diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 157c671..dd23539 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@ package_dir =
     = src
 packages = find:
 python_requires = >=3.8
-#install_requires =
-#    dependency
+install_requires =
+    deltachat
+    click
 
 [options.packages.find]
 where = src
diff --git a/src/verificationbot/cli.py b/src/verificationbot/cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c055484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/verificationbot/cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import click
+import deltachat
+
+
+def get_control_group(ctx, ac: deltachat.account.Account) -> deltachat.chat.Chat | None:
+    for chat in ac.get_chats():
+        if chat.get_contacts() == 1 and chat.is_protected() and chat.is_group():
+            if chat.get_name() == "verification bot control group":
+                return chat
+    return
+
+
+@click.command(
+    cls=click.Group, context_settings={"help_option_names": ["-h", "--help"]}
+)
+@click.option(
+    "--db-path",
+    type=str,
+    help="The directory where the Delta Chat database should be stored",
+    default="~/.config/DeltaChat/",
+    show_default=True,
+)
+@click.option(
+    "--from-backup",
+    type=str,
+    help="Specify backup file of your account to initialize account",
+    default=" ",
+)
+@click.pass_context
+def init(ctx, db_path, from_backup) -> None:
+    ac = deltachat.account.Account(db_path)
+    if not ac.is_configured():
+        if from_backup is not " ":
+            ac.import_all(from_backup)
+        else:
+            ctx.fail(
+                "Account not configured. Please specify a backup file with --from-backup"
+            )
+
+    # ensure that the account owner has bcc_self enabled
+    if ac.get_config("bcc_self") == "0":
+        ctx.fail(
+            "You need to enable 'Send Copy to Self' in the Advanced settings for this bot to work."
+        )
+
+    # disable read receipts; we don't want the bot to send out read receipts if the actual account
+    # owner didn't read the message yet
+    ac.set_config("mdns_enabled", "0")
+
+    # create control group
+    if not get_control_group(ctx, ac):
+        control_group = ac.create_group_chat(
+            "verification bot control group", verified=True
+        )
+        control_group.send_text(
+            "This is the control group for the verification bot. Send /help for available commands."
+        )
+        click.secho("Verification bot for %s was set up successfully. To start the bot, run:")
+        click.secho("")
+        click.secho("    verificationbot run")
+
+
+@click.command(
+    cls=click.Group, context_settings={"help_option_names": ["-h", "--help"]}
+)
+@click.version_option()
+@click.pass_context
+def cli_main(context):
+    """e-mail account creation admin tool and web service."""
+
+
+cli_main.add_command(init)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    cli_main()