diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 921cb4b7..bc65db66 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,4 +24,5 @@ members = [
   "examples/json",
   "examples/handlebars_templates",
   "examples/form_kitchen_sink",
+  "examples/config",
 ]
diff --git a/examples/config/Cargo.toml b/examples/config/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..413d7cdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/config/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[package]
+name = "config"
+version = "0.0.1"
+authors = ["Sergio Benitez <sb@sergio.bz>"]
+workspace = "../../"
+
+[dependencies]
+rocket = { path = "../../lib" }
+rocket_codegen = { path = "../../codegen" }
diff --git a/examples/config/Rocket.toml b/examples/config/Rocket.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..592ccf9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/config/Rocket.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# None of these are actually needed as Rocket has sane defaults for each. We
+# show all of them here explicitly for demonstrative purposes.
+
+[development]
+address = "localhost"
+port = 8000
+log = "normal"
+
+[staging]
+address = "0.0.0.0"
+port = 80
+log = "normal"
+# don't use this key! generate your own and keep it private!
+session_key = "VheMwXIBygSmOlZAhuWl2B+zgvTN3WW5"
+
+[production]
+address = "0.0.0.0"
+port = 80
+log = "critical"
+# don't use this key! generate your own and keep it private!
+session_key = "adL5fFIPmZBrlyHk2YT4NLV3YCk2gFXz"
diff --git a/examples/config/src/main.rs b/examples/config/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8adf87aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/config/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#![feature(plugin)]
+#![plugin(rocket_codegen)]
+
+extern crate rocket;
+
+#[get("/")]
+fn hello() -> &'static str {
+    "Hello, world!"
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    rocket::ignite().mount_and_launch("/hello", routes![hello]);
+}
diff --git a/lib/Cargo.toml b/lib/Cargo.toml
index a9c4e142..b1b6b0d3 100644
--- a/lib/Cargo.toml
+++ b/lib/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,3 +9,4 @@ log = "^0.3"
 hyper = { version = "^0.9", default-features = false }
 url = "^1"
 mime = "^0.2"
+toml = "^0.2"
diff --git a/lib/src/config/config.rs b/lib/src/config/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c955416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/src/config/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+use super::Environment::*;
+use super::Environment;
+
+use logger::LoggingLevel;
+use toml::Value;
+
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct Config {
+    pub address: String,
+    pub port: usize,
+    pub log_level: LoggingLevel,
+    pub session_key: Option<String>,
+    pub extra: HashMap<String, Value>,
+}
+
+macro_rules! parse {
+    ($val:expr, as_str) => (
+        match $val.as_str() {
+            Some(v) => v,
+            None => return Err("a string")
+        }
+    );
+
+    ($val:expr, as_integer) => (
+        match $val.as_integer() {
+            Some(v) => v,
+            None => return Err("an integer")
+        }
+    );
+}
+
+impl Config {
+    pub fn default_for(env: Environment) -> Config {
+        match env {
+            Development => {
+                Config {
+                    address: "localhost".to_string(),
+                    port: 8000,
+                    log_level: LoggingLevel::Normal,
+                    session_key: None,
+                    extra: HashMap::new(),
+                }
+            }
+            Staging => {
+                Config {
+                    address: "0.0.0.0".to_string(),
+                    port: 80,
+                    log_level: LoggingLevel::Normal,
+                    session_key: None,
+                    extra: HashMap::new(),
+                }
+            }
+            Production => {
+                Config {
+                    address: "0.0.0.0".to_string(),
+                    port: 80,
+                    log_level: LoggingLevel::Critical,
+                    session_key: None,
+                    extra: HashMap::new(),
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn set(&mut self, name: &str, value: &Value) -> Result<(), &'static str> {
+        if name == "address" {
+            self.address = parse!(value, as_str).to_string();
+        } else if name == "port" {
+            self.port = parse!(value, as_integer) as usize;
+        } else if name == "session_key" {
+            let key = parse!(value, as_str);
+            if key.len() != 32 {
+                return Err("a 192-bit base64 encoded string")
+            }
+
+            self.session_key = Some(key.to_string());
+        } else if name == "log" {
+            self.log_level = match parse!(value, as_str).parse() {
+                Ok(level) => level,
+                Err(_) => return Err("log level ('normal', 'critical', 'debug')"),
+            };
