diff --git a/src/app/(posts)/new/components/new.tsx b/src/app/(posts)/new/components/new.tsx
index 3c092321..c795702d 100644
--- a/src/app/(posts)/new/components/new.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(posts)/new/components/new.tsx
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ const Post = ({
 				setSubmitting(false)
 				return
 			}
-
+			
 			await sendRequest("/api/post", {
 				title,
 				files: docs,
diff --git a/src/lib/gist/transform.ts b/src/lib/gist/transform.ts
index aba9add3..56211368 100644
--- a/src/lib/gist/transform.ts
+++ b/src/lib/gist/transform.ts
@@ -47,14 +47,13 @@ export async function createPostFromGist(
 
 							return {
 								title: file.filename,
-								content: content,
+								content: Buffer.from(content, "utf-8"),
 								sha: crypto
 									.createHash("sha256")
 									.update(content)
 									.digest("hex")
 									.toString(),
-								// TODO: shouldn't need this cast
-								html: html as string,
+								html: Buffer.from(html as string, "utf-8"),
 								userId: userId
 							}
 						})
diff --git a/src/lib/server/get-html-from-drift-file.ts b/src/lib/server/get-html-from-drift-file.ts
index f3558ae3..63b9d9a6 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/get-html-from-drift-file.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/get-html-from-drift-file.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import type { File } from "@lib/server/prisma"
 import markdown from "@wcj/markdown-to-html"
 /**
  * returns rendered HTML from a  Drift file
@@ -6,7 +5,10 @@ import markdown from "@wcj/markdown-to-html"
 export async function getHtmlFromFile({
 	content,
 	title
-}: Pick<File, "content" | "title">) {
+}: {
+	content: string
+	title: string
+}) {
 	const renderAsMarkdown = [
 		"markdown",
 		"md",
diff --git a/src/lib/server/prisma.ts b/src/lib/server/prisma.ts
index beecc9a0..d05a856c 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/prisma.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/prisma.ts
@@ -36,12 +36,44 @@ if (config.enable_admin) {
 
 if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") global.prisma = prisma
 
-export type PostWithFiles = Post & {
-	files: File[]
+const postWithFiles = Prisma.validator<Prisma.PostArgs>()({
+	include: {
+		files: true
+	}
+})
+
+const postWithAuthor = Prisma.validator<Prisma.PostArgs>()({
+	include: {
+		author: true
+	}
+})
+
+const postWithFilesAndAuthor = Prisma.validator<Prisma.PostArgs>()({
+	include: {
+		files: true,
+		author: true
+	}
+})
+
+export type ServerPostWithFiles = Prisma.PostGetPayload<typeof postWithFiles>
+export type PostWithAuthor = Prisma.PostGetPayload<typeof postWithAuthor>
+export type ServerPostWithFilesAndAuthor = Prisma.PostGetPayload<typeof postWithFilesAndAuthor>
+
+export type PostWithFiles = Omit<ServerPostWithFiles, "files"> & {
+	files: Omit<ServerPostWithFiles["files"][number], "content" | "html"> & {
+		content: string
+		html: string
+	}[]
 }
 
-export type PostWithFilesAndAuthor = PostWithFiles & {
-	author: User
+export type PostWithFilesAndAuthor = Omit<
+	ServerPostWithFilesAndAuthor,
+	"files"
+> & {
+	files: Omit<ServerPostWithFilesAndAuthor["files"][number], "content" | "html"> & {
+		content: string
+		html: string
+	}[]
 }
 
 export const getFilesForPost = async (postId: string) => {
@@ -68,7 +100,7 @@ export async function getPostsByUser(userId: string): Promise<Post[]>
 export async function getPostsByUser(
 	userId: string,
 	includeFiles: true
-): Promise<PostWithFiles[]>
+): Promise<ServerPostWithFiles[]>
 export async function getPostsByUser(userId: User["id"], withFiles?: boolean) {
 	const posts = await prisma.post.findMany({
 		where: {
@@ -148,13 +180,26 @@ export const getPostById = async (
 	postId: Post["id"],
 	options?: GetPostByIdOptions
 ): Promise<Post | PostWithFiles | PostWithFilesAndAuthor | null> => {
-	const post = await prisma.post.findUnique({
+	let post = await prisma.post.findUnique({
 		where: {
 			id: postId
 		},
 		...options
 	})
 
+	if (post) {
+		if ("files" in post) {
+			// @ts-expect-error TODO: fix types so files can exist
+			console.log(post.files)
+			// @ts-expect-error TODO: fix types so files can exist
+			post.files = post.files.map((file) => ({
+				...file,
+				content: file.content ? file.content.toString() : undefined,
+				html: file.html ? file.html.toString() : undefined
+			}))
+		}
+	}
+
 	return post
 }
 
@@ -167,7 +212,7 @@ export const getAllPosts = async ({
 	withFiles?: boolean
 	withAuthor?: boolean
 } & Prisma.PostFindManyArgs = {}): Promise<
-	Post[] | PostWithFiles[] | PostWithFilesAndAuthor[]
+	Post[] | ServerPostWithFiles[] | ServerPostWithFilesAndAuthor[]
 > => {
 	const posts = await prisma.post.findMany({
 		include: {
@@ -216,7 +261,7 @@ export const searchPosts = async (
 		userId?: User["id"]
 		publicOnly?: boolean
 	} = {}
-): Promise<PostWithFiles[]> => {
+): Promise<ServerPostWithFiles[]> => {
 	const posts = await prisma.post.findMany({
 		where: {
 			OR: [
@@ -231,9 +276,8 @@ export const searchPosts = async (
 					files: {
 						some: {
 							content: {
-								search: query
-							},
-							userId: userId
+								in: Buffer.from(query)
+							}
 						}
 					},
 					visibility: publicOnly ? "public" : undefined
@@ -245,5 +289,5 @@ export const searchPosts = async (
 		}
 	})
 
