diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d34d02b..b15dd75 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,32 @@
-build/server
\ No newline at end of file
+# Build directories
+build/
+
+# Executables
+*.out
+*.exe
+server
+
+# Object files
+*.o
+*.so
+*.a
+
+# Debug files
+*.dSYM/
+*.su
+*.idb
+*.pdb
+
+# IDE files
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# OS files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Test assets
+assets/
diff --git a/http_common.hpp b/http_common.hpp
index 65c2924..88f74cc 100644
--- a/http_common.hpp
+++ b/http_common.hpp
@@ -1,7 +1,56 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <string_view>
+#include <string>
+
+using std::string_view;
 
 enum class HttpMethod : uint8_t {
 	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS, UNKNOWN
 };
+
+class MimeTypes {
+public:
+	static string_view get_mime_type(string_view extension) {
+		// Remove leading dot if present
+		if (!extension.empty() && extension[0] == '.') {
+			extension = extension.substr(1);
+		}
+
+		switch (extension.size()) {
+			case 2:
+				if (extension == "js") return "application/javascript";
+				break;
+			case 3:
+				if (extension == "css") return "text/css";
+				if (extension == "htm") return "text/html";
+				if (extension == "png") return "image/png";
+				if (extension == "jpg") return "image/jpeg";
+				if (extension == "gif") return "image/gif";
+				if (extension == "svg") return "image/svg+xml";
+				if (extension == "ico") return "image/x-icon";
+				if (extension == "ttf") return "font/ttf";
+				if (extension == "txt") return "text/plain";
+				if (extension == "pdf") return "application/pdf";
+				break;
+			case 4:
+				if (extension == "html") return "text/html";
+				if (extension == "json") return "application/json";
+				if (extension == "jpeg") return "image/jpeg";
+				if (extension == "woff") return "font/woff";
+				break;
+			case 5:
+				if (extension == "woff2") return "font/woff2";
+				break;
+		}
+		return "application/octet-stream";
+	}
+
+	static bool should_compress(string_view mime_type) {
+		return mime_type.starts_with("text/") ||
+		       mime_type.starts_with("application/json") ||
+		       mime_type.starts_with("application/javascript") ||
+		       mime_type.starts_with("image/svg+xml");
+	}
+};
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 7659fe1..19c280d 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -67,23 +67,25 @@ int main() {
 
 	server = new HttpServer(8080, router);
 
+	std::cout << "Current working directory: " << std::filesystem::current_path() << std::endl;
+
+	server->serve_static("../assets");
+	if (std::filesystem::exists("../assets/index.html")) {
+    	std::cout << "Found index.html\n";
+	} else {
+		std::cout << "Missing ../assets/index.html\n";
+	}
+
 	if (!server->start()) {
 		std::cerr << "Failed to start server\n";
 		return 1;
 	}
 
 	std::cout << "Server running on http://localhost:8080\n";
-	std::cout << "Test routes:\n";
-	std::cout << "  GET  /\n";
-	std::cout << "  GET  /api/status\n";
-	std::cout << "  GET  /users\n";
-	std::cout << "  GET  /users/123\n";
-	std::cout << "  POST /users\n";
-	std::cout << "  GET  /request-info\n";
 	std::cout << "Press Ctrl+C to stop\n";
 
 	server->run();
 
 	delete server;
 	return 0;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..621e1b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+project('server', 'cpp', default_options: ['cpp_std=c++20'])
+add_project_arguments('-Wno-unused-parameter', language: 'cpp')
+
+zlib = dependency('zlib')
+threads = dependency('threads')
+
+server = executable('server',
+	'main.cpp',
+	dependencies: [zlib, threads],
+	cpp_args: ['-O3', '-march=native', '-flto', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-DNDEBUG'],
+	link_args: ['-flto', '-s']
+)
+
+run_target('run', command: server)
diff --git a/server.hpp b/server.hpp
index db2d876..fbbbb7a 100644
--- a/server.hpp
+++ b/server.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "router.hpp"
 #include "http_parser.hpp"
 #include "http_response.hpp"
+#include "static_file_handler.hpp"
 #include <iostream>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <string_view>
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ public:
 		workers_.reserve(num_cores);
 
 		for (unsigned int i = 0; i < num_cores; ++i) {
-			auto worker = std::make_unique<Worker>(port_, router_);
+			auto worker = std::make_unique<Worker>(port_, router_, static_handler_);
 			if (!worker->socket.start()) return false;
 			workers_.push_back(std::move(worker));
 		}
@@ -82,16 +83,23 @@ public:
 		return "";
 	}
 
+	void serve_static(const std::string& static_dir) {
+		static_handler_ = std::make_shared<StaticFileHandler>(static_dir);
+	}
+
 private:
 	static constexpr int BUFFER_SIZE = 65536;
+	std::shared_ptr<StaticFileHandler> static_handler_;
 
 	struct Worker {
 		EpollSocket socket;
 		Router& router;
+		std::shared_ptr<StaticFileHandler>& static_handler;
 		std::array<char, BUFFER_SIZE> buffer;
 		std::thread thread;
 
-		Worker(uint16_t port, Router& r) : socket(port), router(r) {
+		Worker(uint16_t port, Router& r, std::shared_ptr<StaticFileHandler>& sh)
+			: socket(port), router(r), static_handler(sh) {
 			socket.on_connection([this](int fd) { handle_connection(fd); });
 			socket.on_data([this](int fd) { handle_data(fd); });
 			socket.on_disconnect([this](int fd) { handle_disconnect(fd); });
@@ -133,6 +141,17 @@ private:
 
