diff --git a/core/file_handling/doc.go b/core/file_handling/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f5f2eff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/file_handling/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// Package filehandling provides utilities for handling files, including reading, writing, and manipulating file contents.
+package filehandling
diff --git a/core/frontmatter/parser.go b/core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go
similarity index 65%
rename from core/frontmatter/parser.go
rename to core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go
index 9bcb523..571c33e 100644
--- a/core/frontmatter/parser.go
+++ b/core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-package frontmatter
+package filehandling
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"
-	"log/slog"
 
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
@@ -16,16 +15,7 @@ type FrontMatter struct {
 	Author  string   `yaml:"author"`
 }
 
-func ParseTags(file []byte) ([]string, error) {
-	fm, err := parseFrontMatter(file)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	slog.Debug("parsed front matter", "fm", fm)
-	return fm.Tags, nil
-}
-
-func parseFrontMatter(file []byte) (*FrontMatter, error) {
+func ParseFrontMatter(file []byte) (*FrontMatter, error) {
 	content := bytes.TrimSpace(file)
 	if bytes.HasPrefix(content, []byte("---")) {
 		content = bytes.TrimSpace(content[3:])
@@ -36,7 +26,6 @@ func parseFrontMatter(file []byte) (*FrontMatter, error) {
 	if idx := bytes.Index(content, []byte("---")); idx != -1 {
 		content = bytes.TrimSpace(content[:idx])
 	}
-	slog.Debug("yaml content to parse", "content", string(content))
 
 	var fm FrontMatter
 	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(content, &fm); err != nil {
diff --git a/core/frontmatter/slug.go b/core/file_handling/slug.go
similarity index 93%
rename from core/frontmatter/slug.go
rename to core/file_handling/slug.go
index 894b782..11676f4 100644
--- a/core/frontmatter/slug.go
+++ b/core/file_handling/slug.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package frontmatter
+package filehandling
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
diff --git a/core/file_handling/template.go b/core/file_handling/template.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8a5ac3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/file_handling/template.go
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+package filehandling
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/persistence/store"
+)
+
+type Template struct {
+	Content     []byte
+	Title       string
+	Slug        string
+	FrontMatter *FrontMatter
+}
+
+func NewTemplate(templateName string, title string) (*Template, error) {
+	var templatePath string
+	if templateName != "" {
+		templatePath = store.GetVaultStore().GetTemplatePath(templateName)
+	}
+	slug := Slugify(title)
+	content, err := renderTemplate(templatePath, title, slug)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	fm, err := ParseFrontMatter(content)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &Template{
+		Content:     content,
+		Title:       title,
+		Slug:        slug,
+		FrontMatter: fm,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func renderTemplate(templatePath string, title string, slug string) ([]byte, error) {
+	template, err := readTemplate(templatePath, title)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	r := strings.NewReplacer(
+		"{{title}}", title,
+		"{{date}}", time.Now().Format("2006-01-02"),
+		"{{slug}}", slug,
+		"{{file}}", slug+".md",
+	)
+
+	return []byte(r.Replace(string(template))), nil
+}
+
+func readTemplate(templatePath string, title string) ([]byte, error) {
+	if templatePath == "" {
+		return createDefaultTemplate(title), nil
+	}
+
+	template, err := os.ReadFile(templatePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return template, nil
+}
+
+func createDefaultTemplate(title string) []byte {
+	return []byte("---\ntitle: " + title + "\ndate: " + time.Now().Format("2006-01-02") + "\n---\n")
+}
diff --git a/core/frontmatter/doc.go b/core/frontmatter/doc.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b723de9..0000000
--- a/core/frontmatter/doc.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-// Package frontmatter contains utilities for parsing front matter from documents.
-package frontmatter
diff --git a/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go b/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go
index 35d049a..ca8d8ce 100644
--- a/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go
+++ b/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"path/filepath"
 
