diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2f58c73..94aaafa 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -117,13 +117,20 @@ set(LIBSIGMF_GEN_HEADERS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/sigmf_protocols")
 ########################################################################
 # Our interface target that downstream have to use
 ########################################################################
-add_library(libsigmf INTERFACE)
-target_include_directories(libsigmf INTERFACE
+add_library(libsigmf
+  STATIC
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/lib/flatbuffers_json_visitor.cpp
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/lib/json_wrap.cpp
+  )
+target_include_directories(libsigmf
+  INTERFACE
   $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
-  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src>
+  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/include>
   $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include/sigmf/fbs>
   $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${LIBSIGMF_GEN_HEADERS}>
-)
+  PRIVATE
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/include
+  )
 
 if (${Flatbuffers_FOUND})
   # System flatbuffers can import this target
@@ -131,8 +138,11 @@ if (${Flatbuffers_FOUND})
     flatbuffers::flatbuffers_shared
   )
 else()
-  target_include_directories(libsigmf INTERFACE
+  target_include_directories(libsigmf
+    INTERFACE
     $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${FLATBUFFERS_INCLUDE_DIR}>
+    PRIVATE
+    ${FLATBUFFERS_INCLUDE_DIR}
   )
 endif(${Flatbuffers_FOUND})
 
@@ -140,8 +150,11 @@ if (${nlohmann_json_FOUND})
   # TODO: add target_link_libraries interface to nlohmann json
   # when we use the system version
 else()
-  target_include_directories(libsigmf INTERFACE
+  target_include_directories(libsigmf
+    INTERFACE
     $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${JSON_INCLUDE_DIR}>
+    PRIVATE
+    ${JSON_INCLUDE_DIR}
   )
 endif(${nlohmann_json_FOUND})
 
@@ -176,15 +189,15 @@ configure_file(
 ########################################################################
 install(  # install flatbuf proto defs
   DIRECTORY ${LIBSIGMF_GEN_HEADERS}/
-  DESTINATION include/sigmf/fbs
+  DESTINATION include/libsigmf/fbs
   FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.fbs)")
 install(  # install generated headers
   DIRECTORY ${LIBSIGMF_GEN_HEADERS}/
-  DESTINATION include/sigmf
+  DESTINATION include/libsigmf
   FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.h")
 install(  # install original headers
-  DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/
-  DESTINATION include/sigmf
+  DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/include
+  DESTINATION include/
   FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.h")
 
 ########################################################################
diff --git a/examples/example_reading_sigmf_file.cpp b/examples/example_reading_sigmf_file.cpp
index 3bf3cfb..c45c0c7 100644
--- a/examples/example_reading_sigmf_file.cpp
+++ b/examples/example_reading_sigmf_file.cpp
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 
 #include "sigmf_core_generated.h"
 #include "sigmf_antenna_generated.h"
-#include "sigmf.h"
-#include "sigmf_helpers.h"
+#include "libsigmf/sigmf.h"
+#include "libsigmf/sigmf_helpers.h"
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
 
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     auto record = sigmf::metadata_file_to_json(meta_fstream);
 
     std::cout << "The record we read is: \n" << 
-        record->to_json().dump(2) << std::endl;
+        to_json(record).dump(2) << std::endl;
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/example_record_with_multiple_namespaces.cpp b/examples/example_record_with_multiple_namespaces.cpp
index f6b078d..e75b165 100644
--- a/examples/example_record_with_multiple_namespaces.cpp
+++ b/examples/example_record_with_multiple_namespaces.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
 
