diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 38d079b76..bade96865 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
         "packages/app",
         "packages/relay",
         "packages/website",
-        "packages/desktop"
+        "packages/desktop",
+        "packages/cli"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
         "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk": "^0.2.11"
@@ -6698,6 +6699,10 @@
       "resolved": "packages/app",
       "link": true
     },
+    "node_modules/@paseo/cli": {
+      "resolved": "packages/cli",
+      "link": true
+    },
     "node_modules/@paseo/desktop": {
       "resolved": "packages/desktop",
       "link": true
@@ -26344,6 +26349,43 @@
         "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/colinhacks"
       }
     },
+    "packages/cli": {
+      "name": "@paseo/cli",
+      "version": "0.1.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@paseo/server": "*",
+        "chalk": "^5.3.0",
+        "commander": "^12.0.0"
+      },
+      "bin": {
+        "paseo": "bin/paseo"
+      },
+      "devDependencies": {
+        "tsx": "^4.6.0",
+        "typescript": "^5.2.2"
+      }
+    },
+    "packages/cli/node_modules/chalk": {
+      "version": "5.6.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/chalk/-/chalk-5.6.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-7NzBL0rN6fMUW+f7A6Io4h40qQlG+xGmtMxfbnH/K7TAtt8JQWVQK+6g0UXKMeVJoyV5EkkNsErQ8pVD3bLHbA==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": "^12.17.0 || ^14.13 || >=16.0.0"
+      },
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://github.com/chalk/chalk?sponsor=1"
+      }
+    },
+    "packages/cli/node_modules/commander": {
+      "version": "12.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/commander/-/commander-12.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-Vw8qHK3bZM9y/P10u3Vib8o/DdkvA2OtPtZvD871QKjy74Wj1WSKFILMPRPSdUSx5RFK1arlJzEtA4PkFgnbuA==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=18"
+      }
+    },
     "packages/desktop": {
       "name": "@paseo/desktop",
       "version": "1.0.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 91765d94a..514f77ef7 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
     "packages/app",
     "packages/relay",
     "packages/website",
-    "packages/desktop"
+    "packages/desktop",
+    "packages/cli"
   ],
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "./scripts/dev.sh",
diff --git a/packages/cli/bin/paseo b/packages/cli/bin/paseo
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..67ea354db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/bin/paseo
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env npx tsx
+import '../src/index.js'
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..014cbcc31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{
+  "name": "@paseo/cli",
+  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "description": "Paseo CLI - control your AI coding agents from the command line",
+  "type": "module",
+  "bin": {
+    "paseo": "./bin/paseo"
+  },
+  "scripts": {
+    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@paseo/server": "*",
+    "commander": "^12.0.0",
+    "chalk": "^5.3.0"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "typescript": "^5.2.2",
+    "tsx": "^4.6.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c776b8d67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { Command } from 'commander'
+
+const VERSION = '0.1.0'
+
+export function createCli(): Command {
+  const program = new Command()
+
+  program
+    .name('paseo')
+    .description('Paseo CLI - control your AI coding agents from the command line')
+    .version(VERSION, '-v, --version', 'output the version number')
+
+  // Placeholder subcommands for Phase 1
+  program
+    .command('agent')
+    .description('Manage agents')
+    .action(() => {
+      console.log('agent command (not yet implemented)')
+    })
+
+  program
+    .command('daemon')
+    .description('Manage the Paseo daemon')
+    .action(() => {
+      console.log('daemon command (not yet implemented)')
+    })
+
+  program
+    .command('permit')
+    .description('Manage permission requests')
+    .action(() => {
+      console.log('permit command (not yet implemented)')
+    })
+
+  program
+    .command('worktree')
+    .description('Manage git worktrees')
+    .action(() => {
+      console.log('worktree command (not yet implemented)')
+    })
+
+  program
+    .command('provider')
+    .description('Manage agent providers')
+    .action(() => {
+      console.log('provider command (not yet implemented)')
+    })
+
+  return program
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9fe0776ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { createCli } from './cli.js'
+
+const program = createCli()
+program.parse()
diff --git a/packages/cli/tsconfig.json b/packages/cli/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a76a2787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "module": "NodeNext",
+    "moduleResolution": "NodeNext",
+    "outDir": "./dist",
+    "rootDir": "./src",
+    "declaration": true,
+    "declarationMap": true,
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "noUnusedLocals": true,
+    "noUnusedParameters": true,
+    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true
+  },
+  "include": ["src/**/*"],
+  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist", "src/**/*.test.ts"]
+}