diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62b900e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+name: CI
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  pull_request:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    name: build & vet
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v6
+        with:
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+
+      - name: go build
+        run: go build ./...
+
+      - name: go vet
+        run: go vet ./...
+
+  lint:
+    name: golangci-lint
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v6
+        with:
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+
+      - uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v9
+        with:
+          version: v2.12
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bb562f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Go build artifacts
+/grsync
+/grsync.exe
+*.exe
+*.test
+*.out
+
+# IDE / editor
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
diff --git a/.golangci.yaml b/.golangci.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9dc5736
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.golangci.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+version: "2"
+
+run:
+  timeout: 5m
+
+linters:
+  default: standard
+  enable:
+    - errcheck
+    - govet
+    - staticcheck
+    - unused
+    - ineffassign
+    - revive
+    - misspell
+    - unconvert
+    - gocritic
+
+formatters:
+  enable:
+    - gofmt
+    - goimports
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..155ea32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# grsync
+
+An rsync-inspired file synchronization tool written in Go.
+
+## Status
+
+**CLI skeleton only — no sync logic yet.** The command-line interface parses
+arguments and flags and prints what it received, but no files are actually
+read, compared, transferred, or deleted. `internal/sync` and
+`internal/transport` are currently empty packages reserved for that work.
+
+## Build
+
+Requires Go (see [go.mod](go.mod) for the version this module targets).
+
+```sh
+go build ./cmd/grsync
+```
+
+This produces a `grsync` (or `grsync.exe` on Windows) binary in the current
+directory. To run without building a binary:
+
+```sh
+go run ./cmd/grsync <source>... <destination> [flags]
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+```
+grsync <source>... <destination> [flags]
+```
+
+At least one `source` and exactly one `destination` are required
+(the last positional argument is always the destination), matching rsync's
+own `SRC... DEST` grammar rather than restricting to a single source.
+
+| Flag | Shorthand | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| `--archive` | `-a` | archive mode (equivalent to common rsync defaults) |
+| `--verbose` | `-v` | increase output verbosity |
+| `--compress` | `-z` | compress file data during transfer |
+| `--recursive` | `-r` | recurse into directories |
+| `--dry-run` | `-n` | show what would be transferred without transferring |
+| `--delete` | | delete extraneous files from destination |
+| `--progress` | | show progress during transfer |
+| `--exclude PATTERN` | | exclude files matching PATTERN (repeatable) |
+| `--include PATTERN` | | include files matching PATTERN (repeatable) |
+| `--filter RULE` | | add a file-filtering RULE (repeatable) |
+
+`--exclude`, `--include`, and `--filter` are collected into a single ordered
+rule list, not three independent lists — their relative order on the command
+line is preserved regardless of which of the three flags produced each rule.
+This matches rsync's first-match-wins filter semantics, where rule order is
+significant.
+
+At this stage, running the command only echoes the parsed values back — it
+does not transfer any files:
+
+```sh
+$ go run ./cmd/grsync ./src1 ./src2 ./dst -av --exclude "*.log" --include "keep.log"
+sources:     [./src1 ./src2]
+destination: ./dst
+archive:     true
+verbose:     true
+...
+filters:     exclude:*.log, include:keep.log
+```
+
+## Architecture
+
+grsync follows the same conceptual split as upstream
+[rsync](https://rsync.samba.org/): a **sync layer** that decides *what* needs
+to change (comparing source and destination file trees, applying
+include/exclude/filter rules) and a **transport layer** that handles *how*
+data actually moves (local copies today, with room for remote transports
+later). The codebase mirrors that split:
+
+- `cmd/grsync` — CLI entrypoint (binary wiring only).
+- `internal/cli` — argument/flag parsing (built on
+  [spf13/cobra](https://github.com/spf13/cobra)); owns no sync or transport
+  logic.
+- `internal/sync` — (placeholder) will own comparison and change-planning
+  logic, analogous to rsync's file-list generation and delta algorithm.
