diff --git a/application.py b/application.py
index da3ba38..a7b2a87 100755
--- a/application.py
+++ b/application.py
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class Application(object):
             'method', 'method.svn', 'method.cvs', 'method.search',
             'method.buffers', 'method.move', 'method.shell',
             'method.introspect', 'method.help', 'method.numbers',
-            'method.spell', 'method.hg', 'method.utf8',
+            'method.spell', 'method.hg', 'method.utf8', 'method.tags',
         )
         for name in names:
             exec("import %s" % name)
@@ -231,6 +231,15 @@ class Application(object):
         self.registers           = {}
         self.arg_history         = {'default': []}
 
+        # this is used to maintain state about various things (ctags, version
+        # control, etc) which is shared across several different buffers.
+        # this is so it will be correctly inherited by new buffers, and also
+        # so that when buffers are closed this state won't be lost.
+        self.state = {
+            'tags': {},
+            'vc':   {},
+        }
+
         # initialize tab handlers
         completer.set_completer('path', completer.FileCompleter(self))
         completer.set_completer('buffer', completer.BufferCompleter(self))
diff --git a/default.py b/default.py
index 22826da..378c0ca 100644
--- a/default.py
+++ b/default.py
@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@ def last_buffer(w):
 def current_buffer(w):
     return w.buffer.name()
 
