diff --git a/.clang-format b/.clang-format
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7b194c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.clang-format
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+BasedOnStyle: Mozilla
+IndentWidth: 4
+...
+# vim: set filetype=yaml:
diff --git a/.cmake-format.yaml b/.cmake-format.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9179f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.cmake-format.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+format:
+  line_width: 120
+  tab_size: 4
+  use_tabchars: true
+  fractional_tab_policy: round-up
+  max_subgroups_hwrap: 2
+  max_pargs_hwrap: 3
+  dangle_parens: true
+  dangle_align: prefix
+  min_prefix_chars: 0
+  max_prefix_chars: 16
+  keyword_case: upper
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f0b69a4..3032325 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -66,3 +66,4 @@ tags
 *.exe
 *.out
 *.app
+/version.hpp
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0ae4414..407fc0a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,91 @@
 # CMake configuration for demo project
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY clang-tidy)
+
+include(ProcessorCount)
+ProcessorCount(CPU_COUNT)
+if(CPU_COUNT EQUAL 0)
+	set(CPU_COUNT 4)
+endif()
+message(STATUS "Counted ${CPU_COUNT} cores")
+set(CTEST_BUILD_FLAGS -j${CPU_COUNT})
+set(ctest_test_args ${ctest_test_args} PARALLEL_LEVEL ${CPU_COUNT})
+
+execute_process(
+	COMMAND git describe --tags --dirty --always
+	WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
+	OUTPUT_VARIABLE VERSION_STRING
+	OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
+)
+
+string(
+	REGEX
+	REPLACE "^v?([0-9]+)\\.([0-9]+)\\.([0-9]+).*$"
+			"\\1.\\2.\\3"
+			MODIFIED_VERSION_STRING
+			"${VERSION_STRING}"
+)
+project(
+	collector
+	VERSION ${MODIFIED_VERSION_STRING}
+	LANGUAGES CXX
+)
+
+include(FetchContent)
+set(FETCHCONTENT_QUIET FALSE)
+set(BOOST_ENABLE_CMAKE ON)
+
+FetchContent_Declare(
+	boostorg
+	GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/boostorg/boost.git
+	GIT_TAG boost-1.80.0
+	GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
+	GIT_CONFIG fetch.parallel=${CPU_COUNT} submodule.fetchJobs=${CPU_COUNT}
+	GIT_SHALLOW TRUE
+)
+
+FetchContent_Declare(
+	dir_monitor
+	GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/schtobia/dir_monitor.git
+	GIT_TAG master
+	GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
+	GIT_SHALLOW TRUE
+)
+
+FetchContent_Populate(boostorg)
+add_subdirectory(${boostorg_SOURCE_DIR} ${boostorg_BINARY_DIR})
+
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(dir_monitor)
+
+enable_testing()
+
+configure_file(version.hpp.in ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/version.hpp)
+
+add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}_test test.cpp)
+target_compile_options(
+	${PROJECT_NAME}_test
+	PUBLIC -Wall
+			-Wextra
+			-Wshadow
+			-Wnon-virtual-dtor
+)
+
+target_link_libraries(
+	${PROJECT_NAME}_test
+	PRIVATE Boost::filesystem
+			Boost::system
+			Boost::unit_test_framework
+			dir_monitor
+)
+
+add_test(NAME test1 COMMAND $[PROJECT_NAME}_test)
+add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} main.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(
+	${PROJECT_NAME}
+	PRIVATE Boost::filesystem
+			Boost::system
+			Boost::program_options
+			dir_monitor
+)
diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1bd0b00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2022 Tobias Schmidl
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/collector.hpp b/collector.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc77fb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/collector.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/**
+ * @file collector.hpp
+ *  Collects file events and acts upon them
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Schmidl
+ * @copyright Copyright © 2022, Tobias Schmidl
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+#include "monitor.hpp"
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <regex>
+
+// for system()
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <string>
+
+constexpr const char* FILTER = "^Core\\.[^.][^.]*\\..*\\.lz4";
+
+namespace collector::collector {
+
+class Collector
+{
+    monitor::Monitor _monitor;
+    std::filesystem::path _target_file;
+
+  public:
+    Collector(boost::asio::io_service& service,
+              std::filesystem::path&& root_path,
+              std::filesystem::path&& target_file)
+      : _monitor(service, std::move(root_path))
+      , _target_file(std::move(target_file))
+    {
+    }
+    Collector(boost::asio::io_service& service,
+              const std::filesystem::path& root_path,
+              const std::filesystem::path& target_file)
+      : _monitor(service, root_path)
+      , _target_file(target_file)
+    {
+    }
+
+    bool operator()()
+    {
+        const auto& fs_event =
