diff --git a/__tests__/orc-test.js b/__tests__/orc-test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index dc7e59c..0000000
--- a/__tests__/orc-test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-jest.dontMock('../orc.js');
-
-describe('checkpoint', function() {
-	it('checkpoints a module by committing it', function() {
-		
-	});
-});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/orc b/orc
index 303e93d..02f5b98 100755
--- a/orc
+++ b/orc
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env node
 var orc = require('./orc.js');
-orc.main();
\ No newline at end of file
+orc.main(process.cwd(), process.argv);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/orc.js b/orc.js
index 8332d65..b76ac83 100644
--- a/orc.js
+++ b/orc.js
@@ -1,42 +1,169 @@
-var app = require('commander');
+var commander = require('commander');
 var git = require('gitty');
 var path = require('path');
-
-// process.stdin.resume();
-// process.stdin.setEncoding('utf8');
-// process.stdin.on('data', function(data) {
-//  process.stdout.write(data);
-// });
+var pushover   = require('pushover');
 
 process.on('SIGINT', function () {
   console.log('Got a SIGINT. Goodbye cruel world');
   process.exit(0);
 });
 
-function _requireCommit() {
+function init(dir, cb) {
+  // TODO: march up to root dir just to make output consistent
+  var repo = git(dir);
+  repo.getBranches(function(err, branches) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb('error getting branches '+err);
+      return;
+    }
+    if (!branches.current) {
+      cb('error: '+repo.name+' doesn\'t appear to be a valid git repo');
+      return;
+    }
+    cb(null, { repo_dir: dir, repo: git(dir)});
+  });
+}
+
+function noUnstaged(orc, cb) {
+  orc.repo.status(function(err, status) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb('error getting status checking unstaged '+err);
+      return;
+    }
+    if(status.unstaged.length > 0) {
+      cb('unstaged files, commit before running this.');
+      return;
+    }
+    cb(null, true);
+  });
+}
+
+function noUntracked(orc, cb) {
+  orc.repo.status(function(err, status) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb('error getting status checking unstaged '+err);
+      return;
+    }
+    if(status.untracked.length > 0) {
+      cb('untracked files, add or ignore before running this.');
+      return;
+    }
+    cb(null, true);
+  });
+}
 
+function repoIsClean(orc, cb) {
+  noUnstaged(orc, function(err, res) {
+    if (err) {
+      cb(err);
+      return;
+    }
+    noUntracked(orc, function(err, res) {
+      if(err) {
+        cb(err);
+        return;
+      }
+      cb(null, true);
+    });
+  });
 }
 
-function checkpoint() {
+function repoHasChanges(orc, cb) {
+  orc.repo.status(function(err, status) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb('error getting status checking unstaged '+err);
+      return;
+    }
+    if(status.staged.length === 0 && status.unstaged.length === 0) {
+      cb('no changes, aborting.');
+      return;
+    }
+    cb(null, true);
+  });  
+}
 
+// commit local changes
+// push to remote
+function checkpoint(orc, cb) {
+  noUntracked(orc, function(err, res) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb('you have unstaged files: '+err);
+      return;
+    }
+    repoHasChanges(orc, function(err, res) {
+      if(err) {
+        cb(err);
+        return;
+      }
+      orc.repo.commit('ORC-CHECKPOINT', ['-a', '--no-verify'], function(err, res) {
+        if(err) {
+          cb('checkpoint commit failed: \n'+err.message);
+          return;
+        }
+        orc.repo.getBranches(function(err, branches) {
+          if(err) {
+            cb('error getting branches: '+err.message);
+            return;
+          }
+          orc.repo.push('origin', branches.current, function(err, result) {
+            if (err) {
+              cb('error pushing checkpoint: '+err.message);
+              return;
+            }
+            cb(null, 'checkpoint finished.');
+          });
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
 }
 
