diff --git a/src/compiler/compiler.ts b/src/compiler/compiler.ts
index 4438020..f1c1e01 100644
--- a/src/compiler/compiler.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/compiler.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { CompilerError } from '#compiler/compilerError.ts'
 import { parser } from '#parser/shrimp.ts'
 import * as terms from '#parser/shrimp.terms'
+import { setGlobals } from '#parser/tokenizer'
 import type { SyntaxNode, Tree } from '@lezer/common'
 import { assert, errorMessage } from '#utils/utils'
 import { toBytecode, type Bytecode, type ProgramItem, bytecodeToString } from 'reefvm'
@@ -53,8 +54,9 @@ export class Compiler {
   bytecode: Bytecode
   pipeCounter = 0
 
-  constructor(public input: string) {
+  constructor(public input: string, globals?: string[]) {
     try {
+      if (globals) setGlobals(globals)
       const cst = parser.parse(input)
       const errors = checkTreeForErrors(cst)
 
diff --git a/src/parser/tokenizer.ts b/src/parser/tokenizer.ts
index cef4446..6b2e67a 100644
--- a/src/parser/tokenizer.ts
+++ b/src/parser/tokenizer.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ export function specializeKeyword(ident: string) {
   return ident === 'do' ? Do : -1
 }
 
+// tell the dotGet searcher about builtin globals
+export const globals: string[] = []
+export const setGlobals = (newGlobals: string[]) => {
+  globals.length = 0
+  globals.push(...newGlobals)
+}
+
 // The only chars that can't be words are whitespace, apostrophes, closing parens, and EOF.
 
 export const tokenizer = new ExternalTokenizer(
@@ -152,7 +159,7 @@ const checkForDotGet = (input: InputStream, stack: Stack, pos: number): number |
 
   // If identifier is in scope, this is property access (e.g., obj.prop)
   // If not in scope, it should be consumed as a Word (e.g., file.txt)
-  return context?.scope.has(identifierText) ? IdentifierBeforeDot : null
+  return context?.scope.has(identifierText) || globals.includes(identifierText) ? IdentifierBeforeDot : null
 }
 
 // Decide between AssignableIdentifier and Identifier using grammar state + peek-ahead
diff --git a/src/prelude/index.ts b/src/prelude/index.ts
index 7bb82f1..46f3dbf 100644
--- a/src/prelude/index.ts
+++ b/src/prelude/index.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ export const globalFunctions = {
   'to-upper': (str: string) => str.toUpperCase(),
   'to-lower': (str: string) => str.toLowerCase(),
   trim: (str: string) => str.trim(),
+  str: {
+    trim: (str: string) => str.trim(),
+  },
 
   // collections
   at: (collection: any, index: number | string) => collection[index],
diff --git a/src/prelude/tests/prelude.test.ts b/src/prelude/tests/prelude.test.ts
index 72d7c5c..f3d934c 100644
--- a/src/prelude/tests/prelude.test.ts
+++ b/src/prelude/tests/prelude.test.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ describe('string operations', () => {
   })
 
   test('trim removes whitespace', async () => {
-    await expect(`trim '  hello  '`).toEvaluateTo('hello', globalFunctions)
-    await expect(`trim '\\n\\thello\\t\\n'`).toEvaluateTo('hello', globalFunctions)
+    await expect(`str.trim '  hello  '`).toEvaluateTo('hello', globalFunctions)
+    await expect(`str.trim '\\n\\thello\\t\\n'`).toEvaluateTo('hello', globalFunctions)
   })
 
   test('split divides string by separator', async () => {
diff --git a/src/testSetup.ts b/src/testSetup.ts
index c6d5551..3904828 100644
--- a/src/testSetup.ts
+++ b/src/testSetup.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import { expect } from 'bun:test'
 import { parser } from '#parser/shrimp'
+import { setGlobals } from '#parser/tokenizer'
 import { $ } from 'bun'
 import { assert, errorMessage } from '#utils/utils'
 import { Compiler } from '#compiler/compiler'
-import { run, VM, type TypeScriptFunction } from 'reefvm'
+import { run, VM } from 'reefvm'
 import { treeToString, VMResultToValue } from '#utils/tree'
 
 const regenerateParser = async () => {
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ await regenerateParser()
 // Type declaration for TypeScript
 declare module 'bun:test' {
   interface Matchers<T> {
-    toMatchTree(expected: string): T
+    toMatchTree(expected: string, globals?: Record<string, any>): T
     toMatchExpression(expected: string): T
     toFailParse(): T
     toEvaluateTo(expected: unknown, globals?: Record<string, any>): Promise<T>
@@ -39,9 +40,10 @@ declare module 'bun:test' {
 }
 
 expect.extend({
-  toMatchTree(received: unknown, expected: string) {
+  toMatchTree(received: unknown, expected: string, globals?: Record<string, any>) {
     assert(typeof received === 'string', 'toMatchTree can only be used with string values')
 
+    if (globals) setGlobals(Object.keys(globals))
     const tree = parser.parse(received)
     const actual = treeToString(tree, received)
     const normalizedExpected = trimWhitespace(expected)
@@ -97,6 +99,7 @@ expect.extend({
     assert(typeof received === 'string', 'toEvaluateTo can only be used with string values')
 
     try {
+      if (globals) setGlobals(Object.keys(globals))
       const compiler = new Compiler(received)
       const result = await run(compiler.bytecode, globals)
       let value = VMResultToValue(result)