diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 122eff1..ab2d86b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2,6 +2,55 @@
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
 version = 3
 
+[[package]]
+name = "anstream"
+version = "0.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0ca84f3628370c59db74ee214b3263d58f9aadd9b4fe7e711fd87dc452b7f163"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "anstyle-parse",
+ "anstyle-query",
+ "anstyle-wincon",
+ "colorchoice",
+ "is-terminal",
+ "utf8parse",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "41ed9a86bf92ae6580e0a31281f65a1b1d867c0cc68d5346e2ae128dddfa6a7d"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-parse"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e765fd216e48e067936442276d1d57399e37bce53c264d6fefbe298080cb57ee"
+dependencies = [
+ "utf8parse",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-query"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5ca11d4be1bab0c8bc8734a9aa7bf4ee8316d462a08c6ac5052f888fef5b494b"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-wincon"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "180abfa45703aebe0093f79badacc01b8fd4ea2e35118747e5811127f926e188"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "anyhow"
 version = "1.0.71"
@@ -26,12 +75,66 @@ version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "df8670b8c7b9dae1793364eafadf7239c40d669904660c5960d74cfd80b46a53"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cc"
+version = "1.0.79"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "50d30906286121d95be3d479533b458f87493b30a4b5f79a607db8f5d11aa91f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cfg-if"
 version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "baf1de4339761588bc0619e3cbc0120ee582ebb74b53b4efbf79117bd2da40fd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "clap"
+version = "4.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "401a4694d2bf92537b6867d94de48c4842089645fdcdf6c71865b175d836e9c2"
+dependencies = [
+ "clap_builder",
+ "clap_derive",
+ "once_cell",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_builder"
+version = "4.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72394f3339a76daf211e57d4bcb374410f3965dcc606dd0e03738c7888766980"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstream",
+ "anstyle",
+ "bitflags",
+ "clap_lex",
+ "strsim",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_derive"
+version = "4.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b8cd2b2a819ad6eec39e8f1d6b53001af1e5469f8c177579cdaeb313115b825f"
+dependencies = [
+ "heck",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.18",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_lex"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2da6da31387c7e4ef160ffab6d5e7f00c42626fe39aea70a7b0f1773f7dd6c1b"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "colorchoice"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "acbf1af155f9b9ef647e42cdc158db4b64a1b61f743629225fde6f3e0be2a7c7"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossterm"
 version = "0.26.1"
@@ -57,12 +160,45 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "errno"
+version = "0.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4bcfec3a70f97c962c307b2d2c56e358cf1d00b558d74262b5f929ee8cc7e73a"
+dependencies = [
+ "errno-dragonfly",
+ "libc",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "errno-dragonfly"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "aa68f1b12764fab894d2755d2518754e71b4fd80ecfb822714a1206c2aab39bf"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.12.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8a9ee70c43aaf417c914396645a0fa852624801b24ebb7ae78fe8272889ac888"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "heck"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "95505c38b4572b2d910cecb0281560f54b440a19336cbbcb27bf6ce6adc6f5a8"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "hermit-abi"
+version = "0.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fed44880c466736ef9a5c5b5facefb5ed0785676d0c02d612db14e54f0d84286"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "indexmap"
 version = "1.9.3"
@@ -94,6 +230,29 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.109",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "io-lifetimes"
+version = "1.0.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eae7b9aee968036d54dce06cebaefd919e4472e753296daccd6d344e3e2df0c2"
+dependencies = [
+ "hermit-abi",
+ "libc",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "is-terminal"
+version = "0.4.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "adcf93614601c8129ddf72e2d5633df827ba6551541c6d8c59520a371475be1f"
+dependencies = [
+ "hermit-abi",
+ "io-lifetimes",
+ "rustix",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "itoa"
 version = "1.0.6"
@@ -105,6 +264,7 @@ name = "kanban-tui"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
+ "clap",
  "crossterm",
  "int-enum",
  "ratatui",
@@ -120,6 +280,12 @@ version = "0.2.145"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "fc86cde3ff845662b8f4ef6cb50ea0e20c524eb3d29ae048287e06a1b3fa6a81"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "linux-raw-sys"
+version = "0.3.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ef53942eb7bf7ff43a617b3e2c1c4a5ecf5944a7c1bc12d7ee39bbb15e5c1519"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
 version = "0.4.9"
@@ -233,6 +399,20 @@ dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustix"
+version = "0.37.19"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "acf8729d8542766f1b2cf77eb034d52f40d375bb8b615d0b147089946e16613d"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "errno",
+ "io-lifetimes",
+ "libc",
+ "linux-raw-sys",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.13"
@@ -312,6 +492,12 @@ version = "1.10.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a507befe795404456341dfab10cef66ead4c041f62b8b11bbb92bffe5d0953e0"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "strsim"
+version = "0.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "73473c0e59e6d5812c5dfe2a064a6444949f089e20eec9a2e5506596494e4623"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "1.0.109"
@@ -398,6 +584,12 @@ version = "0.1.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c0edd1e5b14653f783770bce4a4dabb4a5108a5370a5f5d8cfe8710c361f6c8b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "utf8parse"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "711b9620af191e0cdc7468a8d14e709c3dcdb115b36f838e601583af800a370a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "wasi"
 version = "0.11.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 4306c8d..72b7733 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,4 +13,5 @@ serde = { version = "1.0.148" , features = [ "derive" ] }
 serde_json = "1.0.89"
 int-enum = "0.5.0"
 thiserror = "1"
-anyhow = "1"
\ No newline at end of file
+anyhow = "1"
+clap = { version = "4.3.2" , features = [ "derive" ] }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index 1cd895b..0b11bf7 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // use int_enum::IntEnum;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::cmp::min;
-use std::fs::OpenOptions;
+use std::fs::{File};
 use std::io::Read;
 use tui_textarea::TextArea;
 
