diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index dcaad908..ef5d16c9 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ add_executable(tomato
 	./texture_cache.cpp
 	./tox_avatar_loader.hpp
 	./tox_avatar_loader.cpp
+	./message_image_loader.hpp
+	./message_image_loader.cpp
 	./sdl_clipboard_utils.hpp
 	./sdl_clipboard_utils.cpp
 	./file_selector.hpp
diff --git a/src/chat_gui4.cpp b/src/chat_gui4.cpp
index 65bbb5cb..5507e68c 100644
--- a/src/chat_gui4.cpp
+++ b/src/chat_gui4.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ ChatGui4::ChatGui4(
 	RegistryMessageModel& rmm,
 	Contact3Registry& cr,
 	TextureUploaderI& tu
-) : _conf(conf), _rmm(rmm), _cr(cr), _tal(_cr), _contact_tc(_tal, tu) {
+) : _conf(conf), _rmm(rmm), _cr(cr), _tal(_cr), _contact_tc(_tal, tu), _msg_tc(_mil, tu) {
 }
 
 void ChatGui4::render(void) {
diff --git a/src/chat_gui4.hpp b/src/chat_gui4.hpp
index 43e62b30..3df59b4c 100644
--- a/src/chat_gui4.hpp
+++ b/src/chat_gui4.hpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "./texture_uploader.hpp"
 #include "./texture_cache.hpp"
 #include "./tox_avatar_loader.hpp"
+#include "./message_image_loader.hpp"
 #include "./file_selector.hpp"
 
 #include <vector>
@@ -18,7 +19,8 @@ class ChatGui4 {
 
 	ToxAvatarLoader _tal;
 	TextureCache<void*, Contact3, ToxAvatarLoader> _contact_tc;
-	//TextureCache<Message3Handle> _msg_tc;
+	MessageImageLoader _mil;
+	TextureCache<void*, Message3Handle, MessageImageLoader> _msg_tc;
 
 	FileSelector _fss;
 
diff --git a/src/message_image_loader.cpp b/src/message_image_loader.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..16626559
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/message_image_loader.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#include "./message_image_loader.hpp"
+
+#include "./image_loader_sdl_bmp.hpp"
+#include "./image_loader_stb.hpp"
+#include "./image_loader_webp.hpp"
+
+#include <solanaceae/message3/components.hpp>
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <cassert>
+#include <vector>
+
+MessageImageLoader::MessageImageLoader(void) {
+	_image_loaders.push_back(std::make_unique<ImageLoaderSDLBMP>());
+	_image_loaders.push_back(std::make_unique<ImageLoaderWebP>());
+	_image_loaders.push_back(std::make_unique<ImageLoaderSTB>());
+}
+
+std::optional<TextureEntry> MessageImageLoader::load(TextureUploaderI& tu, Message3Handle m) {
+	if (!static_cast<bool>(m)) {
+		return std::nullopt;
+	}
+
+	if (m.all_of<Message::Components::Transfer::FileInfoLocal>()) {
+		const auto& file_list = m.get<Message::Components::Transfer::FileInfoLocal>().file_list;
+		assert(!file_list.empty());
+		const auto& file_path = file_list.front();
+
+		std::ifstream file(file_path, std::ios::binary);
+		if (file.is_open()) {
+			std::vector<uint8_t> tmp_buffer;
+			while (file.good()) {
+				auto ch = file.get();
+				if (ch == EOF) {
+					break;
+				} else {
+					tmp_buffer.push_back(ch);
+				}
+			}
+
+			// try all loaders after another
+			for (auto& il : _image_loaders) {
+				auto res = il->loadFromMemoryRGBA(tmp_buffer.data(), tmp_buffer.size());
+				if (res.frames.empty() || res.height == 0 || res.width == 0) {
+					continue;
+				}
+
+				TextureEntry new_entry;
+				new_entry.timestamp_last_rendered = getNowMS();
+				new_entry.current_texture = 0;
+				for (const auto& [ms, data] : res.frames) {
+					const auto n_t = tu.uploadRGBA(data.data(), res.width, res.height);
+					new_entry.textures.push_back(n_t);
+					new_entry.frame_duration.push_back(ms);
+				}
+
+				new_entry.width = res.width;
+				new_entry.height = res.height;
+
+				std::cout << "MIL: loaded image file " << file_path << "\n";
+
+				return new_entry;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return std::nullopt;
+}
+
diff --git a/src/message_image_loader.hpp b/src/message_image_loader.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7210157f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/message_image_loader.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <solanaceae/message3/registry_message_model.hpp>
+
+#include "./image_loader.hpp"
+#include "./texture_cache.hpp"
+
+#include <optional>
+
+class MessageImageLoader {
+	std::vector<std::unique_ptr<ImageLoaderI>> _image_loaders;
+
+	public:
+		MessageImageLoader(void);
+		std::optional<TextureEntry> load(TextureUploaderI& tu, Message3Handle c);
+};
+
+// TODO: move to rmm
+template<>
+struct std::hash<Message3Handle> {
+	std::size_t operator()(Message3Handle const& m) const noexcept {
+		const std::size_t h1 = reinterpret_cast<std::size_t>(m.registry());
+		const std::size_t h2 = entt::to_integral(m.entity());
+		return (h1 << 3) ^ (h2 * 11400714819323198485llu);
+	}
+};
+