diff --git a/side-node/src/cli/mod.rs b/side-node/src/cli/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..831839a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/side-node/src/cli/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+use clap::{arg, Parser, Subcommand};
+
+pub(crate) fn parse_args() -> Args {
+    let args = Args::parse();
+
+    match &args.command {
+        Some(Commands::Init { init }) => {
+            if *init {
+                println!("Initializing Side Node")
+            }
+        }
+        Some(Commands::Run {}) => {
+            println!("Running side node")
+        }
+        None => todo!(),
+    }
+
+    args
+}
+
+/// Simple program to greet a person
+#[derive(Parser)]
+#[command(version, about, long_about = None)]
+pub(crate) struct Args {
+    #[command(subcommand)]
+    command: Option<Commands>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Subcommand)]
+enum Commands {
+    /// runs the Side Node
+    Run {},
+    Init {
+        /// initializes a Side Node with a config file and keypair
+        #[arg(short, long)]
+        init: bool,
+    },
+}
diff --git a/side-node/src/main.rs b/side-node/src/main.rs
index eec8aec..dc1ff8a 100644
--- a/side-node/src/main.rs
+++ b/side-node/src/main.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
+use cli::parse_args;
 use websockets::{WebSocket, WebSocketError};
 
+pub(crate) mod cli;
+
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<(), WebSocketError> {
+    parse_args();
     let mut ws = WebSocket::connect("ws://localhost:8080/").await?;
 
     ws.send_text("foo".to_string()).await?;