diff --git a/.clang-format b/.clang-format
index 891f5a3..629fb07 100644
--- a/.clang-format
+++ b/.clang-format
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025, Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
 
-# Format all files: find . -iname "*.[ch]pp" -not -path "./build/*" | xargs clang-format-19 --style=file -i
-# Staged files: git diff --name-only HEAD --diff-filter=ACMRT | grep -E "(\.cpp|\.hpp)$" | xargs clang-format-19 --style=file -i
+# Format all files: find . -iname "*.[ch]pp" -not -path "./build/*" | xargs clang-format-20 --style=file -i
+# Staged files: git diff --name-only HEAD --diff-filter=ACMRT | grep -E "(\.cpp|\.hpp)$" | xargs clang-format-20 --style=file -i
 ---
 Language:        Cpp
 AccessModifierOffset: -4
@@ -128,8 +128,10 @@ IncludeCategories:
     Priority:        6
   - Regex:           '<fmindex-collection/'
     Priority:        7
-  - Regex:           '.*'
+  - Regex:           '<cereal/'
     Priority:        8
+  - Regex:           '.*'
+    Priority:        9
 IncludeIsMainRegex: '(Test)?$'
 IncludeIsMainSourceRegex: ''
 IndentAccessModifiers: false
diff --git a/include/fpgalign/utility/fmindex.hpp b/include/fpgalign/utility/fmindex.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6eeae98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/fpgalign/utility/fmindex.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <fmindex-collection/fmindex/BiFMIndex.h>
+
+#include <fpgalign/config.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(fmc::BiFMIndex<5> const & index, config const & config, size_t const id);
+
+void load(fmc::BiFMIndex<5> & index, config const & config, size_t const id);
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/include/fpgalign/utility/ibf.hpp b/include/fpgalign/utility/ibf.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..144a1ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/fpgalign/utility/ibf.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter.hpp>
+
+#include <fpgalign/config.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter const & ibf, config const & config);
+
+void load(seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter & ibf, config const & config);
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/include/fpgalign/utility/meta.hpp b/include/fpgalign/utility/meta.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..010af12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/fpgalign/utility/meta.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <fpgalign/config.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/meta.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(meta const & meta, config const & config);
+
+void load(meta & meta, config const & config);
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/include/fpgalign/utility/reference.hpp b/include/fpgalign/utility/reference.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2dd9c5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/fpgalign/utility/reference.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <fpgalign/config.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(std::vector<std::vector<uint8_t>> const & reference, config const & config, size_t const id);
+
+void load(std::vector<std::vector<uint8_t>> & reference, config const & config, size_t const id);
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index dd6f896..10f54e9 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ set (FPGAlign_SOURCE_FILES
         search/fmindex.cpp
         search/search.cpp
         search/do_alignment.cpp
+        utility/ibf.cpp
+        utility/fmindex.cpp
+        utility/meta.cpp
+        utility/reference.cpp
 )
 
 # An object library (without main) to be used in multiple targets.
diff --git a/src/build/build.cpp b/src/build/build.cpp
index 3ae44e6..d23b3c5 100644
--- a/src/build/build.cpp
+++ b/src/build/build.cpp
@@ -6,11 +6,9 @@
 #include <fstream>
 #include <sstream>
 
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-
-#include <cereal/archives/binary.hpp>
 #include <fpgalign/build/build.hpp>
 #include <fpgalign/meta.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/meta.hpp>
 
 namespace build
 {
@@ -50,11 +48,7 @@ void build(config const & config)
     assert(meta.window_size == config.window_size);
     build::fmindex(config, meta);
 
-    {
-        std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.meta", config.output_path.c_str()), std::ios::binary};
-        cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
-        oarchive(meta);
-    }
+    utility::store(meta, config);
 }
 
