diff --git a/meilidb-core/Cargo.toml b/meilidb-core/Cargo.toml
index f0e6dc6e0..16bc204d4 100644
--- a/meilidb-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/meilidb-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ edition = "2018"
 
 [dependencies]
 byteorder = "1.3.1"
-hashbrown = "0.1.8"
+hashbrown = "0.2.2"
 lazy_static = "1.2.0"
 log = "0.4.6"
 meilidb-tokenizer = { path = "../meilidb-tokenizer", version = "0.1.0" }
diff --git a/meilidb-data/Cargo.toml b/meilidb-data/Cargo.toml
index c3dc2dc05..e6fca8c66 100644
--- a/meilidb-data/Cargo.toml
+++ b/meilidb-data/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,13 +8,17 @@ edition = "2018"
 arc-swap = "0.3.11"
 bincode = "1.1.2"
 byteorder = "1.3.1"
-hashbrown = { version = "0.1.8", features = ["serde"] }
+hashbrown = { version = "0.2.2", features = ["serde"] }
 linked-hash-map = { version = "0.5.2", features = ["serde_impl"] }
 meilidb-core = { path = "../meilidb-core", version = "0.1.0" }
 meilidb-tokenizer = { path = "../meilidb-tokenizer", version = "0.1.0" }
 ordered-float = { version = "1.0.2", features = ["serde"] }
 sdset = "0.3.1"
-serde = { version = "1.0.88", features = ["derive"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0.90", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = { version = "1.0.39", features = ["preserve_order"] }
 sled = "0.22.1"
 toml = { version = "0.5.0", features = ["preserve_order"] }
+
+[dependencies.rmp-serde]
+git = "https://github.com/3Hren/msgpack-rust.git"
+rev = "40b3d48"
diff --git a/meilidb-data/src/database.rs b/meilidb-data/src/database.rs
index baacddc35..6aac48b48 100644
--- a/meilidb-data/src/database.rs
+++ b/meilidb-data/src/database.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+use std::collections::HashSet;
+use std::io::{self, Cursor, BufRead};
+use std::iter::FromIterator;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -6,7 +9,11 @@ use hashbrown::HashMap;
 use meilidb_core::shared_data_cursor::{FromSharedDataCursor, SharedDataCursor};
 use meilidb_core::write_to_bytes::WriteToBytes;
 use meilidb_core::{DocumentId, Index as WordIndex};
+use rmp_serde::decode::{Deserializer as RmpDeserializer, ReadReader};
+use rmp_serde::decode::{Error as RmpError};
+use serde::{de, forward_to_deserialize_any};
 use sled::IVec;
+use byteorder::{ReadBytesExt, BigEndian};
 
 use crate::{Schema, SchemaAttr, RankedMap};
 
@@ -46,6 +53,37 @@ fn document_key(id: DocumentId, attr: SchemaAttr) -> Vec<u8> {
     bytes
 }
 
+trait CursorExt {
+    fn consume_if_eq(&mut self, needle: &[u8]) -> bool;
+}
+
+impl<T: AsRef<[u8]>> CursorExt for Cursor<T> {
+    fn consume_if_eq(&mut self, needle: &[u8]) -> bool {
+        let position = self.position() as usize;
+        let slice = self.get_ref().as_ref();
+
+        if slice[position..].starts_with(needle) {
+            self.consume(needle.len());
+            true
+        } else {
+            false
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn extract_document_key(key: Vec<u8>) -> io::Result<(DocumentId, SchemaAttr)> {
+    let mut key = Cursor::new(key);
+
+    if !key.consume_if_eq(b"document-") {
+        return Err(io::Error::from(io::ErrorKind::InvalidData))
+    }
+
+    let document_id = key.read_u64::<BigEndian>().map(DocumentId)?;
+    let schema_attr = key.read_u16::<BigEndian>().map(SchemaAttr)?;
+
+    Ok((document_id, schema_attr))
+}
+
 fn ivec_into_arc(ivec: IVec) -> Arc<[u8]> {
     match ivec {
         IVec::Inline(len, bytes) => Arc::from(&bytes[..len as usize]),
@@ -55,7 +93,7 @@ fn ivec_into_arc(ivec: IVec) -> Arc<[u8]> {
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct Database {
-    opened: Arc<ArcSwap<HashMap<String, Index>>>,
+    opened: Arc<ArcSwap<HashMap<String, RawIndex>>>,
     inner: sled::Db,
 }
 
