diff --git a/metagraph/src/common/serialization.cpp b/metagraph/src/common/serialization.cpp
index bc1a1ea718..97030731bb 100644
--- a/metagraph/src/common/serialization.cpp
+++ b/metagraph/src/common/serialization.cpp
@@ -326,6 +326,9 @@ void serialize_number_number_map(std::ostream &out,
 template
 void serialize_number_number_map(std::ostream &out,
                                  const std::unordered_map<uint32_t, uint32_t> &map);
+template
+void serialize_number_number_map(std::ostream &out,
+                                 const tsl::hopscotch_map<uint64_t, uint64_t> &map);
 
 template <class Map>
 bool load_number_number_map(std::istream &in, Map *map) {
@@ -374,7 +377,9 @@ bool load_number_number_map(std::istream &in,
 template
 bool load_number_number_map(std::istream &in,
                             std::unordered_map<uint32_t, uint32_t> *map);
-
+template
+bool load_number_number_map(std::istream &in,
+                            tsl::hopscotch_map<uint64_t, uint64_t> *map);
 
 template <class Map>
 void serialize_string_number_map(std::ostream &out, const Map &map) {
diff --git a/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.cpp b/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.cpp
index 32c2d3ab91..8e801baf78 100644
--- a/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.cpp
+++ b/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@
 
 namespace utils {
 
+bool starts_with(const std::string &str, const std::string &prefix) {
+    if (prefix.size() > str.size()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    return prefix == std::string_view(str).substr(0, prefix.size());
+}
+
 bool ends_with(const std::string &str, const std::string &suffix) {
     auto actual_suffix = str.substr(
         std::max(0, static_cast<int>(str.size())
diff --git a/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.hpp b/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.hpp
index cae2debe96..3336280741 100644
--- a/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.hpp
+++ b/metagraph/src/common/utils/string_utils.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 namespace utils {
 
+bool starts_with(const std::string &str, const std::string &prefix);
+
 bool ends_with(const std::string &str, const std::string &suffix);
 
 std::string remove_suffix(const std::string &str, const std::string &suffix);