diff --git a/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference.py b/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference.py
index 68f304f78..05835f1ae 100644
--- a/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference.py
+++ b/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference.py
@@ -32,16 +32,12 @@ def unpack(data: bytes, endien: str) -> Reference:
         endien_symbol = '<' if endien == 'little' else '>'
         name = ''
         offset = 0
-        id = struct.unpack_from(endien_symbol + "H", data, offset)
+        id, size1 = struct.unpack_from(f"{endien_symbol}HI", data, offset)
         if id == 0x0016:
-            offset += 2
-            size1, = struct.unpack_from(endien_symbol + "I", data, offset)
-            offset += 4
-            format = endien_symbol + size1 + "s"
-            name, = struct.unpack_from(format, data, offset)
-            offset += size1
-            size2 = struct.unpack_from(endien_symbol + "I", data, offset)
-            offset += 4
+            offset += 6
+            format = f"{endien_symbol}{size1}sHI"
+            name, id, size2 = struct.unpack_from(format, data, offset)
+            offset += size1 + 6
             if size2 != size1 * 2:
                 # raise warning
                 pass
diff --git a/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference_record.py b/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference_record.py
index ee1c7fc67..704684802 100644
--- a/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference_record.py
+++ b/src/ms_ovba/Models/Entities/reference_record.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def unpack(bytestring: bytes, endien: str) -> ReferenceRecord:
             ReferenceOriginal
         )
         endien_symbol = '<' if endien == 'little' else '>'
-        id = struct.unpack(endien_symbol + "H", bytestring)
+        id, = struct.unpack_from(f"{endien_symbol}H", bytestring, 0)
         ref: ReferenceRecord
         if id == 0x000D:
             ref = ReferenceRegistered.unpack(bytestring, endien)
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@ def unpack(bytestring: bytes, endien: str) -> ReferenceRecord:
         elif id == 0x0033:
             ref = ReferenceOriginal.unpack(bytestring, endien)
         else:
-            raise Exception("Unknown Reference Type")
+            raise Exception(f"Unknown Reference Type: {id}")
         return ref
diff --git a/src/ms_ovba/Views/dirStream.py b/src/ms_ovba/Views/dirStream.py
index 8d8490736..2eccbb451 100644
--- a/src/ms_ovba/Views/dirStream.py
+++ b/src/ms_ovba/Views/dirStream.py
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 import struct
+import warnings
 from ms_ovba_compression.ms_ovba import MsOvba
 from ms_ovba.vbaProject import VbaProject
+from ms_ovba.Models.Entities.reference import Reference
 from ms_ovba.Models.Fields.idSizeField import IdSizeField
 from ms_ovba.Models.Fields.doubleEncodedString import (
     DoubleEncodedString
 )
 from ms_ovba.Models.Fields.packed_data import PackedData
-from typing import List, TypeVar
+from typing import List, TypedDict, TypeVar
 
 
 T = TypeVar('T', bound='DirStream')
@@ -15,6 +17,14 @@
 PackableData = DoubleEncodedString | IdSizeField | PackedData
 
 
+class Parameters(TypedDict):
+    references: list[Reference]
+    modules: list
+    help_context_id: int
+    project_cookie: int
+    codepage_name: str
+
+
 class DirStream():
     """
     The dir stream is compressed on write
@@ -93,3 +103,219 @@ def _load_information(self: T) -> List:
             constants
         ])
         return information
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_valid(data: bytes) -> bool:
+        try:
+            DirStream.from_bytes(data)
+        except Exception as e:
+            warnings.warn(str(e), SyntaxWarning)
+            return False
+        return True
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_bytes(data: bytes) -> Parameters:
+        """
+        Static validation: Checks if bytes follow the DirStream structure.
+        Expects decompressed bytes.
