diff --git a/data/output.txt b/data/output.txt
index f5ca075..bc9c22d 100644
Binary files a/data/output.txt and b/data/output.txt differ
diff --git a/data/output_decode.txt b/data/output_decode.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9fe467f
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/output_decode.txt differ
diff --git a/huffman/huffman.go b/huffman/huffman.go
index eaff4bc..cf12b7e 100644
--- a/huffman/huffman.go
+++ b/huffman/huffman.go
@@ -151,5 +151,9 @@ func DeserializeData(data []byte, verbose bool) (string, error) {
 
 	content := Decode(root, serializedData, int(bitLength), verbose)
 
+	if content == "" {
+		return "", errors.New("failed to decode data")
+	}
+
 	return content, nil
 }
diff --git a/huffman/huffman_util.go b/huffman/huffman_util.go
index 7c4040a..1a7116b 100644
--- a/huffman/huffman_util.go
+++ b/huffman/huffman_util.go
@@ -130,7 +130,6 @@ func bitStringToBytes(s string) []byte {
 			result[byteIndex] |= 1 << bitIndex
 		}
 	}
-
 	return result
 }
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index ae03a74..00f40f8 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -15,9 +15,11 @@ func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(*inputFile)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Failed to read file %s: %v", *inputFile, err)
 	}
+
 	var outputData []byte
 
 	if *decode {
diff --git a/todo.txt b/todo.txt
index 5afaee3..7748dd6 100644
--- a/todo.txt
+++ b/todo.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 ✔️ add lipgloss to make it look better
 ✔️ add a serialization function for the table and the encoded data 
-- use charmbracelet/vhs to make a cool README file 
+✔️ use charmbracelet/vhs to make a cool README file