diff --git a/lang/reader.rkt b/lang/reader.rkt
index 752866e..cc850e8 100644
--- a/lang/reader.rkt
+++ b/lang/reader.rkt
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
 #lang racket/base
-(require (only-in scribble/reader make-at-reader))
 
-(provide (rename-out [pollen-read read] [pollen-read-syntax read-syntax]) read-inner)
-
-(define read-inner
-  (make-at-reader #:command-char #\◊ #:syntax? #t #:inside? #t))
+(require pollen/reader-base)
 
-(define (pollen-read p)
-  (syntax->datum
-   (pollen-read-syntax (object-name p) p)))
-
-(define (make-output-datum i)
-  `(module pollen-lang-module pollen ,@i))
+(provide (rename-out [pollen-read read] [pollen-read-syntax read-syntax]) read-inner)
 
-(define (pollen-read-syntax path-string p)
-  (define file-contents (read-inner path-string p))
-  (datum->syntax file-contents `(module pollen-lang-module pollen ,@file-contents) file-contents))
+(define reader-mode 'auto)
+(define pollen-read-syntax (make-pollen-read-syntax reader-mode))
+(define pollen-read (make-pollen-read pollen-read-syntax))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.rkt b/main.rkt
index 00266b8..5600a25 100644
--- a/main.rkt
+++ b/main.rkt
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 (define-syntax-rule (new-module-begin body-exprs ...)
   (#%module-begin
    (module inner pollen/lang/doclang-raw
-     ;; first three lines are positional arguments for doclang-raw
      ;; doclang_raw is a version of scribble/doclang with the decoder disabled
+     ;; first three lines are positional arguments for doclang-raw
      main-raw ; id of export
      (λ(x) x) ; post-process function
      () ; prepended exprs
@@ -51,19 +51,31 @@
                                  (cons (meta 'here-path: inner-here-path) 
                                        ;; cdr strips initial linebreak, but make sure main-raw isn't blank
                                        (if (and (list? main-raw) (> 0 (length main-raw))) (cdr main-raw) main-raw))))) 
+   
    (define-values (main-without-metas metas) (split-metas-to-hash main-txexpr))
    
    
    ;; set up the 'main export
    (require pollen/decode)
-   (define here-ext (car (regexp-match #px"\\w+$" inner-here-path)))
-   (define wants-decoder? (member here-ext (map to-string DECODABLE_EXTENSIONS)))
+
+   ;; set the parser mode based on reader mode
+   (define parser-mode 
+     (if (reader-mode . equal? . 'auto)
+         (let* ([file-ext-pattern (pregexp "\\w+$")]
+                [here-ext (car (regexp-match file-ext-pattern inner-here-path))])
+           (cond
+             [(equal? here-ext (symbol->string PTREE_SOURCE_EXT)) 'ptree]
+             [(equal? here-ext (symbol->string DECODER_SOURCE_EXT)) 'markup]
+             [else 'pre]))
+         reader-mode))
+      
    (define main (apply (cond
-                         [(equal? here-ext "ptree") (λ xs (decode (cons PTREE_ROOT_NODE xs)
-                             #:xexpr-elements-proc (λ(xs) (filter (compose1 not (def/c whitespace?)) xs))))]
+                         [(equal? parser-mode 'ptree) 
+                          (λ xs (decode (cons PTREE_ROOT_NODE xs)
+                                        #:xexpr-elements-proc (λ(xs) (filter (compose1 not (def/c whitespace?)) xs))))]
                          ;; 'root is the hook for the decoder function.
                          ;; If it's not a defined identifier, it just hits #%top and becomes `(root ,@body ...)
-                         [wants-decoder? root]
+                         [(equal? parser-mode 'markup) root]
                          ;; for preprocessor output, just make a string.
                          [else (λ xs (apply string-append (map to-string xs)))])
                        (cdr main-without-metas))) ;; cdr strips placeholder-root tag
@@ -75,6 +87,6 @@
    
    ;; for output in DrRacket
    (module+ main
-     (if wants-decoder? 
-         (print main) 
-         (display main)))))
+     (if (equal? parser-mode 'pre)
+         (display main)
+         (print main)))))
diff --git a/markup/lang/reader.rkt b/markup/lang/reader.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cb5a72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/markup/lang/reader.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#lang racket/base
+
+(require pollen/reader-base)
+
+(provide (rename-out [pollen-read read] [pollen-read-syntax read-syntax]) read-inner)
+
+(define reader-mode 'markup)
+(define pollen-read-syntax (make-pollen-read-syntax reader-mode))
+(define pollen-read (make-pollen-read pollen-read-syntax))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pre/lang/reader.rkt b/pre/lang/reader.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..297a869
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pre/lang/reader.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#lang racket/base
+
+(require pollen/reader-base)
+
+(provide (rename-out [pollen-read read] [pollen-read-syntax read-syntax]) read-inner)
+
+(define reader-mode 'pre)
+(define pollen-read-syntax (make-pollen-read-syntax reader-mode))
+(define pollen-read (make-pollen-read pollen-read-syntax))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ptree/lang/reader.rkt b/ptree/lang/reader.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cae1e5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ptree/lang/reader.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#lang racket/base
+
+(require pollen/reader-base)
+
+(provide (rename-out [pollen-read read] [pollen-read-syntax read-syntax]) read-inner)
+
+(define reader-mode 'ptree)
+(define pollen-read-syntax (make-pollen-read-syntax reader-mode))
+(define pollen-read (make-pollen-read pollen-read-syntax))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/reader-base.rkt b/reader-base.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..382eee5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reader-base.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require (only-in scribble/reader make-at-reader)
+         pollen/world)
+
+(provide (all-defined-out))
+
+(define read-inner
+  (make-at-reader #:command-char EXPRESSION_DELIMITER #:syntax? #t #:inside? #t))
+
+(define (make-pollen-read pollen-read-syntax-proc) 
+  (λ(p)
+    (syntax->datum
+     (pollen-read-syntax-proc (object-name p) p))))
+
+(define (make-pollen-read-syntax reader-mode)
+  (λ (path-string p)
+    (define file-contents (read-inner path-string p))
+    (datum->syntax file-contents 
+                   `(module pollen-lang-module pollen 
+                      (define reader-mode ',reader-mode)
+                      ,@file-contents) 
+                   file-contents)))