diff --git a/command.go b/command.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51fdc58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+  "flag"
+  "fmt"
+  "strings"
+)
+
+type Command struct {
+  // args does not include the command name
+  Run  func(cmd *Command, args []string)
+  Flag flag.FlagSet
+
+  Usage string // first word is the command name
+  Short string // `hk help` output
+  Long  string // `hk help cmd` output
+}
+
+func (c *Command) printUsage() {
+  if c.Runnable() {
+    fmt.Printf("Usage: hk %s\n\n", c.Usage)
+  }
+  fmt.Println(strings.Trim(c.Long, "\n"))
+}
+
+func (c *Command) Name() string {
+  name := c.Usage
+  i := strings.Index(name, " ")
+  if i >= 0 {
+    name = name[:i]
+  }
+  return name
+}
+
+func (c *Command) Runnable() bool {
+  return c.Run != nil
+}
+
+func (c *Command) List() bool {
+  return c.Short != ""
+}
diff --git a/help.go b/help.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..afd35ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/help.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+  "fmt"
+  "log"
+  "os"
+  "text/template"
+)
+
+var cmdHelp = &Command{
+  Usage: "help [topic]",
+  Long:  `Help shows usage for a command or other topic.`,
+}
+
+func init() {
+  cmdHelp.Run = runHelp // break init loop
+}
+
+func runHelp(cmd *Command, args []string) {
+  if len(args) == 0 {
+    printUsage()
+    return
+  }
+  if len(args) != 1 {
+    log.Fatal("too many arguments")
+  }
+
+  for _, cmd := range commands {
+    if cmd.Name() == args[0] {
+      cmd.printUsage()
+      return
+    }
+  }
+
+  fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Unknown help topic: %q. Run 'forego help'.\n", args[0])
+  os.Exit(2)
+}
+
+var usageTemplate = template.Must(template.New("usage").Parse(`
+Usage: forego [command] [options] [arguments]
+{{range .Commands}}{{if .Runnable}}{{if .List}}
+    {{.Name | printf "%-8s"}}  {{.Short}}{{end}}{{end}}{{end}}
+
+Run 'forego help [command]' for details.`[1:]))
+
+func printUsage() {
+  usageTemplate.Execute(os.Stdout, struct {
+    Commands   []*Command
+  }{
+    commands,
+  })
+}
+
+func usage() {
+  printUsage()
+  os.Exit(2)
+}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 3e01557..2c1237f 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -2,10 +2,32 @@ package main
 
 import (
   "github.com/kr/pretty"
+  "os"
 )
 
-func main() {
-  pf, err := OpenProcfile("example/Procfile")
+var _ = pretty.Println // lol
 
-  pretty.Println("testing", pf, err);
+var commands = []*Command{
+  cmdStart,
+  cmdHelp,
+}
+
+func main() {
+  args := os.Args[1:]
+  if len(args) < 1 {
+    usage()
+  }
+
+  for _, cmd := range commands {
+    if cmd.Name() == args[0] && cmd.Run != nil {
+      cmd.Flag.Usage = func() {
+        cmd.printUsage()
+      }
+      if err := cmd.Flag.Parse(args[1:]); err != nil {
+        os.Exit(2)
+      }
+      cmd.Run(cmd, cmd.Flag.Args())
+      return
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/start.go b/start.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f2c707
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+  "fmt"
+  "github.com/kr/pretty"
+)
+
+var flagProcfile string
+var flagEnv string
+
+var cmdStart = &Command{
+  Run: runStart,
+  Usage: "start [-f procfile] [-e env] [-c concurrency]",
+  Short: "start the app",
+  Long: `
+Start the application specified by a Procfile (defaults to ./Procfile)
+
+Examples:
+
+    forego start
+
+    forego start -f Procfile.test -e .env.test
+`,
+}
+
+func init() {
+  cmdStart.Flag.StringVar(&flagProcfile, "f", "./Procfile", "procfile")
+  cmdStart.Flag.StringVar(&flagEnv, "e", "", "env")
+}
+
+func runStart(cmd *Command, args []string) {
+  pf, err := OpenProcfile(flagProcfile)
+  if err != nil {
+    fmt.Println("ERROR:", err)
+    return
+  }
+  pretty.Println("procfile", flagProcfile, pf, err)
+}