diff --git a/bin/basic b/bin/basic
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b360b11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/basic
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+eprint() {
+    echo -e >&2 "\x1B[1;31merror:\x1B[0m" $@
+}
+
+info() {
+    echo -e "\x1B[1minfo:\x1B[0m" $@
+}
+
+info_n() {
+    echo -en "\x1B[1minfo:\x1B[0m" $@
+}
+
+print-help() {
+    echo -e "\033[32mbasic\033[0m"
+    echo -e "Thomas Forgione <thomas@forgione.fr>"
+    echo -e "A script that automatically clones templates"
+    echo
+   print-usage
+}
+
+print-usage() {
+    echo -e "\033[33mUSAGE:\033[0m"
+    echo -e "    \033[32mbasic init <latex|beamer|marp>\033[0m                initialize a template in the current directory"
+    echo -e "    \033[32mbasic init <latex|beamer|marp> <directory>\033[0m    initialize a template in the specified directory"
+}
+
+print-usage-and-exit() {
+    print-usage
+    exit $1
+}
+
+git_clone() {
+
+    info_n "downloading template..."
+    GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 git clone $@ > /dev/null 2>&1
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo >&2
+        eprint "failed to download template"
+        exit 2
+    fi
+    echo " done!"
+}
+
+init() {
+    template=$1
+
+    case $template in
+        "latex" | "beamer" | "marp") ;;
+        *)
+            eprint "template $template does not exist"
+            print-usage-and-exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+
+    if [ $# -gt 1 ]; then
+        name=$2
+    else
+        name=.
+    fi
+
+    git_clone https://gitea.tforgione.fr/tforgione-basic/$1 $name
+    rm -rf $name/.git
+}
+
+main() {
+    arg=$1
+    shift
+
+    case $arg in
+        "init")
+            init $@
+            ;;
+
+        "help")
+            print-help
+            exit
+            ;;
+
+        ?*)
+            eprint "command $arg does not exist"
+            print-usage-and-exit 1
+            ;;
+
+        "")
+            print-help
+            exit
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+main $@