diff --git a/src/main/app.js b/src/main/app.js
index e5ef2af..09e439c 100644
--- a/src/main/app.js
+++ b/src/main/app.js
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@ import {
 	BrowserWindow,
 	MessageChannelMain,
 	app,
+	dialog,
 	ipcMain,
 	safeStorage,
 	utilityProcess,
 } from 'electron/main'
 
 import { Intl, getSystemLocale } from './intl.js'
+import { APP_IPC_EVENT_TO_PARAMS_PARSER } from './ipc.js'
 
 const log = debug('comapeo:main:app')
 
@@ -226,6 +228,25 @@ function initMainWindow({ appMode, services }) {
 		event.senderFrame?.postMessage('provide-comapeo-port', null, [port2])
 	})
 
+	// Set up IPC specific to the main window
+	mainWindow.webContents.ipc.handle('files:select', async (_event, params) => {
+		const parsedParams = APP_IPC_EVENT_TO_PARAMS_PARSER['files:select'](params)
+
+		const result = await dialog.showOpenDialog({
+			properties: ['openFile'],
+			filters: parsedParams?.extensionFilters
+				? [
+						{
+							name: 'Custom file type',
+							extensions: parsedParams.extensionFilters,
+						},
+					]
+				: undefined,
+		})
+
+		return result.filePaths[0]
+	})
+
 	APP_STATE.browserWindows.set(mainWindow, {
 		type: 'main',
 	})
diff --git a/src/main/ipc.js b/src/main/ipc.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cbb4a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ipc.js
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import {
+	array,
+	object,
+	optional,
+	parse,
+	string,
+	undefined,
+	union,
+} from 'valibot'
+
+const FilesSelectParamsSchema = union([
+	object({
+		extensionFilters: optional(array(string())),
+	}),
+	undefined(),
+])
+
+export const APP_IPC_EVENT_TO_PARAMS_PARSER = /** @type {const} */ ({
+	/**
+	 * @param {unknown} value
+	 *
+	 * @returns {import('valibot').InferOutput<typeof FilesSelectParamsSchema>}
+	 */
+	'files:select': (value) => {
+		return parse(FilesSelectParamsSchema, value)
+	},
+})
+
+/** @typedef {keyof typeof APP_IPC_EVENT_TO_PARAMS_PARSER} AppIPCEvents */
diff --git a/src/preload/main-window.js b/src/preload/main-window.js
index b282182..7f7a3a7 100644
--- a/src/preload/main-window.js
+++ b/src/preload/main-window.js
@@ -23,12 +23,27 @@ const runtimeApi = {
 	// Locale
 	async getLocale() {
 		const locale = await ipcRenderer.invoke('locale:get')
-		if (typeof locale !== 'string') throw Error('Locale must be a string')
+		if (typeof locale !== 'string') {
+			throw new Error('Locale must be a string')
+		}
 		return locale
 	},
 	updateLocale(locale) {
 		ipcRenderer.send('locale:update', locale)
 	},
+
+	// Files
+	async selectFile(extensionFilters) {
+		const filePath = await ipcRenderer.invoke('files:select', {
+			extensionFilters,
+		})
+
+		if (!(typeof filePath === 'string' || typeof filePath === 'undefined')) {
+			throw new Error(`File path is unexpected type: ${typeof filePath}`)
+		}
+
+		return filePath
+	},
 }
 
 contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('runtime', runtimeApi)
diff --git a/src/preload/runtime.d.ts b/src/preload/runtime.d.ts
index 64d25be..39a44fe 100644
--- a/src/preload/runtime.d.ts
+++ b/src/preload/runtime.d.ts
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@ export type RuntimeApi = {
 	init: () => void
 	getLocale: () => Promise<string>
 	updateLocale: (locale: string) => void
+	selectFile: (extensionFilters?: Array<string>) => Promise<string | undefined>
 }
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/hooks/mutations/file-system.ts b/src/renderer/src/hooks/mutations/file-system.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0591a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/src/hooks/mutations/file-system.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query'
+
+/**
+ * If the resolved value is `undefined` that means the user did not select a
+ * file (i.e. cancelled the selection dialog)
+ */
+export function useSelectProjectConfigFile() {
+	return useMutation({
+		mutationFn: async () => {
+			return window.runtime.selectFile(['comapeocat'])
+		},
+	})
+}