 			HttpResponse response;
 
+			// Try static files first
+			if (static_handler) {
+				static_handler->handle(req, response);
+				if (response.status == 200) {
+					send_http_response(client_fd, response, req.version);
+					return;
+				}
+			}
+
+			// Then try router
+			response = HttpResponse{}; // Reset response
 			if (router.handle(req, response)) {
 				send_http_response(client_fd, response, req.version);
 			} else {
@@ -170,4 +189,4 @@ private:
 	uint16_t port_;
 	Router& router_;
 	std::vector<std::unique_ptr<Worker>> workers_;
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+};
diff --git a/static_file_handler.hpp b/static_file_handler.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef479a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static_file_handler.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "http_parser.hpp"
+#include "http_response.hpp"
+#include "http_common.hpp"
+#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
+#include <unordered_map>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <zlib.h>
+#include <cstring>
+
+using std::string_view;
+using std::string;
+namespace fs = std::filesystem;
+
+class StaticFileHandler {
+private:
+	string root_path_;
+	std::unordered_map<string, std::pair<string, std::chrono::time_point<std::chrono::file_clock>>> cache_;
+	size_t max_cache_size_ = 50 * 1024 * 1024; // 50MB cache limit
+
+	string compress_gzip(const string& data) const {
+		z_stream zs;
+		memset(&zs, 0, sizeof(zs));
+
+		if (deflateInit2(&zs, Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION, Z_DEFLATED, 15 | 16, 8, Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY) != Z_OK) {
+			return "";
+		}
+
+		zs.next_in = reinterpret_cast<Bytef*>(const_cast<char*>(data.data()));
+		zs.avail_in = data.size();
+
+		string compressed;
+		compressed.reserve(data.size() / 2);
+
+		char buffer[32768];
+		do {
+			zs.next_out = reinterpret_cast<Bytef*>(buffer);
+			zs.avail_out = sizeof(buffer);
+
+			int ret = deflate(&zs, Z_FINISH);
+			if (ret == Z_STREAM_ERROR) break;
+
+			size_t have = sizeof(buffer) - zs.avail_out;
+			compressed.append(buffer, have);
+		} while (zs.avail_out == 0);
+
+		deflateEnd(&zs);
+		return compressed;
+	}
+
+	string read_file(const string& path) const {
+		std::ifstream file(path, std::ios::binary);
+		if (!file.is_open()) return "";
+
+		file.seekg(0, std::ios::end);
+		size_t size = file.tellg();
+		file.seekg(0, std::ios::beg);
+
+		string content(size, '\0');
+		file.read(content.data(), size);
+		return content;
+	}
+
+	bool is_path_safe(string_view path) const {
+		return path.find("..") == string::npos;
+	}
+
+public:
+	explicit StaticFileHandler(string_view root_path) : root_path_(root_path) {
+		if (!root_path_.empty() && root_path_.back() != '/') {
+			root_path_ += '/';
+		}
+	}
+
+	void handle(const HttpRequest& req, HttpResponse& res) {
+		if (req.method != HttpMethod::GET && req.method != HttpMethod::HEAD) {
+			res.status = 405;
+			res.set_text("Method Not Allowed");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		if (!is_path_safe(req.path)) {
+			res.status = 403;
+			res.set_text("Forbidden");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		string file_path = root_path_ + string(req.path.substr(1)); // Remove leading /
+
+		// Default to index.html for directories
+		if (file_path.back() == '/') {
+			file_path += "index.html";
+		}
+
+		if (!fs::exists(file_path) || !fs::is_regular_file(file_path)) {
+			res.status = 404;
+			res.set_text("Not Found");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		// Get file info
+		auto last_write = fs::last_write_time(file_path);
+		auto file_size = fs::file_size(file_path);
+
+		// Check cache
+		auto cache_it = cache_.find(file_path);
+		if (cache_it != cache_.end() && cache_it->second.second == last_write) {
+			res.body = cache_it->second.first;
+		} else {
+			// Read file
+			res.body = read_file(file_path);
+			if (res.body.empty()) {
+				res.status = 500;
+				res.set_text("Internal Server Error");
+				return;
+			}
+
+			// Cache if small enough
+			if (file_size < max_cache_size_ / 10) {
+				cache_[file_path] = {res.body, last_write};
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Set MIME type
+		string ext = fs::path(file_path).extension();
+		res.content_type = MimeTypes::get_mime_type(ext);
+
+		// Check if client accepts gzip
+		auto accept_encoding = req.headers.find("Accept-Encoding");
+		bool client_accepts_gzip = accept_encoding != req.headers.end() &&
+		                          accept_encoding->second.find("gzip") != string::npos;
+
+		// Compress if appropriate
+		if (client_accepts_gzip && MimeTypes::should_compress(res.content_type) && res.body.size() > 1024) {
+			string compressed = compress_gzip(res.body);
+			if (!compressed.empty() && compressed.size() < res.body.size()) {
+				res.body = std::move(compressed);
+				res.headers["Content-Encoding"] = "gzip";
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Add caching headers
+		res.headers["Cache-Control"] = "public, max-age=3600";
+		res.headers["ETag"] = "\"" + std::to_string(std::hash<string>{}(res.body)) + "\"";
+
+		if (req.method == HttpMethod::HEAD) {
+			res.body.clear();
+		}
+	}
+};