 #include "sigmf_core_generated.h"
 #include "sigmf_antenna_generated.h"
-#include "sigmf.h"
+#include "libsigmf/sigmf.h"
+#include <iostream>
 
 int main() {
 
diff --git a/examples/example_record_with_variadic_dataclass.cpp b/examples/example_record_with_variadic_dataclass.cpp
index 4b40e66..87e2beb 100644
--- a/examples/example_record_with_variadic_dataclass.cpp
+++ b/examples/example_record_with_variadic_dataclass.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 
 #include "sigmf_core_generated.h"
-#include "sigmf.h"
+#include "libsigmf/sigmf.h"
 #include <iostream>
 
 int main() {
diff --git a/examples/example_sigmf_json_roundtrip.cpp b/examples/example_sigmf_json_roundtrip.cpp
index 25927f0..1139d9f 100644
--- a/examples/example_sigmf_json_roundtrip.cpp
+++ b/examples/example_sigmf_json_roundtrip.cpp
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@
  *  limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include "sigmf.h"
+#include "libsigmf/sigmf.h"
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include <iostream>
 
 int main() {
 
diff --git a/external/json b/external/json
index 68ec3eb..e7b3b40 160000
--- a/external/json
+++ b/external/json
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 68ec3eb8d633770fabb2029c10511bd4664577dc
+Subproject commit e7b3b40b5a95bc74b9a7f662830a27c49ffc01b4
diff --git a/src/annotation.h b/src/include/libsigmf/annotation.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/annotation.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/annotation.h
diff --git a/src/capture.h b/src/include/libsigmf/capture.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/capture.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/capture.h
diff --git a/src/include/libsigmf/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h b/src/include/libsigmf/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6920872
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+/*
+ *    Copyright 2019 DeepSig Inc.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef LIBSIGMF_FLATBUFFERS_TO_JSON_VISITOR_H
+#define LIBSIGMF_FLATBUFFERS_TO_JSON_VISITOR_H
+
+#include "json_wrap.h"
+#include <flatbuffers/minireflect.h>
+
+
+/*
+ * Designed to be run by our TypeIterator-- it adds fields to a flatbuffer (fbb) it owns by reading from a json
+ * object given in its ctor. After the TypeIterator runs the flatbuffer can be made in to a specific flatbuffer
+ * object or shipped somewhere
+ */
+struct FromSigMFVisitor : public flatbuffers::IterationVisitor {
+    flatbuffers::uoffset_t _start;
+    flatbuffers::uoffset_t _stop;
+    std::unique_ptr<json> narrowest_json;
+    std::string p;
+    std::string last_field_name;
+    flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder fbb;
+    flatbuffers::voffset_t last_offset;
+    flatbuffers::Offset<void> last_fb_offset;
+
+    explicit FromSigMFVisitor(std::string namespace_prefix, const json &j);
+
+    void StartSequence() override;
+
+    void EndSequence() override;
+
+    void Field(size_t field_idx, size_t set_idx, flatbuffers::ElementaryType e_type,
+               bool is_vector, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table,
+               const char *name, const uint8_t *val, json jj);
+
+    template<typename T>
+    void Named(T x, const char *name);
+
+    void UType(uint8_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    // void Bool(bool x) override { s += x ? "true" : "false"; }
+    virtual void Char(int8_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    virtual void UChar(uint8_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    virtual void Short(int16_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    virtual void UShort(uint16_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    virtual void Int(int32_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    virtual void UInt(uint32_t x, const char *name) override;
+
+    virtual void Long(int64_t x) override;
+
+    virtual void ULong(uint64_t x) override;
+
+    virtual void Float(float x) override;
+
+    virtual void Double(double x) override;
+
+    virtual void String(const struct flatbuffers::String *str) override;
+
+    virtual void StartVector() override;
+
+    virtual void EndVector() override;
+
+    virtual void Element(size_t i, flatbuffers::ElementaryType /*type*/,
+                 const flatbuffers::TypeTable * /*type_table*/, const uint8_t * /*val*/) override;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Iterate through a typetable-- I'll be honest here. This is kind of bullshit. We need to create all of
+ * the types like Strings, Lists, Vectors, and other flatbuffer types before we create our table. I'm not
+ * sure there's a better way to fill in the buffer than iterate over it twice-- i wonder how flatbuffers
+ * does this internally (look at Parsers). We're just going to construct shit in the fbb in the first loop
+ * and then fill in the fixed-width fields. I know this does the string creation correctly, but I don't
+ * know that lists(Vectors) or other tables/structs will work. The Vectors and Tables will probably require
+ * some recursion
+ *
+ * @param type_table the table to iterate over
+ * @param visitor the visitor responsible for creating objects and adding fields to its internal flatbufferbuilder
+ */
+void IterateType(const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table, FromSigMFVisitor *visitor, json original_json);
+
+/**
+ * A function to iterate through a flatbuffer that is described by the type and build up a json object to return.
+ * The flatbuffer should have already been Finished, and the result of FlatBufferBuilder::Finish() -> GetRoot should
+ * be the buffer_root. See variadic_data_class where we do the following:
+ *                 auto bfrptr = fbb.GetBufferPointer();
+ *                 auto rtptr = flatbuffers::GetRoot<uint8_t>(bfrptr);
+ *
+ * The gist of this is to get information about each field inside of a flatbuffers Table, then for each field, check
+ * if there is a value. If so, serialize it to json and shove its value inside the json_object we want to return
+ * using the name of the field as the key.
+ */
+json
+FlatBufferToJson(const uint8_t *buffer_root, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *typetable, const std::string &ns_prefix,
+                 bool include_defaults);
+
+#endif //LIBSIGMF_FLATBUFFERS_TO_JSON_VISITOR_H
diff --git a/src/flatbuffers_type_to_json.h b/src/include/libsigmf/flatbuffers_type_to_json.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/flatbuffers_type_to_json.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/flatbuffers_type_to_json.h
diff --git a/src/global.h b/src/include/libsigmf/global.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/global.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/global.h
diff --git a/src/include/libsigmf/json_wrap.h b/src/include/libsigmf/json_wrap.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4f68ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/json_wrap.h
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+
+#include <nlohmann/json_fwd.hpp>
+
+using json = nlohmann::json;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/sigmf.h b/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf.h
similarity index 56%
rename from src/sigmf.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/sigmf.h
index 9bc42c3..fb20e57 100644
--- a/src/sigmf.h
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf.h
@@ -17,77 +17,74 @@
 #ifndef LIBSIGMF_SIGMF_H
 #define LIBSIGMF_SIGMF_H
 
