diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index aca6bdc..9cb12f2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ all:
 	cd flatfs; make all;
 	cd datastore; make all;
 	cd thirdparty; make all;
+	cd main; make all;
 	cd test; make all;
 	
 clean:
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ clean:
 	cd flatfs; make clean;
 	cd datastore; make clean;
 	cd thirdparty; make clean;
+	cd main; make clean;
 	cd test; make clean;
 
 rebuild: clean all
diff --git a/importer/importer.c b/importer/importer.c
index a8b0516..24fc431 100644
--- a/importer/importer.c
+++ b/importer/importer.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #include "ipfs/importer/importer.h"
 #include "ipfs/merkledag/merkledag.h"
+#include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/fs_repo.h"
 
 #define MAX_DATA_SIZE 262144 // 1024 * 256;
 
@@ -63,3 +64,45 @@ int ipfs_import_file(const char* fileName, struct Node** node, struct FSRepo* fs
 
 	return 1;
 }
+
+/**
+ * called from the command line
+ * @param argc the number of arguments
+ * @param argv the arguments
+ */
+int ipfs_import(int argc, char** argv) {
+	/*
+	 * Param 0: ipfs
+	 * param 1: add
+	 * param 2: filename
+	 */
+	struct Node* node = NULL;
+	struct FSRepo* fs_repo = NULL;
+
+	// open the repo
+	int retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_new(NULL, NULL, &fs_repo);
+	if (retVal == 0) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_open(fs_repo);
+
+	// import the file(s)
+	retVal = ipfs_import_file(argv[2], &node, fs_repo);
+
+	// give some results to the user
+	int buffer_len = 100;
+	unsigned char buffer[buffer_len];
+	retVal = ipfs_cid_hash_to_base58(node->hash, node->hash_size, buffer, buffer_len);
+	if (retVal == 0) {
+		printf("Unable to generate hash\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+	printf("added %s %s\n", buffer, argv[2]);
+
+	if (node != NULL)
+		ipfs_node_free(node);
+	if (fs_repo != NULL)
+		ipfs_repo_fsrepo_free(fs_repo);
+
+	return retVal;
+}
diff --git a/include/ipfs/importer/importer.h b/include/ipfs/importer/importer.h
index 34ab524..5b1941a 100644
--- a/include/ipfs/importer/importer.h
+++ b/include/ipfs/importer/importer.h
@@ -12,4 +12,11 @@
  */
 int ipfs_import_file(const char* fileName, struct Node** node, struct FSRepo* fs_repo);
 