+        } else {
+            self.extra.insert(name.into(), value.clone());
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/config/environment.rs b/lib/src/config/environment.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8093c13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/src/config/environment.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+use super::ConfigError;
+
+use std::fmt;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+use std::env;
+
+use self::Environment::*;
+
+const CONFIG_ENV: &'static str = "ROCKET_ENV";
+
+#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, Debug, Clone, Copy)]
+pub enum Environment {
+    Development,
+    Staging,
+    Production,
+}
+
+impl Environment {
+    pub fn active() -> Result<Environment, ConfigError> {
+        let env_str = env::var(CONFIG_ENV).unwrap_or(Development.to_string());
+        env_str.parse().map_err(|_| ConfigError::BadEnv(env_str))
+    }
+
+    /// Returns a string with a comma-seperated list of valid environments.
+    pub fn valid() -> &'static str {
+        "development, staging, production"
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for Environment {
+    type Err = ();
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        let env = match s {
+            "dev" | "devel" | "development" => Development,
+            "stage" | "staging" => Staging,
+            "prod" | "production" => Production,
+            _ => return Err(()),
+        };
+
+        Ok(env)
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Environment {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        match *self {
+            Development => write!(f, "development"),
+            Staging => write!(f, "staging"),
+            Production => write!(f, "production"),
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/config/error.rs b/lib/src/config/error.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f64576ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/src/config/error.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+use super::Environment;
+
+use term_painter::Color::White;
+use term_painter::ToStyle;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct ParsingError {
+    pub byte_range: (usize, usize),
+    pub start: (usize, usize),
+    pub end: (usize, usize),
+    pub desc: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum ConfigError {
+    BadCWD,
+    NotFound,
+    IOError,
+    /// (environment_name)
+    BadEnv(String),
+    /// (environment_name, filename)
+    BadEntry(String, String),
+    /// (entry_name, expected_type, actual_type, filename)
+    BadType(String, &'static str, &'static str, String),
+    /// (toml_source_string, filename, error_list)
+    ParseError(String, String, Vec<ParsingError>),
+}
+
+impl ConfigError {
+    pub fn pretty_print(&self) {
+        use self::ConfigError::*;
+
+        let valid_envs = Environment::valid();
+        match *self {
+            BadCWD => error!("couldn't get current working directory"),
+            NotFound => error!("config file was not found"),
+            IOError => error!("failed reading the config file: IO error"),
+            BadEntry(ref name, ref filename) => {
+                error!("[{}] is not a known configuration environment", name);
+                info_!("in {}", White.paint(filename));
+                info_!("valid environments are: {}", White.paint(valid_envs));
+            }
+            BadEnv(ref name) => {
+                error!("'{}' is not a valid ROCKET_ENV", name);
+                info_!("valid environments are: {}", White.paint(valid_envs));
+            }
+            BadType(ref name, ref expected, ref actual, ref filename) => {
+                error!("'{}' key could not be parsed", name);
+                info_!("in {}", White.paint(filename));
+                info_!("expected value to be {}, but found {}",
+                       White.paint(expected), White.paint(actual));
+            }
+            ParseError(ref source, ref filename, ref errors) => {
+                for error in errors {
+                    let (lo, hi) = error.byte_range;
+                    let (line, col) = error.start;
+                    let error_source = &source[lo..hi];
+
+                    error!("config file could not be parsed as TOML");
+                    info_!("at {}:{}:{}", White.paint(filename), line + 1, col + 1);
+                    trace_!("'{}' - {}", error_source, White.paint(&error.desc));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/config/mod.rs b/lib/src/config/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1acec8a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/src/config/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+mod error;
+mod environment;
+mod config;
+
+pub use self::error::{ConfigError, ParsingError};
+pub use self::environment::Environment;
+
+use toml::{self, Table};
+
+use self::Environment::*;
+use self::config::Config;
+
