diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4926e64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import sys
+from pprint import pprint
+from argparse import ArgumentParser
+
+from minecraft_query import MinecraftQuery
+
+def main():
+    parser = ArgumentParser(description="Query status of Minecraft multiplayer server",
+                            epilog="Exit status: 0 if the server can be reached, otherwise nonzero."
+                           )
+    parser.add_argument("host", help="target hostname")
+    parser.add_argument("-q", "--quiet", action='store_true', default=False,
+                        help='don\'t print anything, just check if the server is running')
+    parser.add_argument("-p", "--port", type=int, default=25565,
+                        help='UDP port of server\'s "query" service [25565]')
+    parser.add_argument("-r", "--retries", type=int, default=3,
+                        help='retry query at most this number of times [3]')
+    parser.add_argument("-t", "--timeout", type=int, default=10,
+                        help='retry timeout in seconds [10]')
+
+    options = parser.parse_args()
+
+    try:
+        query = MinecraftQuery(options.host, options.port,
+                               timeout=options.timeout,
+                               retries=options.retries)
+        server_data = query.get_rules()
+    except socket.error as e:
+        if not options.quiet:
+            print "socket exception caught:", e.message
+            print "Server is down or unreachable."
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    if not options.quiet:
+        print "Server response data:"
+        pprint(server_data)
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+
+if __name__=="__main__":
+    main()