diff --git a/docs/reference.md b/docs/reference.md
index 32039dac..9ebf8c2e 100644
--- a/docs/reference.md
+++ b/docs/reference.md
@@ -31,3 +31,4 @@ Configuration is read from the following (in precedence order)
 | default.locale         | --locale          | en, en-us, en-gb, en-ca, en-au   | English dialect to correct to. |
 | default.extend-identifiers | \-            | table of strings | Corrections for identifiers. When the correction is blank, the word is never valid. When the correction is the key, the word is always valid. |
 | default.extend-words       | \-            | table of strings | Corrections for identifiers. When the correction is blank, the word is never valid. When the correction is the key, the word is always valid. |
+| type.<name>.binary         | <varied>      | <varied>   | See `default.` for child keys. |
diff --git a/src/args.rs b/src/args.rs
index 938c362e..1dd48639 100644
--- a/src/args.rs
+++ b/src/args.rs
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ impl ConfigArgs {
     pub fn to_config(&self) -> config::Config {
         config::Config {
             files: self.walk.to_config(),
-            overrides: Some(self.overrides.to_config()),
+            overrides: self.overrides.to_config(),
             ..Default::default()
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 9d21222a..e0c6a105 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -6,8 +6,10 @@ use std::collections::HashMap;
 pub struct Config {
     pub files: Walk,
     pub default: EngineConfig,
+    #[serde(rename = "type")]
+    pub type_: std::collections::HashMap<kstring::KString, EngineConfig>,
     #[serde(skip)]
-    pub overrides: Option<EngineConfig>,
+    pub overrides: EngineConfig,
 }
 
 impl Config {
@@ -36,7 +38,8 @@ impl Config {
         Self {
             files: Walk::from_defaults(),
             default: EngineConfig::from_defaults(),
-            overrides: None,
+            type_: Default::default(),
+            overrides: EngineConfig::default(),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/policy.rs b/src/policy.rs
index 4ac8cdc7..cbb474dc 100644
--- a/src/policy.rs
+++ b/src/policy.rs
@@ -77,12 +77,13 @@ impl<'s> ConfigEngine<'s> {
 
     pub fn policy(&self, path: &std::path::Path) -> Policy<'_, '_> {
         let dir = self.get_dir(path).expect("`walk()` should be called first");
+        let file_config = dir.get_file_config(path);
         Policy {
-            check_filenames: dir.default.check_filenames,
-            check_files: dir.default.check_files,
-            binary: dir.default.binary,
-            tokenizer: self.get_tokenizer(&dir.default),
-            dict: self.get_dict(&dir.default),
+            check_filenames: file_config.check_filenames,
+            check_files: file_config.check_files,
+            binary: file_config.binary,
+            tokenizer: self.get_tokenizer(&file_config),
+            dict: self.get_dict(&file_config),
         }
     }
 
@@ -134,25 +135,37 @@ impl<'s> ConfigEngine<'s> {
         let crate::config::Config {
             files,
             mut default,
+            type_,
             overrides,
         } = config;
-        if let Some(overrides) = overrides {
-            default.update(&overrides);
-        }
 
         let walk = self.walk.intern(files);
-        let default = self.init_file_config(default)?;
 
-        let dir = DirConfig { walk, default };
+        let types = type_
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|(type_, type_engine)| {
+                let mut new_type_engine = default.clone();
+                new_type_engine.update(&type_engine);
+                new_type_engine.update(&overrides);
+                let type_config = self.init_file_config(new_type_engine);
+                (type_, type_config)
+            })
+            .collect();
+        default.update(&overrides);
+        let default = self.init_file_config(default);
+
+        let dir = DirConfig {
+            walk,
+            default,
+            types,
+            type_matcher: ignore::types::TypesBuilder::new().add_defaults().build()?,
+        };
 
         self.configs.insert(cwd.to_owned(), dir);
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    fn init_file_config(
-        &mut self,
-        engine: crate::config::EngineConfig,
-    ) -> Result<FileConfig, anyhow::Error> {
+    fn init_file_config(&mut self, engine: crate::config::EngineConfig) -> FileConfig {
         let binary = engine.binary();
         let check_filename = engine.check_filename();
         let check_file = engine.check_file();
@@ -194,7 +207,7 @@ impl<'s> ConfigEngine<'s> {
             tokenizer,
             dict,
         };
-        Ok(file)
+        file
     }
 }
 
@@ -226,11 +239,28 @@ impl<T> Default for Intern<T> {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 struct DirConfig {
     walk: usize,
     default: FileConfig,
+    types: std::collections::HashMap<kstring::KString, FileConfig>,
+    type_matcher: ignore::types::Types,
 }
 
+impl DirConfig {
+    fn get_file_config(&self, path: &std::path::Path) -> FileConfig {
+        let match_ = self.type_matcher.matched(path, false);
+        let name = match_
+            .inner()
+            .and_then(|g| g.file_type_def())
+            .map(|f| f.name());
+
+        name.and_then(|name| self.types.get(name).copied())
+            .unwrap_or(self.default)
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug)]
 struct FileConfig {
     tokenizer: usize,
     dict: usize,