diff --git a/currentVersions.go b/currentVersions.go
index 9026149..beecc4f 100644
--- a/currentVersions.go
+++ b/currentVersions.go
@@ -211,6 +211,28 @@ func (repo *Repo) IsBranch(findname string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// todo: redo this and above. both are messed up. ignore for now until things are stable
+func (repo *Repo) IsLocalBranch(findname string) bool {
+	loop := repo.Tags.All()
+	for loop.Scan() {
+		t := loop.Next()
+		// log.Info("LocalTagExists() tag:", t.Refname)
+
+		tagname := t.Refname
+		if strings.HasPrefix(tagname, "refs/heads") {
+			continue
+		}
+		path, filename := filepath.Split(tagname)
+		log.Log(GITPB, "gitpb.IsBranch() tag:", path, filename, "from", repo.GoPath)
+		if filename == findname {
+			log.Log(GITPB, "gitpb.IsBranch() found tag:", path, filename, "from", repo.GoPath)
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	log.Log(GITPB, "did not find tag:", findname, "in", repo.GoPath)
+	return false
+}
+
 func trimNonNumericFromStart(s string) string {
 	for i, r := range s {
 		if unicode.IsDigit(r) {
diff --git a/shell.go b/shell.go
index 8215d46..efb682d 100644
--- a/shell.go
+++ b/shell.go
@@ -79,12 +79,29 @@ func (repo *Repo) Exists(filename string) bool {
 }
 
 func (repo *Repo) IsValid() bool {
-	if !repo.IsDirectory() {
+	if repo == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if !repo.IsGitDirectory() {
 		return false
 	}
 	return true
 }
 
+func (repo *Repo) ReadFile(fname string) ([]byte, error) {
+	fullname := filepath.Join(repo.FullPath, fname)
+	return os.ReadFile(fullname)
+}
+
+func (repo *Repo) IsGitDirectory() bool {
+	gitdir := filepath.Join(repo.FullPath, ".git")
+	info, err := os.Stat(gitdir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return info.IsDir()
+}
+
 func (repo *Repo) IsDirectory() bool {
 	info, err := os.Stat(repo.FullPath)
 	if err != nil {