+        """
+        project_data: Parameters = {
+            "references": [],
+            "modules": [],
+            "help_context_id": 0,
+            "project_cookie": 0,
+            "codepage_name": "cp1252"
+        }
+        offset = 0
+
+        # 1. Check PROJECTSYSKIND (Mandatory first record)
+        # IdSizeField(1, 4, 3) -> ID=1 (2 bytes), Size=4 (4 bytes)
+        record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from("<HII", data, offset)
+        if record_id != 1 or size != 4 or not (0 <= value <= 3):
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTSYSKIND")
+        offset += 10
+
+        record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from("<HII", data, offset)
+        if record_id == 0x4A:
+            if size != 4:
+                raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTCOMPATVERSION")
+            offset += 10
+            record_id, size, value = (struct.unpack_from("<HII", data, offset))
+        if record_id != 2 or size != 4 or value != 0x409:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTLCID")
+        offset += 10
+
+        record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from("<HII", data, offset)
+        if record_id != 0x14 or size != 4 or value != 0x409:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTLCIDINVOKE")
+        offset += 10
+
+        record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from("<HIH", data, offset)
+        if record_id != 3 or size != 2:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTCODEPAGE")
+        offset += 8
+
+        record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+        value, = struct.unpack_from(f"{size}s", data, offset + 6)
+        if record_id != 4 or not (1 <= size <= 128):
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTNAME")
+        offset += 6 + size
+
+        record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+        value, r2, s2, v2 = struct.unpack_from(
+            f"<{size}sHI{2*size}s", data, offset + 6)
+        if record_id != 5 or size > 2000 or s2 != 2 * size:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Incorrect PROJECTDOCSTRING({record_id}, {size}, {r2}, {s2})")
+        offset += 12 + size * 3
+
+        record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+        value, r2, s2, v2 = struct.unpack_from(
+            f"<{size}sHI{size}s", data, offset + 6)
+        if record_id != 6 or size > 260 or s2 != size or value != v2:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Incorrect PROJECTHELPFILEPATH({record_id}, {size}, {s2})")
+        offset += 12 + size * 2
+
+        record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from("<HII", data, offset)
+        if record_id != 7 or size != 4:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTHELPCONTEXT")
+        offset += 10
+
+        record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from("<HII", data, offset)
+        if record_id != 8 or size != 4 or value != 0:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTLIBFLAGS")
+        offset += 10
+
+        record_id, size, value, v2 = struct.unpack_from("<HIIH", data, offset)
+        if record_id != 9:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTVERSION")
+        offset += 12
+
+        record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+        value, r2, s2, v2 = struct.unpack_from(
+            f"<{size}sHI{size}s", data, offset + 6)
+        if record_id != 0x0c or size > 2015 or s2 != 2 * size:
+            raise ValueError("Incorrect PROJECTCONSTANTS")
+        offset += 12 + size * 3
+
+        record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+        found_one_reference = False
+        while (record_id != 0x0f or not found_one_reference):
+            found_one_reference = True
+            record_size = 0
+            if record_id == 0x16:
+                record_size = 12 + size * 3
+                record_id, size = struct.unpack_from(
+                    "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+            match record_id:
+                case 0x2f:
+                    record_size += 6 + size
+                    record_id, size = struct.unpack_from(
+                        "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+                    if record_id == 0x16:
+                        record_size = 12 + size * 3
+                    record_id, size = struct.unpack_from(
+                        "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+                    record_size += 6 + size
+                case 0x33:
+                    record_size += 6 + size
+                    record_id, size = struct.unpack_from(
+                        "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+                    record_size += 6 + size
+                    record_id, size = struct.unpack_from(
+                        "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+                    if record_id == 0x16:
+                        record_size = 12 + size * 3
+                        record_id, size = struct.unpack_from(
+                            "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+                        record_size += 6 + size
+                case 0x0d | 0x0e:
+                    record_size += 6 + size
+                case _:
+                    raise ValueError(f"Unknown Reference Type: {record_id}")
+            ref = Reference.unpack(
+                data[offset:offset + record_size], "little")
+            project_data["references"] += [ref]
+            offset += record_size
+            record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+
+        if record_id != 0x0f or size != 2:
+            raise ValueError("Expected ModuleRecord")
+        offset += 6
+        count, record_id, size, cookie = struct.unpack_from(
+            "<HHIH", data, offset)
+        offset += 10
+        if record_id != 0x13 or size != 2:
+            raise ValueError(f"Incorrect PROJECTCOOKIE({record_id}, {size})")
+        project_data["project_cookie"] = cookie
+        for _ in range(count):
+            module_data = {}
+            record_size = 0
+            record_id, size = struct.unpack_from("<HI", data, offset)
+            record_size += 6
+            if record_id != 0x19:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Incorrect MODULENAME({record_id})")
+            value, record_id, size, = struct.unpack_from(
+                f"<{size}sHI", data, offset + record_size)
+            module_data["name"] = value
+            record_size += size + 6
+            if record_id != 0x47:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Incorrect MODULENAMEUNICODE({record_id})")
+            # validate sizes and that values match
+            value, struct.unpack_from(
+                f"<{size}s", data, offset + record_size)
+            record_size += size
+            record_id, size, = struct.unpack_from(
+                "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+            record_size += 6
+            value, r2, s2, v2 = struct.unpack_from(
+                f"<{size}sHI{size*2}s", data, offset + record_size)
+            if record_id != 0x1a or s2 != size * 2:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Incorrect MODULESTREAMNAME({record_id}, {size})")
+            module_data["stream_name"] = value
+            record_size += size * 3 + 6
+            record_id, size, = struct.unpack_from(
+                "<HI", data, offset + record_size)
+            record_size += 6
+            if record_id != 0x1c:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Incorrect MODULEDOCSTRING({record_id}, {size})")
+            value, record_id, size, value2 = struct.unpack_from(
+                f"<{size}sHI{size*2}s", data, offset + record_size)
+            module_data["docstring"] = value
+            record_size += size * 3 + 6
+            record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from(
+                "<HII", data, offset + record_size)
+            if record_id != 0x31 or size != 4:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Incorrect MODULEOFFSET({record_id}, {size})")
+            offset += 10
+            record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from(
+                "<HII", data, offset + record_size)
+            if record_id != 0x1e or size != 4:
+                raise ValueError("Incorrect MODULEHELPCONTEXT")
+            offset += 10
+            record_id, size, value = struct.unpack_from(
+                "<HIH", data, offset + record_size)
+            if record_id != 0x2c or size != 2:
+                raise ValueError("Incorrect MODULECOOKIE")
+            offset += 8
+            project_data["modules"] += [module_data]
+            offset += record_size
+        return project_data
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_file_valid(file_path: str) -> bool:
+        """Helper to validate a compressed .bin file on disk."""