@@ -68,22 +106,22 @@ impl Database {
 
     pub fn open_index(&self, name: &str) -> Result<Option<Index>, Error> {
         // check if the index was already opened
-        if let Some(index) = self.opened.lease().get(name) {
-            return Ok(Some(index.clone()))
+        if let Some(raw_index) = self.opened.lease().get(name) {
+            return Ok(Some(Index(raw_index.clone())))
         }
 
         let raw_name = index_name(name);
         if self.inner.tree_names().into_iter().any(|tn| tn == raw_name) {
             let tree = self.inner.open_tree(raw_name)?;
-            let index = Index::from_raw(tree)?;
+            let raw_index = RawIndex::from_raw(tree)?;
 
             self.opened.rcu(|opened| {
                 let mut opened = HashMap::clone(opened);
-                opened.insert(name.to_string(), index.clone());
+                opened.insert(name.to_string(), raw_index.clone());
                 opened
             });
 
-            return Ok(Some(index))
+            return Ok(Some(Index(raw_index)))
         }
 
         Ok(None)
@@ -92,7 +130,7 @@ impl Database {
     pub fn create_index(&self, name: String, schema: Schema) -> Result<Index, Error> {
         match self.open_index(&name)? {
             Some(index) => {
-                if index.schema != schema {
+                if index.schema() != &schema {
                     return Err(Error::SchemaDiffer);
                 }
 
@@ -101,30 +139,30 @@ impl Database {
             None => {
                 let raw_name = index_name(&name);
                 let tree = self.inner.open_tree(raw_name)?;
-                let index = Index::new_from_raw(tree, schema)?;
+                let raw_index = RawIndex::new_from_raw(tree, schema)?;
 
                 self.opened.rcu(|opened| {
                     let mut opened = HashMap::clone(opened);
-                    opened.insert(name.clone(), index.clone());
+                    opened.insert(name.clone(), raw_index.clone());
                     opened
                 });
 
-                Ok(index)
+                Ok(Index(raw_index))
             },
         }
     }
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
-pub struct Index {
+pub struct RawIndex {
     schema: Schema,
     word_index: Arc<ArcSwap<WordIndex>>,
     ranked_map: Arc<ArcSwap<RankedMap>>,
     inner: Arc<sled::Tree>,
 }
 
-impl Index {
-    fn from_raw(inner: Arc<sled::Tree>) -> Result<Index, Error> {
+impl RawIndex {
+    fn from_raw(inner: Arc<sled::Tree>) -> Result<RawIndex, Error> {
         let schema = {
             let bytes = inner.get("schema")?;
             let bytes = bytes.ok_or(Error::SchemaMissing)?;
@@ -153,10 +191,10 @@ impl Index {
             Arc::new(ArcSwap::new(Arc::new(map)))
         };
 
-        Ok(Index { schema, word_index, ranked_map, inner })
+        Ok(RawIndex { schema, word_index, ranked_map, inner })
     }
 
-    fn new_from_raw(inner: Arc<sled::Tree>, schema: Schema) -> Result<Index, Error> {
+    fn new_from_raw(inner: Arc<sled::Tree>, schema: Schema) -> Result<RawIndex, Error> {
         let mut schema_bytes = Vec::new();
         schema.write_to_bin(&mut schema_bytes)?;
         inner.set("schema", schema_bytes)?;
@@ -167,7 +205,7 @@ impl Index {
 
         let ranked_map = Arc::new(ArcSwap::new(Arc::new(RankedMap::default())));
 
-        Ok(Index { schema, word_index, ranked_map, inner })
+        Ok(RawIndex { schema, word_index, ranked_map, inner })
     }
 
     pub fn schema(&self) -> &Schema {
@@ -182,11 +220,11 @@ impl Index {
         self.ranked_map.lease()
     }
 
-    fn update_word_index(&self, word_index: Arc<WordIndex>) {
+    pub fn update_word_index(&self, word_index: Arc<WordIndex>) {
         self.word_index.store(word_index)
     }
 
-    fn update_ranked_map(&self, ranked_map: Arc<RankedMap>) {
+    pub fn update_ranked_map(&self, ranked_map: Arc<RankedMap>) {
         self.ranked_map.store(ranked_map)
     }
 
