diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java
index b0eb866..0bcb610 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ import tech.bitgoblin.video.Transcoder;
  */
 public class App {
 
+  private static final String configFile = "~/.config/dragoon.toml";
+
   public static void main(String[] args) {
     // read our config file
-    Config c = new Config("~/dragoon/config.toml");
+    Config c = new Config(configFile);
     // create new Transcoder object and start the service
     //Transcoder t = new Transcoder("~/dragoon");
     //t.transcode();
diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Config.java b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Config.java
index 4c30551..f6efc2a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Config.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Config.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package tech.bitgoblin.config;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
@@ -17,13 +18,18 @@ public class Config {
     // parse config file
     try {
       this.parseConfig();
-      String value = result.getString("repo");
+      String value = this.result.getString("repo");
       System.out.println(value);
     } catch (IOException e) {
-      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+      System.out.println("Unable to read config file; please check that " + this.configPath + " is available.");
+      System.exit(1);
     }
   }
 
+  public String getString(String key) {
+    return this.result.getString(key);
+  }
+
   private void parseConfig() throws IOException {
     // parse config file
     Path source = Paths.get(this.configPath);
diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/video/Transcoder.java b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/video/Transcoder.java
index 5d89e02..a02968b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/video/Transcoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/video/Transcoder.java
@@ -12,16 +12,19 @@ import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 
+import tech.bitgoblin.config.Config;
 import tech.bitgoblin.io.IOUtils;
 
 public class Transcoder {
 
   private String repo_dir;
+  private Config config;
   private String ffmpeg_path = "/usr/bin/ffmpeg";
 
   // only define the working directory; use default FFMPEG path
-  public Transcoder(String repo_dir) {
-    this.repo_dir = IOUtils.resolveTilda(repo_dir);
+  public Transcoder(Config config) {
+    this.config = config;
+    this.repo_dir = IOUtils.resolveTilda(config.getString("transcoder.repo_path"));
     this.initDirectory();
   }
   // define a custom FFMPEG binary path