diff --git a/src/actions.cpp b/src/actions.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b5b2cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/actions.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Codecrypt.
+ *
+ * Codecrypt is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at
+ * your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Codecrypt is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Codecrypt. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include "actions.h"
+
+int action_keygen (const std::string& algspec, const std::string&name,
+                   keyring&, algorithm_suite&)
+{
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/actions.h b/src/actions.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..468ad03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/actions.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Codecrypt.
+ *
+ * Codecrypt is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at
+ * your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Codecrypt is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Codecrypt. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef _ccr_actions_h_
+#define _ccr_actions_h_
+
+/*
+ * actions = stuff the user can do. main() calls this accordingly to options
+ */
+#include <string>
+#include "keyring.h"
+#include "algorithm.h"
+
+int action_keygen (const std::string& algspec, const std::string&name,
+                   keyring&, algorithm_suite&);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 57163c9..de302f2 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ int main (int argc, char**argv)
 	 * something will be happening, therefore init everything
 	 */
 
-	int exitflag = 0;
+	int exitval = 0;
 	keyring KR;
 	algorithm_suite AS;
 
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ int main (int argc, char**argv)
 
 	if (!KR.load() ) {
 		err ("could not load keyring!");
-		exitflag = 1;
+		exitval = 1;
 		goto exit_ok;
 	}
 
@@ -320,6 +320,36 @@ int main (int argc, char**argv)
 		goto exit_ok;
 	}
 
+	switch (action) {
+	case 'g':
+		exitval = action_keygen (action_param, name, KR, AS);
+		break;
+
+	case 'e':
+	case 'd':
+	case 's':
+	case 'v':
+	case 'E':
+	case 'D':
+
+	case 'k':
+	case 'i':
+	case 'p':
+	case 'x':
+	case 'm':
+	case 'K':
+	case 'I':
+	case 'P':
+	case 'X':
+	case 'M':
+
+	default:
+		progerr ("no action specified, use `--help'");
+		exitval = 1;
+		break;
+
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * all done.
 	 * keyring is _not_ automatically saved here to prevent frequent
@@ -333,6 +363,6 @@ exit_ok:
 		     "something weird is going to happen.");
 	}
 
-	return exitflag;
+	return exitval;
 }