diff --git a/src/bsv/simple_cas/cas.py b/src/bsv/simple_cas/cas.py
index 504fe43..bd203ca 100644
--- a/src/bsv/simple_cas/cas.py
+++ b/src/bsv/simple_cas/cas.py
@@ -108,6 +108,20 @@ class SimpleCas:
 
         return digest
 
+    def get_ref(self, key: str) -> bytes | None:
+        ref_path = self._ref_path(key)
+        if not ref_path.is_file():
+            return None
+        hex = ref_path.read_text().strip()
+        if len(hex) != 2 * self._digest_size:
+            return None
+        return bytes.fromhex(hex)
+
+    def set_ref(self, key: str, digest: bytes):
+        ref_path = self._ref_path(key)
+        ref_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        ref_path.write_text(digest.hex())
+
     def _open_writer(self, digest: bytes, object_type: bytes, size: int) -> BinaryIO:
         dat_file = (self._root_dir / "cas.dat").open("ab")
         offset = dat_file.tell()
@@ -121,6 +135,14 @@ class SimpleCas:
 
         return dat_file
 
+    def _ref_path(self, key: str) -> Path:
+        assert key
+        assert key[0] not in ("/", "\\")
+        assert key[-1] not in ("/", "\\")
+        key_path = Path(key)
+        assert not any(part in (".", "..") for part in key_path.parts)
+        return self._root_dir / "refs" / key_path
+
 
 @dataclass
 class Object:
diff --git a/tests/test_simple_cas.py b/tests/test_simple_cas.py
index c219fe7..28fc5ea 100644
--- a/tests/test_simple_cas.py
+++ b/tests/test_simple_cas.py
@@ -74,3 +74,11 @@ def test_simple_cas(tmp_dir: Path):
         digest2 = cas.write(b"blob", data)
         assert digest2 == digest
         assert len(cas) == 1
+
+
+def test_refs(cas: SimpleCas):
+    digest = bytes([42] * cas._digest_size)
+    assert cas.get_ref("foo/bar") is None
+    cas.set_ref("foo/bar", digest)
+    assert cas.get_ref("foo/bar") == digest
+    assert cas.get_ref("foo") is None