+use std::fs::{self, File};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::io::Read;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::env;
+
+const CONFIG_FILENAME: &'static str = "Rocket.toml";
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct RocketConfig {
+    pub active_env: Environment,
+    config: HashMap<Environment, Config>,
+}
+
+impl RocketConfig {
+    /// Iteratively search for `file` in `pwd` and its parents, returning the path
+    /// to the file or an Error::NoKey if the file couldn't be found.
+    fn find() -> Result<PathBuf, ConfigError> {
+        let cwd = env::current_dir().map_err(|_| ConfigError::BadCWD)?;
+        let mut current = cwd.as_path();
+
+        loop {
+            let manifest = current.join(CONFIG_FILENAME);
+            if fs::metadata(&manifest).is_ok() {
+                return Ok(manifest)
+            }
+
+            match current.parent() {
+                Some(p) => current = p,
+                None => break,
+            }
+        }
+
+        Err(ConfigError::NotFound)
+    }
+
+    fn set(&mut self, env: Environment, kvs: &Table, filename: &str)
+            -> Result<(), ConfigError> {
+        let config = self.config.entry(env).or_insert(Config::default_for(env));
+        for (key, value) in kvs {
+            if let Err(expected) = config.set(key, value) {
+                let name = format!("{}.{}", env, key);
+                return Err(ConfigError::BadType(
+                    name, expected, value.type_str(), filename.to_string()
+                ))
+            }
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    pub fn get(&self, env: Environment) -> &Config {
+        if let Some(config) = self.config.get(&env) {
+            config
+        } else {
+            panic!("No value from environment: {:?}", env);
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn active(&self) -> &Config {
+        self.get(self.active_env)
+    }
+
+    fn parse(src: String, filename: &str) -> Result<RocketConfig, ConfigError> {
+        // Parse the source as TOML, if possible.
+        let mut parser = toml::Parser::new(&src);
+        let toml = parser.parse().ok_or(ConfigError::ParseError(
+            src.clone(), filename.into(),
+            parser.errors.iter().map(|error| ParsingError {
+                byte_range: (error.lo, error.hi),
+                start: parser.to_linecol(error.lo),
+                end: parser.to_linecol(error.hi),
+                desc: error.desc.clone(),
+            }).collect()
+        ))?;
+
+        // Create a config with the defaults, but the set the env to the active
+        let mut config = RocketConfig::default();
+        config.active_env = Environment::active()?;
+
+        // Parse the values from the TOML file.
+        for (entry, value) in toml {
+            // Parse the environment from the table entry name.
+            let env = entry.as_str().parse().map_err(|_| {
+                ConfigError::BadEntry(entry.clone(), filename.into())
+            })?;
+
+            // Each environment must be a table.
+            let kv_pairs = match value.as_table() {
+                Some(table) => table,
+                None => return Err(ConfigError::BadType(
+                    entry, "a table", value.type_str(), filename.into()
+                ))
+            };
+
+            // Set the environment configuration from the kv pairs.
+            config.set(env, &kv_pairs, filename)?;
+        }
+
+        Ok(config)
+    }
+
+    pub fn read() -> Result<RocketConfig, ConfigError> {
+        // Find the config file, starting from the `cwd` and working backwords.
+        let file = RocketConfig::find()?;
+
+        // Try to open the config file for reading.
+        let mut handle = File::open(&file).map_err(|_| ConfigError::IOError)?;
+
+        // Read the configure file to a string for parsing.
+        let mut contents = String::new();
+        handle.read_to_string(&mut contents).map_err(|_| ConfigError::IOError)?;
+
+        // Parse the contents from the file.
+        RocketConfig::parse(contents, &file.to_string_lossy())
+    }
+}
+
+impl Default for RocketConfig {
+    fn default() -> RocketConfig {
+        RocketConfig {
+            active_env: Environment::Development,
+            config: {
+                let mut default_config = HashMap::new();
+                default_config.insert(Development, Config::default_for(Development));
+                default_config.insert(Staging, Config::default_for(Staging));
+                default_config.insert(Production, Config::default_for(Production));
+                default_config
+            },
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/lib.rs b/lib/src/lib.rs
index 1610778b..336101b7 100644
--- a/lib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/src/lib.rs
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ extern crate term_painter;
 extern crate hyper;
 extern crate url;
 extern crate mime;
+extern crate toml;
 #[macro_use] extern crate log;
 
