diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/Helper/DialogHelper.php b/src/Composer/Command/Helper/DialogHelper.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..674b03800
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/Helper/DialogHelper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Composer.
+ *
+ * (c) Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ *     Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Composer\Command\Helper;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\DialogHelper as BaseDialogHelper;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+
+class DialogHelper extends BaseDialogHelper
+{
+    /**
+     * Build text for asking a question. For example:
+     *
+     *  "Do you want to continue [yes]:"
+     *
+     * @param string $question The question you want to ask
+     * @param mixed $default Default value to add to message, if false no default will be shown
+     * @param string $sep Separation char for between message and user input
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function getQuestion($question, $default, $sep = ':')
+    {
+        return $default ?
+            sprintf('<info>%s</info> [<comment>%s</comment>]%s ', $question, $default, $sep) :
+            sprintf('<info>%s</info>%s ', $question, $sep);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/InitCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/InitCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..93023d2ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/InitCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,370 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Composer.
+ *
+ * (c) Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ *     Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Composer\Command;
+
+use Composer\Json\JsonFile;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputOption;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ExecutableFinder;
+
+/**
+ * @author Justin Rainbow <justin.rainbow@gmail.com>
+ */
+class InitCommand extends Command
+{
+    private $gitConfig;
+
+    public function parseAuthorString($author)
+    {
+        if (preg_match('/^(?P<name>[- \.,a-z0-9]+) <(?P<email>.+?)>$/i', $author, $match)) {
+            if ($match['email'] === filter_var($match['email'], FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
+                return array(
+                    'name'  => trim($match['name']),
+                    'email' => $match['email']
+                );
+            }
+        }
+
+        throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
+            'Invalid author string.  Must be in the format:'.
+            ' John Smith <john@example.com>'
+        );
+    }
+
+    protected function configure()
+    {
+        $this
+            ->setName('init')
+            ->setDescription('Creates a basic composer.json file in current directory.')
+            ->setDefinition(array(
+                new InputOption('name', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Name of the package'),
+                new InputOption('description', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Description of package'),
+                new InputOption('author', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Author name of package'),
+                // new InputOption('version', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Version of package'),
+                new InputOption('homepage', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Homepage of package'),
+                new InputOption('require', null, InputOption::VALUE_IS_ARRAY | InputOption::VALUE_REQUIRED, 'An array required packages'),
+            ))
+            ->setHelp(<<<EOT
+The <info>init</info> command creates a basic composer.json file
+in the current directory.
+
+<info>php composer.phar init</info>
+
+EOT
+            )
+        ;
+    }
+
+    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $dialog = $this->getHelperSet()->get('dialog');
+
+        $whitelist = array('name', 'description', 'author', 'require');
+
+        $options = array_filter(array_intersect_key($input->getOptions(), array_flip($whitelist)));
+
+        if (isset($options['author'])) {
+            $options['authors'] = $this->formatAuthors($options['author']);
+            unset($options['author']);
+        }
+
+        $options['require'] = isset($options['require']) ?