@@ -166,17 +166,11 @@ impl Project {
         serde_json::from_str(json).map_err(|_| KanbanError::BadJson)
     }
 
-    pub fn load(filepath: String) -> Result<Self, KanbanError> {
-        let mut file = OpenOptions::new()
-            .write(true)
-            .read(true)
-            .create(true)
-            .open(&filepath)?;
-
+    pub fn load(path: String, mut file: &File) -> Result<Self, KanbanError> {
         let mut json = String::new();
         file.read_to_string(&mut json)?;
         if json.is_empty() {
-            Ok(Project::new("", filepath))
+            Ok(Project::new("", path))
         } else {
             Self::load_from_json(&json)
         }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 8a31fc4..581f740 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#![deny(rust_2018_idioms)] 
+#![deny(rust_2018_idioms)]
 #![allow(unused_imports)]
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 use kanban_tui::*;
@@ -6,13 +6,56 @@ use crossterm::{
     event::*,
     terminal::{disable_raw_mode, enable_raw_mode, EnterAlternateScreen, LeaveAlternateScreen},
 };
-use std::{io, env};
+use std::{io, env, path::PathBuf, fs::{File, OpenOptions}, error::Error};
 use tui::backend::CrosstermBackend;
 use tui::Terminal;
+use clap::Parser;
 
-fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    let pattern = env::args().nth(1).unwrap_or("kanban.json".to_string());
-    let mut state = AppState::new(Project::load(pattern)?);
+#[derive(Debug, Parser)]
+#[command(name = "kanban")]
+/// kanban-tui is a simple, interactive TUI based task manager using kanban columns
+pub struct CliArgs {
+    #[arg(short('d'), long("database"), value_name="DATABASE")]
+    /// Path to the
+    pub filepath: Option<PathBuf>
+}
+
+fn prompt_project_init() -> (String, io::Result<File>) {
+    let _msg = "Database not found, would you like to start a new project?";
+    let filepath = "kanban.json";
+    (filepath.to_string(),
+     OpenOptions::new()
+     .write(true)
+     .read(true)
+     .create(true)
+     .open(filepath))
+}
+
+fn main() -> anyhow::Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
+    let (filepath, file) =
+        match CliArgs::parse() {
+            CliArgs { filepath: Some(filepath) } => {
+                let fpath = filepath.into_os_string().into_string().unwrap();
+                let file = OpenOptions::new()
+                    .write(true)
+                    .read(true)
+                    .create(true)
+                    .open(&fpath);
+
+                match file {
+                    Ok(f) => (fpath, f),
+                    Err(_) => {
+                        let (fp, fname) = prompt_project_init();
+                        (fp, fname.unwrap())
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+            CliArgs { filepath: None } => {
+                let (fp, fname) = prompt_project_init();
+                (fp, fname.unwrap())
+            }
+        };
+    let mut state = AppState::new(Project::load(filepath, &file)?);
 
     enable_raw_mode()?;
     let mut stdout = io::stdout();