-function pull() {
-	// TODO
+function pull(orc, cb) {
+  // TODO
 }
 
-function push() {
-	// TODO
+function push(orc, cb) {
+  // TODO
 }
 
-function branch() {
-	// TODO
+function createBranch(orc, branchName, cb) {
+  repoIsClean(orc, function(err, res) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb(err);
+      return;
+    }
+    orc.repo.checkout('master', function(err, res) {
+      if(err) {
+        cb('failed to checkout master'+err.message);
+        return;
+      }
+      orc.repo.pull('origin','master', function(err, res) {
+        if (err) {
+          cb('failed to pull from master: '+err.message);
+          return;
+        }
+        orc.repo.createBranch(branchName, function(err, res) {
+          if(err) {
+            cb('failed to create branch '+branchName+': '+err.message);
+            return;
+          }
+          orc.repo.checkout(branchName, function(err, res) {
+            if(err) {
+              cb('couldn\'t checkout branch '+branchName+': '+err.message);
+              return;
+            }
+            orc.repo.push('origin', branchName, ['--set-upstream'], cb);
+          });
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
 }
 
-function status() {
-	// TODO: incomplete, just an example
-	/* 
-	{ staged: 
+function status(orc,cb) {
+  // TODO: remove, just an example
+  /* 
+  { staged: 
    [ { file: '../package.json',
        status: 'new file' } ],
   unstaged: 
@@ -46,28 +173,40 @@ function status() {
        status: 'modified' } ],
   untracked: [ 'orc-test.js' ] }
   */
-	r = new git.Repo('.', {}, function(err, repo) {
-		if(err) {
-			console.log('error getting repo status');
-			return;
-		}
-		repo.status(function(err, stats){
-			console.log('stats: '+JSON.stringify(stats));
-		});
-	});
+  orc.repo.status(cb);
 }
 
-app.command('checkpoint').alias('cp').description('commit all local changes and push to repo. use this all the time!').action(checkpoint);
-app.command('pull').description('pull latest from remote master into your current branch').action(pull);
-app.command('push').description("use this when you're ready to submit a pull request on github: squash your branch down to one commit, run unit tests, and push.").action(push);
-app.command('branch').description('helper for switching branches').action(branch);
-app.command('status').alias('st').description('helper for getting status').action(status); // REMOVE
+function main(dir, argv, cb) {
+  if(!cb) {
+    cb = function(err, res) {
+      if(err) {
+        console.log('error: '+err);
+      } else {
+        // TODO: standardize result text and output
+        console.log('done. '+res);
+      }
+    };
+  }
+
+  init(dir, function(err, orc) {
+    if(err) {
+      cb('failed to init orc: '+err);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    var app = new commander.Command();
+    app.command('checkpoint').alias('cp').description('commit all local changes and push to repo. use this all the time!')
+      .action(function() { checkpoint(orc, cb); });
+    app.command('pull').description('pull latest from remote master into your current branch')
+      .action(function() {pull(orc, cb); });
+    app.command('push').description("use this when you're ready to submit a pull request on github: squash your branch down to one commit, run unit tests, and push.")
+      .action(function() {push(orc, cb);});
+    app.command('branch [name]').alias('br').description('helper for creating branches')
+      .action(function(branchName) { createBranch(orc, branchName, cb); });
+    app.command('status').alias('st').description('helper for getting status').action(function() { status(orc, cb);}); // REMOVE
+    app.parse(argv);
+  });
+}
+// orc checkpoint change
 
