diff --git a/lib/assets/Lib/_codecs.py b/lib/assets/Lib/_codecs.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/assets/Lib/_codecs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+
+def ascii_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def ascii_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def charbuffer_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def charmap_build(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def charmap_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def charmap_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def decode(*args,**kw):
+    """decode(obj, [encoding[,errors]]) -> object    
+    Decodes obj using the codec registered for encoding. encoding defaults
+    to the default encoding. errors may be given to set a different error
+    handling scheme. Default is 'strict' meaning that encoding errors raise
+    a ValueError. Other possible values are 'ignore' and 'replace'
+    as well as any other name registered with codecs.register_error that is
+    able to handle ValueErrors."""
+    pass
+
+def encode(*args,**kw):
+    """encode(obj, [encoding[,errors]]) -> object    
+    Encodes obj using the codec registered for encoding. encoding defaults
+    to the default encoding. errors may be given to set a different error
+    handling scheme. Default is 'strict' meaning that encoding errors raise
+    a ValueError. Other possible values are 'ignore', 'replace' and
+    'xmlcharrefreplace' as well as any other name registered with
+    codecs.register_error that can handle ValueErrors."""
+    obj = args[0]
+    if len(args)==2:
+        encoding = args[1]
+    else:
+        encoding = 'utf-8'
+    if isinstance(obj, str):
+        return obj.encode(encoding)
+
+def escape_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def escape_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def latin_1_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def latin_1_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def lookup(encoding):
+    """lookup(encoding) -> CodecInfo    
+    Looks up a codec tuple in the Python codec registry and returns
+    a CodecInfo object."""
+
+    if encoding in ('utf-8', 'utf_8'):
+       from javascript import console
+       console.log('encoding', encoding)
+       import encodings.utf_8
+       return encodings.utf_8.getregentry()
+
+    LookupError(encoding)
+
+def lookup_error(*args,**kw):
+    """lookup_error(errors) -> handler    
+    Return the error handler for the specified error handling name
+    or raise a LookupError, if no handler exists under this name."""
+    pass
+
+def mbcs_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def mbcs_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def raw_unicode_escape_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def raw_unicode_escape_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def readbuffer_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def register(*args,**kw):
+    """register(search_function)    
+    Register a codec search function. Search functions are expected to take
+    one argument, the encoding name in all lower case letters, and return
+    a tuple of functions (encoder, decoder, stream_reader, stream_writer)
+    (or a CodecInfo object)."""
+    pass
+
+def register_error(*args,**kw):
+    """register_error(errors, handler)    
+    Register the specified error handler under the name
+    errors. handler must be a callable object, that
+    will be called with an exception instance containing
+    information about the location of the encoding/decoding
+    error and must return a (replacement, new position) tuple."""
+    pass
+
+def unicode_escape_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def unicode_escape_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def unicode_internal_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def unicode_internal_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_be_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_be_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_ex_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_le_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_16_le_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_be_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_be_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_ex_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_le_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_32_le_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_7_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_7_encode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_8_decode(*args,**kw):
+    pass
+
+def utf_8_encode(*args,**kw):
+    input=args[0]
+    if len(args) == 2:
+       errors = args[1]
+    else:
+       errors=kw.get('errors', 'strict')
+
+    #todo need to deal with errors, but for now assume all is well.
+
+    return (bytes([_f for _f in input], 'utf-8'), len(input))