diff --git a/client/config/config.go b/client/config/config.go
index 3d9594f587ad..cb66efa2bf94 100644
--- a/client/config/config.go
+++ b/client/config/config.go
@@ -3,15 +3,17 @@ package config
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
-	"path"
 	"strconv"
+	"errors"
+
 
 	toml "github.com/pelletier/go-toml"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 
+
+
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/client/flags"
 )
 
@@ -50,48 +52,35 @@ config keyring-backend with no arguments // outputs default
 config invalidKey invalidValue
 
 
-CLI flags
-
-do i need to add all flags? from client/flags/flags.go
-
-"keyring-dir" : "",
-"ledger": false,
-"height": 0,
-"gas-adjustment": flags.DefaultGasAdjustment,//float
-"from": "",
-"account-number": 0,
-"sequence": 0,
-"memo": "",
-"fees": "",
-"gas-prices":"",
-"dry-run": false,
-"generate-only":false,
-"offline": false,
-"yes": true, //doublec heck skip-confirmation = true
-
-
-
-
+*/
 
+var ErrWrongNumberOfArgs = fmt.Errorf("wrong number of arguments")
 
 
+type ClientConfig struct{
 
-*/
+	ChainID string `mapstructure:"chain-id"`
+	KeyringBackend string `mapstructure:"keyring-backend"`
+	Output string   `mapstructure:"output"`
+	Node string     `mapstructure:"node"`
+	BroadcastMode string   `mapstructure:"broadcast-mode"`
+	Trace bool `mapstructure:"trace"`
+}
 
-var ErrWrongNumberOfArgs = fmt.Errorf("wrong number of arguments")
+func DefaultClientConfig() *ClientConfig {
+	return &ClientConfig{
+		ChainID : "", 
+		KeyringBackend :"os", 
+		Output : "text", 
+		Node: "tcp://localhost:26657", 
+		BroadcastMode : "sync", 
+		Trace : false,
+	}
+}
 
-// is this full client side configuration?
-// add height = 0
-var configDefaults = map[string]string{
 
-	"chain-id":        "",
-	"keyring-backend": "os",
-	"output":          "text",
-	"node":            "tcp://localhost:26657",
-	"broadcast-mode":  "sync",
-}
 
-// ConfigCmd returns a CLI command to interactively create an application CLI
+// Cmd returns a CLI command to interactively create an application CLI
 // config file.
 func Cmd(defaultCLIHome string) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -108,6 +97,98 @@ func Cmd(defaultCLIHome string) *cobra.Command {
 	return cmd
 }
 
+func runConfigCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+
+	
+	InitConfigTemplate()
+
+	cfgPath, err := ensureConfFile(viper.GetString(flags.FlagHome))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	getAction := viper.GetBool(flagGet)
+	if getAction && len(args) != 1 {
+		return ErrWrongNumberOfArgs
+	}
+
+	cliConfig, err := getClientConfig(cfgPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Unable to get client config %v", err)
+	}
+
+
+	switch len(args) {
+	case 0:
+		// print all client config fields to sdt out
+		// TODO implement method to print out all client config fiels
+		fmt.Println(cliConfig.ChainID)
+		fmt.Println(cliConfig.KeyringBackend)
+		fmt.Println(cliConfig.Output)
+		fmt.Println(cliConfig.Node)
+		fmt.Println(cliConfig.BroadcastMode)
+		fmt.Println(cliConfig.Trace)
+		
+	case 1:
+		// it's a get  
+		// TODO implement method for get
+		key := args[0]
+		switch key {
+			case "chain-id": fmt.Println(cliConfig.ChainID)
+			case "keyring-backend": fmt.Println(cliConfig.KeyringBackend)
+			case "output": fmt.Println(cliConfig.Output)
+			case "node": fmt.Println(cliConfig.Node)
+			case "broadcast-mode": fmt.Println(cliConfig.BroadcastMode)
+			case "trace": fmt.Println(cliConfig.Trace)
+			default :
+				return errUnknownConfigKey(key)
+		}
+
+	case 2:
+		// it's set
+		// TODO impement method for set
+		// TODO implement setters
+		key, value := args[0], args[1]
+		switch key {
+			case "chain-id": cliConfig.ChainID = value
+			case "keyring-backend": cliConfig.KeyringBackend = value
+			case "output": cliConfig.Output = value
+			case "node": cliConfig.Node = value
+			case "broadcast-mode": cliConfig.BroadcastMode = value
+			case "trace": 
+				boolVal, err := strconv.ParseBool(value)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				cliConfig.Trace = boolVal
+			default :
+				return errUnknownConfigKey(key)
+		}
+
+	default:
+		// print error
+		return errors.New("Unknown configuration error")
+	}
+
+
+	WriteConfigFile()
+
+
+
+	return nil 
+
+
+
+
+	
+
+	
+
+}
+
+
+
+/*
 func runConfigCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	cfgFile, err := ensureConfFile(viper.GetString(flags.FlagHome))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -143,6 +224,9 @@ func runConfigCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		case "chain-id", "keyring-backend", "output", "node", "broadcast-mode":
 			fmt.Println(tree.Get(key).(string))
 