-#include "variadic_data_class.h"
 #include "global.h"
 #include "capture.h"
 #include "annotation.h"
+#include "json_wrap.h"
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include "sigmf_forward.h"
 #include "sigmf_core_generated.h"
 #include <vector>
-#include <iostream>
 
 
 namespace sigmf {
 
-    template<typename T>
-    class SigMFVector : public std::vector<T> {
-    public:
-        T &create_new() {
-            T new_element;
-            this->emplace_back(new_element);
-            return this->back();
-        }
-    };
+    /*
+     * This makes conversion between json types and SigMF types work out of the box
+     */
+
+    template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
+    json to_json(const SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> t) {
+        json j;
+        j["global"] = t.global.to_json();
+        j["captures"] = t.captures;
+        j["annotations"] = t.annotations;
+        return j;
+    }
 
     template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
-    struct SigMF {
-        GlobalType global;
-        SigMFVector<CaptureType> captures;
-        SigMFVector<AnnotationType> annotations;
+    void to_json(json &j, const SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> t) {
+        j["global"] = t.global.to_json();
+        j["captures"] = t.captures;
+        j["annotations"] = t.annotations;
+    }
 
-        /**
-         * Export the record to a JSON object
-         */
-        json to_json() const {
-            json j;
-            j["global"] = global.to_json();
-            j["captures"] = captures;
-            j["annotations"] = annotations;
-            return j;
+    template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
+    SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> from_json(const json &j) {
+        SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> t;
+        t.global.from_json(j["global"]);
+        t.captures.clear();
+        t.annotations.clear();
+        for (auto &element : j["annotations"]) {
+            AnnotationType a;
+            a.from_json(element);
+            t.annotations.emplace_back(a);
+        }
+        for (auto &element : j["captures"]) {
+            CaptureType c;
+            c.from_json(element);
+            t.captures.emplace_back(c);
         }
+        return t;
+    }
 
