diff --git a/lua/ivy/libivy.lua b/lua/ivy/libivy.lua
index f9f8857..36946dc 100644
--- a/lua/ivy/libivy.lua
+++ b/lua/ivy/libivy.lua
@@ -20,8 +20,31 @@ ffi.cdef [[
     char* ivy_cwd();
     int ivy_match(const char*, const char*);
     char* ivy_files(const char*, const char*);
+
+    int ivy_files_iter(const char*, const char*);
+    int ivy_files_iter_len(int);
+    char* ivy_files_iter_at(int, int);
+    void ivy_files_iter_delete(int);
 ]]
 
+local iter_mt = {
+  __len = function(self)
+    return self.length
+  end,
+  __index = function(self, index)
+    -- Pass in our index -1. This will map lua's one based indexing to zero
+    -- based indexing that we are using in the rust lib.
+    local item = ffi.string(ivy_c.ivy_files_iter_at(self.id, index - 1))
+    return { content = item }
+  end,
+  __newindex = function(_, _, _)
+    error("attempt to update a read-only table", 2)
+  end,
+  __gc = function(self)
+    ivy_c.ivy_files_iter_delete(self.id)
+  end,
+}
+
 local libivy = {}
 
 libivy.ivy_init = function(dir)
@@ -37,7 +60,12 @@ libivy.ivy_match = function(pattern, text)
 end
 
 libivy.ivy_files = function(pattern, base_dir)
-  return ffi.string(ivy_c.ivy_files(pattern, base_dir))
+  local iter_id = ivy_c.ivy_files_iter(pattern, base_dir)
+  local iter_len = ivy_c.ivy_files_iter_len(iter_id)
+  local iter = { id = iter_id, length = iter_len }
+  setmetatable(iter, iter_mt)
+
+  return iter
 end
 
 return libivy
diff --git a/lua/ivy/libivy_test.lua b/lua/ivy/libivy_test.lua
index c7fe89b..fe18455 100644
--- a/lua/ivy/libivy_test.lua
+++ b/lua/ivy/libivy_test.lua
@@ -10,18 +10,37 @@ end)
 
 it("should find a dot file", function(t)
   local current_dir = libivy.ivy_cwd()
-  local matches = libivy.ivy_files(".github/workflows/ci.yml", current_dir)
+  local results = libivy.ivy_files(".github/workflows/ci.yml", current_dir)
 
-  local results = {}
-  for line in string.gmatch(matches, "[^\r\n]+") do
-    table.insert(results, line)
+  if results.length ~= 2 then
+    t.error("Incorrect number of results found " .. results.length)
   end
 
-  if #results ~= 2 then
-    t.error "Incorrect number of results"
-  end
-
-  if results[2] ~= ".github/workflows/ci.yml" then
-    t.error("Invalid matches: " .. results[2])
+  if results[2].content ~= ".github/workflows/ci.yml" then
+    t.error("Invalid matches: " .. results[2].content)
+  end
+end)
+
+it("will allow you to access the length via the metatable", function(t)
+  local current_dir = libivy.ivy_cwd()
+  local results = libivy.ivy_files(".github/workflows/ci.yml", current_dir)
+
+  local mt = getmetatable(results)
+
+  if results.length ~= mt.__len(results) then
+    t.error "The `length` property does not match the __len metamethod"
+  end
+end)
+
+it("will create an iterator", function(t)
+  local iter = libivy.ivy_files(".github/workflows/ci.yml", libivy.ivy_cwd())
+  local mt = getmetatable(iter)
+
+  if type(mt["__index"]) ~= "function" then
+    t.error "The iterator does not have an __index metamethod"
+  end
+
+  if type(mt["__len"]) ~= "function" then
+    t.error "The iterator does not have an __len metamethod"
   end
 end)
diff --git a/lua/ivy/window.lua b/lua/ivy/window.lua
index c53d6e1..087e94b 100644
--- a/lua/ivy/window.lua
+++ b/lua/ivy/window.lua
@@ -21,6 +21,22 @@ local function string_to_table(lines)
   return matches
 end
 
+local function get_items_length(items)
+  local mt = getmetatable(items)
+  if mt ~= nil and mt.__len ~= nil then
+    return mt.__len(items)
+  end
+
+  return #items
+end
+
+local function call_gc(items)
+  local mt = getmetatable(items)
+  if mt ~= nil and mt.__gc ~= nil then
+    return mt.__gc(items)
+  end
+end
+
 local window = {}
 
 window.index = 0
@@ -106,15 +122,17 @@ window.set_items = function(items)
     items = string_to_table(items)
   end
 
+  local items_length = get_items_length(items)
+
   -- TODO(ade): Validate the items are in the correct format. This also need to
   -- come with some descriptive messages and possible help.
 
