diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 192eb5d6..2481256b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ A distributed workflow engine.
 # Features:
 
 - REST API
+- Submit individual tasks or workflows for execution.
 - Horizontally scalable
 - Task isolation - tasks are executed within a container to provide isolation, idempotency, and in order to enforce resource limits
 - Automatic recovery of tasks in the event of a worker crash
diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 66c6d805..6dd10bb8 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -1,48 +1,71 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"log"
+	"os"
+
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 	"github.com/tork/coordinator"
 	"github.com/tork/datastore"
 	"github.com/tork/mq"
 	"github.com/tork/runtime"
 	"github.com/tork/worker"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 )
 
 func main() {
-	// loggging
-	zerolog.TimeFieldFormat = zerolog.TimeFormatUnix
+	app := &cli.App{
+		Name:        "tork",
+		Description: "a distributed workflow engine",
+		Flags: []cli.Flag{
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:     "mode",
+				Value:    "standalone",
+				Usage:    "standalone|worker|coordinator",
+				Required: true,
+			},
+		},
+		Action: func(ctx *cli.Context) error {
+			// loggging
+			zerolog.TimeFieldFormat = zerolog.TimeFormatUnix
 
-	// create a broker
-	b := mq.NewInMemoryBroker()
+			// create a broker
+			b := mq.NewInMemoryBroker()
 
-	// create a Docker-based runtime
-	rt, err := runtime.NewDockerRuntime()
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
+			// create a Docker-based runtime
+			rt, err := runtime.NewDockerRuntime()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			// create a worker
+			w := worker.NewWorker(worker.Config{
+				Broker:  b,
+				Runtime: rt,
+			})
+
+			// start the worker
+			go func() {
+				if err := w.Start(); err != nil {
+					panic(err)
+				}
+			}()
 
-	// create a worker
-	w := worker.NewWorker(worker.Config{
-		Broker:  b,
-		Runtime: rt,
-	})
-
-	// start the worker
-	go func() {
-		if err := w.Start(); err != nil {
-			panic(err)
-		}
-	}()
-
-	// create a coordinator
-	c := coordinator.NewCoordinator(coordinator.Config{
-		Broker:        b,
-		TaskDataStore: datastore.NewInMemoryDatastore(),
-	})
-
-	// start the coordinator
-	if err := c.Start(); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+			// create a coordinator
+			c := coordinator.NewCoordinator(coordinator.Config{
+				Broker:        b,
+				TaskDataStore: datastore.NewInMemoryDatastore(),
+			})
+
+			// start the coordinator
+			if err := c.Start(); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			return nil
+		},
+	}
+	if err := app.Run(os.Args); err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index aca5aaa7..d8c89620 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ require (
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.29.1
 	github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v3 v3.23.6
+	github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.25.7
 )
 
 require (
 	github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.6.1 // indirect
 	github.com/bytedance/sonic v1.9.1 // indirect
 	github.com/chenzhuoyu/base64x v0.0.0-20221115062448-fe3a3abad311 // indirect
+	github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/docker/distribution v2.8.2+incompatible // indirect
 	github.com/docker/go-connections v0.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/docker/go-units v0.5.0 // indirect
@@ -40,11 +42,13 @@ require (
 	github.com/opencontainers/image-spec v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.0.8 // indirect
 	github.com/power-devops/perfstat v0.0.0-20210106213030-5aafc221ea8c // indirect
+	github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/shoenig/go-m1cpu v0.1.6 // indirect
 	github.com/tklauser/go-sysconf v0.3.11 // indirect
 	github.com/tklauser/numcpus v0.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1 // indirect
 	github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.11 // indirect
+	github.com/xrash/smetrics v0.0.0-20201216005158-039620a65673 // indirect
 	github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.3 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/arch v0.3.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.11.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5bc1daae..882393f8 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ github.com/chenzhuoyu/base64x v0.0.0-20211019084208-fb5309c8db06/go.mod h1:DH46F
 github.com/chenzhuoyu/base64x v0.0.0-20221115062448-fe3a3abad311 h1:qSGYFH7+jGhDF8vLC+iwCD4WpbV1EBDSzWkJODFLams=
 github.com/chenzhuoyu/base64x v0.0.0-20221115062448-fe3a3abad311/go.mod h1:b583jCggY9gE99b6G5LEC39OIiVsWj+R97kbl5odCEk=
 github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.5.0/go.mod h1:Y58oyj3AT4RCenI/lSvhwexgC+NSVTIJ3seZv2GcEnc=
+github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2 h1:p1EgwI/C7NhT0JmVkwCD2ZBK8j4aeHQX2pMHHBfMQ6w=
+github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46tRHOmNcaadrF8o=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
@@ -87,6 +89,8 @@ github.com/power-devops/perfstat v0.0.0-20210106213030-5aafc221ea8c/go.mod h1:Om
 github.com/rs/xid v1.4.0/go.mod h1:trrq9SKmegXys3aeAKXMUTdJsYXVwGY3RLcfgqegfbg=
 github.com/rs/zerolog v1.29.1 h1:cO+d60CHkknCbvzEWxP0S9K6KqyTjrCNUy1LdQLCGPc=
 github.com/rs/zerolog v1.29.1/go.mod h1:Le6ESbR7hc+DP6Lt1THiV8CQSdkkNrd3R0XbEgp3ZBU=
+github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 h1:JIOH55/0cWyOuilr9/qlrm0BSXldqnqwMsf35Ld67mk=
+github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
 github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v3 v3.23.6 h1:5y46WPI9QBKBbK7EEccUPNXpJpNrvPuTD0O2zHEHT08=
 github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v3 v3.23.6/go.mod h1:j7QX50DrXYggrpN30W0Mo+I4/8U2UUIQrnrhqUeWrAU=
 github.com/shoenig/go-m1cpu v0.1.6 h1:nxdKQNcEB6vzgA2E2bvzKIYRuNj7XNJ4S/aRSwKzFtM=
@@ -113,6 +117,10 @@ github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1 h1:SU5vSMR7hnwNxj24w34ZyCi/FmDZTkS
 github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1/go.mod h1:a1lVb/DtPvCB8fslRZhAngC2+aY1QWCk3Cedj/Gdt08=
 github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.11 h1:BMaWp1Bb6fHwEtbplGBGJ498wD+LKlNSl25MjdZY4dU=
 github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.11/go.mod h1:UNopzCgEMSXjBc6AOMqYvWC1ktqTAfzJZUZgYf6w6lg=
+github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.25.7 h1:VAzn5oq403l5pHjc4OhD54+XGO9cdKVL/7lDjF+iKUs=
+github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.25.7/go.mod h1:8qnjx1vcq5s2/wpsqoZFndg2CE5tNFyrTvS6SinrnYQ=
+github.com/xrash/smetrics v0.0.0-20201216005158-039620a65673 h1:bAn7/zixMGCfxrRTfdpNzjtPYqr8smhKouy9mxVdGPU=
+github.com/xrash/smetrics v0.0.0-20201216005158-039620a65673/go.mod h1:N3UwUGtsrSj3ccvlPHLoLsHnpR27oXr4ZE984MbSER8=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.27/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.2.1/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.3 h1:E1ctvB7uKFMOJw3fdOW32DwGE9I7t++CRUEMKvFoFiw=