+		case "trace":
+			fmt.Println(tree.Get(key).(bool))
+
 		default:
 			// do we need to print out default value here in case key is invalid?
 			if defaultValue, ok := configDefaults[key]; ok {
@@ -168,8 +252,7 @@ func runConfigCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	case "chain-id", "keyring-backend", "output", "node", "broadcast-mode":
 		tree.Set(key, value)
 
-	// do we need to check if key matches one of these?
-	case "trace", "trust-node", "indent":
+	case "trace":
 		boolVal, err := strconv.ParseBool(value)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -189,16 +272,10 @@ func runConfigCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "configuration saved to %s\n", cfgFile)
 	return nil
 }
+*/
 
-func ensureConfFile(rootDir string) (string, error) {
-	cfgPath := path.Join(rootDir, "config")
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(cfgPath, os.ModePerm); err != nil { // config directory
-		return "", err
-	}
-
-	return path.Join(cfgPath, "client.toml"), nil
-}
 
+/*
 func loadConfigFile(cfgFile string) (*toml.Tree, error) {
 	if _, err := os.Stat(cfgFile); os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s does not exist\n", cfgFile)
@@ -217,6 +294,7 @@ func loadConfigFile(cfgFile string) (*toml.Tree, error) {
 
 	return tree, nil
 }
+*/
 
 func saveConfigFile(cfgFile string, tree io.WriterTo) error {
 	fp, err := os.OpenFile(cfgFile, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_TRUNC|os.O_CREATE, 0644)
diff --git a/client/config/config_test.go b/client/config/config_test.go
index 983bfbd97b90..0e0f64a166fd 100644
--- a/client/config/config_test.go
+++ b/client/config/config_test.go
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ func Test_runConfigCmdTwiceWithShorterNodeValue(t *testing.T) {
 	err = cmd.RunE(cmd, []string{"invalidKey", "invalidValue"})
 	require.Equal(t, err, errUnknownConfigKey("invalidKey"))
 
+	// TODO add testing of pririty environmental variable, flag and file
+
 }
 
 func tmpDir(t *testing.T) (string, func()) {
diff --git a/client/config/toml.go b/client/config/toml.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7332a81becac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/config/toml.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"text/template"
+	"os"
+	"path"
+	
+
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+	tmos "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/os"
+)
+
+const defaultConfigTemplate = `# This is a TOML config file.
+# For more information, see https://github.com/toml-lang/toml
+
+###############################################################################
+###                           Client Configuration                            ###
+###############################################################################
+
+
+chain-id = "{{ .ClientConfig.ChainID }}"
+keyring-backend = "{{ .ClientConfig.KeyringBackend }}"
+output = "{{ .ClientConfig.Output }}"
+node = "{{ .ClientConfig.Node }}"
+broadcast-mode = "{{ .ClientConfig.BroadcastMode }}"
+trace = "{{ .ClientConfig.Trace }}"
+`
+
+var configTemplate *template.Template
+
+func InitConfigTemplate() {
+	var err error
+
+	tmpl := template.New("clientConfigFileTemplate")
+
+	if configTemplate, err = tmpl.Parse(defaultConfigTemplate); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+}
+
+// ParseConfig retrieves the default environment configuration for the
+// application.
+func ParseConfig() *ClientConfig {
+	conf := DefaultClientConfig()
+	 _ = viper.Unmarshal(conf)
+
+	return conf
+}
+
+// WriteConfigFile renders config using the template and writes it to
+// configFilePath.
+func WriteConfigFile(configFilePath string, config *ClientConfig) {
+	var buffer bytes.Buffer
+
+	if err := configTemplate.Execute(&buffer, config); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	tmos.MustWriteFile(configFilePath, buffer.Bytes(), 0644)
+}
+
+func ensureConfFile(rootDir string) (string, error) {
+	cfgPath := path.Join(rootDir, "config")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(cfgPath, os.ModePerm); err != nil { // config directory
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return cfgPath, nil
+}
+
+func getClientConfig(cfgPath string) (*ClientConfig, error) {
+	viper.AddConfigPath(cfgPath)
+	viper.SetConfigName("client")
+	viper.SetConfigType("toml")
+	if err := viper.ReadInConfig(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	conf := new(ClientConfig)
+	if err := viper.Unmarshal(conf); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return conf,nil
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2a9836c0581e..3fc4d5184bf3 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/improbable-eng/grpc-web v0.14.0
 	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.4
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12
+	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.3.3
 	github.com/otiai10/copy v1.5.0
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml v1.8.1
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1