+/**
+ * called from the command line
+ * @param argc the number of arguments
+ * @param argv the arguments
+ */
+int ipfs_import(int argc, char** argv);
+
 #endif /* INCLUDE_IPFS_IMPORTER_IMPORTER_H_ */
diff --git a/include/ipfs/repo/init.h b/include/ipfs/repo/init.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c49fdc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/ipfs/repo/init.h
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#pragma once
+
+/***
+ * Makes a new ipfs repository
+ * @param path the path to the repository, should end
+ * with .ipfs, and the directory should already exist.
+ * @returns true(1) on success
+ */
+int make_ipfs_repository(const char* path);
+
+/**
+ * Initialize a repository, called from the command line
+ * @param argc number of arguments
+ * @param argv arguments
+ * @returns true(1) on success
+ */
+int ipfs_repo_init(int argc, char** argv);
diff --git a/main/Makefile b/main/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c74a8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+CC = gcc
+CFLAGS = -O0 -I../include -I../../c-libp2p/include -I../../c-multihash/include -I../../c-multiaddr/ -I../../c-protobuf -g3 -Wall
+LFLAGS = -L../../c-libp2p -L../../c-multihash -L../../c-multiaddr -lp2p -lm -lmultihash -lmultiaddr -lpthread
+DEPS = cmd/ipfs/test_init.h repo/test_repo_bootstrap_peers.h repo/test_repo_config.h repo/test_repo_identity.h cid/test_cid.h
+OBJS = main.o \
+	../blocks/block.o ../blocks/blockstore.o \
+	../cid/cid.o \
+	../cmd/ipfs/init.o \
+	../commands/argument.o ../commands/command_option.o ../commands/command.o ../commands/cli/parse.o \
+	../core/builder.o \
+	../datastore/ds_helper.o \
+	../flatfs/flatfs.o \
+	../importer/importer.o \
+	../importer/exporter.o \
+	../merkledag/merkledag.o ../merkledag/node.o \
+	../multibase/multibase.o \
+	../os/utils.o \
+	../repo/init.o \
+	../repo/fsrepo/fs_repo.o ../repo/fsrepo/jsmn.o ../repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.o \
+	../repo/config/config.o ../repo/config/identity.o \
+	../repo/config/bootstrap_peers.o ../repo/config/datastore.o ../repo/config/gateway.o \
+	../repo/config/addresses.o ../repo/config/swarm.o ../repo/config/peer.o \
+	../thirdparty/ipfsaddr/ipfs_addr.o \
+	../unixfs/unixfs.o \
+	../../c-protobuf/protobuf.o ../../c-protobuf/varint.o
+
+%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
+	$(CC) -c -o $@ $< $(CFLAGS)
+
+ipfs: $(OBJS)
+	$(CC) -o $@ $^ $(LFLAGS) ../../lmdb/libraries/liblmdb/liblmdb.a
+
+all: ipfs
+
+clean:
+	rm -f *.o
+	rm -f ipfs
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main/ipfs b/main/ipfs
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..6fce399
Binary files /dev/null and b/main/ipfs differ
diff --git a/main/main.c b/main/main.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..525e679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "ipfs/repo/init.h"
+#include "ipfs/importer/importer.h"
+
+void stripit(int argc, char** argv) {
+	char tmp[strlen(argv[argc])];
+	strcpy(tmp, &argv[argc][1]);
+	tmp[strlen(tmp)-1] = 0;
+	strcpy(argv[argc], tmp);
+	return;
+}
+
+void strip_quotes(int argc, char** argv) {
+	for(int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
+		if (argv[i][0] == '\'' && argv[i][strlen(argv[i])-1] == '\'') {
+			stripit(i, argv);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+#define INIT 1
+#define ADD 2
+
+/***
+ * Basic parsing of command line arguments to figure out where the user wants to go
+ */
+int parse_arguments(int argc, char** argv) {
+	if (argc == 1) {
+		printf("No parameters passed.\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+	if (strcmp("init", argv[1]) == 0) {
+		return INIT;
+	}
+	if (strcmp("add", argv[1]) == 0) {
+		return ADD;
+	}
+	return -1;
+}
+
+/***
+ * The beginning
+ */
+int main(int argc, char** argv) {
+	strip_quotes(argc, argv);
+	int retVal = parse_arguments(argc, argv);
+	switch (retVal) {
+	case (INIT):
+		return ipfs_repo_init(argc, argv);
+		break;
+	case (ADD):
+		ipfs_import(argc, argv);
+		break;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/repo/Makefile b/repo/Makefile
index 3277e1f..26696af 100644
--- a/repo/Makefile
+++ b/repo/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ CFLAGS += -g3
 endif
 
