diff --git a/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt b/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt
index 86c35734..83584acb 100644
--- a/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ configure_file(config_falco.h.in config_falco.h)
 
 set(
   FALCO_SOURCES
+  application.cpp
   configuration.cpp
   logger.cpp
   falco_outputs.cpp
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ set(
   "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/userspace/falco"
   "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/driver/src"
   "${STRING_VIEW_LITE_INCLUDE}"
+  "${CXXOPTS_INCLUDE_DIR}"
   "${YAMLCPP_INCLUDE_DIR}"
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}"
   "${DRAIOS_DEPENDENCIES_DIR}/yaml-${DRAIOS_YAML_VERSION}/target/include"
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@ set(
   luajit
   lpeg
   lyaml
+  cxxopts
 )
 
 set(
diff --git a/userspace/falco/application.cpp b/userspace/falco/application.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d9750a20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/userspace/falco/application.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+Copyright (C) 2022 The Falco Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// The falco "app" holds application-level configuration and contains
+// the implementation of any subcommand-like behaviors like --list, -i
+// (print_ignored_events), etc.
+
+// It also contains the code to initialize components like the
+// inspector, falco engine, etc.
+
+#include "application.h"
+#include "falco_common.h"
+
+namespace falco {
+namespace app {
+
+application::application()
+	: m_initialized(false)
+{
+}
+
+application::~application()
+{
+}
+
+cmdline_options &application::options()
+{
+	if(!m_initialized)
+	{
+		throw falco_exception("App init() not called yet");
+	}
+
+	return m_cmdline_options;
+}
+
+bool application::init(int argc, char **argv, std::string &errstr)
+{
+	if(!m_cmdline_options.parse(argc, argv, errstr))
+	{
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	m_initialized = true;
+	return true;
+}
+
+}; // namespace app
+}; // namespace falco
diff --git a/userspace/falco/application.h b/userspace/falco/application.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4e3ede9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/userspace/falco/application.h
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+Copyright (C) 2022 The Falco Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// The falco "app" will eventually replace the monolithic code in
+// falco.cpp. We expect it will be responsible for the following:
+//  - Parsing/validating command line options
+//  - Parsing/validing falco config
+//  - Initialize prerequsites (inspector, falco engine, webserver, etc)
+//  - Loading plugins
+//  - Loading/validating rules
+//  - Command/subcommand execution (e.g. --list/--list-fields, or
+//    nothing specified to run "main" loop)
+
+// For now, it is only responsible for command line options.
+#pragma once
+
+#include "app_cmdline_options.h"
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace falco {
+namespace app {
+
+class application {
+public:
+
+	application();
+	virtual ~application();
+
+	cmdline_options &options();
+	bool init(int argc, char **argv, std::string &errstr);
+
+private:
+
+	cmdline_options m_cmdline_options;
+	bool m_initialized;
+};
+
+}; // namespace app
+}; // namespace falco
diff --git a/userspace/falco/falco.cpp b/userspace/falco/falco.cpp
index 4e9e288d..f1f3d34a 100644
--- a/userspace/falco/falco.cpp
+++ b/userspace/falco/falco.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 #include <eventformatter.h>
 #include <plugin.h>
 
+#include "application.h"
 #include "logger.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "fields_info.h"
@@ -507,6 +508,8 @@ static void list_source_fields(falco_engine *engine, bool verbose, bool names_on
 //
 int falco_init(int argc, char **argv)
 {
+	falco::application app;
+
 	int result = EXIT_SUCCESS;
 	sinsp* inspector = NULL;
 	sinsp_evt::param_fmt event_buffer_format = sinsp_evt::PF_NORMAL;
@@ -608,6 +611,14 @@ int falco_init(int argc, char **argv)
 		set<string> disabled_rule_tags;
 		set<string> enabled_rule_tags;
 
+		std::string errstr;
+		bool successful = app.init(argc, argv, errstr);
+
+		if(!successful)
+		{
+			throw falco_exception(string("Could not initialize: ") + errstr);
+		}
+
 		//
 		// Parse the args
 		//