 } // namespace build
diff --git a/src/build/fmindex.cpp b/src/build/fmindex.cpp
index 4c659e4..8494955 100644
--- a/src/build/fmindex.cpp
+++ b/src/build/fmindex.cpp
@@ -2,29 +2,22 @@
 // SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-
-#include <seqan3/io/sequence_file/input.hpp>
-
 #include <fmindex-collection/fmindex/BiFMIndex.h>
 
 #include <fpgalign/build/build.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/fmindex.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/reference.hpp>
 
 namespace build
 {
 
-struct dna4_traits : seqan3::sequence_file_input_default_traits_dna
-{
-    using sequence_alphabet = seqan3::dna4;
-};
-
 void read_reference_into(std::vector<std::vector<uint8_t>> & reference, meta & meta, size_t const i)
 {
     reference.clear();
 
     for (auto const & bin_path : meta.bin_paths[i])
     {
-        seqan3::sequence_file_input<dna4_traits, seqan3::fields<seqan3::field::seq, seqan3::field::id>> fin{bin_path};
+        seqfile_t fin{bin_path};
 
         for (auto && record : fin)
         {
@@ -56,17 +49,8 @@ void fmindex(config const & config, meta & meta)
 
             fmc::BiFMIndex<5> index{reference, /*samplingRate*/ 16, /*threads*/ 1u};
 
-            {
-                std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.{}.fmindex", config.output_path.c_str(), i), std::ios::binary};
-                cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
-                oarchive(index);
-            }
-
-            {
-                std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.{}.ref", config.output_path.c_str(), i), std::ios::binary};
-                cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
-                oarchive(reference);
-            }
+            utility::store(index, config, i);
+            utility::store(reference, config, i);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/build/ibf.cpp b/src/build/ibf.cpp
index 5ce357b..1273df7 100644
--- a/src/build/ibf.cpp
+++ b/src/build/ibf.cpp
@@ -10,15 +10,11 @@
 #include <fpgalign/build/build.hpp>
 #include <fpgalign/colored_strings.hpp>
 #include <fpgalign/contrib/minimiser_hash.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/ibf.hpp>
 
 namespace build
 {
 
-struct dna4_traits : seqan3::sequence_file_input_default_traits_dna
-{
-    using sequence_alphabet = seqan3::dna4;
-};
-
 void ibf(config const & config, meta & meta)
 {
     meta.kmer_size = config.kmer_size;
@@ -26,14 +22,12 @@ void ibf(config const & config, meta & meta)
 
     auto get_user_bin_data = [&](size_t const user_bin_id, seqan::hibf::insert_iterator it)
     {
-        using sequence_file_t = seqan3::sequence_file_input<dna4_traits, seqan3::fields<seqan3::field::seq>>;
-
-        auto minimiser_view =
-            contrib::views::minimiser_hash({.kmer_size = config.kmer_size, .window_size = config.window_size});
+        auto minimiser_view = contrib::views::minimiser_hash({.kmer_size = config.kmer_size, //
+                                                              .window_size = config.window_size});
 
         for (auto && bin_path : meta.bin_paths[user_bin_id])
         {
-            sequence_file_t fin{bin_path};
+            seqfile_t fin{bin_path};
             for (auto && record : fin)
             {
                 if (size_t const record_size = record.sequence().size(); record_size < config.window_size)
@@ -41,8 +35,8 @@ void ibf(config const & config, meta & meta)
 #pragma omp critical
                     {
                         std::cerr << colored_strings::cerr::warning << "File " << std::quoted(bin_path)
-                                  << " contains a sequence of length " << record_size
-                                  << ". This is shorter than the window size (" << config.window_size
+                                  << " contains a sequence of length " << record_size << " (ID=" << record.id()
+                                  << "). This is shorter than the window size (" << config.window_size
                                   << ") and will result in no k-mers being generated for this sequence. A user bin "
                                      "without k-mers will result in an error.\n";
                     }
@@ -60,11 +54,7 @@ void ibf(config const & config, meta & meta)
 
     seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter ibf{ibf_config};
 
-    {
-        std::ofstream os{config.output_path.string() + ".ibf", std::ios::binary};
-        cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
-        oarchive(ibf);
-    }
+    utility::store(ibf, config);
 }
 