@@ -212,6 +250,12 @@ impl Index {
         Ok(self.inner.get(key)?)
     }
 
+    pub fn get_document_fields(&self, id: DocumentId) -> DocumentFieldsIter {
+        let start = document_key(id, SchemaAttr::min());
+        let end = document_key(id, SchemaAttr::max());
+        DocumentFieldsIter(self.inner.range(start..=end))
+    }
+
     pub fn del_document_attribute(
         &self,
         id: DocumentId,
@@ -222,3 +266,150 @@ impl Index {
         Ok(self.inner.del(key)?)
     }
 }
+
+pub struct DocumentFieldsIter<'a>(sled::Iter<'a>);
+
+impl<'a> Iterator for DocumentFieldsIter<'a> {
+    type Item = Result<(DocumentId, SchemaAttr, IVec), Error>;
+
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
+        match self.0.next() {
+            Some(Ok((key, value))) => {
+                let (id, attr) = extract_document_key(key).unwrap();
+                Some(Ok((id, attr, value)))
+            },
+            Some(Err(e)) => Some(Err(Error::SledError(e))),
+            None => None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct Index(RawIndex);
+
+impl Index {
+    pub fn schema(&self) -> &Schema {
+        self.0.schema()
+    }
+
+    pub fn word_index(&self) -> Lease<Arc<WordIndex>> {
+        self.0.word_index()
+    }
+
+    pub fn ranked_map(&self) -> Lease<Arc<RankedMap>> {
+        self.0.ranked_map()
+    }
+
+    pub fn document<T>(
+        &self,
+        fields: Option<&HashSet<&str>>,
+        id: DocumentId,
+    ) -> Result<Option<T>, RmpError>
+    where T: de::DeserializeOwned,
+    {
+        let fields = match fields {
+            Some(fields) => {
+                let iter = fields.iter().filter_map(|n| self.0.schema().attribute(n));
+                Some(HashSet::from_iter(iter))
+            },
+            None => None,
+        };
+
+        let mut deserializer = Deserializer {
+            document_id: id,
+            raw_index: &self.0,
+            fields: fields.as_ref(),
+        };
+
+        // TODO: currently we return an error if all document fields are missing,
+        //       returning None would have been better
+        T::deserialize(&mut deserializer).map(Some)
+    }
+}
+
+struct Deserializer<'a> {
+    document_id: DocumentId,
+    raw_index: &'a RawIndex,
+    fields: Option<&'a HashSet<SchemaAttr>>,
+}
+
+impl<'de, 'a, 'b> de::Deserializer<'de> for &'b mut Deserializer<'a>
+{
+    type Error = RmpError;
+
+    fn deserialize_any<V>(self, visitor: V) -> Result<V::Value, Self::Error>
+    where V: de::Visitor<'de>
+    {
+        self.deserialize_map(visitor)
+    }
+
+    forward_to_deserialize_any! {
+        bool u8 u16 u32 u64 i8 i16 i32 i64 f32 f64 char str string unit seq
+        bytes byte_buf unit_struct tuple_struct
+        identifier tuple ignored_any option newtype_struct enum struct
+    }
+
+    fn deserialize_map<V>(self, visitor: V) -> Result<V::Value, Self::Error>
+    where V: de::Visitor<'de>
+    {
+        let document_attributes = self.raw_index.get_document_fields(self.document_id);
+        let document_attributes = document_attributes.filter_map(|result| {
+            match result {
+                Ok(value) => Some(value),
+                Err(e) => {
+                    // TODO: must log the error
+                    // error!("sled iter error; {}", e);
+                    None
+                },
+            }
+        });
+        let iter = document_attributes.filter_map(|(_, attr, value)| {
+            if self.fields.map_or(true, |f| f.contains(&attr)) {
+                let attribute_name = self.raw_index.schema.attribute_name(attr);
+                Some((attribute_name, Value::new(value)))
+            } else {
+                None
+            }
+        });
+
+        let map_deserializer = de::value::MapDeserializer::new(iter);
+        visitor.visit_map(map_deserializer)
+    }
+}
+
+struct Value<A>(RmpDeserializer<ReadReader<Cursor<A>>>) where A: AsRef<[u8]>;
+
+impl<A> Value<A> where A: AsRef<[u8]>
+{
+    fn new(value: A) -> Value<A> {
+        Value(RmpDeserializer::new(Cursor::new(value)))
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de, A> de::IntoDeserializer<'de, RmpError> for Value<A>
+where A: AsRef<[u8]>,
+{
+    type Deserializer = Self;
+
+    fn into_deserializer(self) -> Self::Deserializer {
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de, 'a, A> de::Deserializer<'de> for Value<A>
+where A: AsRef<[u8]>,
+{
+    type Error = RmpError;
+
+    fn deserialize_any<V>(mut self, visitor: V) -> Result<V::Value, Self::Error>
+    where V: de::Visitor<'de>
+    {
+        self.0.deserialize_any(visitor)
+    }
+
+    forward_to_deserialize_any! {
+        bool i8 i16 i32 i64 i128 u8 u16 u32 u64 u128 f32 f64 char str string
+        bytes byte_buf option unit unit_struct newtype_struct seq tuple
+        tuple_struct map struct enum identifier ignored_any
+    }
+}