diff --git a/include/http_utility.hpp b/include/http_utility.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b04b0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/http_utility.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#pragma once
+#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
+
+namespace http_helpers {
+inline bool request_prefers_html(const crow::request& req) {
+  boost::string_view header = req.get_header_value("accept");
+  std::vector<std::string> encodings;
+  // chrome currently sends 6 accepts headers, firefox sends 4.
+  encodings.reserve(6);
+  boost::split(encodings, header, boost::is_any_of(", "),
+               boost::token_compress_on);
+  for (const std::string& encoding : encodings) {
+    if (encoding == "text/html") {
+      return true;
+    } else if (encoding == "application/json") {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+}  // namespace http_helpers
\ No newline at end of file