 } // namespace build
diff --git a/src/search/fmindex.cpp b/src/search/fmindex.cpp
index c04c1a7..f2af1b1 100644
--- a/src/search/fmindex.cpp
+++ b/src/search/fmindex.cpp
@@ -2,34 +2,16 @@
 // SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-
-#include <seqan3/io/sequence_file/input.hpp>
-
-#include <hibf/contrib/std/enumerate_view.hpp>
-
 #include <fmindex-collection/fmindex/BiFMIndex.h>
 #include <fmindex-collection/search/search.h>
 
 #include <fpgalign/contrib/slotted_cart_queue.hpp>
 #include <fpgalign/search/search.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/fmindex.hpp>
 
 namespace search
 {
 
-fmc::BiFMIndex<5> load_index(config const & config, size_t const id)
-{
-    fmc::BiFMIndex<5> index{};
-
-    {
-        std::ifstream os{fmt::format("{}.{}.fmindex", config.input_path.c_str(), id), std::ios::binary};
-        cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{os};
-        iarchive(index);
-    }
-
-    return index;
-}
-
 void fmindex(config const & config,
              meta & meta,
              scq::slotted_cart_queue<size_t> & filter_queue,
@@ -43,7 +25,8 @@ void fmindex(config const & config,
             if (!cart.valid())
                 break;
             auto [slot, span] = cart.get();
-            auto index = load_index(config, slot.value);
+            fmc::BiFMIndex<5> index{};
+            utility::load(index, config, slot.value);
             for (auto idx : span)
             {
                 auto callback = [&](auto cursor, size_t)
diff --git a/src/search/ibf.cpp b/src/search/ibf.cpp
index 09d8f06..be19de0 100644
--- a/src/search/ibf.cpp
+++ b/src/search/ibf.cpp
@@ -11,21 +11,17 @@
 
 #include <fpgalign/contrib/minimiser_hash.hpp>
 #include <fpgalign/search/search.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/ibf.hpp>
 #include <threshold/threshold.hpp>
 
 namespace search
 {
 
-struct dna4_traits : seqan3::sequence_file_input_default_traits_dna
-{
-    using sequence_alphabet = seqan3::dna4;
-};
-
 threshold::threshold get_thresholder(config const & config, meta const & meta)
 {
     size_t const first_sequence_size = [&]()
     {
-        seqan3::sequence_file_input<dna4_traits> fin{config.query_path};
+        seqfile_t fin{config.query_path};
         auto & record = *fin.begin();
         return record.sequence().size();
     }();
@@ -36,18 +32,11 @@ threshold::threshold get_thresholder(config const & config, meta const & meta)
                                             .errors = config.errors}};
 }
 
-using seqfile_t = seqan3::sequence_file_input<dna4_traits, seqan3::fields<seqan3::field::id, seqan3::field::seq>>;
-using record_t = typename seqfile_t::record_type;
-
 void ibf(config const & config, meta & meta, scq::slotted_cart_queue<size_t> & filter_queue)
 {
     seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter ibf{};
+    utility::load(ibf, config);
 
-    {
-        std::ifstream os{config.input_path.string() + ".ibf", std::ios::binary};
-        cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{os};
-        iarchive(ibf);
-    }
     assert(ibf.bin_count() == meta.number_of_bins);
 
     meta.queries = [&]()
@@ -64,8 +53,8 @@ void ibf(config const & config, meta & meta, scq::slotted_cart_queue<size_t> & f
     {
         auto agent = ibf.membership_agent();
         threshold::threshold const thresholder = get_thresholder(config, meta);
-        auto minimiser_view =
-            contrib::views::minimiser_hash({.kmer_size = meta.kmer_size, .window_size = meta.window_size});
+        auto minimiser_view = contrib::views::minimiser_hash({.kmer_size = meta.kmer_size, //
+                                                              .window_size = meta.window_size});
 
         std::vector<uint64_t> hashes;
 