-	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/frontmatter"
+	filehandling "github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/file_handling"
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/models"
-	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/template"
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/utils"
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/persistence/repositories"
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/persistence/store"
@@ -34,24 +33,12 @@ func (h *CreateNoteHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (an
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	slug := frontmatter.Slugify(cmd.Title)
-
-	var templatePath string
-	if cmd.TemplateName != "" {
-		templatePath = store.GetVaultStore().GetTemplatePath(cmd.TemplateName)
-	}
-
-	notePath := filepath.Join(store.GetVaultStore().Config.VaultPath(), cmd.Directory, slug+".md")
-
-	data, err := template.RenderTemplate(templatePath, cmd.Title, slug)
+	template, err := filehandling.NewTemplate(cmd.TemplateName, cmd.Title)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	tags, err := frontmatter.ParseTags(data)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+	notePath := filepath.Join(store.GetVaultStore().Config.VaultPath(), cmd.Directory, template.Slug+".md")
 
 	tx, err := h.uow.Begin()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -63,12 +50,12 @@ func (h *CreateNoteHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (an
 	tagRepo := repositories.NewTagRepository(tx)
 	noteRepo := repositories.NewNoteRepository(tx)
 
-	dbTags, err := tagRepo.GetByNames(ctx, tags)
+	dbTags, err := tagRepo.GetByNames(ctx, template.FrontMatter.Tags)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	newTags := utils.Filter(tags, func(name string) bool {
+	newTags := utils.Filter(template.FrontMatter.Tags, func(name string) bool {
 		for _, t := range dbTags {
 			if t.Name() == name {
 				return false
@@ -88,7 +75,7 @@ func (h *CreateNoteHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (an
 
 	tagModels = append(tagModels, dbTags...)
 
-	note := models.CreateNote(notePath, cmd.Title, slug)
+	note := models.CreateNote(notePath, cmd.Title, template.Slug)
 
 	if err = noteRepo.Upsert(ctx, note); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -98,7 +85,7 @@ func (h *CreateNoteHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (an
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	h.uow.FileStore.Stage(notePath, data)
+	h.uow.FileStore.Stage(notePath, template.Content)
 
 	if err = h.uow.Commit(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/core/template/doc.go b/core/template/doc.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 66c2031..0000000
--- a/core/template/doc.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-// Package template provides implementations for generating notes from templates
-package template
diff --git a/core/template/templater.go b/core/template/templater.go
deleted file mode 100644
index aee4505..0000000
--- a/core/template/templater.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-package template
-
-import (
-	"os"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-)
-
-func RenderTemplate(templatePath string, title string, slug string) ([]byte, error) {
-	template, err := readTemplate(templatePath, title)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	r := strings.NewReplacer(
-		"{{title}}", title,
-		"{{date}}", time.Now().Format("2006-01-02"),
-		"{{slug}}", slug,
-		"{{file}}", slug+".md",
-	)
-
-	return []byte(r.Replace(string(template))), nil
-}
-
-func readTemplate(templatePath string, title string) ([]byte, error) {
-	if templatePath == "" {
-		return createDefaultTemplate(title), nil
-	}
-
-	template, err := os.ReadFile(templatePath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return template, nil
-}
-
-func createDefaultTemplate(title string) []byte {
-	return []byte("---\ntitle: " + title + "\ndate: " + time.Now().Format("2006-01-02") + "\n---\n")
-}
diff --git a/test/test_unit/frontmatter_test.go b/test/test_unit/frontmatter_test.go
index b926e96..5056cc6 100644
--- a/test/test_unit/frontmatter_test.go
+++ b/test/test_unit/frontmatter_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-package frontmatter_test
+package filehandling
 
 import (
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/frontmatter"
+	filehandling "github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/file_handling"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@ tags: ["test", "note"]
 ---
 This is the content of the note.`
 
-	result, err := frontmatter.ParseTags([]byte(input))
+	result, err := filehandling.ParseFrontMatter([]byte(input))
 
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, []string{"test", "note"}, result)
+	assert.Equal(t, "My Note", result.Title)
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"test", "note"}, result.Tags)
 }
 
 func TestParseTags_MissingDelimiter_ReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ func TestParseTags_MissingDelimiter_ReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
 tags: ["test", "note"]
 This is the content of the note.`
 
-	_, err := frontmatter.ParseTags([]byte(input))
+	_, err := filehandling.ParseFrontMatter([]byte(input))
 
 	assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "missing front matter delimiter")
 }