diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6c9ca271
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+    "encoding/json"
+    "fmt"
+    "io/ioutil"
+    "log"
+    "os"
+    "path/filepath"
+    "strings"
+    "errors"
+    //"crypto/rand"
+    //"encoding/hex"
+)
+
+var APP_DIR = os.Getenv("HOME") + "/.tendermint"
+
+
+/* Global & initialization */
+
+var Config Config_
+
+func init() {
+
+    configFile := APP_DIR+"/config.json"
+
+    // try to read configuration. if missing, write default
+    configBytes, err := ioutil.ReadFile(configFile)
+    if err != nil {
+        defaultConfig.write(configFile)
+        fmt.Println("Config file written to config.json. Please edit & run again")
+        os.Exit(1)
+        return
+    }
+
+    // try to parse configuration. on error, die
+    Config = Config_{}
+    err = json.Unmarshal(configBytes, &Config)
+    if err != nil {
+        log.Panicf("Invalid configuration file %s: %v", configFile, err)
+    }
+    err = Config.validate()
+    if err != nil {
+        log.Panicf("Invalid configuration file %s: %v", configFile, err)
+    }
+}
+
+
+/* Default configuration */
+
+var defaultConfig = Config_{
+    Host:       "127.0.0.1",
+    Port:       8770,
+    Db:         DbConfig{
+        Type:   "level",
+        Dir:    APP_DIR+"/data",
+    },
+    Twilio:     TwilioConfig{
+    },
+}
+
+
+/* Configuration types */
+
+type Config_ struct {
+    Host        string
+    Port        int
+    Db          DbConfig
+    Twilio      TwilioConfig
+}
+
+type TwilioConfig struct {
+    Sid         string
+    Token       string
+    From        string
+    To          string
+    MinInterval int
+}
+
+type DbConfig struct {
+    Type        string
+    Dir         string
+}
+
+func (cfg *Config_) validate() error {
+    if cfg.Host == ""           { return errors.New("Host must be set") }
+    if cfg.Port == 0            { return errors.New("Port must be set") }
+    if cfg.Db.Type == ""        { return errors.New("Db.Type must be set") }
+    return nil
+}
+
+func (cfg *Config_) bytes() []byte {
+    configBytes, err := json.Marshal(cfg)
+    if err != nil { panic(err) }
+    return configBytes
+}
+
+func (cfg *Config_) write(configFile string) {
+    if strings.Index(configFile, "/") != -1 {
+        err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(configFile), 0700)
+        if err != nil { panic(err) }
+    }
+    err := ioutil.WriteFile(configFile, cfg.bytes(), 0600)
+    if err != nil {
+        panic(err)
+    }
+}
+
+/* TODO: generate priv/pub keys
+func generateKeys() string {
+    bytes := &[30]byte{}
+    rand.Read(bytes[:])
+    return hex.EncodeToString(bytes[:])
+}
+*/
+