+def current_word(w):
+    return w.get_word() or ''
+
+def current_token(w):
+    if w.mode.name not in w.buffer.highlights:
+        return ''
+    token = w.get_token()
+    if token:
+        return token.string
+    else:
+        return ''
+
 def last_replace_before(w):
     a = w.application
     if a.config.get('use_last_replace') and a.last_replace_before:
diff --git a/etags.py b/etags.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0bbc19d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etags.py
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+"""
+Etags parser
+
+:author: Dan Williams
+"""
+
+import os
+import re
+from stat import ST_MTIME
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
+
+
+class EtagsRunError(Exception): pass
+
+
+class TagManager(object):
+    lang  = None
+    prune = ('SCCS', 'RCS', 'CVS', '.svn', '.hg', '.git', '.bzr')
+    exts  = set()
+
+    def __init__(self, base='.'):
+        self.etags = None
+        self.base  = base
+        self.path  = os.path.join(self.base, 'TAGS')
+        self.update()
+
+    def has(self, name):
+        return name in self.etags.tag_map
+
+    def get(self, name):
+        return self.etags.tag_map.get(name, [])
+
+    def update(self):
+        if self.is_outdated():
+            self.run()
+        self.etags = Etags(self.path)
+        self.etags.parse()
+
+    def run(self):
+        lf      = '--language-force=%s' % self.lang
+        args    = ['ctags', '-e', '-f', self.path, lf, '-L-']
+        pipe    = Popen(args, stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE, stderr=STDOUT)
+        indata  = '\n'.join(self.get_paths()) + '\n'
+        outdata = pipe.communicate(indata)
+        if pipe.returncode != 0:
+            raise EtagsRunError(outdata)
+
+    def get_paths(self):
+        return list(self._walk(mtime=0))
+
+    def is_outdated(self):
+        if not os.path.exists(self.path):
+            return True
+        mtime = os.stat(self.path)[ST_MTIME]
+        itr   = self._walk(mtime)
+        try:
+            itr.next()
+            return True
+        except StopIteration:
+            return False
+
+    def _walk(self, mtime=0):
+        paths = []
+        for root, dirs, files in os.walk(self.base):
+            for d in dirs:
+                if d in self.prune:
+                    dirs.remove(d)
+            for f in files:
+                path = os.path.join(root, f)
+                if not self._match(path):
+                    continue
+                elif os.stat(path)[ST_MTIME] < mtime:
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    yield os.path.join(root, f)
+        raise StopIteration
+
+    def _match(self, path):
+        _, ext = os.path.splitext(path)
+        return ext in self.exts
+
+class Etags(object):
+    def __init__(self, fname=None):
+        self.fname = fname
+        self.rawdata = None
+        self.record_list = []
+        self.tag_map = {}
+
+    def _load(self):
+        fd = file(self.fname, 'r')
+        self.rawdata = fd.read()
+        fd.close()
+
+    def lookup(self, tag):
+        return self.tag_map[tag]
+
+    def __getitem__(self, tag):
+        return self.lookup(tag)
+
+    def parse(self, fname=None):
+        """
+        Parser is based on the little info found in
+        Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctags
+        """
+        if fname:
+            self.fname = fname
+        self._load()
+        i = 0
+        data_len = len(self.rawdata)
+        data = self.rawdata
+        while i < data_len:
+            if ord(data[i]) == 0xc:
+                i = self._parse_block(data, i+2)
+
+    def _add_record(self, record):
+        self.record_list.append(record)
+        name = record.name
+        if name is None:
+            return
+        self.tag_map.setdefault(name, [])
+        self.tag_map[name].append(record)
+
+    def _parse_block(self, data, i):
+        n = data[i:].find('\n') + i
+        l = data[i:n]
+        try:
+            filename, size = l.split(',')
+        except ValueError:
+            print i
+            raise
+        size = int(size)
+        subblock = data[n+1:n+size+1]
+        # ...
+        for lineitem in subblock.split('\n'):
+            if len(lineitem) == 0:
+                continue
+            record = self._parse_record(lineitem, filename)
+            self._add_record(record)
+        return n+size+1
+
+    def _parse_record(self, lineitem, filename):
+        try:
+            defn, rest = lineitem.split(chr(0x7f))
+        except ValueError:
+            print lineitem
+            raise
+        name = None
+        if chr(0x01) in rest:
+            name, rest = rest.split(chr(0x01))
+        else:
+            txt = defn.strip()
+            sp = re.split('[ ,;*()\t&=]', txt)
+            sp = [x for x in sp if x != '']
+            if len(sp):
+                name = sp[-1]
+
+        tokens = rest.split(',')
+        line   = int(tokens[0])
+        byte   = int(tokens[1])
+
+        record = EtagRecord(path=filename, defn=defn, name=name, line=line, byte=byte)
+        return record
+        
+class EtagRecord(object):
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+        self.path = None
+        self.defn = None
+        self.name = None
+        self.line = -1
+        self.byte = None
+        self.__dict__.update(kwargs)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return "%s [%s:%d]" % (self.name, self.path, self.line)
+
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    import sys 
+    from pprint import pprint
+    etags = Etags(sys.argv[1])
+    etags.parse()
+    if len(sys.argv) > 2:
+        print etags[sys.argv[2]]
+    else:
+        pprint(etags.record_list)
diff --git a/method/tags.py b/method/tags.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7cbb33b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/method/tags.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import os.path
+from method import Method, arg
+import completer
+from etags import TagManager
+import default
+
+class FindTag(Method):
+    args = [arg('tag', p='Tag name: ', dv=default.current_token, ld=True, h='Search for a tag')]
+    def _execute(self, w, **vargs):
+        tag = vargs['tag']
+        b   = w.buffer
+        a   = w.application
+
+        InitTags().execute(w)
+        base = b.settings[w.mode.name].get('tag-base')
+        m    = a.state['tags'][base]
+
+        records = m.get(tag)
+        if not records:
+            w.set_error('tag %r was not found' % tag)
+            return
+
+        if len(records) == 1:
+            b = a.open_path(records[0].path)
+            a.switch_buffer(b)
+            b.windows[0].goto_line(records[0].line)
+            w.set_error('found one record for tag %r' % tag)
+            return
+
+        cwd = os.getcwd()
+        if not cwd.endswith('/'):
+            cwd += '/'
+
+        tpls = [(r.path.replace(cwd, ''), r.line, r.defn) for r in records]
+
+        data = '\n'.join(['%s:%d:%s' % tpl for tpl in tpls]) + '\n'
+        a.data_buffer("*Tag-Records*", data, switch_to=True, modename='error')
+        w.set_error('found %d records for tag %r' % (len(records), tag))
+
+
+class InitTags(Method):
+    manager_cls = None
+    def _save_manager(self, w, base):
+        m = w.mode.tagcls(base)
+        w.application.state['tags'][base] = m
+        w.buffer.settings[w.mode.name]['tag-base'] = base
+        ntag, nrec = len(m.etags.tag_map), len(m.etags.record_list)
+        w.set_error('%s: loaded %d names (%d records)' % (m.path, ntag, nrec))
+        
+    def _execute(self, w, **vargs):
+        b = w.buffer
+        a = w.application
+        a.state.setdefault('tags', {})
+
+        if not b.path:
+            raise Exception('Buffer %r has no path' % b.name())
+
+        t = b.settings['C'].get('tag-base')
+        if t and t in a.state['tags']:
+            m = a.state['tags'][t]
+            if m.is_outdated():
+                m.update()
+                ntag, nrec = len(m.etags.tag_map), len(m.etags.record_list)
+                fmt = '%s: updated %d names (%d records)'
+                w.set_error(fmt % (m.path, ntag, nrec))
+            else:
+                w.set_error('%s: is up-to-date' % m.path)
+            return
+
+        base = b.path
+        while 'tag-base' not in b.settings['C']:
+            base, tail = os.path.split(base)
+            if not tail:
+                break
+
+            if base in a.state['tags']:
+                return self._save_manager(w, base)
+            elif os.path.exists(os.path.join(base, 'TAGS')):
+                return self._save_manager(w, base)
+
+        if 'tag-base' not in b.settings['C']:
+            self._old_window = w
+            self._prompt = "Enter source directory: "
+            c = completer.get_completer('path')
+            d = os.path.dirname(w.buffer.path)
+            a.open_mini_buffer(self._prompt, self._cb, tabber=c, startvalue=d)
+
+    def _cb(self, v):
+        w = self._old_window
+        w.application.close_mini_buffer()
+        self._save_manager(w, v)
diff --git a/mode/__init__.py b/mode/__init__.py
index 17d11c1..544c525 100644
--- a/mode/__init__.py
+++ b/mode/__init__.py
@@ -261,9 +261,9 @@ class Fundamental(Handler):
         self.add_bindings('insert-multiline-text', ('C-c m',))
         self.add_bindings('increment', ('M-+', 'M-='))
         self.add_bindings('decrement', ('M--',))
-
         self.add_bindings('uppercase-word', ('M-u',))
         self.add_bindings('lowercase-word', ('M-l',))
+        self.add_bindings('find-tag', ('M-.',))
 
