diff --git a/include/xo/expression/ConvertExpr.hpp b/include/xo/expression/ConvertExpr.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c5f9b70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/xo/expression/ConvertExpr.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+/* file ConvertExpr.hpp
+ *
+ * author: Roland Conybeare, Aug 2024
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "Expression.hpp"
+
+namespace xo {
+    namespace ast {
+        /** @class Convertexpr
+         *  @brief Convenience for automatic type conversion
+         *
+         *  This is equivalent to calling a built-in primitive
+         *  that performs the conversion.
+         *
+         *  We rely on this for convenience,  for example to parse
+         *  code like
+         *
+         *    def foo : i16 = 0
+         **/
+        class ConvertExpr : public Expression {
+        public:
+            static rp<ConvertExpr> make(TypeDescr dest_type,
+                                        rp<Expression> arg);
+
+            static ref::brw<ConvertExpr> from(ref::brw<Expression> x) {
+                return ref::brw<ConvertExpr>::from(x);
+            }
+
+            const rp<Expression> & arg() const { return arg_; }
+
+            // ----- Expression -----
+
+            virtual std::set<std::string> get_free_variables() const override;
+
+            virtual std::size_t visit_preorder(VisitFn visitor_fn) override {
+                std::size_t n = 1;
+
+                visitor_fn(this);
+
+                n += arg_->visit_preorder(visitor_fn);
+
+                return n;
+            }
+
+            virtual std::size_t visit_layer(VisitFn visitor_fn) override {
+                std::size_t n = 1;
+
+                visitor_fn(this);
+
+                n += this->arg_->visit_layer(visitor_fn);
+
+                return n;
+            }
+
+            virtual rp<Expression> xform_layer(TransformFn xform_fn) override {
+                this->arg_ = this->arg_->xform_layer(xform_fn);
+
+                return xform_fn(this);
+            }
+
+            virtual void attach_envs(ref::brw<Environment> p) override {
+                arg_->attach_envs(p);
+            }
+
+            virtual void display(std::ostream & os) const override;
+
+        protected:
+            ConvertExpr(TypeDescr dest_type,
+                        rp<Expression> arg)
+                : Expression(exprtype::convert, dest_type),
+                  arg_{std::move(arg)}
+                {}
+
+        protected:
+            /** source expression.  Convert
+             *  @c arg_->valuetype() to @c dest_type_
+             **/
+            rp<Expression> arg_;
+        };
+
+        /** @class ConvertExprAccess
+         *  @brief ConvertExpr with writeable members.
+         *
+         *  Convenient when scaffolding a parser,
+         *  e.g. see xo-parser
+         **/
+        class ConvertExprAccess : public ConvertExpr {
+        public:
+            static rp<ConvertExprAccess> make(TypeDescr dest_type,
+                                              rp<Expression> arg);
+            static rp<ConvertExprAccess> make_empty();
+
+            void assign_arg(rp<Expression> arg) { this->arg_ = std::move(arg); }
+
+        private:
+            ConvertExprAccess(TypeDescr dest_type,
+                              rp<Expression> arg)
+                : ConvertExpr(dest_type,
+                              std::move(arg))
+                {}
+        };
+    } /*namespace ast*/
+} /*namespace xo*/
+
+
+/* end ConvertExpr.hpp */
diff --git a/src/expression/CMakeLists.txt b/src/expression/CMakeLists.txt
index 32520c85..eb0f6d64 100644
--- a/src/expression/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/expression/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ set(SELF_SRCS
     Variable.cpp
     IfExpr.cpp
     LocalEnv.cpp
+    ConvertExpr.cpp
 )
 
 xo_add_shared_library4(${SELF_LIB} ${PROJECT_NAME}Targets ${PROJECT_VERSION} 1 ${SELF_SRCS})
diff --git a/src/expression/ConvertExpr.cpp b/src/expression/ConvertExpr.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e741f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/expression/ConvertExpr.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/* file ConvertExpr.cpp
+ *
+ * author: Roland Conybeare
+ */
+
+#include "ConvertExpr.hpp"
+
+namespace xo {
+    namespace ast {
+        rp<ConvertExpr>
+        ConvertExpr::make(TypeDescr dest_type,
+                          rp<Expression> arg)
+        {
+            return new ConvertExpr(dest_type,
+                                   std::move(arg));
+        }
+
+        std::set<std::string>
+        ConvertExpr::get_free_variables() const {
+            if (this->arg_)
+                return this->arg_->get_free_variables();
+            else
+                return std::set<std::string>();
+        }
+
+        void
+        ConvertExpr::display(std::ostream & os) const {
+            os << "<Convert"
+               << xtag("dest_type", this->valuetype()->short_name())
+               << xtag("arg", arg_)
+               << ">";
+        }
+
+        // ----- ConvertExprAccess -----
+
+        rp<ConvertExprAccess>
+        ConvertExprAccess::make(TypeDescr dest_type,
+                                rp<Expression> arg)
+        {
+            return new ConvertExprAccess(dest_type,
+                                         std::move(arg));
+        }
+
+        rp<ConvertExprAccess>
+        ConvertExprAccess::make_empty() {
+            return new ConvertExprAccess(nullptr /*dest_type*/,
+                                         nullptr /*arg*/);
+        }
+    } /*namespace ast*/
+} /*namespace xo*/
+
+
+/* end ConvertExpr.cpp */