diff --git a/src/search/search.cpp b/src/search/search.cpp
index dc000f9..31657a7 100644
--- a/src/search/search.cpp
+++ b/src/search/search.cpp
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 // SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-
 #include <fpgalign/search/search.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/meta.hpp>
+#include <fpgalign/utility/reference.hpp>
 
 namespace search
 {
@@ -12,20 +12,11 @@ namespace search
 void search(config const & config)
 {
     meta meta{};
-    {
-        std::ifstream is{fmt::format("{}.meta", config.input_path.c_str()), std::ios::binary};
-        cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{is};
-        iarchive(meta);
-    }
+    utility::load(meta, config);
 
     meta.references.resize(meta.number_of_bins);
     for (size_t i = 0; i < meta.number_of_bins; ++i)
-    {
-
-        std::ifstream is{fmt::format("{}.{}.ref", config.input_path.c_str(), i), std::ios::binary};
-        cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{is};
-        iarchive(meta.references[i]);
-    }
+        utility::load(meta.references[i], config, i);
 
     // todo capacity
     // each slot = 1 bin
diff --git a/src/utility/fmindex.cpp b/src/utility/fmindex.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7433888
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utility/fmindex.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#include <fstream>
+
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
+#include <cereal/archives/binary.hpp>
+
+#include <fpgalign/utility/fmindex.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(fmc::BiFMIndex<5> const & index, config const & config, size_t const id)
+{
+    std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.{}.fmindex", config.output_path.c_str(), id), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
+    oarchive(index);
+}
+
+void load(fmc::BiFMIndex<5> & index, config const & config, size_t const id)
+{
+    std::ifstream is{fmt::format("{}.{}.fmindex", config.input_path.c_str(), id), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{is};
+    iarchive(index);
+}
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/src/utility/ibf.cpp b/src/utility/ibf.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f9312c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utility/ibf.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#include <fstream>
+
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
+#include <cereal/archives/binary.hpp>
+
+#include <fpgalign/utility/ibf.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter const & ibf, config const & config)
+{
+    std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.ibf", config.input_path.c_str()), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
+    oarchive(ibf);
+}
+
+void load(seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter & ibf, config const & config)
+{
+    std::ifstream is{fmt::format("{}.ibf", config.input_path.string()), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{is};
+    iarchive(ibf);
+}
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/src/utility/meta.cpp b/src/utility/meta.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f063907
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utility/meta.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#include <fstream>
+
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
+#include <cereal/archives/binary.hpp>
+
+#include <fpgalign/utility/meta.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(meta const & meta, config const & config)
+{
+    std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.meta", config.output_path.c_str()), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
+    oarchive(meta);
+}
+
+void load(meta & meta, config const & config)
+{
+    std::ifstream is{fmt::format("{}.meta", config.input_path.c_str()), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{is};
+    iarchive(meta);
+}
+
+} // namespace utility
diff --git a/src/utility/reference.cpp b/src/utility/reference.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..248dc59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utility/reference.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2006-2025 Knut Reinert & Freie Universität Berlin
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2016-2025 Knut Reinert & MPI für molekulare Genetik
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+#include <fstream>
+
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
+#include <cereal/archives/binary.hpp>
+#include <cereal/types/vector.hpp>
+
+#include <fpgalign/utility/reference.hpp>
+
+namespace utility
+{
+
+void store(std::vector<std::vector<uint8_t>> const & reference, config const & config, size_t const id)
+{
+    std::ofstream os{fmt::format("{}.{}.ref", config.output_path.c_str(), id), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryOutputArchive oarchive{os};
+    oarchive(reference);
+}
+
+void load(std::vector<std::vector<uint8_t>> & reference, config const & config, size_t const id)
+{
+    std::ifstream is{fmt::format("{}.{}.ref", config.input_path.c_str(), id), std::ios::binary};
+    cereal::BinaryInputArchive iarchive{is};
+    iarchive(reference);
+}
+
+} // namespace utility