+- `internal/transport` — (placeholder) will own how bytes are actually moved
+  between source and destination.
+
+grsync's goal is full feature parity with upstream rsync, not just
+similarity of CLI flags — including protocol- and format-level
+interoperability with the C implementation where specified (for example,
+batch mode's `--write-batch`/`--read-batch` file format is required to be
+interoperable with the C rsync implementation). None of that is implemented
+yet: the wire protocol, delta-transfer algorithm, and batch file format are
+still to come in later tickets. This README will be updated as each piece
+lands.
+
+## License
+
+[GNU General Public License v3.0](LICENSE)
diff --git a/cmd/grsync/main.go b/cmd/grsync/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7210ee0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/grsync/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// Command grsync is the CLI entrypoint. It is intentionally thin: all
+// command/flag definitions live in internal/cli so they stay testable
+// without invoking a real process.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/syntaxroot-cc/grsync/internal/cli"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	if err := cli.Execute(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5791822
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+module github.com/syntaxroot-cc/grsync
+
+go 1.26.5
+
+require github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
+
+require (
+	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6ee3e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.6/go.mod h1:oOW0eioCTA6cOiMLiUPZOpcVxMig6NIQQ7OS05n1F4g=
+github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 h1:wN+x4NVGpMsO7ErUn/mUI3vEoE6Jt13X2s0bqwp9tc8=
+github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0/go.mod h1:vpF70FUmC8bwa3OWnCshd2FqLfsEA9PFc4w1p2J65bw=
+github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
+github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2 h1:DMTTonx5m65Ic0GOoRY2c16WCbHxOOw6xxezuLaBpcU=
+github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2/go.mod h1:7C1pvHqHw5A4vrJfjNwvOdzYu0Gml16OCs2GRiTUUS4=
+github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9 h1:9exaQaMOCwffKiiiYk6/BndUBv+iRViNW+4lEMi0PvY=
+github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
+go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4/go.mod h1:DhzuOOF2ATzADvBadXxruRBLzYTpT36CKvDb3+aBEFg=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
diff --git a/internal/cli/root.go b/internal/cli/root.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ffcf5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cli/root.go
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+// Package cli defines the grsync command-line interface: argument parsing,
+// flags, and the command tree. It does not perform any sync or transport
+// logic itself — it only collects options and hands them off (see the
+// options struct printed in Run below, which will later be passed to
+// internal/sync).
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+// FilterRuleType identifies which kind of rule a FilterRule represents.
+type FilterRuleType string
+
+// The three rule kinds grsync's flags can produce. Kept as their own type
+// (rather than a bare string) so callers can't accidentally pass an
+// arbitrary value through.
+const (
+	FilterRuleInclude FilterRuleType = "include"
+	FilterRuleExclude FilterRuleType = "exclude"
+	FilterRuleFilter  FilterRuleType = "filter"
+)
+
+// FilterRule is a single --include/--exclude/--filter rule. rsync treats
+// these three flags as one ordered, first-match-wins rule list rather than
+// three independent lists, so grsync collects them the same way: Type
+// records which flag produced the rule, and relative order across *all*
+// three flags is preserved in the order the user supplied them.
+type FilterRule struct {
+	Type    FilterRuleType
+	Pattern string
+}
+
+// options holds every flag value parsed from the command line. Keeping them
+// in one struct (rather than loose variables) makes it straightforward to
+// pass a single value into internal/sync once that package exists.
+type options struct {
+	archive     bool
+	verbose     bool
+	compress    bool
+	recursive   bool
+	dryRun      bool
+	delete      bool
+	progress    bool
+	filterRules []FilterRule
+}
+
+// filterRuleFlag implements pflag.Value. Each of --exclude/--include/--filter
+// gets its own instance, fixed to a single FilterRuleType, but all three
+// share the same backing slice — so pflag's normal "call Set once per
+// occurrence" behavior naturally builds one ordered rule list regardless of
+// which of the three flag names was used at each position.