+            $this->formatRequirements($options['require']) :
+            new \stdClass;
+
+        $file = new JsonFile('composer.json');
+
+        $json = $file->encode($options);
+
+        if ($input->isInteractive()) {
+            $output->writeln(array(
+                '',
+                $json,
+                ''
+            ));
+            if (!$dialog->askConfirmation($output, $dialog->getQuestion('Do you confirm generation', 'yes', '?'), true)) {
+                $output->writeln('<error>Command aborted</error>');
+
+                return 1;
+            }
+        }
+
+        $file->write($options);
+
+        if ($input->isInteractive()) {
+            $ignoreFile = realpath('.gitignore');
+
+            if (false === $ignoreFile) {
+                $ignoreFile = realpath('.') . '/.gitignore';
+            }
+
+            if (!$this->hasVendorIgnore($ignoreFile)) {
+                $question = 'Would you like the <info>vendor</info> directory added to your <info>.gitignore</info> [<comment>yes</comment>]?';
+
+                if ($dialog->askConfirmation($output, $question, true)) {
+                    $this->addVendorIgnore($ignoreFile);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function interact(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $git = $this->getGitConfig();
+
+        $dialog = $this->getHelperSet()->get('dialog');
+        $formatter = $this->getHelperSet()->get('formatter');
+        $output->writeln(array(
+            '',
+            $formatter->formatBlock('Welcome to the Composer config generator', 'bg=blue;fg=white', true),
+            ''
+        ));
+
+        // namespace
+        $output->writeln(array(
+            '',
+            'This command will guide you through creating your composer.json config.',
+            '',
+        ));
+
+        $cwd = realpath(".");
+
+        if (false === $name = $input->getOption('name')) {
+            $name = basename($cwd);
+            if (isset($git['github.user'])) {
+                $name = $git['github.user'] . '/' . $name;
+            } else {
+                // package names must be in the format foo/bar
+                $name = $name . '/' . $name;
+            }
+        }
+
+        $name = $dialog->askAndValidate(
+            $output,
+            $dialog->getQuestion('Package name', $name),
+            function ($value) use ($name) {
+                if (null === $value) {
+                    return $name;
+                }
+
+                if (!preg_match('{^[a-z0-9_.-]+/[a-z0-9_.-]+$}i', $value)) {
+                    throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
+                        'The package name '.$value.' is invalid, it should have a vendor name, a forward slash, and a package name, matching: [a-z0-9_.-]+/[a-z0-9_.-]+'
+                    );
+                }
+
+                return $value;
+            }
+        );
+        $input->setOption('name', $name);
+
+        $description = $input->getOption('description') ?: false;
+        $description = $dialog->ask(
+            $output,
+            $dialog->getQuestion('Description', $description)
+        );
+        $input->setOption('description', $description);
+
+        if (false === $author = $input->getOption('author')) {
+            if (isset($git['user.name']) && isset($git['user.email'])) {
+                $author = sprintf('%s <%s>', $git['user.name'], $git['user.email']);
+            }
+        }
+
+        $self = $this;
+        $author = $dialog->askAndValidate(
+            $output,
+            $dialog->getQuestion('Author', $author),
+            function ($value) use ($self, $author) {
+                if (null === $value) {
+                    return $author;
+                }
+
+                $author = $self->parseAuthorString($value);
+
+                return sprintf('%s <%s>', $author['name'], $author['email']);
+            }
+        );
+        $input->setOption('author', $author);
+
+        $output->writeln(array(
+            '',
+            'Define your dependencies.',
+            ''
+        ));
+
+        $requirements = array();
+        if ($dialog->askConfirmation($output, $dialog->getQuestion('Would you like to define your dependencies interactively', 'yes', '?'), true)) {
+            $requirements = $this->determineRequirements($input, $output);
+        }
+        $input->setOption('require', $requirements);
+    }
+
+    protected function findPackages($name)
+    {
+        $composer = $this->getComposer();
+
+        $packages = array();
+
+        // create local repo, this contains all packages that are installed in the local project
+        $localRepo = $composer->getRepositoryManager()->getLocalRepository();
+
+        $token = strtolower($name);
+        foreach ($composer->getRepositoryManager()->getRepositories() as $repository) {
+            foreach ($repository->getPackages() as $package) {
+                if (false === ($pos = strpos($package->getName(), $token))) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                $packages[] = $package;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $packages;
+    }
+
