diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 2501596..9bd056b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2,6 +2,64 @@
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
 version = 4
 
+[[package]]
+name = "gumdrop"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5bc700f989d2f6f0248546222d9b4258f5b02a171a431f8285a81c08142629e3"
+dependencies = [
+ "gumdrop_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "gumdrop_derive"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "729f9bd3449d77e7831a18abfb7ba2f99ee813dfd15b8c2167c9a54ba20aa99d"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "matcha"
 version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "gumdrop",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro2"
+version = "1.0.106"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8fd00f0bb2e90d81d1044c2b32617f68fcb9fa3bb7640c23e9c748e53fb30934"
+dependencies = [
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "quote"
+version = "1.0.46"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dfbc457d0c7a0759a614551b11a6409e5951f6c7537be1f1b7682b9ae9230368"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "syn"
+version = "1.0.109"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72b64191b275b66ffe2469e8af2c1cfe3bafa67b529ead792a6d0160888b4237"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "unicode-ident"
+version = "1.0.24"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e6e4313cd5fcd3dad5cafa179702e2b244f760991f45397d14d4ebf38247da75"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7528f71..fedc1fa 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2024"
 
 [dependencies]
+gumdrop = "0.8.1"
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 0e99de8..efd73f0 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 
 use std::env::args;
+use std::fs::read_to_string;
+
+use gumdrop::Options;
 
 #[macro_use]
 mod lex;
@@ -9,10 +12,34 @@ use parse::parse;
 mod interpret;
 use interpret::interpret;
 
+#[derive(Debug, Options)]
+struct Opts {
+	#[options(help = "print help message")]
+	help: bool,
+	
+	#[options(free, help = "matcha file")]
+	filename: Option<String>,
+
+	#[options(help = "raw matcha code to execute")]
+	execute: Option<String>,
+}
+
 fn main() {
-	println!("\n"); // makes output easier to visually parse when run with cargo run
-	let args: String = args().skip(1).collect::<Vec<_>>().join(" ");
-	let k = match lex_tokens(&args) {
+	let opt = Opts::parse_args_default_or_exit();
+	let code = if let Some(code) = opt.execute {
+		code
+	} else {
+		let args: Vec<_> = args().collect();
+		let filename = opt.filename.unwrap_or_else(|| {
+			eprintln!("{}: filename or -e option required", args[0]);
+			std::process::exit(1);
+		});
+		read_to_string(&filename).unwrap_or_else(|e| {
+			eprintln!("{}: unable to read file {filename}\n{e}", args[0]);
+			std::process::exit(1);
+		})
+	};
+	let k = match lex_tokens(&code) {
 		Ok(a) => a,
 		Err((_, a)) => panic!("{a:?}"),
 	};
@@ -20,9 +47,9 @@ fn main() {
 		Ok(a) => a,
 		Err(a) => panic!("{:?}", a.description),
 	};
-	let stack = match interpret(p) {
+	let _ = match interpret(p) {
 		Ok(a) => a,
 		Err(a) => panic!("{:?}", a.description),
 	};
-    println!("\nreturn: {stack:?}\n");
+    //println!("\nreturn: {stack:?}");
 }