+type filterRuleFlag struct {
+	ruleType FilterRuleType
+	rules    *[]FilterRule
+}
+
+func (f *filterRuleFlag) String() string { return "" }
+
+func (f *filterRuleFlag) Set(pattern string) error {
+	*f.rules = append(*f.rules, FilterRule{Type: f.ruleType, Pattern: pattern})
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (f *filterRuleFlag) Type() string {
+	if f.ruleType == FilterRuleFilter {
+		return "rule"
+	}
+	return "pattern"
+}
+
+// NewRootCmd builds the root grsync command. It is exported as a
+// constructor (rather than a package-level var) so tests can create fresh
+// instances without shared state.
+func NewRootCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	opts := &options{}
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "grsync <source>... <destination>",
+		Short: "grsync synchronizes files between one or more sources and a destination",
+		Long: "grsync is an rsync-inspired file synchronization tool.\n" +
+			"At this stage it only parses arguments and flags; no files are copied yet.",
+		Args: cobra.MinimumNArgs(2),
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			sources, destination := args[:len(args)-1], args[len(args)-1]
+			return run(cmd, sources, destination, opts)
+		},
+	}
+
+	flags := cmd.Flags()
+	flags.BoolVarP(&opts.archive, "archive", "a", false, "archive mode (equivalent to common rsync defaults)")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&opts.verbose, "verbose", "v", false, "increase output verbosity")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&opts.compress, "compress", "z", false, "compress file data during transfer")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&opts.recursive, "recursive", "r", false, "recurse into directories")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&opts.dryRun, "dry-run", "n", false, "show what would be transferred without transferring")
+	flags.BoolVar(&opts.delete, "delete", false, "delete extraneous files from destination")
+	flags.BoolVar(&opts.progress, "progress", false, "show progress during transfer")
+	flags.Var(&filterRuleFlag{ruleType: FilterRuleExclude, rules: &opts.filterRules},
+		"exclude", "exclude files matching PATTERN (repeatable, order preserved relative to --include/--filter)")
+	flags.Var(&filterRuleFlag{ruleType: FilterRuleInclude, rules: &opts.filterRules},
+		"include", "include files matching PATTERN (repeatable, order preserved relative to --exclude/--filter)")
+	flags.Var(&filterRuleFlag{ruleType: FilterRuleFilter, rules: &opts.filterRules},
+		"filter", "add a file-filtering RULE (repeatable, order preserved relative to --exclude/--include)")
+
+	return cmd
+}
+
+// run is the placeholder command body. It only echoes back what was parsed
+// so the flag wiring can be verified end to end; the actual sync/transport
+// work lands in later tickets.
+func run(cmd *cobra.Command, sources []string, destination string, opts *options) error {
+	var rules strings.Builder
+	if len(opts.filterRules) == 0 {
+		rules.WriteString("[]")
+	} else {
+		for i, r := range opts.filterRules {
+			if i > 0 {
+				rules.WriteString(", ")
+			}
+			fmt.Fprintf(&rules, "%s:%s", r.Type, r.Pattern)
+		}
+	}
+
+	summary := fmt.Sprintf(
+		"sources:     %v\n"+
+			"destination: %s\n"+
+			"archive:     %t\n"+
+			"verbose:     %t\n"+
+			"compress:    %t\n"+
+			"recursive:   %t\n"+
+			"dry-run:     %t\n"+
+			"delete:      %t\n"+
+			"progress:    %t\n"+
+			"filters:     %s\n",
+		sources, destination,
+		opts.archive, opts.verbose, opts.compress, opts.recursive, opts.dryRun,
+		opts.delete, opts.progress, rules.String(),
+	)
+
+	_, err := fmt.Fprint(cmd.OutOrStdout(), summary)
+	return err
+}
+
+// Execute runs the root command using os.Args, as called from main().
+func Execute() error {
+	return NewRootCmd().Execute()
+}
diff --git a/internal/sync/.gitkeep b/internal/sync/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/internal/transport/.gitkeep b/internal/transport/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29