         # used for all word operations
         if not self.word_letters:
diff --git a/mode/c.py b/mode/c.py
index fd767f7..8343b7d 100644
--- a/mode/c.py
+++ b/mode/c.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 import os.path
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
+from method import Method, arg
 from method.shell import Exec
+from method.tags import InitTags
 from mode import Fundamental
 import tab
+import completer
 from lex import Grammar, PatternRule, RegionRule, PatternMatchRule, OverridePatternRule
 from mode.python import StringGrammar2
+from etags import TagManager
 
 class CommentGrammar(Grammar):
     rules = [
@@ -148,6 +152,11 @@ class CTabber2(tab.StackTabber2):
         return t.fqisa('spaces', 'eol', 'c.comment', 'c.comment.start',
                        'c.comment.data', 'c.comment.null', 'c.comment.end')
 
+class CTagManager(TagManager):
+    lang  = 'C'
+    exts  = set(('.c', '.h'))
+
+
 class CCheckSyntax(Exec):
     '''Build this C program (using the mode's make cmd)'''
     show_success = False
@@ -207,11 +216,13 @@ class C(Fundamental):
     name        = 'C'
     extensions  = ['.c', '.h', '.cpp']
     tabbercls   = CTabber2
+    tagcls      = CTagManager
     grammar     = CGrammar
     opentokens  = ('delimiter',)
     opentags    = {'(': ')', '[': ']', '{': '}'}
     closetokens = ('delimiter',)
     closetags   = {')': '(', ']': '[', '}': '{'}
+    #actions     = [CCheckSyntax, CMake, CInitTags]
     actions     = [CCheckSyntax, CMake]
     format      = "%(flag)s  %(bname)s  (%(mname)s)  %(indent)s  %(cursor)s  %(perc)s  [%(func)s]  %(vc-info)s"
     commentc    = '//'