-exports.checkpoint = checkpoint;
-exports.pull = pull;
-exports.push = push;
-exports.branch = branch;
-exports.main = function() {
-	p = app.parse(process.argv);
-	console.log('main! '+JSON.stringify(process.argv));	
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+exports.main = main;
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bb5bdc6..1a84b35 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "description": "overlook research command line interface to change manager",
   "main": "orc.js",
   "scripts": {
-    "test": "jest",
+    "test": "mocha",
     "lint": "jshint orc *.js"
   },
   "keywords": [
@@ -14,10 +14,14 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "commander": "~2.6.0",
     "gitty": "*",
-    "jest": "~0.1.37",
-    "jshint": "~2.6.0",
-    "tmp": "*"
+    "jshint": "~2.6.0"
   },
   "author": "Aaron Brady",
-  "license": "(c) Overlook Research 2014"
+  "license": "(c) Overlook Research 2014",
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "chai": "^1.10.0",
+    "mocha": "^2.1.0",
+    "pushover": "^1.3.6",
+    "tmp": "*"
+  }
 }
diff --git a/test/orc-test.js b/test/orc-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6a8421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/orc-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+var child_process = require('child_process');
+var expect = require("chai").expect;
+var fs = require('fs');
+var git = require('gitty');
+var path = require('path');
+var pushover = require('pushover');
+var tmp = require('tmp');
+
+var orc = require('../orc.js');
+
+describe('no repo', function() {
+  it('should fail in a directory without git', function() {
+    tmp.dir(function(err, dir) {
+      expect(err).to.be.null();
+      orc.main(dir, [], function(err, res) {
+        expect(err).not.to.be.null();
+        expect(res).to.be.undefined();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('basic repo', function() {
+  tmp.dir(function(err, dir) {
+    expect(err).to.be.null();
+    var repo = git(dir, []);
+    repo.initSync();
+    var fn = path.resolve(dir,'foo.js');
+    fs.writeFileSync(fn, 'o hai');
+    repo.addSync([fn]);
+    repo.commitSync('foo');
+
+    it('should start up properly in a new github repo', function(done) {
+      orc.main(dir, ['node', 'orc'], function(err, res) {
+        expect(err).to.be.null();
+        expect(res).to.be.true();
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('remote tests', function() {
+  var gitserver;
+  var repo;
+  var repo2;
+  var repoDir;
+  var rootDir;
+  var repoName = 'orctest';
+  var branchName = 'foobranch';
+
+  // create a simple git server listener
+  before(function(done) {
+    tmp.dir(function(err, dir) {
+      rootDir = dir;
+      repoDir = path.resolve(dir,repoName);
+      fs.mkdirSync(repoDir);
+
+      repo = git(repoDir);
+      repo.initSync();
+      repo.addRemoteSync('origin', 'http://localhost:7001/server');
+      var gitserver = pushover(dir);
+      gitserver.on('push', function(push) {
+        push.accept();
+      });
+      gitserver.on('fetch', function (fetch) {
+        fetch.accept();
+      });
+      require('http').createServer(function(req, res) {
+        gitserver.handle(req, res);
+      }).listen(7001, function() {
+        done();
+      });    
+    });
+  });
+  // this is expected to have been done outside of orc
+  it('should create the master branch and push it', function(done) {
+    var fn = path.resolve(repoDir,'foo.js');
+    fs.writeFileSync(fn, 'o hai');
+    repo.addSync([fn]);
+    repo.commitSync('bar');
+    repo.push('origin', 'master', function(err, result) {
+      expect(fs.existsSync(path.resolve(rootDir,'server.git'))).to.be.true();
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+  it('should create a branch based off of the latest commit on master', function(done) {
+    orc.main(repoDir,['node','orc','branch',branchName], function(err, res) {
+      expect(repo.getBranchesSync().current).to.equal(branchName);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+  it('should have pushed the branch so it is visible to others', function(done) {
+    tmp.dir(function(err, dir) {
+      expect(err).to.be.null();
+      //console.log('root dir: '+rootDir);
+      //console.log('repo2 root: '+dir);
+      var repo2_dir = path.resolve(dir,dir);
+      git.clone(repo2_dir, 'http://localhost:7001/server', function(err) {
+        expect(err).to.be.null();
+        repo2 = git(repo2_dir);
+        repo2.pull('origin','master',['-a'], function(err, res) {
+          var co_res = repo2.checkoutSync(branchName);
+          expect(co_res).to.be.ok();
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
+  it('should checkpoint properly', function() {
+    var fn = path.resolve(repoDir,'bar.js');
+    fs.writeFileSync(fn, 'o hai');
+    orc.main(repoDir, ['node','orc','checkpoint'], function(err, res) {
+      expect(err).to.be.ok();
+      expect(res).to.be.undefined();
+    });
+  });
+  // createBranch test: success and failure
+});
+/*
+describe('github tests', function() {
+  var repo1 = null;
+  var repo2 = null;
+  tmp.dir(function(err, dir) {
+    child_process.execSync('git clone https://orctester:abcd1234@github.com/orctester/orctest.git', {cwd: dir});
+
+});*/
\ No newline at end of file