 #[doc(hidden)] #[macro_use] pub mod logger;
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ mod router;
 mod rocket;
 mod codegen;
 mod catcher;
+mod config;
 
 /// Defines the types for request and error handlers.
 pub mod handler {
@@ -99,3 +101,8 @@ pub use error::Error;
 pub use router::{Router, Route};
 pub use catcher::Catcher;
 pub use rocket::Rocket;
+
+/// Alias to Rocket::ignite().
+pub fn ignite() -> Rocket {
+    Rocket::ignite()
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/logger.rs b/lib/src/logger.rs
index 82a96fd0..a9b6470d 100644
--- a/lib/src/logger.rs
+++ b/lib/src/logger.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 //! Rocket's logging infrastructure.
 
+use std::str::FromStr;
+
 use log::{self, Log, LogLevel, LogRecord, LogMetadata};
 use term_painter::Color::*;
 use term_painter::ToStyle;
@@ -7,7 +9,7 @@ use term_painter::ToStyle;
 struct RocketLogger(LoggingLevel);
 
 /// Defines the different levels for log messages.
-#[derive(PartialEq)]
+#[derive(PartialEq, Eq, Debug, Clone, Copy)]
 pub enum LoggingLevel {
     /// Only shows errors and warning.
     Critical,
@@ -28,6 +30,20 @@ impl LoggingLevel {
     }
 }
 
+impl FromStr for LoggingLevel {
+    type Err = ();
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        let level = match s {
+            "critical" => LoggingLevel::Critical,
+            "normal" => LoggingLevel::Normal,
+            "debug" => LoggingLevel::Debug,
+            _ => return Err(())
+        };
+
+        Ok(level)
+    }
+}
+
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! log_ {
     ($name:ident: $format:expr) => { log_!($name: $format,) };
diff --git a/lib/src/rocket.rs b/lib/src/rocket.rs
index a3b7f493..eaa80b74 100644
--- a/lib/src/rocket.rs
+++ b/lib/src/rocket.rs
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ use super::*;
 use response::{FreshHyperResponse, Outcome};
 use request::HyperRequest;
 use catcher;
+use config::RocketConfig;
 
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::str::from_utf8_unchecked;
 use std::cmp::min;
+use std::process;
 
 use term_painter::Color::*;
 use term_painter::ToStyle;
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ use hyper::header::SetCookie;
 
 pub struct Rocket {
     address: String,
-    port: isize,
+    port: usize,
     router: Router,
     catchers: HashMap<u16, Catcher>,
     log_set: bool,
@@ -120,7 +122,7 @@ impl Rocket {
         catcher.handle(Error::NoRoute, request).respond(response);
     }
 
-    pub fn new<S: ToString>(address: S, port: isize) -> Rocket {
+    pub fn new<S: ToString>(address: S, port: usize) -> Rocket {
         Rocket {
             address: address.to_string(),
             port: port,
@@ -193,14 +195,59 @@ impl Rocket {
         }
 
         let full_addr = format!("{}:{}", self.address, self.port);
+        let server = match HyperServer::http(full_addr.as_str()) {
+            Ok(hyper_server) => hyper_server,
+            Err(e) => {
+                error!("failed to start server.");
+                error_!("{}", e);
+                process::exit(1);
+            }
+        };
+
         info!("🚀  {} {}...",
               White.paint("Rocket has launched from"),
               White.bold().paint(&full_addr));
-        let _ = HyperServer::http(full_addr.as_str()).unwrap().handle(self);
+
+        server.handle(self).unwrap();
     }
 
     pub fn mount_and_launch(mut self, base: &'static str, routes: Vec<Route>) {
         self.mount(base, routes);
         self.launch();
     }
+
+    pub fn ignite() -> Rocket {
+        use config::ConfigError::*;
+        let config = match RocketConfig::read() {
+            Ok(config) => config,
+            Err(e@ParseError(..)) | Err(e@BadEntry(..)) |
+            Err(e@BadEnv(..)) | Err(e@BadType(..))  => {
+                logger::init(LoggingLevel::Debug);
+                e.pretty_print();
+                process::exit(1)
+            }
+            Err(IOError) | Err(BadCWD) => {
+                warn!("error reading Rocket config file; using defaults.");
+                RocketConfig::default()
+            }
+            Err(NotFound) => RocketConfig::default()
+        };
+
+        logger::init(config.active().log_level);
+        info!("🔧  Configured for {}.", config.active_env);
+        info_!("listening: {}:{}",
+               White.paint(&config.active().address),
+               White.paint(&config.active().port));
+        info_!("logging: {:?}", White.paint(config.active().log_level));
+        info_!("session key: {}",
+               White.paint(config.active().session_key.is_some()));
+
+        Rocket {
+            address: config.active().address.clone(),
+            port: config.active().port,
+            router: Router::new(),
+            catchers: catcher::defaults::get(),
+            log_set: true,
+        }
+    }
 }