diff --git a/src/repository.rb b/src/repository.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28ce619
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/repository.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+require_relative 'util.rb'
+
+class Repository
+
+	def initialize(path)
+		@basePath = path
+
+		# create repository base directory
+		createDirectory(@basePath)
+
+		# create sub-directories
+		subPaths = ['ingest', 'archive', 'output']
+		subPaths.each { |p|
+			createDirectory(File.join(@basePath, p))
+		}
+	end
+
+end
diff --git a/src/util.rb b/src/util.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..743357e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+def createDirectory(path)
+	if Dir.exists?(path)
+		puts "Directory #{path} already exists."
+	else
+		puts "Creating directory #{path}."
+	end
+end
diff --git a/src/zealot.rb b/src/zealot.rb
index 4e8673b..2007d41 100755
--- a/src/zealot.rb
+++ b/src/zealot.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
 require_relative 'config.rb'
+require_relative 'repository.rb'
 
+# create new configuration instance
 c = Config.new('~/.config/zealot.toml')
 
+# create new repository instance
+r = Repository.new(c.get('transcoder.repository'))
+
+# print repository directory as a test
 puts c.get('transcoder.repository')