diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 568c6a5..7988b1e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+*.json
 /.nickel
 /target
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 8be8736..139be3a 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
             # For Oclis itself
             cargo
             graphviz  # For generating the processing-pipeline infographic
+            nickel  # For testing the Nickel code
             pre-commit
             rustc
             rustfmt
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 6abc9b9..52c427c 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -12,11 +12,29 @@ install:
 	cargo install --path .
 
 
+%.json: %.ncl
+	nickel export \
+		--color=always \
+		oclis-contract.ncl \
+		--output $@ \
+		$<
+
+
+spec-files := $(wildcard src/*.ncl examples/*.ncl)
+spec-files-json := $(spec-files:.ncl=.json)
+
 .PHONY: test
-test:
+test: $(spec-files-json)
 	cargo clippy
 	cargo test
 
 
 processing-pipeline.svg: processing-pipeline.dot
 	dot -T svg -o $@ $<
+
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -f $(spec-files-json)
+	rm -f processing-pipeline.svg
+	rm -rf .nickel
diff --git a/oclis-contract.ncl b/oclis-contract.ncl
index 0250851..301a306 100644
--- a/oclis-contract.ncl
+++ b/oclis-contract.ncl
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ let Command = {
     | Array Option,
   arguments
     | doc "The list of arguments"
+    | optional
     | Array Argument
     | NotRequiredIfList,
   funcName
diff --git a/oclis.ncl b/oclis.ncl
index 922cd6a..47aa9af 100644
--- a/oclis.ncl
+++ b/oclis.ncl
@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
 {
-  name = "oclis",
-  version = "0.1.0.0",
+  name = "{{name}}",
   description = m%"
-    Generate a CLI parser and executor
-    from a given `oclis.ncl` specification file.
+    {{name}} is an awesome CLI tool
   "%,
+  version = "0.0.0",
+  options = [
+    {
+      name = "debug",
+      description = "Print debug output",
+    },
+  ],
+  commands = [
+    {
+      name = "hello",
+      description = "Print \"hello\"",
+    },
+  ],
 }
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 2cf0c23..682280f 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -13,22 +13,19 @@ But fear not, Oclis is here to help you out!
 
 ## Usage
 
-1. Install Oclis with
-   `cargo install --git https://github.com/Airsequel/Oclis`
-1. Create a `oclis.ncl` specifcation file in the root of your project. \
-   (Check out the [examples](./examples) directory for inspiration.)
+1. `cargo install oclis`
+1. `oclis init` - Creates an `oclis.ncl` specifcation file.
+1. Adapt the specification file to your liking. \
+   (Check out the [examples directory](./examples) for inspiration.)
 1. Run `oclis build` to generate the CLI parsing code \
-   (Automatically detects main repo language,
-   but only supports PureScript at the moment.)
+   (It automatically detects the main repo language,
+   but only PureScript is supported at the moment.)
 1. Define the handler functions for your commands. \
    (Check out the [main function of Transity][tr-main] for an example.)
-1. Build and use your project as usual 🎉
+1. Commit the generated code to the repository.
 
 [tr-main]: https://github.com/feramhq/Transity/blob/master/src/Main.purs#L332
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> The generated code must be committed to the repository.
-
 
 ## How It Works
 
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index f6c45fd..721d601 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ enum Commands {
     // #[arg(short, long, default_value_t = Language::Json)]
     // language: Language,
   },
+  /// Creates a bare bones `oclis.ncl` file
+  Init,
 }
 
 fn convert_spec_to_json(
@@ -270,5 +272,19 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), String> {
         None => Err(String::from("No spec file provided")),
       }
     }
+
+    Commands::Init => {
+      let cwd_path = std::env::current_dir().unwrap();
+      let cwd = cwd_path.file_name().unwrap();
+      let cwd_str = cwd.to_str().unwrap();
+
+      if fs::metadata("oclis.ncl").is_ok() {
+        Err(String::from("Spec file 'oclis.ncl' already exists"))
+      } else {
+        const TEMPLATE: &str = include_str!("template.ncl");
+        let spec = TEMPLATE.replace("{{name}}", cwd_str);
+        fs::write("oclis.ncl", spec).map_err(|err| err.to_string())
+      }
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/template.ncl b/src/template.ncl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47aa9af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/template.ncl
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{
+  name = "{{name}}",
+  description = m%"
+    {{name}} is an awesome CLI tool
+  "%,
+  version = "0.0.0",
+  options = [
+    {
+      name = "debug",
+      description = "Print debug output",
+    },
+  ],
+  commands = [
+    {
+      name = "hello",
+      description = "Print \"hello\"",
+    },
+  ],
+}