diff --git a/MinecraftDiscordBot/BotConfiguration.cs b/MinecraftDiscordBot/BotConfiguration.cs
index 1a3af65..881f039 100644
--- a/MinecraftDiscordBot/BotConfiguration.cs
+++ b/MinecraftDiscordBot/BotConfiguration.cs
@@ -1,14 +1,46 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using CommandLine;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using System.Text;
 
 namespace MinecraftDiscordBot;
 
-public class BotConfiguration {
+[Verb("config", HelpText = "Manually configure the bot with CLI arguments.")]
+public class BotConfiguration : IBotConfiguration, IBotConfigurator {
+    private const string DEFAULT_PREFIX = "!";
+    private const int DEFAULT_PORT = 8080;
     [JsonProperty("token", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public string Token { get; set; } = default!;
-    [JsonProperty("port", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public int Port { get; set; } = default!;
+    [Option('t', "token", HelpText = "The Discord bot token", Required = true)]
+    public string Token { get; init; } = default!;
+    [JsonProperty("port", Required = Required.DisallowNull)]
+    [Option('p', "port", Default = DEFAULT_PORT, HelpText = "The websocket server port")]
+    public int Port { get; init; } = DEFAULT_PORT;
     [JsonProperty("channels", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public IEnumerable<ulong> Channels { get; set; } = default!;
-    [JsonProperty("prefix", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public string Prefix { get; set; } = default!;
+    [Option('c', "channel", HelpText = "The list of whitelisted channels", Required = true, Min = 1)]
+    public IEnumerable<ulong> Channels { get; init; } = default!;
+    [JsonProperty("prefix", Required = Required.DisallowNull)]
+    [Option("prefix", Default = DEFAULT_PREFIX, HelpText = "The Discord bot command prefix")]
+    public string Prefix { get; init; } = DEFAULT_PREFIX;
+    [JsonIgnore]
+    public BotConfiguration Config => this;
 }
+
+public interface IBotConfigurator {
+    BotConfiguration Config { get; }
+}
+
+public interface IBotConfiguration {
+    string Token { get; }
+    int Port { get; }
+    IEnumerable<ulong> Channels { get; }
+    string Prefix { get; }
+}
+
+[Verb("file", true, HelpText = "Load a bot configuration file.")]
+public class ConfigFile : IBotConfigurator {
+    private const string DEFAULT_CONFIGPATH = "config.json";
+    [Option('f', "file", Default = DEFAULT_CONFIGPATH, HelpText = "The path of the configuration file")]
+    public string ConfigPath { get; set; } = DEFAULT_CONFIGPATH;
+    public BotConfiguration Config
+        => JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<BotConfiguration>(File.ReadAllText(ConfigPath, Encoding.UTF8))
+        ?? throw new InvalidProgramException("Invalid empty config file!");
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/MinecraftDiscordBot/Program.cs b/MinecraftDiscordBot/Program.cs
index 226db04..8c01e7d 100644
--- a/MinecraftDiscordBot/Program.cs
+++ b/MinecraftDiscordBot/Program.cs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using CommandLine;
 using Discord;
 using Discord.Commands;
 using Discord.Rest;
@@ -60,14 +61,19 @@ public class Program : IDisposable {
 
 
     public static Task<int> Main(string[] args)
-        => JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<BotConfiguration>(File.ReadAllText("config.json")) is BotConfiguration config
-            ? new Program(config).RunAsync()
-            : throw new InvalidProgramException("Configuration file missing!");
+        => Parser.Default.ParseArguments<BotConfiguration, ConfigFile>(args)
+        .MapResult<BotConfiguration, ConfigFile, Task<int>>(
+            RunWithConfig,
+            RunWithConfig,
+            errs => Task.FromResult(1));
+
+    private static Task<int> RunWithConfig(IBotConfigurator arg) => new Program(arg.Config).RunAsync();
 
     public async Task<int> RunAsync() {
         await _client.LoginAsync(TokenType.Bot, _config.Token);
         await _client.StartAsync();
-        await VerifyTextChannels();
+        if (!await HasValidChannels())
+            return 1;
         StartWebSocketServer();
 
         // Block this task until the program is closed.
@@ -75,11 +81,21 @@ public class Program : IDisposable {
         return 0;
     }
 
+    private async Task<bool> HasValidChannels() {
+        if (await GetValidChannels(_whitelistedChannels).ToArrayAsync() is not { Length: > 0 } channels) {
+            await LogError(BotSource, new InvalidOperationException("No valid textchannel was whitelisted!"));
+            return false;
+        }
+        _channels = channels;
+        return true;
+    }
+
     private void StartWebSocketServer() => _wssv.Start(socket => {
         socket.OnOpen = async () => await SocketOpened(socket);
         socket.OnClose = async () => await SocketClosed(socket);
         socket.OnMessage = async message => await SocketReceived(socket, message);
     });
+
     private async IAsyncEnumerable<ITextChannel> GetValidChannels(IEnumerable<ulong> ids) {
         foreach (var channelId in ids) {
             var channel = await _client.GetChannelAsync(channelId);
@@ -99,8 +115,6 @@ public class Program : IDisposable {
         }
     }
 
-    private async Task VerifyTextChannels() => _channels = await GetValidChannels(_whitelistedChannels).ToArrayAsync();
-
     private async Task SocketReceived(IWebSocketConnection socket, string message) {
         if (JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<CapabilityMessage>(message) is not CapabilityMessage capability) return;