diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a0ff802..9bb10ab 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
+VER!=git describe --tags --always
+HASH!=git describe --always
+LDFLAGS=-ldflags="-X 'main.Version=${VER}' -X 'main.Commit=${HASH}'"
 all: checkcalls
-	go build -o gordio ./cmd/gordio/
+	go build -o gordio ${LDFLAGS} ./cmd/gordio/
 	go build -o calls ./cmd/calls/
 
 clean:
diff --git a/cmd/gordio/main.go b/cmd/gordio/main.go
index 7521331..bcb2758 100644
--- a/cmd/gordio/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gordio/main.go
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"runtime"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
@@ -13,15 +15,30 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
+var (
+	Version = "unset"
+	Commit  = "unset"
+)
+
+func version() {
+	fmt.Printf("gordio %s (%s)\nbuilt for %s-%s\n",
+		Version, Commit, runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
+}
+
 func main() {
 	log.Logger = log.Output(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
 
 	rootCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use: gordio.AppName,
 	}
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolP("version", "V", false, "show version")
 	cfg := config.New(rootCmd)
-	rootCmd.PersistentPreRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		return cfg.ReadConfig()
+	rootCmd.Run = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		v, _ := rootCmd.PersistentFlags().GetBool("version")
+		if v {
+			version()
+			os.Exit(0)
+		}
 	}
 
 	cmds := append([]*cobra.Command{gordio.Command(cfg)}, admin.Command(cfg)...)
diff --git a/pkg/gordio/admin/admin.go b/pkg/gordio/admin/admin.go
index f81f7e4..04255cb 100644
--- a/pkg/gordio/admin/admin.go
+++ b/pkg/gordio/admin/admin.go
@@ -117,9 +117,10 @@ func readPassword(prompt string) (string, error) {
 // Command is the users command.
 func Command(cfg *config.Config) []*cobra.Command {
 	userCmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:     "users",
-		Aliases: []string{"u"},
-		Short:   "administers the server",
+		Use:               "users",
+		Aliases:           []string{"u"},
+		Short:             "administers the server",
+		PersistentPreRunE: cfg.PreRunE(),
 	}
 	userCmd.AddCommand(addUserCommand(cfg), passwdCommand(cfg))
 
diff --git a/pkg/gordio/config/config.go b/pkg/gordio/config/config.go
index a33c4ef..e7c758e 100644
--- a/pkg/gordio/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/gordio/config/config.go
@@ -35,13 +35,21 @@ type DB struct {
 }
 
 type Logger struct {
-	File   *string `yaml:"file"`
-	Level  *string `yaml:"level"`
+	File  *string `yaml:"file"`
+	Level *string `yaml:"level"`
 }
 
-func New(cmd *cobra.Command) *Config {
+func (c *Config) PreRunE() func(*cobra.Command, []string) error {
+	return func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		return c.ReadConfig()
+	}
+}
+
+func New(rootCommand *cobra.Command) *Config {
 	c := &Config{}
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&c.configPath, "config", "c", "config.yaml", "configuration file")
+
+	rootCommand.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&c.configPath, "config", "c", "config.yaml", "configuration file")
+
 	return c
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/gordio/gordio.go b/pkg/gordio/gordio.go
index 693c395..de7837d 100644
--- a/pkg/gordio/gordio.go
+++ b/pkg/gordio/gordio.go
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ type ServeOptions struct {
 func Command(cfg *config.Config) *cobra.Command {
 	opts := makeOptions(cfg)
 	serveCmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "serve",
-		Short: "starts the" + AppName + " server",
-		RunE:  common.RunE(opts),
+		Use:               "serve",
+		Short:             "starts the" + AppName + " server",
+		PersistentPreRunE: cfg.PreRunE(),
+		RunE:              common.RunE(opts),
 	}
 
 	return serveCmd
diff --git a/pkg/gordio/server/logging.go b/pkg/gordio/server/logging.go
index 03d9930..9ff4c4f 100644
--- a/pkg/gordio/server/logging.go
+++ b/pkg/gordio/server/logging.go
@@ -20,13 +20,14 @@ const (
 type Logger struct {
 	console io.Writer
 	writers []io.Writer
-	hup chan os.Signal
+	hup     chan os.Signal
 }
 
 func NewLogger(cfg *config.Config) (*Logger, error) {
 	l := &Logger{
 		console: &zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr},
 	}
+
 	l.hup = make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	go func() {
 		for sig := range l.hup {
diff --git a/pkg/gordio/server/server.go b/pkg/gordio/server/server.go
index aace9c0..0b870b0 100644
--- a/pkg/gordio/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/gordio/server/server.go
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ func New(cfg *config.Config) (*Server, error) {
 	r := chi.NewRouter()
 	authenticator := auth.NewAuthenticator(cfg.Auth)
 	srv := &Server{
-		auth: authenticator,
-		conf: cfg,
-		db:   db,
-		r:    r,
-		nex:  nexus.New(),
+		auth:   authenticator,
+		conf:   cfg,
+		db:     db,
+		r:      r,
+		nex:    nexus.New(),
 		logger: logger,
 	}