diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 44a1c2f..5c78f2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ name: CI
 on:
   pull_request:
     branches:
-      - main
 
 jobs:
   ci:
@@ -14,6 +13,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           go-version: '1.22.x'
       - name: Install dependencies
-        run: go get.
+        run: go get .
       - name: Test with Go CLI
-        run: go test ./test
+        run: go test -v ./test
diff --git a/cmd/init.go b/cmd/init.go
index cb41060..93e4d01 100644
--- a/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/init.go
@@ -7,12 +7,44 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+  "github.com/Marcusk19/bender/tools"
 )
 
+var fs = tools.AppFs
+
 func init() {
   RootCmd.AddCommand(initCommand)
 }
 
+func copyExistingConfigs(programs []string, destRootOpt ...string) {
+  // takes list of programs and backs up configs for them
+  destRoot := os.Getenv("HOME") + "/.dotfiles/"
+  if len(destRootOpt) > 0 {
+    destRoot = destRootOpt[0]
+  }
+
+  configRoot := os.Getenv("HOME") + "/.config/"
+  for _, program := range(programs) {
+    // TODO: do something here
+    print(configRoot + program)
+    err := tools.CopyDir(fs, filepath.Join(configRoot, program), filepath.Join(destRoot, program))
+    if err != nil {
+      log.Fatal(err)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+func createDotfileStructure(programs []string) {
+  // takes list of programs and creates dotfiles for them
+  dotfileRoot := os.Getenv("HOME") + "/.dotfiles/"
+  for _, program := range(programs) {
+    fmt.Printf("attempting to create directory %s%s\n", dotfileRoot, program)
+    if err := fs.MkdirAll(dotfileRoot + program, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+      log.Fatal(err)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 var initCommand = &cobra.Command {
   Use: "init",
   Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
@@ -28,11 +60,11 @@ var initCommand = &cobra.Command {
       log.Fatal("path needs trailing slash")
     }
 
-    var files []string
-    var acceptedfiles [3] string 
-    acceptedfiles[0] = "nvim"
-    acceptedfiles[1] = "tmux"
-    acceptedfiles[2] = "alacritty"
+    var programs []string
+    var acceptedprograms [3] string 
+    acceptedprograms[0] = "nvim"
+    acceptedprograms[1] = "tmux"
+    acceptedprograms[2] = "alacritty"
 
     err := filepath.Walk(rootpath, func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
       if err != nil {
@@ -40,9 +72,9 @@ var initCommand = &cobra.Command {
         return nil
       }
 
-      for _, acceptedfile := range(acceptedfiles) {
-        if path == rootpath + acceptedfile {
-          files = append(files, path)
+      for _, acceptedprogram := range(acceptedprograms) {
+        if path == rootpath + acceptedprogram {
+          programs = append(programs, path[len(rootpath):])
         }
       }
       return nil
@@ -53,9 +85,12 @@ var initCommand = &cobra.Command {
     }
 
     fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "binaries installed: \n =======================\n")
-    for _, file := range(files) {
-      fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), file[len(rootpath):] + "\n" )
+    for _, program := range(programs) {
+      fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), program + "\n" )
     }
+
+    createDotfileStructure(programs)
+    copyExistingConfigs(programs)
     
