diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5b90e79..994ac50 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 *.dll
 *.so
 *.dylib
-
+logdebarker
 # Test binary, built with `go test -c`
 *.test
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 36cbd0d..bf7ee39 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,2 +1,85 @@
 # logdebarker
 
+`logdebarker` is a UNIX-style log sanitizer tool written in Go. It censors sensitive information from logs, config files, and other text streams based on user-defined patterns. This is useful for cleaning data before exporting logs or sharing files.
+
+## Features
+
+* Accepts input from STDIN or a file
+* Outputs to STDOUT or a specified output file
+* Uses `$HOME/.blocked_words.txt` as a pattern file for matching sensitive strings
+* Enforces strict file permissions on the config file (`0700` only)
+* Supports custom redaction strings (e.g. `redaction: <string>`)
+* Ignores comment lines beginning with `#` in both input and config
+
+## Usage
+
+Pipe logs through `logdebarker`:
+
+```sh
+sudo cat /var/log/someprogram/log.log | logdebarker | tee cleaned_log.txt
+```
+
+Sanitize a file to a new output file:
+
+```sh
+sudo logdebarker /etc/nginx/conf.d/somesite.conf output.txt
+```
+
+## Configuration
+
+`logdebarker` reads its blocklist from:
+
+```
+$HOME/.blocked_words.txt
+```
+
+Each line should be a literal string to redact. Lines starting with `#` are ignored. You may optionally define one redaction string:
+
+```
+redaction: [your-censor-string]
+```
+
+Example `.blocked_words.txt`:
+
+```
+# block API keys
+redaction: <removed>
+ABC123XYZ456
+supersecretpassword
+```
+
+## Security
+
+To protect your sensitive word list, `logdebarker` will refuse to run if `$HOME/.blocked_words.txt` is not `chmod 700`.
+
+```sh
+chmod 700 ~/.blocked_words.txt
+```
+
+## Installation
+
+1. Clone and build:
+
+```sh
+git clone https://your.git.repo/logdebarker.git
+cd logdebarker
+go build -o logdebarker
+```
+
+2. Move the binary to your PATH:
+
+```sh
+sudo mv logdebarker /usr/local/bin/
+```
+
+OR
+
+`go install archuser.org/logdebarker`
+
+## License
+
+This project is released under the GPLv3 License.
+
+---
+
+For bug reports, suggestions, or contributions, open an issue or submit a pull request.
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14c3a4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module archuser.org/logdebarker
+
+go 1.24.3
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e9c682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"os/user"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var (
+	blockedWords []*regexp.Regexp
+	redaction    = "redacted"
+)
+
+func checkBlockedWordsFilePerm(path string) {
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Failed to stat %s: %v", path, err)
+	}
+
+	mode := info.Mode().Perm()
+	if mode != 0o700 {
+		log.Fatalf("Permission on %s must be 700, found %o", path, mode)
+	}
+}
+
+func loadBlockedWords(path string) {
+	file, err := os.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Failed to open %s: %v", path, err)
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
+		if line == "" || strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") {
+			continue
+		}
+		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "redaction:") {
+			if redaction != "redacted" {
+				log.Fatalf("Multiple redaction definitions found in %s", path)
+			}
+			redaction = strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(line, "redaction:"))
+			continue
+		}
+		blockedWords = append(blockedWords, regexp.MustCompile(regexp.QuoteMeta(line)))
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error reading %s: %v", path, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func censorLine(line string) string {
+	for _, re := range blockedWords {
+		line = re.ReplaceAllString(line, redaction)
+	}
+	return line
+}
+
+func process(input io.Reader, output io.Writer) {
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(input)
+	writer := bufio.NewWriter(output)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(line), "#") {
+			fmt.Fprintln(writer, line)
+			continue
+		}
+		censored := censorLine(line)
+		fmt.Fprintln(writer, censored)
+	}
+	writer.Flush()
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error reading input: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func main() {
+	if len(os.Args) == 1 && isInputFromTerminal() {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "No input provided. Exiting.")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	usr, err := user.Current()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Unable to determine current user: %v", err)
+	}
+	confPath := filepath.Join(usr.HomeDir, ".blocked_words.txt")
+	checkBlockedWordsFilePerm(confPath)
+	loadBlockedWords(confPath)
+
+	switch len(os.Args) {
+	case 1:
+		process(os.Stdin, os.Stdout)
+	case 2:
+		inFile, err := os.Open(os.Args[1])
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Cannot open input file: %v", err)
+		}
+		defer inFile.Close()
+		process(inFile, os.Stdout)
+	case 3:
+		inFile, err := os.Open(os.Args[1])
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Cannot open input file: %v", err)
+		}
+		defer inFile.Close()
+		outFile, err := os.Create(os.Args[2])
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Cannot create output file: %v", err)
+		}
+		defer outFile.Close()
+		process(inFile, outFile)
+	default:
+		log.Fatalf("Usage: %s [input_file] [output_file]", os.Args[0])
+	}
+}
+
+func isInputFromTerminal() bool {
+	fileInfo, err := os.Stdin.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return true
+	}
+	return (fileInfo.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) != 0
+}
+