(t0, ts: _*))
+  }
+
+  sealed trait Token {
+    def consume(str: String): Option[String]
+
+    def asString: String
+  }
+  object Token {
+    case class Literal(asString: String) extends Token {
+      def consume(str: String): Option[String] =
+        if (str.startsWith(asString)) str.drop(asString.length).some
+        else None
+    }
+    case class Until(value: String) extends Token {
+      def consume(str: String): Option[String] =
+        if (value.isEmpty) Some("")
+        else
+          str.indexOf(value) match {
+            case -1 => None
+            case n  => str.substring(n + value.length).some
+          }
+      val asString =
+        s"*$value"
+    }
+    case object Single extends Token {
+      def consume(str: String): Option[String] =
+        if (str.isEmpty()) None
+        else Some(str.drop(1))
+
+      val asString = "?"
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def split(str: String, sep: Char): NonEmptyList[String] =
+    NonEmptyList
+      .fromList(str.split(sep).toList)
+      .getOrElse(NonEmptyList.of(str))
+
+  private def makeSegment(str: String): Segment = {
+    def loop(rem: String, res: List[Token]): List[Token] =
+      if (rem.isEmpty) res
+      else
+        rem.charAt(0) match {
+          case '*' =>
+            val stop = rem.drop(1).takeWhile(c => c != '*' && c != '?')
+            loop(rem.drop(1 + stop.length), Token.Until(stop) :: res)
+          case '?' =>
+            loop(rem.drop(1), Token.Single :: res)
+          case _ =>
+            val lit = rem.takeWhile(c => c != '*' && c != '?')
+            loop(rem.drop(lit.length), Token.Literal(lit) :: res)
+        }
+
+    val fixed = str.replaceAll("\\*+", "*")
+    NonEmptyList
+      .fromList(loop(fixed, Nil).reverse)
+      .map(Segment.apply)
+      .getOrElse(Segment(Token.Literal(str)))
+  }
+
+  implicit val jsonEncoder: Encoder[Glob] =
+    Encoder.encodeString.contramap(_.asString)
+
+  implicit val jsonDecoder: Decoder[Glob] =
+    Decoder.decodeString.map(Glob.apply)
+}
diff --git a/modules/common/src/test/scala/docspell/common/GlobTest.scala b/modules/common/src/test/scala/docspell/common/GlobTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..05df0699
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/common/src/test/scala/docspell/common/GlobTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package docspell.common
+
+import minitest._
+import Glob._
+
+object GlobTest extends SimpleTestSuite {
+
+  test("literals") {
+    assert(Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("hello")))).matches("hello"))
+    assert(!Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("hello")))).matches("hello1"))
+  }
+
+  test("single wildcards 1") {
+    val glob =
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("s"), Token.Until("p"), Token.Until("t"))))
+
+    assert(glob.matches("snapshot"))
+    assert(!glob.matches("snapshots"))
+  }
+
+  test("single wildcards 2") {
+    val glob =
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("test."), Token.Until(""))))
+
+    assert(glob.matches("test.txt"))
+    assert(glob.matches("test.pdf"))
+    assert(glob.matches("test.converted.pdf"))
+    assert(!glob.matches("test1.txt"))
+    assert(!glob.matches("atest.txt"))
+  }
+
+  test("single parsing") {
+    assertEquals(
+      Glob("s*p*t"),
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("s"), Token.Until("p"), Token.Until("t"))))
+    )
+    assertEquals(
+      Glob("s***p*t"),
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("s"), Token.Until("p"), Token.Until("t"))))
+    )
+    assertEquals(
+      Glob("test.*"),
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("test."), Token.Until(""))))
+    )
+    assertEquals(
+      Glob("stop"),
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Literal("stop"))))
+    )
+    assertEquals(
+      Glob("*stop"),
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Until("stop"))))
+    )
+    assertEquals(
+      Glob("*"),
+      Glob(Pattern(Segment(Token.Until(""))))
+    )
+  }
+
+  test("with splitting") {
+    assert(Glob("a/b/*").matches("a/b/hello"))
+    assert(!Glob("a/b/*").matches("/a/b/hello"))
+    assert(Glob("/a/b/*").matches("/a/b/hello"))
+    assert(!Glob("/a/b/*").matches("a/b/hello"))
+    assert(!Glob("*/a/b/*").matches("a/b/hello"))
+    assert(Glob("*/a/b/*").matches("test/a/b/hello"))
+  }
+
+  test("asString") {
+    assertEquals(Glob("test.*").asString, "test.*")
+    assertEquals(Glob("s***p*t").asString, "s*p*t")
+    assertEquals(Glob("stop").asString, "stop")
+    assertEquals(Glob("*stop").asString, "*stop")
+    assertEquals(Glob("/a/b/*").asString, "/a/b/*")
+  }
+}