-        /**
-         * Write over the fields with a new record from a JSON object
-         */
-        void from_json(const json &j) {
-            global.from_json(j["global"]);
-            captures.clear();
-            annotations.clear();
+    template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
+    void from_json(const json &j, SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> &t) {
+            t.global.from_json(j["global"]);
+            t.captures.clear();
+            t.annotations.clear();
             for (auto &element : j["annotations"]) {
                 AnnotationType a;
                 a.from_json(element);
-                annotations.emplace_back(a);
+                t.annotations.emplace_back(a);
             }
             for (auto &element : j["captures"]) {
                 CaptureType c;
                 c.from_json(element);
-                captures.emplace_back(c);
+                t.captures.emplace_back(c);
             }
         }
-    };
-
-    /*
-     * This makes conversion between json types and SigMF types work out of the box
-     */
-
-    template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
-    void to_json(json &j, const SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> t) {
-        j = t.to_json();
     }
 
-    template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
-    void from_json(const json &j, SigMF<GlobalType, CaptureType, AnnotationType> &t) {
-        t.from_json(j);
-    }
-}
 
 #endif //LIBSIGMF_SIGMF_H
diff --git a/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf_forward.h b/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf_forward.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b61da1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf_forward.h
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ *    Copyright 2019 DeepSig Inc.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef LIBSIGMF_SIGMF_FORWARD_H
+#define LIBSIGMF_SIGMF_FORWARD_H
+
+namespace sigmf {
+
+    template<typename... T>
+    class Global;
+
+    template<typename... T>
+    class Captures;
+
+    template<typename... T>
+    class Annotations;
+
+    template<typename T>
+    class SigMFVector : public std::vector<T> {
+    public:
+        T &create_new() {
+            T new_element;
+            this->emplace_back(new_element);
+            return this->back();
+        }
+    };
+
+    template<typename GlobalType, typename CaptureType, typename AnnotationType>
+    struct SigMF {
+        GlobalType global;
+        SigMFVector<CaptureType> captures;
+        SigMFVector<AnnotationType> annotations;
+    };
+
+}
+
+#endif // LIBSIGMF_SIGMF_FORWARD_H
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/sigmf_helpers.h b/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf_helpers.h
similarity index 95%
rename from src/sigmf_helpers.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/sigmf_helpers.h
index d1fa585..88ddcd9 100644
--- a/src/sigmf_helpers.h
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/sigmf_helpers.h
@@ -171,17 +171,17 @@ namespace sigmf {
      * @return Pointer to SigMF object
      *
      */
-    static std::unique_ptr<sigmf::SigMF<sigmf::Global<core::DescrT>,
+    static sigmf::SigMF<sigmf::Global<core::DescrT>,
             sigmf::Capture<core::DescrT>,
-            sigmf::Annotation<core::DescrT>>> metadata_file_to_json(const std::ifstream &meta_file) {
+            sigmf::Annotation<core::DescrT>> metadata_file_to_json(const std::ifstream &meta_file) {
 
         std::ostringstream meta_buffer;
         meta_buffer << meta_file.rdbuf();
-        auto sigmf_md = std::make_unique<sigmf::SigMF<sigmf::Global<core::DescrT>,
+        auto sigmf_md = sigmf::SigMF<sigmf::Global<core::DescrT>,
                 sigmf::Capture<core::DescrT>,
-                sigmf::Annotation<core::DescrT>>>();
-
-        *sigmf_md = json::parse(meta_buffer.str());
+                sigmf::Annotation<core::DescrT>>();
+        
+        from_json(json::parse(meta_buffer.str()), sigmf_md);
         return sigmf_md;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/variadic_data_class.h b/src/include/libsigmf/variadic_data_class.h
similarity index 98%
rename from src/variadic_data_class.h
rename to src/include/libsigmf/variadic_data_class.h
index 4676318..14c05a0 100644
--- a/src/variadic_data_class.h
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/variadic_data_class.h
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@
 #ifndef LIBSIGMF_VARIADICDATACLASS_H
 #define LIBSIGMF_VARIADICDATACLASS_H
 
