diff --git a/pkg/index/receive.go b/pkg/index/receive.go
index c21b87fee..8a3102676 100644
--- a/pkg/index/receive.go
+++ b/pkg/index/receive.go
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ func (ix *Index) populateMutation(br *blobref.BlobRef, sniffer *BlobSniffer, bm
 			if err := ix.populateFile(br, camli, bm); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+		case "directory":
+			if err := ix.populateDir(br, camli, bm); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
@@ -168,6 +172,29 @@ func (ix *Index) populateFile(blobRef *blobref.BlobRef, ss *schema.Superset, bm
 	return nil
 }
 
+// blobref: of the file or schema blob
+//      ss: the parsed file schema blob
+//      bm: keys to populate
+func (ix *Index) populateDir(blobRef *blobref.BlobRef, ss *schema.Superset, bm BatchMutation) error {
+	seekFetcher := blobref.SeekerFromStreamingFetcher(ix.BlobSource)
+	dr, err := ss.NewDirReader(seekFetcher)
+	if err != nil {
+		// TODO(bradfitz): propagate up a transient failure
+		// error type, so we can retry indexing files in the
+		// future if blobs are only temporarily unavailable.
+		log.Printf("index: error indexing directory, creating NewDirReader %s: %v", blobRef, err)
+		return nil
+	}
+	sts, err := dr.StaticSet()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("index: error indexing directory: can't get StaticSet: %v\n", err)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	bm.Set(keyFileInfo.Key(blobRef), keyFileInfo.Val(len(sts), ss.FileName, ""))
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (ix *Index) populateClaim(br *blobref.BlobRef, ss *schema.Superset, sniffer *BlobSniffer, bm BatchMutation) error {
 	pnbr := blobref.Parse(ss.Permanode)
 	if pnbr == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/search/handler.go b/pkg/search/handler.go
index 368469c37..846c0a53a 100644
--- a/pkg/search/handler.go
+++ b/pkg/search/handler.go
@@ -317,6 +317,8 @@ type DescribedBlob struct {
 
 	// if camliType "file"
 	File *FileInfo
+	// if camliType "directory"
+	Dir *FileInfo
 
 	Stub bool // if not loaded, but referenced
 }
@@ -357,6 +359,9 @@ func (b *DescribedBlob) Title() string {
 	if b.File != nil {
 		return b.File.FileName
 	}
+	if b.Dir != nil {
+		return b.Dir.FileName
+	}
 	return ""
 }
 
@@ -494,6 +499,9 @@ func (b *DescribedBlob) thumbnail(thumbSize int) (path string, width, height int
 			// TODO: different thumbnails based on peer.File.MimeType.
 			return "file.png", thumbSize, thumbSize, true
 		}
+		if peer.Dir != nil {
+			return "folder.png", thumbSize, thumbSize, true
+		}
 	}
 
 	return "node.png", thumbSize, thumbSize, true
@@ -515,6 +523,9 @@ func (b *DescribedBlob) jsonMap() map[string]interface{} {
 	if b.File != nil {
 		m["file"] = b.File
 	}
+	if b.Dir != nil {
+		m["dir"] = b.Dir
+	}
 	return m
 }
 
@@ -712,6 +723,12 @@ func (dr *DescribeRequest) describeReally(br *blobref.BlobRef, depth int) {
 		if err != nil {
 			dr.addError(br, err)
 		}
+	case "directory":
+		var err error
+		des.Dir, err = dr.sh.index.GetFileInfo(br)
+		if err != nil {
+			dr.addError(br, err)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/search/search.go b/pkg/search/search.go
index 315cb5aec..a59f65804 100644
--- a/pkg/search/search.go
+++ b/pkg/search/search.go
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ func (cl ClaimList) String() string {
 type FileInfo struct {
 	Size     int64  `json:"size"`
 	FileName string `json:"fileName"`
-	MimeType string `json:"mimeType"`
+	// MimeType may be set for files, but never for directories.
+	MimeType string `json:"mimeType,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func (fi *FileInfo) IsImage() bool {
diff --git a/server/camlistored/ui/camli.js b/server/camlistored/ui/camli.js
index 836d7cb5f..4ebf8092a 100644
--- a/server/camlistored/ui/camli.js
+++ b/server/camlistored/ui/camli.js
@@ -466,6 +466,7 @@ function _camliBlobTitleOrThumb(pn, des, w, h) {
     }
     if (d.camliType == "file" && d.file && d.file.fileName) {
         var fileName = d.file.fileName
+        // TODO(mpl): check whether this is ever used anywhere, now that search requests directly give the thumbnailSrc.
         if (w != 0 && h != 0 && d.file.mimeType && d.file.mimeType.indexOf("image/") == 0) {
             var img = "<img src='./thumbnail/" + pn + "/" +
             fileName.replace(/['"<>\?&]/g, "") + "?mw=" + w + "&mh=" + h + "'>";
@@ -473,6 +474,9 @@ function _camliBlobTitleOrThumb(pn, des, w, h) {
         }
         return fileName;
     }
+    if (d.camliType == "directory" && d.dir && d.dir.fileName) {
+        return d.dir.fileName
+    }
     if (d.permanode) {
         var attr = d.permanode.attr;
         if (!attr) {
diff --git a/server/camlistored/ui/zembed_camli.js.go b/server/camlistored/ui/zembed_camli.js.go
index 89696dc33..e32442868 100644
--- a/server/camlistored/ui/zembed_camli.js.go
+++ b/server/camlistored/ui/zembed_camli.js.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import "time"
 import "camlistore.org/pkg/fileembed"
 
 func init() {
-	Files.Add("camli.js", 17159, fileembed.String("/*\n"+
+	Files.Add("camli.js", 17381, fileembed.String("/*\n"+
 		"Copyright 2011 Google Inc.\n"+
 		"\n"+
 		"Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the \"License\");\n"+
@@ -495,6 +495,8 @@ func init() {
 		"    }\n"+
 		"    if (d.camliType == \"file\" && d.file && d.file.fileName) {\n"+
 		"        var fileName = d.file.fileName\n"+
+		"        // TODO(mpl): check whether this is ever used anywhere, now that search r"+
+		"equests directly give the thumbnailSrc.\n"+
 		"        if (w != 0 && h != 0 && d.file.mimeType && d.file.mimeType.indexOf(\"image"+
 		"/\") == 0) {\n"+
 		"            var img = \"<img src='./thumbnail/\" + pn + \"/\" +\n"+
@@ -503,6 +505,9 @@ func init() {
 		"        }\n"+
 		"        return fileName;\n"+
 		"    }\n"+
+		"    if (d.camliType == \"directory\" && d.dir && d.dir.fileName) {\n"+
+		"        return d.dir.fileName\n"+
+		"    }\n"+
 		"    if (d.permanode) {\n"+
 		"        var attr = d.permanode.attr;\n"+
 		"        if (!attr) {\n"+
@@ -540,5 +545,5 @@ func init() {
 		"    }\n"+
 		"    fn.apply(null, Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1));\n"+
 		"}\n"+
-		""), time.Unix(0, 1357701658000000000))
+		""), time.Unix(0, 1357746813011715782))
 }