diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7e80dcc..704de04 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ configure_file(version.h.in version.h)
 find_package(QT NAMES Qt6 Qt5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets LinguistTools)
 find_package(Qt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR} REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets LinguistTools)
 
+find_package(Glog REQUIRED)
+
+
 set(TS_FILES labelmeplus_zh_CN.ts)
 
 set(PROJECT_SOURCES main.cpp app.cpp app.h ${TS_FILES})
@@ -72,7 +75,7 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 target_include_directories(labelmeplus PRIVATE "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}")
-target_link_libraries(labelmeplus PRIVATE Qt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR}::Widgets yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp argparse)
+target_link_libraries(labelmeplus PRIVATE Qt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR}::Widgets yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp argparse glog::glog)
 
 # Qt for iOS sets MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER automatically since Qt 6.1. If
 # you are developing for iOS or macOS you should consider setting an explicit,
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 6ee2190..5320321 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -1,21 +1,86 @@
 #ifndef CONFIG_H
 #define CONFIG_H
 
+#include <glog/logging.h>
 #include <yaml-cpp/yaml.h>
 
 #include <QDir>
+#include <set>
+#include <stdexcept>
 
-typedef struct configuration {
-  QString here = QDir::current().absolutePath();
+static const QString here = QDir::current().absolutePath();
 
-  void get_default_config() {
-    QString config_file =
-        QDir::cleanPath(here + QDir::separator() + "config" +
-                        QDir::separator() + "default_config.yaml");
+static void update_dict(
+    YAML::Node& target_dict, const YAML::Node& new_dict,
+    std::function<void(std::string, YAML::Node)> validate_item = nullptr) {
+  for (YAML::const_iterator it = new_dict.begin(); it != new_dict.end(); ++it) {
+    if (validate_item) {
+      validate_item(it->first.as<std::string>(), it->second);
+    }
+    if (!target_dict[it->first]) {
+      LOG(WARNING) << "Skipping unexpected key in config: "
+                   << it->first.as<std::string>();
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (target_dict[it->first].IsMap() && it->second.IsMap()) {
+      YAML::Node item{};
+      update_dict(item, it->second, validate_item);
+      target_dict[it->first.as<std::string>()] = item;
+    } else {
+      target_dict[it->first] = it->second;
+    }
+  }
+}
 
-    YAML::Node config = YAML::Load(config_file.toStdString());
-  };
+static YAML::Node get_default_config() {
+  QString config_file =
+      QDir::cleanPath(here + QDir::separator() + "config" + QDir::separator() +
+                      "default_config.yaml");
 
-} configuration;
+  YAML::Node config = YAML::LoadFile(config_file.toStdString());
+
+  // save default config to ~/.labelmerc
+  QString user_config_file = QDir::homePath() + "/.labelmerc";
+  if (!QFile::exists(user_config_file)) {
+    QFile::copy(config_file, user_config_file);
+    if (!QFile::exists(user_config_file)) {
+      LOG(WARNING) << "Failed to save config: "
+                   << user_config_file.toStdString();
+    }
+  }
+
+  return config;
+};
+
+static void validateConfigItem(const std::string& key,
+                               const YAML::Node& value) {
+  if (key == "validate_label" && value && value.as<std::string>() != "exact") {
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "Unexpected value for config key 'validate_label': " +
+        value.as<std::string>());
+  }
+  if (key == "shape_color" && value && value.as<std::string>() != "auto" &&
+      value.as<std::string>() != "manual") {
+    throw std::runtime_error("Unexpected value for config key 'shape_color': " +
+                             value.as<std::string>());
+  }
+  if (key == "labels" && value) {
+    std::vector<std::string> labels = value.as<std::vector<std::string>>();
+    std::set<std::string> unique_labels(labels.begin(), labels.end());
+    if (labels.size() != unique_labels.size()) {
+      throw std::runtime_error(
+          "Duplicates are detected for config key 'labels'");
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+static YAML::Node get_config(const YAML::Node& config_file_or_yaml,
+                             const YAML::Node& config_from_args) {
+  // default config
+  auto config = get_default_config();
+  update_dict(config, config_file_or_yaml, validateConfigItem);
+  update_dict(config, config_from_args, validateConfigItem);
+  return config;
+};
 
 #endif  // CONFIG_H
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 89c4a41..703570b 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -1,14 +1,32 @@
+#include <glog/logging.h>
+#include <yaml-cpp/yaml.h>
+
 #include <QApplication>
+#include <QDir>
 #include <QLocale>
+#include <QStandardPaths>
+#include <QString>
 #include <QTranslator>
 #include <argparse/argparse.hpp>
+#include <fstream>
 
 #include "app.h"
+#include "config.h"
 #include "version.h"
 