   -- Display no items text if there are no items to dispaly
-  if #items == 0 then
+  if items_length == 0 then
+    items_length = 1
     items = { { content = "-- No Items --" } }
   end
 
-  local items_length = #items
   window.index = items_length - 1
 
   for index = 1, items_length do
@@ -130,6 +148,8 @@ window.set_items = function(items)
 
   vim.api.nvim_win_set_height(window.window, line_count)
   window.update()
+
+  call_gc(items)
 end
 
 window.destroy = function()
diff --git a/lua/ivy/window_test.lua b/lua/ivy/window_test.lua
index c42b380..dcad637 100644
--- a/lua/ivy/window_test.lua
+++ b/lua/ivy/window_test.lua
@@ -21,3 +21,13 @@ it("can set items", function(t)
   window.set_items { { content = "Line one" } }
   t.assert_equal("Line one", window.get_current_selection())
 end)
+
+it("will set the items when a string is passed in", function(t)
+  window.initialize()
+
+  local items = table.concat({ "One", "Two", "Three" }, "\n")
+  window.set_items(items)
+
+  local lines = table.concat(vim_mock.get_lines()[window.buffer], "\n")
+  t.assert_equal(items, lines)
+end)
diff --git a/rust/lib.rs b/rust/lib.rs
index 6d9ba73..a4ac000 100644
--- a/rust/lib.rs
+++ b/rust/lib.rs
@@ -9,21 +9,35 @@ use std::os::raw::{c_char, c_int};
 use std::sync::Mutex;
 use std::sync::OnceLock;
 
-struct Ivy {
-    pub file_cache: HashMap<String, Vec<String>>,
-}
-
+// A store to the singleton instance of the ivy struct. This must not be accessed directly it must
+// be use via the Ivy::global() function. Accessing this directly may cause a panic if its been
+// initialized correctly.
 static INSTANCE: OnceLock<Mutex<Ivy>> = OnceLock::new();
 
-impl Ivy {
-    pub fn new() -> Self {
-        Self {
-            file_cache: HashMap::new(),
-        }
-    }
+struct Ivy {
+    // The file cache so we don't have to keep iterating the filesystem. The map key is the root
+    // directory that has been search and the value an a vector containing all of the files that as
+    // in the root. The value will be relative from the root.
+    pub file_cache: HashMap<String, Vec<String>>,
+    // The sequence number of the last iterator created. This will use as a pointer value to the
+    // iterator so we can access it though lua and rust without having to copy strings.
+    pub iter_sequence: i32,
+    // A store of all the iterators that have been created. The key is the sequence number and the
+    // value is the vector of matches that were matched in the search.
+    pub iter_map: HashMap<i32, Vec<CString>>,
+}
 
+impl Ivy {
+    // Get the global instance of the ivy struct. This will initialize the struct if it has not
+    // initialized yet.
     pub fn global() -> &'static Mutex<Ivy> {
-        INSTANCE.get_or_init(|| Mutex::new(Ivy::new()))
+        INSTANCE.get_or_init(|| {
+            Mutex::new(Ivy {
+                file_cache: HashMap::new(),
+                iter_sequence: 0,
+                iter_map: HashMap::new(),
+            })
+        })
     }
 }
 
@@ -75,6 +89,64 @@ pub fn inner_match(pattern: String, text: String) -> i32 {
     m.score(text.as_str()) as i32
 }
 
+// Create a new iterator that will iterate over all the files in the given directory that match a
+// pattern. It will return the pointer to the iterator so it can be retrieve later. The iterator
+// can be deleted with `ivy_files_iter_delete`
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "C" fn ivy_files_iter(c_pattern: *const c_char, c_base_dir: *const c_char) -> i32 {
+    let directory = to_string(c_base_dir);
+    let pattern = to_string(c_pattern);
+
+    let files = get_files(&directory);
+
+    let mut ivy = Ivy::global().lock().unwrap();
+
+    // Convert the matches into CStrings so we can pass the pointers out while still maintaining
+    // ownership. If we didn't do this the CString would be dropped and the pointer would be freed
+    // while its being used externally.
+    let sorter_options = sorter::Options::new(pattern);
+    let matches = sorter::sort_strings(sorter_options, files)
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(|m| CString::new(m.content.as_str()).unwrap())
+        .collect::<Vec<CString>>();
+
+    ivy.iter_sequence += 1;
+    let new_sequence = ivy.iter_sequence;
+    ivy.iter_map.insert(new_sequence, matches);
+
+    new_sequence
+}
+
+// Delete the iterator with the given id. This will free the memory used by the iterator that was
+// created with `ivy_files_iter`
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "C" fn ivy_files_iter_delete(iter_id: i32) {
+    let mut ivy = Ivy::global().lock().unwrap();
+    ivy.iter_map.remove(&iter_id);
+}
+
+// Returns the length of a given iterator. This will return the number of items that were matched
+// when the iterator was created with `ivy_files_iter`
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "C" fn ivy_files_iter_len(iter_id: i32) -> i32 {
+    let ivy = Ivy::global().lock().unwrap();
+
+    let items = ivy.iter_map.get(&iter_id).unwrap();
+    items.len() as i32
+}
+
+// Returns the item at the given index in the iterator. This will return the full match that was
+// given in the iterator. This will return a pointer to the string so it can be used in lua.
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "C" fn ivy_files_iter_at(iter_id: i32, index: i32) -> *const c_char {
+    let ivy = Ivy::global().lock().unwrap();
+
+    let items = ivy.iter_map.get(&iter_id).unwrap();
+    let item = items.get(index as usize).unwrap();
+
+    item.as_ptr()
+}
+
 #[no_mangle]
 pub extern "C" fn ivy_files(c_pattern: *const c_char, c_base_dir: *const c_char) -> *const c_char {
     let pattern = to_string(c_pattern);