diff --git a/settings.js b/settings.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41f0582
--- /dev/null
+++ b/settings.js
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+import { execSync } from 'child_process'
+import fs from 'fs'
+import { parse, stringify } from 'envfile'
+
+export const AO_ENV_FILE_PATH = process.env.HOME + '/.ao/.env'
+
+function createAoFolderIfDoesNotExist() {
+  
+}
+
+// Check for an AO env file at ~/.ao/.env and returns true if it exists
+export function checkAoEnvFile() {
+  try {
+    execSync(`[ -f "${AO_ENV_FILE_PATH}" ]`)
+    return true
+  } catch(err) {
+    return false
+  }
+}
+
+export function aoEnv(variable) {
+  let envFileContents = {}
+  try {
+    envFileContents = fs.readFileSync(AO_ENV_FILE_PATH)
+  } catch(err) {
+    if(err.code === 'ENOENT') {
+      //console.log('The .env file does not exist, so the requested value', variable, 'is empty.')
+    } else {
+      console.log('Unknown error loading .env file in aoEnv, aborting.')
+    }
+    return null
+  }
+  const parsedFile = parse(envFileContents)
+  
+  if(!parsedFile.hasOwnProperty(variable)) {
+    return null
+  }
+  
+  // Convert ENV idiom to programmatic types
+  switch(parsedFile[variable]) {
+    case '1':
+    case 'true':
+    case 'TRUE':
+    case 'yes':
+    case 'YES':
+      return true
+    case '0':
+    case 'false':
+    case 'FALSE':
+    case 'no':
+    case 'NO':
+      return false
+  }
+  
+  return parsedFile[variable]
+}
+
+// Sets and saves the given ENV=value to the global ~/.ao/.env file
+// If value is null, the env variable will be deleted
+// Returns true if a change was made, false if no change was made or if it failed
+export function setAoEnv(variable, value) {
+  createAoFolderIfDoesNotExist()
+  if(typeof variable !== 'string') {
+    console.log('ENV variable name must be a string for setAoEnv')
+    return false
+  }
+  
+  // Convert types to standard ENV file idiom
+  switch(value) {
+    case true:
+    case 'TRUE':
+    case 'yes':
+    case 'YES':
+      value = '1'
+      break
+    case false:
+    case 'FALSE':
+    case 'no':
+    case 'NO':
+      value = '0'
+  }
+  
+  let envFileContents = {}
+  try {
+    envFileContents = fs.readFileSync(AO_ENV_FILE_PATH)
+  } catch(err) {
+    if(err.code === 'ENOENT') {
+      console.log('The .env file hasn\'t been created yet, creating.')
+    } else {
+      console.log('Unknown error loading .env file in setAoEnv, aborting. Error:', err)
+      return false
+    }
+  }
+  
+  const parsedFile = parse(envFileContents)
+  if(parsedFile[variable] == value) {
+    console.log(variable, 'is already', value, 'so no change was made.')
+    return false
+  }
+  
+  if(value === null) {
+    delete parsedFile[variable]
+  } else {
+    parsedFile[variable] = value
+  }
+  
+  const stringified = stringify(parsedFile)
+  fs.writeFileSync(AO_ENV_FILE_PATH, stringified)
+  
+  // Confirm the variable was set in the .env file correctly
+  if(aoEnv(variable) != value) {
+    console.log('Value was not saved correctly, sorry.')
+    return false
+  }
+  return true
+}
+
+function setAndSaveEnvironmentVariable(variable, value, path) {
+  
+}