diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index ab7339a..b183308 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -4,12 +4,37 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/cmd/template"
+	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/config"
+	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/logging"
 	"os"
 )
 
+var logLevel string
+var debugLogging bool
+
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "vyb",
 	Short: "vyb is a CLI tool that uses AI to help you iteratively develop applications faster",
+	PersistentPreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		cfg, err := config.Load(".")
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Println(err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+
+		if logLevel == "" {
+			logLevel = cfg.Logging.Level
+		}
+
+		if logLevel == "" {
+			logLevel = "info"
+		}
+
+		if err := logging.Init(logLevel); err != nil {
+			fmt.Println(err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	},
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		// If no subcommand is provided, print usage.
 		fmt.Println(cmd.UsageString())
@@ -25,6 +50,8 @@ func Execute() {
 }
 
 func init() {
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&logLevel, "log-level", "", "log level (e.g. debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&debugLogging, "debug", false, "enable request/response debug logging")
 	err := template.Register(rootCmd)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Println(err)
diff --git a/cmd/template/template.go b/cmd/template/template.go
index 5e18764..4b29c45 100644
--- a/cmd/template/template.go
+++ b/cmd/template/template.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package template
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/config"
+	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/logging"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -168,9 +169,9 @@ func execute(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, def *Definition) error {
 	}
 
 	if len(patchResult.ChangedModules) > 0 {
-		fmt.Println("Warning: metadata is stale. Run 'vyb update' to refresh.")
+		logging.Log.Warn("metadata is stale. Run 'vyb update' to refresh.")
 		for moduleName, change := range patchResult.ChangedModules {
-			fmt.Printf("  - Module %s changed by %.2f%%\n", moduleName, change.ChangePercentage())
+			logging.Log.Warnf("  - Module %s changed by %.2f%%\n", moduleName, change.ChangePercentage())
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -196,12 +197,12 @@ func execute(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, def *Definition) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("The following files will be included in the request:\n")
+	logging.Log.Infof("The following files will be included in the request:\n")
 	for _, file := range files {
 		if relTarget != nil && file == *relTarget {
-			fmt.Printf("  %s <-- TARGET\n", file)
+			logging.Log.Infof("  %s <-- TARGET\n", file)
 		} else {
-			fmt.Printf("  %s\n", file)
+			logging.Log.Infof("  %s\n", file)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -264,11 +265,11 @@ func execute(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, def *Definition) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("Change summary: %s\n\n", proposal.Summary)
-	fmt.Printf("Change description: %s\n\n", proposal.Description)
-	fmt.Printf("Changed files: \n")
+	logging.Log.Infof("Change summary: %s\n\n", proposal.Summary)
+	logging.Log.Infof("Change description: %s\n\n", proposal.Description)
+	logging.Log.Infof("Changed files: \n")
 	for _, file := range proposal.Proposals {
-		fmt.Printf("  %s -- delete? %v\n", file.FileName, file.Delete)
+		logging.Log.Infof("  %s -- delete? %v\n", file.FileName, file.Delete)
 	}
 
 	return nil
@@ -282,7 +283,7 @@ func applyProposals(absRoot string, proposals []payload.FileChangeProposal) erro
 			if err := os.Remove(absPath); err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete file %s: %w", absPath, err)
 			}
-			fmt.Printf("Deleted file: %s\n", prop.FileName)
+			logging.Log.Infof("Deleted file: %s\n", prop.FileName)
 		} else {
 			dir := filepath.Dir(absPath)
 			if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0755); err != nil {
@@ -291,7 +292,7 @@ func applyProposals(absRoot string, proposals []payload.FileChangeProposal) erro
 			if err := os.WriteFile(absPath, []byte(prop.Content), 0644); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to write to file %s: %w", absPath, err)
 			}
-			fmt.Printf("Modified file: %s\n", prop.FileName)
+			logging.Log.Infof("Modified file: %s\n", prop.FileName)
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/cmd/update.go b/cmd/update.go
index ce3b945..b7e8ca6 100644
--- a/cmd/update.go
+++ b/cmd/update.go
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/logging"
 	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/workspace/project"
 	"os"
 )
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ func Update(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
 	// for now, `vyb update` only works when executed on the root of the project
 	err := project.Update(".")
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Printf("Error creating metadata: %v\n", err)
+		logging.Log.Fatalf("Error creating metadata: %v\n", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-	fmt.Println("Project metadata updated successfully.")
+	logging.Log.Info("Project metadata updated successfully.")
 }
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index a89d9a9..3ff1b8b 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ import (
 //nolint:revive // field name is intentionally simple
 type Config struct {
 	Provider string `yaml:"provider"`
+	Logging  `yaml:"logging"`
+}
+
+// Logging captures logging-specific settings.
+type Logging struct {
+	Level                string `yaml:"level"`
+	RequestResponseDebug bool   `yaml:"request-response-debug"`
 }
 
