diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 0257eb5..f246ab5 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -4,3 +4,6 @@
 [submodule "lib/ds"]
 	path = lib/ds
 	url = https://git.squi.bid/squibid/ds
+[submodule "lib/cargs"]
+	path = lib/cargs
+	url = https://github.com/likle/cargs
diff --git a/lib/cargs b/lib/cargs
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..0698c3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/cargs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 0698c3f90333446d0fc2745c1e9ce10dd4a9497a
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index abd3876..e9ce887 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ executable('wom', srcfiles,
 
     include_directories('lib/log.c/src'),
     include_directories('lib/ds'),
+    include_directories('lib/cargs/include'),
   ],
   link_with: [
     static_library('ds', 'lib/ds/ds.c',
@@ -44,6 +45,9 @@ executable('wom', srcfiles,
 
     static_library('log.c', 'lib/log.c/src/log.c',
       include_directories: 'lib/log.c/src'),
+
+    static_library('cargs', 'lib/cargs/src/cargs.c',
+      include_directories: 'lib/cargs/include'),
   ],
   install: true
 )
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 846e73f..9560852 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -6,12 +6,36 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include <cargs.h>
+
 #include "conf.h"
 #include "lua/wom.h"
 #include "lua/wom_fs.h"
 #include "subcmds.h"
 #include "api.h"
 
+static struct cag_option options[] = {
+  {
+		.identifier = 'v',
+		.access_letters = "v",
+		.access_name = "version",
+		.description = "get the version of womblic",
+	},
+  {
+    .identifier = 'c',
+    .access_letters = "c",
+    .access_name = "config",
+    .value_name = "PATH",
+    .description = "load an alternative config file"
+  },
+  {
+    .identifier = 'h',
+    .access_letters = "h",
+    .access_name = "help",
+    .description = "Shows the command help",
+  }
+};
+
 static lua_State
 *load_wom_lua_lib(lua_State *L)
 {
@@ -42,24 +66,31 @@ static lua_State
 int
 main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-  int c, l;
-  /* FIXME: config path can't be freed after being passed to lualib which causes
-   * a minor memory leak */
-  char *config_path = { 0 };
+  int l;
 	lua_State *L;
+	const char *cag_path;
+  char *config_path;
+	bool show_help = false;
+  cag_option_context context;
 
   /* general options for womblic */
-  while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "hvc:")) != -1) {
-    switch (c) {
+  cag_option_init(&context, options, CAG_ARRAY_SIZE(options), argc, argv);
+  while (cag_option_fetch(&context)) {
+    switch (cag_option_get_identifier(&context)) {
       case 'c':
-        l = strlen(optarg);
+        cag_path = cag_option_get_value(&context);
+        l = strlen(cag_path);
         config_path = calloc(l + 1, sizeof(char));
-        strncpy(config_path, optarg, l);
-        break;
+        strncpy(config_path, cag_path, l);
+				break;
       case 'v': printf("%s-%s\n", argv[0], VERSION); break;
       case 'h':
-      default:
-        printf("help text\n");
+        printf("Usage: wom [OPTION]...\n");
+        cag_option_print(options, CAG_ARRAY_SIZE(options), stdout);
+				show_help = true;
+				break;
+      case '?':
+        cag_option_print_error(&context, stdout);
         break;
     }
   }
@@ -86,6 +117,12 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     lua_pop(L, lua_gettop(L));
   }
 
+	/* show help info about which subcmds are available */
+	if (show_help) {
+		subcmds_subcmd(NULL, 0, NULL);
+		exit(0);
+	}
+
   run_subcmds(argc, argv);
 
   lua_close(L);