diff --git a/Navmesher/esx_reader.cpp b/Navmesher/esx_reader.cpp
index 8be5d7f..f278348 100644
--- a/Navmesher/esx_reader.cpp
+++ b/Navmesher/esx_reader.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
 #include "esx_reader.hpp"
 
-#include <fstream>
-#include <bit>
-
 using namespace esxr;
 
-
diff --git a/Navmesher/esx_reader.hpp b/Navmesher/esx_reader.hpp
index 3128297..0f7400f 100644
--- a/Navmesher/esx_reader.hpp
+++ b/Navmesher/esx_reader.hpp
@@ -144,19 +144,19 @@ template <typename T, size_t N>
 concept packed = sizeof(T) == N;
 
 template <typename T>
-concept header = std::is_same_v<T, GroupHeader> || std::is_same_v<T, RecordHeader> || std::is_same_v<T, UnknownHeader>;
-
-template <typename T>
-concept packed_header = header<T> && packed<T, static_cast<std::size_t>(header_size)>;
+concept packed_header = packed<T, static_cast<std::size_t>(header_size)>;
 
 template <typename T>
 concept directly_readable_header = packed_header<T> && same_endianness;
 
+constexpr bool directly_readable = directly_readable_header<UnknownHeader> && directly_readable_header<GroupHeader> && directly_readable_header<RecordHeader>;
+
 // 
 // Classes
 // 
 
 using Node = std::variant<GroupNode, RecordNode>;
+using Header = std::variant<RecordHeader, GroupHeader>;
 
 class GroupNode {
 private:
@@ -189,10 +189,28 @@ constexpr FourCC fourcc_from_cstr(const char(&a)[5]) noexcept
         return std::bit_cast<FourCC, char[4]>(temp);
 }
 
-inline void read_header(std::ifstream &in, directly_readable_header auto &out)
+template <typename = void> requires directly_readable
+[[nodiscard]] Header read_header(std::istream &in)
 {
-        auto char_ptr = reinterpret_cast<char *>(&out);
+        // read in header
+        UnknownHeader unknown_header{};
+        auto char_ptr = reinterpret_cast<char *>(&unknown_header);
         in.read(char_ptr, header_size);
+        auto type_opt = fourcc_to_record_type(unknown_header.type);
+
+        // failed to read header
+        if (in.fail())
+                throw std::runtime_error("Could not read header from given input stream.")
+
+        // invalid type value
+        if (!type_opt)
+                throw std::runtime_error("Invalid header type while reading esx file.");
+
+        auto type = type_opt.value();
+        if (type == RecordType::GRUP)
+                return { std::bit_cast<GroupHeader, UnknownHeader>(unknown_header) };
+        else
+                return { std::bit_cast<RecordHeader, UnknownHeader>(unknown_header) };
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/Navmesher/main.cpp b/Navmesher/main.cpp
index 85e0344..1b768cc 100644
--- a/Navmesher/main.cpp
+++ b/Navmesher/main.cpp
@@ -21,10 +21,19 @@ static constexpr auto esm_name = "Skyrim.esm";
         return esm_fs;
 }
 
+void print_type(esxr::FourCC fcc)
+{
+        auto type = esxr::fourcc_to_record_type(fcc).value();
+        auto name = esxr::record_type_to_name(type);
+        std::cout << name.value() << '\n';
+}
+
 int main()
 {
         auto esm_fs = open_esm();
-        esxr::UnknownHeader header{};
-        esxr::read_header(esm_fs, header);
-        return static_cast<int>(esxr::fourcc_to_record_type(header.type).value());
+        auto header_variant = esxr::read_header(esm_fs);
+        std::visit(utility::overloaded {
+                [](const esxr::RecordHeader &h) { print_type(h.type); },
+                [](const esxr::GroupHeader& h) { print_type(h.grup); },
+        }, header_variant);
 }
diff --git a/Navmesher/utility.hpp b/Navmesher/utility.hpp
index 379626e..bb85365 100644
--- a/Navmesher/utility.hpp
+++ b/Navmesher/utility.hpp
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ constexpr std::optional<First> soa_second_to_first(const std::pair<std::array<Fi
         return { soa.first[index] };
 }
 
+// For constructing visitor overload sets
+template<class... Ts> struct overloaded : Ts... { using Ts::operator()...; };
+template<class... Ts> overloaded(Ts...)->overloaded<Ts...>;
+
 // Used to inspect type sizes and values at compile time. Example:
 // 
 // TS<sizeof(Type)> x = 0;