diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f30a892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# indir
+
+a nifty static file indexer
+
+indir provides a nice, simple frontend for browsing your web directories!
+heavily inspired by traditional file indexers provided by the likes of nginx
+and apache, with some modern amenities on top :)
+
+## usage
+```sh
+indir [--host address] [--port port] [--root http_root] directory
+
+    --help              shows this help message
+    --host address      hosts on the specified address
+    --port port         hosts on the specified port
+    --root http_root    hosts on the specified subdirectory, i.e. `/files/`
+```
+
+## to-do:
+- [ ] directory header from readme file
+- [ ] directory stylesheet overrides
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 84d2e60..043ac12 100755
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -295,6 +295,14 @@ func HTTPLog(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 }
 
 func printHelp() {
-	fmt.Printf("%s [--host address] [--port port] [--root http_root] directory\n", os.Args[0])
+	fmt.Printf(
+		`%s [--host address] [--port port] [--root http_root] directory
+
+	--help              shows this help message
+	--host address      hosts on the specified address
+	--port port         hosts on the specified port
+	--root http_root    hosts on the specified subdirectory, i.e. `+"`/files/`\n",
+		os.Args[0],
+	)
 	os.Exit(0)
 }