 // defaultProvider is used when no configuration file exists or it cannot
@@ -39,7 +46,13 @@ const defaultProvider = "openai"
 // Default returns a Config populated with hard-coded defaults. It should
 // be used whenever .vyb/config.yaml is missing.
 func Default() *Config {
-	return &Config{Provider: defaultProvider}
+	return &Config{
+		Provider: defaultProvider,
+		Logging: Logging{
+			Level:                "info",
+			RequestResponseDebug: false,
+		},
+	}
 }
 
 // Load reads .vyb/config.yaml located under projectRoot. When the file
@@ -77,4 +90,4 @@ func LoadFS(fsys fs.FS) (*Config, error) {
 		cfg.Provider = defaultProvider
 	}
 	return &cfg, nil
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/logging/logging.go b/logging/logging.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2138b19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/logging/logging.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package logging
+
+import (
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"os"
+)
+
+var (
+	// Log is the default logger for the application.
+	Log = logrus.New()
+)
+
+// Init initializes the logger with the given log level.
+func Init(level string) error {
+	logLevel, err := logrus.ParseLevel(level)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	Log.SetLevel(logLevel)
+	Log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
+	Log.SetFormatter(&logrus.TextFormatter{
+		FullTimestamp: true,
+	})
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/workspace/project/annotation.go b/workspace/project/annotation.go
index 0dae880..e76a736 100644
--- a/workspace/project/annotation.go
+++ b/workspace/project/annotation.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/config"
 	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/llm"
 	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/llm/payload"
+	"github.com/vybdev/vyb/logging"
 	"io/fs"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -47,10 +48,10 @@ func annotate(cfg *config.Config, metadata *Metadata, sysfs fs.FS) error {
 	// Launch annotation tasks.
 	for _, m := range modules {
 		if m.Annotation != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("module %q already has an annotation, skipping...\n", m.Name)
+			logging.Log.Infof("module %q already has an annotation, skipping...\n", m.Name)
 			continue
 		}
-		fmt.Printf("module %q doesn't have annotation\n", m.Name)
+		logging.Log.Infof("module %q doesn't have annotation\n", m.Name)
 		// Capture m for the goroutine.
 		go func(mod *Module) {
 			// Wait for all submodules to complete.
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ func addOrUpdateSelfContainedContext(cfg *config.Config, m *Module, sysfs fs.FS)
 		SubModulesPublicContexts: subContexts,
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("annotating module %q\n", m.Name)
+	logging.Log.Infof("annotating module %q\n", m.Name)
 
 	// System prompt instructing the LLM to summarize code into JSON schema.
 	systemMessage := `You are a prompt engineer, structuring information about an application's code base 
@@ -165,7 +166,7 @@ Each type of context should be as descriptive as possible, using around one thou
 
 	context, err := llm.GetModuleContext(cfg, systemMessage, req)
 
-	fmt.Printf("  Got response for module %q\n", m.Name)
+	logging.Log.Infof("  Got response for module %q\n", m.Name)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to call llm provider: %w", err)
@@ -177,17 +178,17 @@ Each type of context should be as descriptive as possible, using around one thou
 
 	if context.InternalContext != "" {
 		if m.Annotation.InternalContext != "" {
-			fmt.Printf("  Overriding field `InternalContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
+			logging.Log.Infof("  Overriding field `InternalContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
 		} else {
-			fmt.Printf("  Creating field `InternalContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
+			logging.Log.Infof("  Creating field `InternalContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
 		}
 		m.Annotation.InternalContext = context.InternalContext
 	}
 	if context.PublicContext != "" {
 		if m.Annotation.PublicContext != "" {
-			fmt.Printf("  Overriding field `PublicContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
+			logging.Log.Infof("  Overriding field `PublicContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
 		} else {
-			fmt.Printf("  Creating field `PublicContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
+			logging.Log.Infof("  Creating field `PublicContext` of module %q.\n", m.Name)
 		}
 		m.Annotation.PublicContext = context.PublicContext
 	}
@@ -297,7 +298,7 @@ Return your answer as JSON following the schema you have been provided.`
 			}
 			mod.Annotation.ExternalContext = ext.ExternalContext
 		} else {
-			fmt.Printf("  WARNING: module %q not found in module map\n", ext.Name)
+			logging.Log.Warnf("  WARNING: module %q not found in module map\n", ext.Name)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -320,4 +321,4 @@ func collectAllModules(root *Module) []*Module {
 	}
 	walk(root)
 	return out
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file