diff --git a/src/routes/upload.nim b/src/routes/upload.nim
index fbeeb41..6ee60a7 100644
--- a/src/routes/upload.nim
+++ b/src/routes/upload.nim
@@ -25,12 +25,20 @@ proc createUploadRoutes*(cfg: Cfg) =
       let fileName = request.formData["file"].fields["filename"]
       var fileTags: string
 
+      block UniqueFileNameCheck:
+        try:
+          var file = newFile()
+          db.select(file, """"File".name = $1""", fileName)
+        except NotFoundError:
+          break UniqueFileNameCheck
+        resp Http403, "A file with that name already exists.\n"
+
       # this is a hack, I hate this
       # convert to JsonNode to ensure we were given a proper JSON
       # convert back to a string because db doesnt allow for JsonNode
       try:
         fileTags = $parseJson(request.formData[
-            "tags"].body) # TODO: sanitize, only an array of strings (e.g. nested objects/arrays)
+            "tags"].body) # TODO: sanitize, only an array of strings (e.g. remove nested objects/arrays)
       except KeyError:
         fileTags = "[]"
       except: # "except JsonError:" doesn't work for some reason
diff --git a/src/types/files.nim b/src/types/files.nim
index c0996f0..1b3ce0a 100644
--- a/src/types/files.nim
+++ b/src/types/files.nim
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-import norm/model
+import norm/[model, pragmas]
 import ./users
 
 # file objects are owned by a user
 type File* = ref object of Model
   owner*: User
-  path*: string
-  name*: string
+  path* {.unique.}: string
+  name* {.unique.}: string
   tags*: string #? This is a temporary hack should be `seq[string]` or `JsonNode` instead
 
               # creates a new file object and sets default values, recommended by the norm documentation