+        try:
+            with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
+                compressed = f.read()
+            from ms_ovba_compression.ms_ovba import MsOvba
+            decompressed = MsOvba().decompress(compressed)
+            return DirStream.is_valid(decompressed)
+        except Exception:
+            return False
diff --git a/src/ms_ovba/struct_io.py b/src/ms_ovba/struct_io.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a7419341
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ms_ovba/struct_io.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import io
+import struct
+from typing import TypeVar
+
+
+T = TypeVar('T', bound='StructIO')
+
+
+class StructIO:
+
+    def __init__(self: T, data: bytes, endian: str = 'little') -> None:
+        self._stream = io.BytesIO(data)
+        self._sym = '<' if endian == 'little' else '>'
+
+    def read_big_h(self: T) -> int:
+        val, = self._read_fmt('H', 2)
+        return val
+
+    def read_big_i(self: T) -> int:
+        val, = struct._read_fmt('I', 4)
+        return val
+
+    def read_id_size_val(self: T) -> tuple[int, int, bytes]:
+        id, size = struct._read_fmt('HI', 6)
+        val = self._stream.read(size)
+        return (id, size, val)
+
+    def _read_fmt(self: T, fmt: str, size: int) -> tuple:
+        """Helper to read exactly 'size' bytes and unpack them."""
+        chunk = self._stream.read(size)
+        if len(chunk) < size:
+            raise EOFError(f"Expected {size} bytes, but only got {len(chunk)}")
+        return struct.unpack(f"{self._sym}{fmt}", chunk)
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Views/test_dir.py b/tests/Unit/Views/test_dir.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b2021894b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/Views/test_dir.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import pytest
+from pathlib import Path
+from ms_cfb.ole_file import OleFile
+from ms_ovba.Views.dirStream import DirStream
+from ms_ovba_compression.ms_ovba import MsOvba
+from unittest import mock
+
+
+mock_vbaproject = mock.Mock()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def my_fixture() -> None:
+    # Setup: Runs BEFORE the test
+    # print("\nSetting up...")
+    yield
+    # Teardown: Runs AFTER the test
+    Path("tests/blank/dir.bin").unlink(missing_ok=True)
+
+
+def test_construct() -> None:
+    dir = DirStream(mock_vbaproject)
+    assert isinstance(dir, DirStream)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("my_fixture")
+def test_is_valid() -> None:
+    file = "tests/blank/vbaProject.bin"
+    ole_file = OleFile.create_from_file(file)
+    ole_file.extract_stream('dir', 'tests/blank')
+    with open('tests/blank/dir.bin', 'rb') as f:
+        compressed_data = f.read()
+
+        # Use MsOvba to decompress the stream
+        ms_ovba = MsOvba()
+        decompressed_data = ms_ovba.decompress(compressed_data)
+        assert DirStream.is_valid(decompressed_data)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("my_fixture")
+def test_from_bytes() -> None:
+    expected = {}
+    file = "tests/blank/vbaProject.bin"
+    ole_file = OleFile.create_from_file(file)
+    ole_file.extract_stream('dir', 'tests/blank')
+    with open('tests/blank/dir.bin', 'rb') as f:
+        compressed_data = f.read()
+
+        # Use MsOvba to decompress the stream
+        ms_ovba = MsOvba()
+        decompressed_data = ms_ovba.decompress(compressed_data)
+        assert DirStream.from_bytes(decompressed_data) == expected
diff --git a/tests/blank/dir b/tests/blank/dir
index 530e7b735..2d8cf67d4 100644
--- a/tests/blank/dir
+++ b/tests/blank/dir
@@ -1,14 +1,19 @@
-00000000   01 00 04 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 4A 00 04 00 00 00  ..........J.....