+#include "variadic_data_class_forward.h"
 #include "flatbuffers_json_visitor.h"
+#include "json_wrap.h"
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include <flatbuffers/flatbuffers.h>
 #include <tuple>
 #include <string>
 #include <typeinfo>
@@ -25,7 +29,6 @@
 
 namespace sigmf {
 
-
     template<class T1, class T2>
     struct SameType {
         static const bool value = false;
diff --git a/src/include/libsigmf/variadic_data_class_forward.h b/src/include/libsigmf/variadic_data_class_forward.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0d1312
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/libsigmf/variadic_data_class_forward.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ *    Copyright 2019 DeepSig Inc.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef LIBSIGMF_VARIADICDATACLASS_FORWARD_H
+#define LIBSIGMF_VARIADICDATACLASS_FORWARD_H
+
+namespace sigmf {
+
+    template<typename... SigMFNamespaces>
+    class VariadicDataClass;
+
+}
+
+#endif // LIBSIGMF_VARIADICDATACLASS_FORWARD_H
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h b/src/lib/flatbuffers_json_visitor.cpp
similarity index 81%
rename from src/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h
rename to src/lib/flatbuffers_json_visitor.cpp
index 1c310ad..49c9c56 100644
--- a/src/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h
+++ b/src/lib/flatbuffers_json_visitor.cpp
@@ -1,144 +1,12 @@
-/*
- *    Copyright 2019 DeepSig Inc.
- *
- *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- *   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- *  limitations under the License.
- */
 
-#ifndef LIBSIGMF_FLATBUFFERS_TO_JSON_VISITOR_H
-#define LIBSIGMF_FLATBUFFERS_TO_JSON_VISITOR_H
 
-#include "variadic_data_class.h"
-#include <flatbuffers/minireflect.h>
+#include "libsigmf/flatbuffers_json_visitor.h"
 #include <flatbuffers/flatbuffers.h>
-#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
-#include <iostream>
-
-using json = nlohmann::json;
-
-
-/*
- * Designed to be run by our TypeIterator-- it adds fields to a flatbuffer (fbb) it owns by reading from a json
- * object given in its ctor. After the TypeIterator runs the flatbuffer can be made in to a specific flatbuffer
- * object or shipped somewhere
- */
-struct FromSigMFVisitor : public flatbuffers::IterationVisitor {
-    flatbuffers::uoffset_t _start;
-    flatbuffers::uoffset_t _stop;
-    json narrowest_json;
-    std::string p;
-    std::string last_field_name;
-    flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder fbb;
-    flatbuffers::voffset_t last_offset;
-    flatbuffers::Offset<void> last_fb_offset;
-
-
-    explicit FromSigMFVisitor(std::string namespace_prefix, const json &j)
-            : p(namespace_prefix), last_offset(0), _start(0), _stop(0) {
-        fbb = flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder();
-    }
-
-    void StartSequence() override {
-        _start = fbb.StartTable();
-    }
-
-    void EndSequence() override {
-        _stop = fbb.EndTable(_start);
-    }
-
-    void Field(size_t field_idx, size_t set_idx, flatbuffers::ElementaryType e_type,
-               bool is_vector, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table,
-               const char *name, const uint8_t *val, json jj) {
-        narrowest_json = jj;
-        last_field_name = name;
-        last_offset = flatbuffers::FieldIndexToOffset(static_cast<flatbuffers::voffset_t>(field_idx));
-    }
-
-    template<typename T>
-    void Named(T x, const char *name) {
-        try {
-            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json.at(p + last_field_name).get<T>(), T{});
-        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
-        }
-    }
-
-    void UType(uint8_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    // void Bool(bool x) override { s += x ? "true" : "false"; }
-    void Char(int8_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    void UChar(uint8_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    void Short(int16_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    void UShort(uint16_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    void Int(int32_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    void UInt(uint32_t x, const char *name) override { Named(x, name); }
-
-    void Long(int64_t x) override {
-        try {
-            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json.at(p + last_field_name).get<int64_t>(), int64_t(0));
-        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
-        }
-    }
-
-    void ULong(uint64_t x) override {
-        try {
-            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json.at(p + last_field_name).get<uint64_t>(), uint64_t(0));
-        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
-        }
-    }
-
-    void Float(float x) override {
-        try {
-            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json.at(p + last_field_name).get<float>(), 0.f);
-        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
-        }
-    }
-
-    void Double(double x) override {
-        try {
-            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json.at(p + last_field_name).get<double>(), 0.0);
-        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
-        }
-    }
-
-    void String(const struct flatbuffers::String *str) override {
-        try {
-            auto strval = narrowest_json.at(p + last_field_name).get<std::string>();
-            last_fb_offset = flatbuffers::Offset<void>(fbb.CreateString(strval).o);
-        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
-            last_fb_offset.o = 0;
-        };
-    }
-
-    void StartVector() override {
-        std::cout << "the visitor was called on startvector... not implemented" << std::endl;
-
-    }
-
-    void EndVector() override {
-        std::cout << "the visitor was called on endvector... not implemented" << std::endl;
-    }
-
-    void Element(size_t i, flatbuffers::ElementaryType /*type*/,
-                 const flatbuffers::TypeTable * /*type_table*/, const uint8_t * /*val*/) override {}
-};
+#include "json_wrap.cpp"
 
