diff --git a/file.go b/file.go
index 3a8f148..c623f35 100644
--- a/file.go
+++ b/file.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ package gocodewalker
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"github.com/boyter/gocodewalker/go-gitignore"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 	"os"
@@ -20,8 +21,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	GitIgnore = ".gitignore"
-	Ignore    = ".ignore"
+	GitIgnore  = ".gitignore"
+	Ignore     = ".ignore"
+	GitModules = ".gitmodules"
 )
 
 // ErrTerminateWalk error which indicates that the walker was terminated
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ type FileWalker struct {
 	isWalking              bool
 	IgnoreIgnoreFile       bool // Should .ignore files be respected?
 	IgnoreGitIgnore        bool // Should .gitignore files be respected?
+	IgnoreGitModules       bool // Should .gitmodules files be respected?
 	IncludeHidden          bool // Should hidden files and directories be included/walked
 	osOpen                 func(name string) (*os.File, error)
 	osReadFile             func(name string) ([]byte, error)
@@ -86,6 +89,7 @@ func NewFileWalker(directory string, fileListQueue chan *File) *FileWalker {
 		isWalking:              false,
 		IgnoreIgnoreFile:       false,
 		IgnoreGitIgnore:        false,
+		IgnoreGitModules:       false,
 		IncludeHidden:          false,
 		osOpen:                 os.Open,
 		osReadFile:             os.ReadFile,
@@ -117,6 +121,7 @@ func NewParallelFileWalker(directories []string, fileListQueue chan *File) *File
 		isWalking:              false,
 		IgnoreIgnoreFile:       false,
 		IgnoreGitIgnore:        false,
+		IgnoreGitModules:       false,
 		IncludeHidden:          false,
 		osOpen:                 os.Open,
 		osReadFile:             os.ReadFile,
@@ -305,6 +310,27 @@ func (f *FileWalker) walkDirectoryRecursive(iteration int, directory string, git
 				ignores = append(ignores, gitIgnore)
 			}
 		}
+
+		// this should only happen on the first iteration
+		// because there can only be one .gitmodules file per repository
+		// however we also need to support someone running in a directory of
+		// projects that have multiple repositories or in a go vendor
+		// repository etc...
+		if !f.IgnoreGitModules {
+			if file.Name() == GitModules {
+				// now we need to open and parse the file
+				c, err := f.osReadFile(filepath.Join(directory, file.Name()))
+				if err != nil {
+					if f.errorsHandler(err) {
+						continue // if asked to ignore it lets continue
+					}
+					return err
+				}
+
+				fmt.Println(c)
+				//extractGitModuleFolders()
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Process files first to start feeding whatever process is consuming
diff --git a/gitmodule.go b/gitmodule.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..361a780
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitmodule.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package gocodewalker
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func extractGitModuleFolders(input string) []string {
+	// Compile a regular expression to match lines starting with "path ="
+	re := regexp.MustCompile(`^\s*path\s*=\s*(.*)`)
+	output := []string{}
+
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(input, "\n") {
+		// Check if the line matches the "path = " pattern
+		if matches := re.FindStringSubmatch(line); matches != nil {
+			// Extract the submodule path (which is captured in the regex group)
+			submodulePath := strings.TrimSpace(matches[1])
+			output = append(output, submodulePath)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return output
+}
diff --git a/gitmodule_test.go b/gitmodule_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b4c34c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitmodule_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package gocodewalker
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func Test_extractGitModuleFolders(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		input string
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args args
+		want []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "",
+			args: args{
+				input: `[submodule "contracts/lib/forge-std"]
+	path = contracts/lib/forge-std
+	url = https://github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std
+	tag = v1.8.2
+[submodule "contracts/lib/sp1-contracts"]
+	path = contracts/lib/sp1-contracts
+	url = https://github.com/succinctlabs/sp1-contracts
+	tag = main
+[submodule "contracts/lib/openzeppelin-contracts"]
+	path = contracts/lib/openzeppelin-contracts
+	url = https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts
+[submodule "lib/java-tron"]
+	path = lib/java-tron
+	url = https://github.com/tronprotocol/java-tron
+[submodule "lib/googleapis"]
+	path = lib/googleapis
+	url = https://github.com/googleapis/googleapis
+[submodule "contracts/lib/openzeppelin-contracts-upgradeable"]
+	path = contracts/lib/openzeppelin-contracts-upgradeable
+	url = https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts-upgradeable
+[submodule "contracts/lib/v2-testnet-contracts"]
+	path = contracts/lib/v2-testnet-contracts
+	url = https://github.com/matter-labs/v2-testnet-contracts
+	branch = beta`,
+			},
+			want: []string{
+				"contracts/lib/forge-std",
+				"contracts/lib/sp1-contracts",
+				"contracts/lib/openzeppelin-contracts",
+				"lib/java-tron",
+				"lib/googleapis",
+				"contracts/lib/openzeppelin-contracts-upgradeable",
+				"contracts/lib/v2-testnet-contracts",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := extractGitModuleFolders(tt.args.input); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, tt.want) {
+				t.Errorf("extractGitModuleFolders() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}