-	return posts as PostWithFiles[]
+	return posts as ServerPostWithFiles[]
 }
diff --git a/src/pages/api/post/[id].ts b/src/pages/api/post/[id].ts
index 45c305c3..72a49049 100644
--- a/src/pages/api/post/[id].ts
+++ b/src/pages/api/post/[id].ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { withMethods } from "@lib/api-middleware/with-methods"
 import { parseQueryParam } from "@lib/server/parse-query-param"
-import { getPostById } from "@lib/server/prisma"
+import { getPostById, PostWithFiles } from "@lib/server/prisma"
 import type { NextApiRequest, NextApiResponse } from "next"
 import { getSession } from "next-auth/react"
 import { prisma } from "lib/server/prisma"
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ export default withMethods(["GET", "PUT", "DELETE"], handler)
 
 async function handleGet(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<any>) {
 	const id = parseQueryParam(req.query.id)
-	const files = req.query.files ? parseQueryParam(req.query.files) : true
 
 	if (!id) {
 		return res.status(400).json({ error: "Missing id" })
@@ -44,7 +43,9 @@ async function handleGet(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<any>) {
 
 	// the user can always go directly to their own post
 	if (session?.user.id === post.authorId) {
-		return res.json(post)
+		return res.json({
+			...post,
+		})
 	}
 
 	if (post.visibility === "protected") {
@@ -56,7 +57,9 @@ async function handleGet(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<any>) {
 			.toString()
 
 		if (hash === post.password) {
-			return res.json(post)
+			return res.json({
+				...post,
+			})
 		} else {
 			return {
 				isProtected: true,
diff --git a/src/pages/api/post/index.ts b/src/pages/api/post/index.ts
index c75b6d52..799eab1b 100644
--- a/src/pages/api/post/index.ts
+++ b/src/pages/api/post/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import { withMethods } from "@lib/api-middleware/with-methods"
 
 import { authOptions } from "@lib/server/auth"
-import {prisma,  getPostById } from "@lib/server/prisma"
+import { prisma, getPostById } from "@lib/server/prisma"
 import { NextApiRequest, NextApiResponse } from "next"
 import { unstable_getServerSession } from "next-auth/next"
 import { File } from "@lib/server/prisma"
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ async function handlePost(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<any>) {
 			return res.status(401).json({ error: "Unauthorized" })
 		}
 
-		const files = req.body.files as File[]
+		const files = req.body.files as Omit<File, 'content' | 'html'> & { content: string; html: string; }[]
 		const fileTitles = files.map((file) => file.title)
 		const missingTitles = fileTitles.filter((title) => title === "")
 		if (missingTitles.length > 0) {
@@ -44,52 +44,51 @@ async function handlePost(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<any>) {
 				.digest("hex")
 		}
 
-		const post = await prisma.post.create({
-			data: {
-				title: req.body.title,
-				description: req.body.description,
-				visibility: req.body.visibility,
-				password: hashedPassword,
-				expiresAt: req.body.expiresAt,
-				parentId: req.body.parentId,
-				authorId: session.user.id,
-			
-				// files: {
-				// 	connectOrCreate: postFiles.map((file) => ({
-				// 		where: {
-				// 			sha: file.sha
-				// 		},
-				// 		create: file
-				// 	}))
-				// }
-			}
-		})
-
-		await Promise.all(
+		const fileHtml = await Promise.all(
 			files.map(async (file) => {
-				const html = (await getHtmlFromFile(file)) as string
-
-				return prisma.file.create({
-					data: {
-						title: file.title,
-						content: file.content,
-						sha: crypto
-							.createHash("sha256")
-							.update(file.content)
-							.digest("hex")
-							.toString(),
-						html: html,
-						userId: session.user.id,
-						post: {
-							connect: {
-								id: post.id
-							}
-						}
-					}
+				return await getHtmlFromFile({
+					content: file.content,
+					title: file.title
 				})
 			})
 		)
 
+		const post = await prisma.post
+			.create({
+				data: {
+					title: req.body.title,
+					description: req.body.description,
+					visibility: req.body.visibility,
+					password: hashedPassword,
+					expiresAt: req.body.expiresAt,
+					parentId: req.body.parentId,
+					authorId: session.user.id,
+					files: {
+						create: files.map((file) => {
+							console.log(file)
+							return {
+								title: file.title,
+								content: Buffer.from(file.content, "utf-8"),
+								sha: crypto
+									.createHash("sha256")
+									.update(file.content)
+									.digest("hex")
+									.toString(),
+								html: Buffer.from(
+									fileHtml[files.indexOf(file)] as string,
+									"utf-8"
+								),
+								userId: session.user.id
+							}
+						})
+					}
+				}
+			})
+			.catch((error) => {
+				console.log(error)
+				return res.status(500).json(error)
+			})
+
 		return res.json(post)
 	} catch (error) {
 		return res.status(500).json(error)
diff --git a/src/prisma/schema.prisma b/src/prisma/schema.prisma
index 16a684bd..a6095637 100644
--- a/src/prisma/schema.prisma
+++ b/src/prisma/schema.prisma
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ model SequelizeMeta {
 model File {
   id        String    @id @default(cuid())
   title     String
-  content   String
+  content   Bytes
   sha       String
-  html      String
+  html      Bytes
   createdAt DateTime  @default(now())
   updatedAt DateTime  @updatedAt
   deletedAt DateTime?