+static std::vector<std::string> split(const std::string &s, char delimiter) {
+  std::vector<std::string> tokens;
+  std::string token;
+  std::stringstream tokenStream(s);
+  while (std::getline(tokenStream, token, delimiter)) {
+    tokens.push_back(token);
+  }
+  return tokens;
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   argparse::ArgumentParser parser("labelme++", "0.0",
-                                  argparse::default_arguments::none);
+                                  argparse::default_arguments::help);
   parser.add_argument("--version", "-v")
       .default_value(false)
       .implicit_value(true)
@@ -18,9 +36,67 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
       .implicit_value(true)
       .help("reset qt config");
   parser.add_argument("--logger-level")
-      .default_value(std::string{"debug"})
-      .choices("debug", "info", "warning", "fatal", "error")
+      .default_value(std::string{"info"})
+      // .choices("info", "warning", "fatal", "error")
+      // .nargs(1)
       .help("logger level");
+  parser.add_argument("filename")
+      .help("image or label filename")
+      .nargs(argparse::nargs_pattern::optional);
+  parser.add_argument("--output", "-O", "-o")
+      .help(
+          "output file or directory (if it ends with .json it is recognized as "
+          "file, else as directory)");
+
+  QString home = QStandardPaths::writableLocation(QStandardPaths::HomeLocation);
+  QDir dir(home);
+  QString default_config_file = dir.filePath(".labelmerc");
+  QString config_help_string =
+      QString("config file or yaml-format string (default: %1)")
+          .arg(default_config_file);
+  parser.add_argument("--config")
+      .default_value(default_config_file.toStdString())
+      .help(config_help_string.toStdString());
+
+  // config for the gui
+  parser.add_argument("--nodata")
+      .default_value(true)
+      .implicit_value(false)
+      .help("stop storing image data to JSON file");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--autosave")
+      .default_value(false)
+      .implicit_value(true)
+      .help("auto save");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--nosortlabels")
+      .default_value(false)
+      .implicit_value(true)
+      .help("stop sorting labels");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--flags").help(
+      "comma separated list of flags OR file containing flags");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--labelflags")
+      .help(
+          R"(yaml string of label specific flags OR file containing json string of label specific flags (ex. {person-\d+: [male, tall], dog-\d+: [black, brown, white], .*: [occluded]}))");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--labels")
+      .help("comma separated list of labels OR file containing labels");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--validatelabel")
+      .default_value(std::string("exact"))
+      .choices("exact")
+      .help("label validation types");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--keep-prev")
+      .default_value(true)
+      .implicit_value(false)
+      .help("keep annotation of previous frame");
+
+  parser.add_argument("--epsilon")
+      .scan<'g', float>()
+      .help("epsilon to find nearest vertex on canvas");
 
   try {
     parser.parse_args(argc, argv);
@@ -39,6 +115,67 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     return 0;
   }
 
+  std::map<std::string, int> log_level_map{{"info", google::GLOG_INFO},
+                                           {"warning", google::WARNING},
+                                           {"fatal", google::FATAL},
+                                           {"error", google::ERROR}};
+  std::string logger_level = parser.get<std::string>("--logger-level");
+  FLAGS_minloglevel = log_level_map[logger_level];
+
+  std::vector<std::string> flags{};
+  if (parser.is_used("--flags")) {
+    std::string flags_string = parser.get<std::string>("--flags");
+    QFileInfo file_info(QString::fromStdString(flags_string));
+    if (file_info.exists() && file_info.isFile()) {
+      std::ifstream in(flags_string);
+      std::string line{};
+      while (in >> line) {
+        flags.emplace_back(line);
+      }
+    } else {
+      flags = split(flags_string, ',');
+    }
+  }
+
+  std::vector<std::string> labels{};
+  if (parser.is_used("--labels")) {
+    std::string labels_string = parser.get<std::string>("--labels");
+    QFileInfo file_info(QString::fromStdString(labels_string));
+    if (file_info.exists() && file_info.isFile()) {
+      std::ifstream in(labels_string);
+      std::string line{};
+      while (in >> line) {
+        labels.emplace_back(line);
+      }
+    } else {
+      labels = split(labels_string, ',');
+    }
+  }
+
+  YAML::Node label_flags{};
+  if (parser.is_used("--labelflags")) {
+    std::string label_flags_string = parser.get<std::string>("--labelflags");
+    QFileInfo file_info(QString::fromStdString(label_flags_string));
+    if (file_info.exists() && file_info.isFile()) {
+      label_flags = YAML::LoadFile(label_flags_string);
+    } else {
+      label_flags = YAML::Load(label_flags_string);
+    }
+  }
+
+  YAML::Node config_yaml{};
+  if (parser.is_used("--config")) {
+    std::string config_yaml_string = parser.get<std::string>("--config");
+    QFileInfo file_info(QString::fromStdString(config_yaml_string));
+    if (file_info.exists() && file_info.isFile()) {
+      config_yaml = YAML::LoadFile(config_yaml_string);
+    } else {
+      config_yaml = YAML::Load(config_yaml_string);
+    }
+  }
+
+  YAML::Node config = get_config(config_yaml, config_yaml);
+
   QApplication a(argc, argv);
 
   QTranslator translator;