+    protected function determineRequirements(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $dialog = $this->getHelperSet()->get('dialog');
+        $prompt = $dialog->getQuestion('Search for a package', false, ':');
+
+        $requires = $input->getOption('require') ?: array();
+
+        while (null !== $package = $dialog->ask($output, $prompt)) {
+            $matches = $this->findPackages($package);
+
+            if (count($matches)) {
+                $output->writeln(array(
+                    '',
+                    sprintf('Found <info>%s</info> packages matching <info>%s</info>', count($matches), $package),
+                    ''
+                ));
+
+                foreach ($matches as $position => $package) {
+                    $output->writeln(sprintf(' <info>%5s</info> %s <comment>%s</comment>', "[$position]", $package->getPrettyName(), $package->getPrettyVersion()));
+                }
+
+                $output->writeln('');
+
+                $validator = function ($selection) use ($matches) {
+                    if ('' === $selection) {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+
+                    if (!isset($matches[(int) $selection])) {
+                        throw new \Exception('Not a valid selection');
+                    }
+
+                    return $matches[(int) $selection];
+                };
+
+                $package = $dialog->askAndValidate($output, $dialog->getQuestion('Enter package # to add', false, ':'), $validator, 3);
+
+                if (false !== $package) {
+                    $requires[] = sprintf('%s %s', $package->getName(), $package->getPrettyVersion());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $requires;
+    }
+
+    protected function formatAuthors($author)
+    {
+        return array($this->parseAuthorString($author));
+    }
+
+    protected function formatRequirements(array $requirements)
+    {
+        $requires = array();
+        foreach ($requirements as $requirement) {
+            list($packageName, $packageVersion) = explode(" ", $requirement);
+
+            $requires[$packageName] = $packageVersion;
+        }
+
+        return empty($requires) ? new \stdClass : $requires;
+    }
+
+    protected function getGitConfig()
+    {
+        if (null !== $this->gitConfig) {
+            return $this->gitConfig;
+        }
+
+        $finder = new ExecutableFinder();
+        $gitBin = $finder->find('git');
+
+        $cmd = new Process(sprintf('%s config -l', $gitBin));
+        $cmd->run();
+
+        if ($cmd->isSuccessful()) {
+            return $this->gitConfig = parse_ini_string($cmd->getOutput(), false, INI_SCANNER_RAW);
+        }
+
+        return $this->gitConfig = array();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Checks the local .gitignore file for the Composer vendor directory.
+     *
+     * Tested patterns include:
+     *  "/$vendor"
+     *  "$vendor"
+     *  "$vendor/"
+     *  "/$vendor/"
+     *  "/$vendor/*"
+     *  "$vendor/*"
+     *
+     * @param string $ignoreFile
+     * @param string $vendor
+     *
+     * @return Boolean
+     */
+    protected function hasVendorIgnore($ignoreFile, $vendor = 'vendor')
+    {
+        if (!file_exists($ignoreFile)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $pattern = sprintf(
+            '~^/?%s(/|/\*)?$~',
+            preg_quote($vendor, '~')
+        );
+
+        $lines = file($ignoreFile, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);
+        foreach ($lines as $line) {
+            if (preg_match($pattern, $line)) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    protected function addVendorIgnore($ignoreFile, $vendor = 'vendor')
+    {
+        $contents = "";
+        if (file_exists($ignoreFile)) {
+            $contents = file_get_contents($ignoreFile);
+
+            if ("\n" !== substr($contents, 0, -1)) {
+                $contents .= "\n";
+            }
+        }
+
+        file_put_contents($ignoreFile, $contents . $vendor);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Composer/Console/Application.php b/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
index 6d1d6ba0b..fe6b6cb13 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ use Symfony\Component\Console\Formatter\OutputFormatter;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Formatter\OutputFormatterStyle;
 use Symfony\Component\Finder\Finder;
 use Composer\Command;
+use Composer\Command\Helper\DialogHelper;
 use Composer\Composer;
 use Composer\Factory;
 use Composer\IO\IOInterface;
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ class Application extends BaseApplication
     {
         $this->add(new Command\AboutCommand());
         $this->add(new Command\DependsCommand());
+        $this->add(new Command\InitCommand());
         $this->add(new Command\InstallCommand());
         $this->add(new Command\UpdateCommand());
         $this->add(new Command\SearchCommand());
@@ -114,4 +116,16 @@ class Application extends BaseApplication
             $this->add(new Command\SelfUpdateCommand());
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     */
+    protected function getDefaultHelperSet()
+    {
+        $helperSet = parent::getDefaultHelperSet();
+
+        $helperSet->set(new DialogHelper());
+
+        return $helperSet;
+    }
 }