diff --git a/src/workgroups-misc.el b/src/workgroups-misc.el
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..54c5f5ca3ab1b85a581d9be3ff05546caa9c2243
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/workgroups-misc.el
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+(defun wg-string/starts-with (s arg)
+  "returns non-nil if string S starts with ARG.  Else nil."
+  (cond ((>= (length s) (length arg))
+         (string-equal (substring s 0 (length arg)) arg))
+        (t nil)))
+
+(defun wg-is-file-remote (filename)
+  "Return t if filename starts with \"/ssh:\" or \"/sudo:\""
+  (interactive)
+  (or (wg-string/starts-with filename "/ssh:")
+      (wg-string/starts-with filename "/sudo:")))
+
+;; (wg-is-file-remote "/sudo:/etc/myfile")
+
+(provide 'workgroups-misc)