diff --git a/src/makefile b/src/makefile
index e7a8320..323e0c4 100644
--- a/src/makefile
+++ b/src/makefile
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 CXX = g++
 CXXFLAGS = -std=c++17 -Wall
+TEST_LIBS = -lmd4c-html -lCatch2Main -lCatch2
+LIBS = -lmd4c-html
 
 all: blog
 
-blog: main.o config.o
-	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) main.o config.o -o blog
+blog: main.o config.o utils.o
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) main.o config.o -o blog $(LIBS)
 
 main.o: main.cpp config.hpp
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c main.cpp
@@ -12,8 +14,11 @@ main.o: main.cpp config.hpp
 config.o: config.cpp config.hpp
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c config.cpp
 
-tests: tests.o config.o
-	g++ -std=c++17 -Wall tests.o config.o -o tests -lCatch2Main -lCatch2
+utils.o: utils.cpp utils.hpp
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c utils.cpp
+
+tests: tests.o config.o utils.o
+	g++ -std=c++17 -Wall tests.o config.o utils.o -o tests $(TEST_LIBS)
 
 tests.o: tests.cpp config.hpp
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c tests.cpp
diff --git a/src/tests.cpp b/src/tests.cpp
index bf7e992..2778254 100644
--- a/src/tests.cpp
+++ b/src/tests.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "config.hpp"
+#include "utils.hpp"
 #include <catch2/catch_all.hpp>
 #include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
 #include <string>
@@ -14,3 +15,9 @@ TEST_CASE("Checking config file read", "[config]") {
   REQUIRE(config.general.lang == "en");
   REQUIRE(config.general.title == "Blog");
 }
+
+TEST_CASE("convert_string_to_set parses inline YAML string list") {
+  const std::string input = "[\"haha\", \"dupa\", \"xdd\"]";
+  const std::set<std::string> output = {"haha", "dupa", "xdd"};
+  REQUIRE(convert_string_to_set(input) == output);
+}
diff --git a/src/utils.cpp b/src/utils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd6977f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#include <set>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <string>
+
+void trim(std::string &str) {
+  str.erase(str.find_last_not_of(' ') + 1);
+  str.erase(0, str.find_first_not_of(' '));
+}
+
+std::set<std::string> convert_string_to_set(std::string input) {
+  std::set<std::string> result;
+  std::string buffer;
+  size_t left, right;
+  left = input.find_first_of('[');
+  right = input.find_last_of(']');
+
+  if (left == std::string::npos || right == std::string::npos ||
+      right <= left) {
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  input = input.substr(left + 1, right - left - 1);
+
+  std::stringstream ss(input);
+
+  while (getline(ss, buffer, ',')) {
+    buffer.erase(0, buffer.find_first_not_of(" \t"));
+    buffer.erase(buffer.find_last_not_of(" \t") + 1);
+
+    if (buffer.size() >= 2 && buffer.front() == '"' && buffer.back() == '"') {
+      buffer = buffer.substr(1, buffer.size() - 2);
+      result.insert(buffer);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
diff --git a/src/utils.hpp b/src/utils.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30c1aba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#include <set>
+#include <string>
+
+// trim string in-place, removing all whitespaces
+void trim(std::string &str);
+
+// Convert a string containing an inline YAML/JSON-style list of strings
+// into a std::set<std::string>.
+//
+// Supported format (single line):
+//   ["haha", "dupa", "xdd"]
+//
+// Limitations:
+// - no nested structures
+// - no escaping inside strings
+// - elements must be quoted
+//
+// Example:
+//   Input:  ["haha", "dupa", "xdd"]
+//   Output: {"dupa", "haha", "xdd"}   // sorted, unique
+std::set<std::string> convert_string_to_set(std::string input);