-00000010   03 00 00 00 02 00 04 00 00 00 09 04 00 00 14 00  ................
-00000020   04 00 00 00 09 04 00 00 03 00 02 00 00 00 E4 04  ..............ä.
-00000030   04 00 0A 00 00 00 56 42 41 50 72 6F 6A 65 63 74  ......VBAProject
-00000040   05 00 00 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 06 00 00 00  ......@.........
-00000050   00 00 3D 00 00 00 00 00 07 00 04 00 00 00 00 00  ..=.............
-00000060   00 00 08 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 04 00  ................
-00000070   00 00 57 02 BE 65 11 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00 3C 00  ..W.¾e........<.
-00000080   00 00 00 00 16 00 06 00 00 00 73 74 64 6F 6C 65  ..........stdole References begin at 84
-00000090   3E 00 0C 00 00 00 73 00 74 00 64 00 6F 00 6C 00  >.....s.t.d.o.l.
-000000A0   65 00 0D 00 68 00 00 00 5E 00 00 00 2A 5C 47 7B  e...h...^...*\G{
+01 00 04 00 00 00 03 00 00 00                    ..........
+4A 00 04 00 00 00 03 00 00 00                    J.........
+02 00 04 00 00 00 09 04 00 00                    ..........
+14 00 04 00 00 00 09 04 00 00                    ..........
+03 00 02 00 00 00 E4 04                          ......ä.
+04 00 0A 00 00 00 56 42 41 50 72 6F 6A 65 63 74  ......VBAProject
+05 00 00 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00              ......@.....
+06 00 00 00 00 00 3D 00 00 00 00 00              ......=.....
+07 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00                    ..........
+08 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00                    ..........
+09 00 04 00 00 00 57 02 BE 65 11 00              ......W.¾e..
+0C 00 00 00 00 00 3C 00 00 00 00 00              ......<.....
+
+16 00 06 00 00 00 73 74 64 6F 6C 65 3E 00 0C 00  ......stdole>...
+00 00 73 00 74 00 64 00 6F 00 6C 00 65 00        ..s.t.d.o.l.e.
+0D 00 68 00 00 00 5E 00 00 00 2A 5C 47 7B        ..h...^...*\G{
 000000B0   30 30 30 32 30 34 33 30 2D 30 30 30 30 2D 30 30  00020430-0000-00
 000000C0   30 30 2D 43 30 30 30 2D 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30  00-C000-00000000
 000000D0   30 30 34 36 7D 23 32 2E 30 23 30 23 43 3A 5C 57  0046}#2.0#0#C:\W
@@ -27,10 +32,12 @@
 000001A0   4D 53 4F 2E 44 4C 4C 23 4D 69 63 72 6F 73 6F 66  MSO.DLL#Microsof
 000001B0   74 20 4F 66 66 69 63 65 20 31 36 2E 30 20 4F 62  t Office 16.0 Ob
 000001C0   6A 65 63 74 20 4C 69 62 72 61 72 79 00 00 00 00  ject Library....
-000001D0   00 00 0F 00 02 00 00 00 03 00 13 00 02 00 00 00  ................
-000001E0   F3 08 19 00 0C 00 00 00 54 68 69 73 57 6F 72 6B  ó.......ThisWork
-000001F0   62 6F 6F 6B 47 00 18 00 00 00 54 00 68 00 69 00  bookG.....T.h.i.
-00000200   73 00 57 00 6F 00 72 00 6B 00 62 00 6F 00 6F 00  s.W.o.r.k.b.o.o.
+000001D0   00 00 0F 00 02 00 00 00 03 00
+13 00 02 00 00 00 F3 08                                     ......ó.
+19 00 0C 00 00 00 54 68 69 73 57 6F 72 6B 62 6F             ......ThisWorkbo
+6F 6B                                                       ok
+47 00 18 00 00 00 54 00 68 00 69 00 73 00 57 00             G.....T.h.i.s.W.
+ 6F 00 72 00 6B 00 62 00 6F 00 6F 00      o.r.k.b.o.o.
 00000210   6B 00 1A 00 0C 00 00 00 54 68 69 73 57 6F 72 6B  k.......ThisWork
 00000220   62 6F 6F 6B 32 00 18 00 00 00 54 00 68 00 69 00  book2.....T.h.i.
 00000230   73 00 57 00 6F 00 72 00 6B 00 62 00 6F 00 6F 00  s.W.o.r.k.b.o.o.