diff --git a/espanso-migrate/Cargo.toml b/espanso-migrate/Cargo.toml
index 50d61b1..92e3070 100644
--- a/espanso-migrate/Cargo.toml
+++ b/espanso-migrate/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ regex = "1.4.3"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 dunce = "1.0.1"
 walkdir = "2.3.1"
+yaml-rust = "0.4.5"
+path-slash = "0.1.4"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempdir = "0.3.7"
diff --git a/espanso-migrate/src/convert.rs b/espanso-migrate/src/convert.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df03fa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/espanso-migrate/src/convert.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of espanso.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Federico Terzi
+ *
+ * espanso is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * espanso is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with espanso.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+use std::{cmp::Ordering, collections::HashMap, path::PathBuf};
+use yaml_rust::yaml::Hash;
+
+pub fn convert(input_files: HashMap<String, Hash>) -> HashMap<String, Hash> {
+  let mut output_files = HashMap::new();
+
+  let sorted_input_files = sort_input_files(&input_files);
+
+  for input_path in sorted_input_files {
+    let yaml = input_files
+      .get(&input_path)
+      .expect("received unexpected file in input function");
+
+    if let Some((file_name, file_name_without_extension)) = extract_name_information(&input_path) {
+      println!("file: {}, {}", file_name, file_name_without_extension);
+
+      // TODO: execute the actual conversion
+
+    } else {
+      eprintln!("unable to extract filename from path: {}", input_path);
+    }
+  }
+
+  output_files
+}
+
+fn sort_input_files(input_files: &HashMap<String, Hash>) -> Vec<String> {
+  let mut files: Vec<String> = input_files.iter().map(|(key, _)| key.clone()).collect();
+  files.sort_by(|f1, f2| {
+    let f1_slashes = f1.matches("/").count();
+    let f2_slashes = f2.matches("/").count();
+    if f1_slashes > f2_slashes {
+      Ordering::Greater
+    } else if f1_slashes < f2_slashes {
+      Ordering::Less
+    } else {
+      f1.cmp(f2)
+    }
+  });
+  files
+}
+
+fn extract_name_information(path: &str) -> Option<(String, String)> {
+  let path_buf = PathBuf::from(path);
+  let file_name = path_buf.file_name()?.to_string_lossy().to_string();
+  let extension = path_buf.extension()?.to_string_lossy().to_string();
+  let file_name_without_extension = file_name.trim_end_matches(&format!(".{}", extension)).to_string();
+  Some((file_name, file_name_without_extension))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/espanso-migrate/src/lib.rs b/espanso-migrate/src/lib.rs
index 4c637d2..ac1116a 100644
--- a/espanso-migrate/src/lib.rs
+++ b/espanso-migrate/src/lib.rs
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ extern crate test_case;
 use anyhow::Result;
 use thiserror::Error;
 
+mod convert;
+mod load;
+
 // TODO: implement
 // Use yaml-rust with "preserve-order" = true
 // Strategy:
@@ -50,9 +53,17 @@ use thiserror::Error;
 
 // TODO: test case with packages
 
+// TODO: keep other non-standard directories such as "images/" and "script/"
+
+// TODO: test also with non-lowercase file names
+
+// TODO: test packages in another directory
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
-  use super::*;
+  use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use super::*;
   use test_case::test_case;
   use include_dir::{include_dir, Dir};
 
@@ -60,6 +71,9 @@ mod tests {
 
   #[test_case(&BASE_CASE; "base case")]
   fn test_migration(test_data: &Dir) {
+    let input_files = load::load(&PathBuf::from(r"")).unwrap();
+    convert::convert(input_files);
+
     // TODO
     assert!(false);
   }
diff --git a/espanso-migrate/src/load.rs b/espanso-migrate/src/load.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..932a6d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/espanso-migrate/src/load.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of espanso.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Federico Terzi
+ *
+ * espanso is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * espanso is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with espanso.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+use path_slash::PathExt;
+use std::{collections::HashMap, path::Path};
+use thiserror::Error;
+use walkdir::WalkDir;
+use yaml_rust::{Yaml, YamlLoader, yaml::Hash};
+
+pub fn load(legacy_config_dir: &Path) -> Result<HashMap<String, Hash>> {
+  if !legacy_config_dir.is_dir() {
+    return Err(LoadError::NotDirectory.into());
+  }
+
+  let mut input_files = HashMap::new();
+
+  for entry in WalkDir::new(legacy_config_dir) {
+    match entry {
+      Ok(entry) => {
+        // Skip directories
+        if entry.path().is_dir() {
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        // Skip non-yaml files
+        let extension = entry
+          .path()
+          .extension()
+          .map(|s| s.to_string_lossy().to_ascii_lowercase())
+          .unwrap_or_default();
+
+        if extension != "yaml" && extension != "yml" {
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        match entry.path().strip_prefix(legacy_config_dir) {
+          Ok(relative_path) => {
+            let corrected_path = relative_path.to_slash_lossy();
+
+            if corrected_path.is_empty() {
+              continue;
+            }
+
+            match std::fs::read_to_string(entry.path()) {
+              Ok(content) => match YamlLoader::load_from_str(&content) {
+                Ok(mut yaml) => {
+                  if !yaml.is_empty() {
+                    let yaml = yaml.remove(0);
+                    if let Yaml::Hash(hash) = yaml {
+                      input_files.insert(corrected_path, hash);
+                    } else {
+                      eprintln!("yaml file does not have a valid format: {}", entry.path().display());
+                    }
+                  } else {
+                    eprintln!(
+                      "error, found empty document while reading entry: {}",
+                      entry.path().display()
+                    );
+                  }
+                }
+                Err(err) => {
+                  eprintln!(
+                    "experienced error while parsing file: {}, error: {}",
+                    entry.path().display(),
+                    err
+                  );
+                }
+              },
+              Err(err) => {
+                eprintln!(
+                  "error while reading entry: {}, error: {}",
+                  entry.path().display(),
+                  err
+                );
+              }
+            }
+          }
+          Err(err) => {
+            eprintln!(
+              "error while analyzing entry: {}, error: {}",
+              entry.path().display(),
+              err
+            );
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      Err(err) => {
+        eprintln!("experienced error while reading entry: {}", err)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  Ok(input_files)
+}
+
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+pub enum LoadError {
+  #[error("the provided legacy_config_dir is not a directory")]
+  NotDirectory,
+}