 DEPS = 
-OBJS =  
+OBJS = init.c
 
 %.o: %.c $(DEPS)
 	$(CC) -c -o $@ $< $(CFLAGS)
diff --git a/repo/init.c b/repo/init.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dce7587
--- /dev/null
+++ b/repo/init.c
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#include <dirent.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "ipfs/os/utils.h"
+#include "ipfs/repo/config/config.h"
+#include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/fs_repo.h"
+
+int make_ipfs_repository(const char* path) {
+	int retVal;
+	char currDirectory[1024];
+	struct RepoConfig* repo_config;
+
+	printf("initializing ipfs node at %s\n", path);
+	// build a default repo config
+	retVal = ipfs_repo_config_new(&repo_config);
+	if (retVal == 0)
+		return 0;
+	printf("generating 2048-bit RSA keypair...");
+	retVal = ipfs_repo_config_init(repo_config, 2048, path);
+	if (retVal == 0)
+		return 0;
+	printf("done\n");
+	// now the fs_repo
+	struct FSRepo* fs_repo;
+	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_new(path, repo_config, &fs_repo);
+	if (retVal == 0)
+		return 0;
+	// this builds a new repo
+	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_init(fs_repo);
+	if (retVal == 0) {
+		ipfs_repo_fsrepo_free(fs_repo);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	// give some results to the user
+	printf("peer identity: %s\n", fs_repo->config->identity->peer_id);
+
+	// clean up
+	ipfs_repo_fsrepo_free(fs_repo);
+
+	// make sure the repository exists
+	retVal = os_utils_filepath_join(path, "config", currDirectory, 1024);
+	if (retVal == 0)
+		return 0;
+	retVal = os_utils_file_exists(currDirectory);
+	return retVal;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * Initialize a repository
+ */
+int ipfs_repo_init(int argc, char** argv) {
+	char* home_directory = os_utils_get_homedir();
+	//allow user to pass directory on command line
+	if (argc > 2) {
+		home_directory = argv[2];
+	}
+	// get the full path
+	int dir_len = strlen(home_directory) + 7;
+	char dir[dir_len];
+	strcpy(dir, home_directory);
+	os_utils_filepath_join(home_directory, ".ipfs", dir, dir_len);
+	// make sure it doesn't already exist
+	if (os_utils_file_exists(dir)) {
+		printf("Directory already exists: %s\n", dir);
+		return 0;
+	}
+	// make the directory
+	if (mkdir(dir, S_IRWXU) == -1) {
+		printf("Unable to create the directory: %s\n", dir);
+		return 0;
+	}
+	// make the repository
+	return make_ipfs_repository(dir);
+}
diff --git a/test/Makefile b/test/Makefile
index b725c00..9b09625 100644
--- a/test/Makefile
+++ b/test/Makefile
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ OBJS = testit.o test_helper.o \
 	../merkledag/merkledag.o ../merkledag/node.o \
 	../multibase/multibase.o \
 	../os/utils.o \
+	../repo/init.o \
 	../repo/fsrepo/fs_repo.o ../repo/fsrepo/jsmn.o ../repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.o \
 	../repo/config/config.o ../repo/config/identity.o \
 	../repo/config/bootstrap_peers.o ../repo/config/datastore.o ../repo/config/gateway.o \
diff --git a/test/test_helper.c b/test/test_helper.c
index 453e59b..387b69b 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.c
+++ b/test/test_helper.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include "ipfs/repo/init.h"
 #include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/fs_repo.h"
 #include "ipfs/os/utils.h"
 
@@ -67,10 +68,9 @@ int remove_directory(const char *path)
    return r;
 }
 
-int make_ipfs_repository(const char* path) {
-	int retVal;
-	char currDirectory[1024];
-	struct RepoConfig* repo_config;
+int drop_and_build_repository(const char* path) {
+	int retVal = 0;
+	char currDirectory[strlen(path) + 20];
 
 	if (os_utils_file_exists(path)) {
 		retVal = os_utils_filepath_join(path, "config", currDirectory, 1024);
@@ -89,37 +89,7 @@ int make_ipfs_repository(const char* path) {
 		mkdir(path, S_IRWXU);
 	}
 
-	// build a default repo config
-	retVal = ipfs_repo_config_new(&repo_config);
-	if (retVal == 0)
-		return 0;
-	retVal = ipfs_repo_config_init(repo_config, 2048, path);
-	if (retVal == 0)
-		return 0;
-	// now the fs_repo
-	struct FSRepo* fs_repo;
-	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_new(path, repo_config, &fs_repo);
-	if (retVal == 0)
-		return 0;
-	// this builds a new repo
-	retVal = ipfs_repo_fsrepo_init(fs_repo);
-	if (retVal == 0) {
-		ipfs_repo_fsrepo_free(fs_repo);
-		return 0;
-	}
 
-	// clean up
-	ipfs_repo_fsrepo_free(fs_repo);
-
-	// make sure the repository exists
-	retVal = os_utils_filepath_join(path, "config", currDirectory, 1024);
-	if (retVal == 0)
-		return 0;
-	retVal = os_utils_file_exists(currDirectory);
-	return retVal;
-}
-
-int drop_and_build_repository(const char* path) {
 	return make_ipfs_repository(path);
 }