diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e1945d9..a4eb337 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ examples/RandomNumbers/main
 examples/CommandLineArgs/main
 examples/Tasks/main
 examples/Tuples/main
+examples/EncodeDecode/main
 roc_nightly/
 
 # macOS directory attributes
diff --git a/ci_scripts/all_tests.sh b/ci_scripts/all_tests.sh
index bb2d5f8..fa7b403 100755
--- a/ci_scripts/all_tests.sh
+++ b/ci_scripts/all_tests.sh
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ $ROC test ./examples/BasicDict/BasicDict.roc
 $ROC build ./examples/MultipleRocFiles/main.roc
 expect ci_scripts/expect_scripts/MultipleRocFiles.exp
 
+$ROC build ./examples/EncodeDecode/main.roc
+expect ci_scripts/expect_scripts/EncodeDecode.exp
+
 $ROC build --lib ./examples/GoPlatform/main.roc --output examples/GoPlatform/platform/libapp.so
 go build -C examples/GoPlatform/platform -buildmode=pie -o dynhost
 $ROC preprocess-host ./examples/GoPlatform/main.roc
diff --git a/ci_scripts/expect_scripts/EncodeDecode.exp b/ci_scripts/expect_scripts/EncodeDecode.exp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2fad50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci_scripts/expect_scripts/EncodeDecode.exp
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/expect
+
+# uncomment line below for debugging
+# exp_internal 1
+
+set timeout 7
+
+spawn ./examples/EncodeDecode/main
+
+expect "(@ItemKind Text)\r\n(@ItemKind Method)\r\n(@ItemKind Function)\r\n(@ItemKind Constructor)\r\n(@ItemKind Field)\r\n(@ItemKind Variable)\r\n(@ItemKind Class)\r\n(@ItemKind Interface)\r\n(@ItemKind Module)\r\n" {
+  expect eof
+  exit 0
+}
+
+puts stderr "\nError: output was different from expected value."
+exit 1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/EncodeDecode/README.md b/examples/EncodeDecode/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ad9617
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/EncodeDecode/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Encoding & Decoding Abilities
+
+An example for how to implement the builtin `Encoding` and `Decoding` abilities for an opaque type.
+
+Implementing these abilites for an opaque type like `ItemKind`, enables it to be used seamlessly within other data structures. This is useful when you would like to provide a custom mapping, such as in this example, between an integer and a tag union.
+
+## Implementation
+```roc
+file:main.roc:snippet:impl
+```
+
+## Demo
+```roc
+file:main.roc:snippet:demo
+```
+
+## Output
+
+Run this from the directory that has `main.roc` in it:
+
+```
+$ roc dev
+(@ItemKind Text)
+(@ItemKind Method)
+(@ItemKind Function)
+(@ItemKind Constructor)
+(@ItemKind Field)
+(@ItemKind Variable)
+(@ItemKind Class)
+(@ItemKind Interface)
+(@ItemKind Module)
+```
+
+You can also use `roc test` to run the tests.
diff --git a/examples/EncodeDecode/main.roc b/examples/EncodeDecode/main.roc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d7bd52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/EncodeDecode/main.roc
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+app "example"
+    packages {
+        pf: "https://github.com/roc-lang/basic-cli/releases/download/0.8.1/x8URkvfyi9I0QhmVG98roKBUs_AZRkLFwFJVJ3942YA.tar.br",
+        json: "https://github.com/lukewilliamboswell/roc-json/releases/download/0.6.3/_2Dh4Eju2v_tFtZeMq8aZ9qw2outG04NbkmKpFhXS_4.tar.br",
+    }
+    imports [pf.Stdout.{ line }, json.Core.{ json }]
+    provides [main] to pf
+
+### start snippet impl
+
+ItemKind := [
+    Text,
+    Method,
+    Function,
+    Constructor,
+    Field,
+    Variable,
+    Class,
+    Interface,
+    Module,
+]
+    implements [
+        Decoding { decoder: decodeItems },
+        Encoding { toEncoder: encodeItems },
+        Inspect,
+        Eq,
+    ]
+
+decodeItems : Decoder ItemKind fmt
+decodeItems = Decode.custom \bytes, _ ->
+
+    # helper to convert our tag to a DecodeResult
+    ok : _, List U8 -> DecodeResult ItemKind
+    ok = \tag, rest -> { result: Ok (@ItemKind tag), rest }
+
+    when bytes is
+        ['1', .. as rest] -> ok Text rest
+        ['2', .. as rest] -> ok Method rest
+        ['3', .. as rest] -> ok Function rest
+        ['4', .. as rest] -> ok Constructor rest
+        ['5', .. as rest] -> ok Field rest
+        ['6', .. as rest] -> ok Variable rest
+        ['7', .. as rest] -> ok Class rest
+        ['8', .. as rest] -> ok Interface rest
+        ['9', .. as rest] -> ok Module rest
+        _ -> { result: Err TooShort, rest: bytes }
+
+encodeItems : ItemKind -> Encoder fmt
+encodeItems = \@ItemKind tag ->
+
+    Encode.custom \bytes, _ ->
+
+        # helper to append our encoded byte
+        append : U8 -> List U8
+        append = \u8 -> List.append bytes u8
+
+        when tag is
+            Text -> append '1'
+            Method -> append '2'
+            Function -> append '3'
+            Constructor -> append '4'
+            Field -> append '5'
+            Variable -> append '6'
+            Class -> append '7'
+            Interface -> append '8'
+            Module -> append '9'
+
+### end snippet impl
+
+### start snippet demo
+
+# make a list of ItemKind's
+originalList : List ItemKind
+originalList = [
+    @ItemKind Text,
+    @ItemKind Method,
+    @ItemKind Function,
+    @ItemKind Constructor,
+    @ItemKind Field,
+    @ItemKind Variable,
+    @ItemKind Class,
+    @ItemKind Interface,
+    @ItemKind Module,
+]
+
+# encode them into JSON
+encodedBytes : List U8
+encodedBytes = Encode.toBytes originalList json
+
+# test we have encoded correctly
+expect encodedBytes == originalBytes
+
+# take a JSON encoded list
+originalBytes : List U8
+originalBytes = "[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]" |> Str.toUtf8
+
+# decode into a list of ItemKind's
+decodedList : List ItemKind
+decodedList = Decode.fromBytes originalBytes json |> Result.withDefault []
+
+# test we have decoded correctly
+expect decodedList == originalList
+
+main =
+    # debug print decoded items to stdio
+    decodedList
+    |> List.map Inspect.toStr
+    |> Str.joinWith "\n"
+    |> Stdout.line
+
+### end snippet demo
diff --git a/examples/index.md b/examples/index.md
index 8e8b28c..41d5519 100644
--- a/examples/index.md
+++ b/examples/index.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ You can find the source code for all of these at [github.com/roc-lang/examples](
 - [Multi-line Comments](/MultiLineComments/README.html)
 - [Go Platform](/GoPlatform/README.html)
 - [.NET Platform](/DotNetPlatform/README.html)
+- [Encoding & Decoding Abilities](/EncodeDecode/README.html)
 
 ## External examples