 
 template<typename T>
-flatbuffers::Offset<void> json_vector_to_flatbuffer(flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder &fbb, const json &jvec) {
+flatbuffers::Offset<void> json_vector_to_flatbuffer(flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder &fbb, json jvec) {
     size_t dtype_size = sizeof(T);
     std::vector<T> tmpvec;
     tmpvec.reserve(jvec.size());
@@ -146,10 +14,10 @@ flatbuffers::Offset<void> json_vector_to_flatbuffer(flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuild
         tmpvec.emplace_back(elem->get<T>());
     }
     return flatbuffers::Offset<void>(fbb.CreateVector(tmpvec).o);
-
 }
 
-inline flatbuffers::Offset<void>
+
+flatbuffers::Offset<void>
 json_vector_to_chararray(flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder &fbb, const json &jvec, flatbuffers::ElementaryType type) {
     size_t dtype_size;
     size_t num_elements = jvec.size();
@@ -196,7 +64,6 @@ json_vector_to_chararray(flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder &fbb, const json &jvec,
     }
 }
 
-
 /**
  * Iterate through a typetable-- I'll be honest here. This is kind of bullshit. We need to create all of
  * the types like Strings, Lists, Vectors, and other flatbuffer types before we create our table. I'm not
@@ -209,7 +76,7 @@ json_vector_to_chararray(flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder &fbb, const json &jvec,
  * @param type_table the table to iterate over
  * @param visitor the visitor responsible for creating objects and adding fields to its internal flatbufferbuilder
  */
-inline void IterateType(const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table, FromSigMFVisitor *visitor, json original_json) {
+void IterateType(const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table, FromSigMFVisitor *visitor, json original_json) {
     const uint8_t *prev_val = nullptr;
     const uint8_t val[8] = {};
     auto comosite_type_offsets = std::map<size_t, flatbuffers::Offset<void> >();
@@ -303,18 +170,13 @@ inline void IterateType(const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table, FromSigMFVisit
     }
     visitor->EndSequence();
 }
-
-
-// forward declare so we can create objects as fields
-inline json
-FlatBufferToJson(const uint8_t *buffer_root, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *typetable, const std::string &ns_prefix,
-                 bool include_defaults = false);
-
-inline json
-flatbuffer_field_to_json(const uint8_t *val, flatbuffers::ElementaryType type,
-                         const flatbuffers::TypeTable *tt = nullptr,
-                         const std::string &ns_prefix = "",
-                         bool include_defaults = false) {
+                 
+json
+flatbuffer_field_to_json(const uint8_t *val,
+                         flatbuffers::ElementaryType type,
+                         const flatbuffers::TypeTable *tt,
+                         const std::string &ns_prefix,
+                         bool include_defaults) {
     switch (type) {
         case flatbuffers::ET_UTYPE: {
             uint8_t tval = 0;
@@ -469,7 +331,6 @@ flatbuffer_field_to_json(const uint8_t *val, flatbuffers::ElementaryType type,
     }
 }
 
