diff --git a/config/default-example.yaml b/config/default-example.yaml
index 46d0b1d..f55912a 100644
--- a/config/default-example.yaml
+++ b/config/default-example.yaml
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ database: db.sqlite
 # which directory to keep x2i keys (sub dirs.data)
 x2i: x2i
 
+# logging level; see npmlog.level
+level: info
+
 # embed options (ie the fancy posts only bots can do)
 # they mess with e-readers and logging apparently so you might want to turn it
 # off if that's a thing you need to worry about
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index a7c6dd5..17bb35d 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ npmlog.style = new Proxy(npmlog.style, {
   get: (o, k) => o[k] || o.info,
 });
 npmlog.enableColor();
+npmlog.level = c.has("level") ? c.get("level") : "info";
 
 function splitPrefix(status: string): [string, string] {
   const sepIndex = status.indexOf(":");