   },
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index eb2105c..ade78ee 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,8 +6,10 @@ require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.0 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index ecd1abe..e0823a0 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -6,12 +6,16 @@ github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0/go.mod h1:vpF70FUmC8bwa3OWnCshd2FqLf
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
+github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0 h1:WJQKhtpdm3v2IzqG8VMqrr6Rf3UYpEF239Jy9wNepM8=
+github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0/go.mod h1:GH9Y3pIexgf1MTIWtNGyogA5MwRIDXGUr+hbWNoBjkY=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.0 h1:7aJaZx1B85qltLMc546zn58BxxfZdR/W22ej9CFoEf0=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.0/go.mod h1:WXLWApfZ71AjXPya3WOlMsY9yMs7YeiHhFVlvLyhcho=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 h1:iy+VFUOCP1a+8yFto/drg2CJ5u0yRoB7fZw3DKv/JXA=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0 h1:HtqpIVDClZ4nwg75+f6Lvsy/wHu+3BoSGCbBAcpTsTg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
+golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 h1:ScX5w1eTa3QqT8oi6+ziP7dTV1S2+ALU0bI+0zXKWiQ=
+golang.org/x/text v0.14.0/go.mod h1:18ZOQIKpY8NJVqYksKHtTdi31H5itFRjB5/qKTNYzSU=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/test/copy_test.go b/test/copy_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..083b1a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/copy_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/Marcusk19/bender/tools"
+	"github.com/spf13/afero"
+)
+
+func init() {
+  tools.SetTestFs()
+}
+
+
+func TestCopyFile(t *testing.T) {
+  fs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
+
+  fs.MkdirAll("test/src", 0755)
+  fs.MkdirAll("test/dest", 0755)
+  err := afero.WriteFile(fs, "test/src/a.txt", []byte("file a"), 0644)
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Errorf("problem creating source file: %s", err.Error())
+  }
+
+  err = tools.CopyFile(fs, "test/src/a.txt", "test/dest/a.txt")
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+  _, err = fs.Stat("test/dest/a.txt")
+  if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+    t.Errorf("expected destination file does not exist")
+  }
+  
+  result, err := afero.ReadFile(fs, "test/dest/a.txt")
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+
+  if string(result) != "file a" {
+    t.Errorf("expected 'file a' got '%s'", string(result))
+  }
+  
+}
+
+func TestCopyDir(t *testing.T) {
+  fs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
+
+  fs.MkdirAll("test/src/dirA", 0755)
+  fs.MkdirAll("test/dest/", 0755)
+  fs.Mkdir("test/src/dirA/dirB", 0755)
+
+  err := afero.WriteFile(fs, "test/src/dirA/a.txt", []byte("file a"), 0644)
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+  err = afero.WriteFile(fs, "test/src/dirA/dirB/b.txt", []byte("file b"), 0644)
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+
+  err = tools.CopyDir(fs, "test/src", "test/dest")
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+
+  result, err := afero.ReadFile(fs, "test/dest/dirA/a.txt")
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+
+  if string(result) != "file a" {
+    t.Errorf("expected 'file a' got '%s'", string(result))
+  }
+
+  result, err = afero.ReadFile(fs, "test/dest/dirA/dirB/b.txt")
+  if err != nil {
+    t.Error(err.Error())
+  }
+
+  if string(result) != "file b" {
+    t.Errorf("expected 'file b' got '%s'", string(result))
+  }
+
+}
+
diff --git a/tools/copy.go b/tools/copy.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed5cd71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/copy.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package tools
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/afero"
+)
+
+func CopyFile(os afero.Fs, srcFile, destFile string) error{
+  // helper function to copy files over
+  sourceFileStat, err := os.Stat(srcFile)
+  if err != nil {
+    return err
+  }
+
+  if !sourceFileStat.Mode().IsRegular() {
+    return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a regular file", srcFile)
+  }
+
+  source, err := os.Open(srcFile)
+  if err != nil {
+    return err
+  }
+  defer source.Close()
+
+  destination, err := os.Create(destFile)
+  if err != nil {
+    return err
+  }
+  defer destination.Close()
+
+  _, err = io.Copy(destination, source)
+
+  return err
+}
+
+func CopyDir(os afero.Fs, srcDir, destDir string) error {
+  entries, err := afero.ReadDir(os, srcDir)
+  if err != nil {
+    return err
+  }
+
+  for _, entry := range(entries) {
+    if entry.IsDir() {
+      subDir := filepath.Join(srcDir, entry.Name())
+      destSubDir := filepath.Join(destDir, entry.Name())
+      err := os.MkdirAll(destSubDir, entry.Mode().Perm())
+      if err != nil {
+        return err
+      }
+      CopyDir(os, subDir, destSubDir)
+      continue
+    }
+    sourcePath := filepath.Join(srcDir, entry.Name())
+    destPath := filepath.Join(destDir, entry.Name())
+
+    err := CopyFile(os, sourcePath, destPath)
+    if err != nil {
+      return err
+    }
+  }
+
+  return nil
+}
diff --git a/tools/filesystem.go b/tools/filesystem.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5270f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/filesystem.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package tools
+
+import (
+	"log"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/afero"
+)
+
+var AppFs afero.Fs = afero.NewOsFs()
+
+
+func SetTestFs() {
+  log.Print("setting test fs")
+  testFs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
+  AppFs = testFs
+}