-
 /**
  * A function to iterate through a flatbuffer that is described by the type and build up a json object to return.
  * The flatbuffer should have already been Finished, and the result of FlatBufferBuilder::Finish() -> GetRoot should
@@ -481,7 +342,7 @@ flatbuffer_field_to_json(const uint8_t *val, flatbuffers::ElementaryType type,
  * if there is a value. If so, serialize it to json and shove its value inside the json_object we want to return
  * using the name of the field as the key.
  */
-inline json
+json
 FlatBufferToJson(const uint8_t *buffer_root, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *typetable, const std::string &ns_prefix,
                  bool include_defaults) {
     json json_object;
@@ -541,4 +402,98 @@ FlatBufferToJson(const uint8_t *buffer_root, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *typet
 }
 
 
-#endif //LIBSIGMF_FLATBUFFERS_TO_JSON_VISITOR_H
+FromSigMFVisitor::FromSigMFVisitor(std::string namespace_prefix, const json &j)
+            : p(namespace_prefix), last_offset(0), _start(0), _stop(0) {
+    fbb = flatbuffers::FlatBufferBuilder();
+    narrowest_json = std::make_unique<json>();
+    *narrowest_json = j;
+}
+
+void FromSigMFVisitor::StartSequence() {
+        _start = fbb.StartTable();
+}
+
+void FromSigMFVisitor::EndSequence() {
+        _stop = fbb.EndTable(_start);
+}
+
+void FromSigMFVisitor::Field(size_t field_idx, size_t set_idx, flatbuffers::ElementaryType e_type,
+               bool is_vector, const flatbuffers::TypeTable *type_table,
+               const char *name, const uint8_t *val, json jj) {
+        *narrowest_json = jj;
+        last_field_name = name;
+        last_offset = flatbuffers::FieldIndexToOffset(static_cast<flatbuffers::voffset_t>(field_idx));
+}
+
+    template<typename T>
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Named(T x, const char *name) {
+        try {
+            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json->at(p + last_field_name).get<T>(), T{});
+        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
+        }
+    }
+
+void FromSigMFVisitor::UType(uint8_t x, const char *name) {
+    Named(x, name);
+}
+
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Char(int8_t x, const char *name) { Named(x, name); }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::UChar(uint8_t x, const char *name) { Named(x, name); }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Short(int16_t x, const char *name) { Named(x, name); }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::UShort(uint16_t x, const char *name) { Named(x, name); }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Int(int32_t x, const char *name) { Named(x, name); }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::UInt(uint32_t x, const char *name) { Named(x, name); }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Long(int64_t x) {
+        try {
+            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json->at(p + last_field_name).get<int64_t>(), int64_t(0));
+        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
+        }
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::ULong(uint64_t x) {
+        try {
+            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json->at(p + last_field_name).get<uint64_t>(), uint64_t(0));
+        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
+        }
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Float(float x) {
+        try {
+            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json->at(p + last_field_name).get<float>(), 0.f);
+        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
+        }
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Double(double x) {
+        try {
+            fbb.AddElement(last_offset, narrowest_json->at(p + last_field_name).get<double>(), 0.0);
+        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
+        }
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::String(const struct flatbuffers::String *str) {
+        try {
+            auto strval = narrowest_json->at(p + last_field_name).get<std::string>();
+            last_fb_offset = flatbuffers::Offset<void>(fbb.CreateString(strval).o);
+        } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range &e) {
+            last_fb_offset.o = 0;
+        };
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::StartVector() {
+        throw std::runtime_error("the visitor was called on startvector... not implemented");
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::EndVector() {
+        throw std::runtime_error("the visitor was called on endvector... not implemented");
+    }
+
+    void FromSigMFVisitor::Element(size_t i, flatbuffers::ElementaryType /*type*/,
+                 const flatbuffers::TypeTable * /*type_table*/, const uint8_t * /*val*/) {}
diff --git a/src/lib/json_wrap.cpp b/src/lib/json_wrap.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c24b74b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/json_wrap.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+#include "libsigmf/json_wrap.h"
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
\ No newline at end of file