diff --git a/api/v1/client.go b/api/v1/client.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..876793c9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/v1/client.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package v1
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
+)
+
+func NewClient(addr string) *Client {
+	return &Client{
+		addr: addr,
+	}
+}
+
+type Client struct {
+	addr string
+}
+
+// Start starts a container with the specified id and path to the container's
+// bundle on the system.
+func (c *Client) Start(id, path string) error {
+	container := Container{
+		BundlePath: path,
+	}
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	if err := json.NewEncoder(buf).Encode(container); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	r, err := http.Post(c.addr+"/containers/"+id, "application/json", buf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	r.Body.Close()
+	if r.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected status %d", r.StatusCode)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Containers returns all running containers within containerd.
+func (c *Client) Containers() ([]Container, error) {
+	r, err := http.Get(c.addr + "/containers")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var s State
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&s); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	r.Body.Close()
+	return s.Containers, nil
+}
+
+func (c *Client) Signal(id string, pid, signal int) error {
+	sig := Signal{
+		Signal: signal,
+	}
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	if err := json.NewEncoder(buf).Encode(sig); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	r, err := http.Post(c.addr+"/containers/"+id+"/process/"+strconv.Itoa(pid), "application/json", buf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	r.Body.Close()
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/api/v1/server.go b/api/v1/server.go
index 9ffe0aa19..47a7e30b8 100644
--- a/api/v1/server.go
+++ b/api/v1/server.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ func NewServer(supervisor *containerd.Supervisor) http.Handler {
 	r.HandleFunc("/containers/{id:.*}/process", s.addProcess).Methods("PUT")
 	r.HandleFunc("/containers/{id:.*}", s.createContainer).Methods("POST")
 	r.HandleFunc("/containers/{id:.*}", s.updateContainer).Methods("PATCH")
+	// internal method for replaying the journal
 	r.HandleFunc("/event", s.event).Methods("POST")
 	r.HandleFunc("/events", s.events).Methods("GET")
 	r.HandleFunc("/containers", s.containers).Methods("GET")
diff --git a/containerd/main.go b/containerd/main.go
index 53c12009b..d7be9273b 100644
--- a/containerd/main.go
+++ b/containerd/main.go
@@ -17,15 +17,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
 )
 
-const (
-	Version = "0.0.1"
-	Usage   = `High performance conatiner daemon`
-)
+const Usage = `High performance conatiner daemon`
 
 func main() {
 	app := cli.NewApp()
 	app.Name = "containerd"
-	app.Version = Version
+	app.Version = containerd.Version
 	app.Usage = Usage
 	app.Authors = []cli.Author{
 		{
diff --git a/ctr/Makefile b/ctr/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f0348343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctr/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+all:
+	go build
diff --git a/ctr/ctr b/ctr/ctr
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..aa600d4a4
Binary files /dev/null and b/ctr/ctr differ
diff --git a/ctr/main.go b/ctr/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a189d2cf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctr/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
+	"github.com/docker/containerd"
+)
+
+const Usage = `High performance conatiner daemon controller`
+
+func main() {
+	app := cli.NewApp()
+	app.Name = "ctr"
+	app.Version = containerd.Version
+	app.Usage = Usage
+	app.Authors = []cli.Author{
+		{
+			Name:  "@crosbymichael",
+			Email: "crosbymichael@gmail.com",
+		},
+	}
+	app.Flags = []cli.Flag{
+		cli.BoolFlag{
+			Name:  "debug",
+			Usage: "enable debug output in the logs",
+		},
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "addr",
+			Value: "http://localhost:8888",
+			Usage: "address to the containerd api",
+		},
+	}
+	app.Commands = []cli.Command{
+		ContainersCommand,
+	}
+	app.Before = func(context *cli.Context) error {
+		if context.GlobalBool("debug") {
+			logrus.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err := app.Run(os.Args); err != nil {
+		logrus.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func fatal(err string, code int) {
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[ctr] %s", err)
+	os.Exit(code)
+}
diff --git a/ctr/start.go b/ctr/start.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9cef47aa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctr/start.go
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"text/tabwriter"
+
+	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
+	"github.com/docker/containerd/api/v1"
+)
+
+var ContainersCommand = cli.Command{
+	Name:  "containers",
+	Usage: "interact with running containers",
+	Subcommands: []cli.Command{
+		StartCommand,
+		ListCommand,
+		KillCommand,
+	},
+	Action: listContainers,
+}
+
+var ListCommand = cli.Command{
+	Name:   "list",
+	Usage:  "list all running containers",
+	Action: listContainers,
+}
+
+func listContainers(context *cli.Context) {
+	c := v1.NewClient(context.GlobalString("addr"))
+	containers, err := c.Containers()
+	if err != nil {
+		fatal(err.Error(), 1)
+	}
+	w := tabwriter.NewWriter(os.Stdout, 20, 1, 3, ' ', 0)
+	fmt.Fprint(w, "ID\tPATH\tSTATUS\n")
+	for _, c := range containers {
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\t%s\n", c.ID, c.BundlePath, c.State.Status)
+	}
+	if err := w.Flush(); err != nil {
+		logrus.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+var StartCommand = cli.Command{
+	Name:  "start",
+	Usage: "start a container",
+	Flags: []cli.Flag{
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "id",
+			Value: "",
+			Usage: "id of the container",
+		},
+	},
+	Action: func(context *cli.Context) {
+		path := context.Args().First()
+		if path == "" {
+			fatal("bundle path cannot be empty", 1)
+		}
+		id := context.String("id")
+		if id == "" {
+			fatal("container id cannot be empty", 1)
+		}
+		c := v1.NewClient(context.GlobalString("addr"))
+		if err := c.Start(id, path); err != nil {
+			fatal(err.Error(), 1)
+		}
+	},
+}
+
+var KillCommand = cli.Command{
+	Name:  "kill",
+	Usage: "send a signal to a container or it's processes",
+	Flags: []cli.Flag{
+		cli.IntFlag{
+			Name:  "pid,p",
+			Usage: "pid of the process to signal within the container",
+		},
+		cli.IntFlag{
+			Name:  "signal,s",
+			Value: 15,
+			Usage: "signal to send to the container",
+		},
+	},
+	Action: func(context *cli.Context) {
+		id := context.Args().First()
+		if id == "" {
+			fatal("container id cannot be empty", 1)
+		}
+		c := v1.NewClient(context.GlobalString("addr"))
+		if err := c.Signal(id, context.Int("pid"), context.Int("signal")); err != nil {
+			fatal(err.Error(), 1)
+		}
+	},
+}
diff --git a/version.go b/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c528cd04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+package containerd
+
+const Version = "0.0.1"