+          _monitor.watch(std::regex(FILTER),
+                         boost::asio::dir_monitor_event::event_type::added);
+        // big fugly hack
+        std::string call_command =
+          std::string("/usr/bin/tar cvf ") + _target_file.generic_string() +
+          std::string(" ") + _monitor.get_root_path().generic_string();
+        return system(call_command.c_str()) == 0;
+    }
+};
+}
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ab7138
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/**
+ * @file main.cpp
+ *  The main executable
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Schmidl
+ * @copyright Copyright © 2022, Tobias Schmidl
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+ */
+
+#include "collector.hpp"
+#include "monitor.hpp"
+#include "version.hpp"
+#include <boost/program_options.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <iostream>
+
+using namespace collector::monitor;
+using namespace collector::collector;
+using namespace boost::program_options;
+
+int
+main(int argc, const char* argv[])
+{
+    std::cerr << argv[0] << " Version v" << VERSION << "\n";
+    options_description description{ "Options" };
+    description.add_options()("help,h", "Help screen")(
+      "input_dir,i", value<std::string>()->required(), "Input Directory")(
+      "output_file,o", value<std::string>()->required(), "Output Tarball");
+    variables_map vm;
+    try {
+        store(parse_command_line(argc, argv, description), vm);
+        notify(vm);
+    } catch (std::exception& err) {
+        std::cerr << "Error: " << err.what() << "\n";
+        std::cerr << description << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    std::filesystem::path input_dir, output_file;
+    if (vm.count("help")) {
+        std::cerr << description << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (vm.count("input_dir")) {
+        input_dir = vm["input_dir"].as<std::string>();
+        if (!std::filesystem::is_directory(input_dir)) {
+            std::cerr << input_dir << " is not a valid directory." << std::endl;
+            return 1;
+        } else
+            std::cerr << "input dir: " << input_dir << "\n";
+    }
+    if (vm.count("output_file")) {
+        output_file = vm["output_file"].as<std::string>();
+        std::cout << "output file: " << output_file << "\n";
+    }
+
+    boost::asio::io_service service;
+
+    Collector collector(service, input_dir, output_file);
+    return (collector() && std::filesystem::is_regular_file(output_file)) ? 0
+                                                                          : 2;
+}
diff --git a/monitor.hpp b/monitor.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..430a780
--- /dev/null
+++ b/monitor.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/**
+ * @file monitor.hpp
+ *  A dir_monitor wrapper for specific paths
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Schmidl
+ * @copyright Copyright © 2022, Tobias Schmidl
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+#include <dir_monitor/dir_monitor.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <regex>
+
+namespace collector::monitor {
+
+class Monitor
+{
+  private:
+    boost::asio::dir_monitor _monitor;
+    std::filesystem::path _root_path;
+
+  public:
+    explicit Monitor(boost::asio::io_service& io_service,
+                     std::filesystem::path&& root_path)
+      : _monitor(io_service)
+      , _root_path(std::move(root_path))
+    {
+        _monitor.add_directory(_root_path);
+        for (const auto& dir_entry :
+             std::filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator(_root_path)) {
+            if (dir_entry.is_directory())
+                _monitor.add_directory(dir_entry.path());
+        }
+    }
+
+    explicit Monitor(boost::asio::io_service& io_service,
+                     const std::filesystem::path& root_path)
+      : _monitor(io_service)
+      , _root_path(root_path)
+    {
+        _monitor.add_directory(_root_path);
+        for (const auto& dir_entry :
+             std::filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator(_root_path)) {
+            if (dir_entry.is_directory())
+                _monitor.add_directory(dir_entry.path());
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * watches any for any event that matches the given search_pattern
+     */
+    boost::asio::dir_monitor_event watch(const std::regex& search_pattern)
+    {
+        boost::asio::dir_monitor_event monitored_event;
+        do {
+            monitored_event = _monitor.monitor();
+        } while (!std::regex_match(
+          monitored_event.path.filename().generic_string(), search_pattern));
+        return monitored_event;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * watches any for the specified event_type that also matches the given
+     * search_pattern
+     */
+    boost::asio::dir_monitor_event watch(
+      const std::regex& search_pattern,
+      const boost::asio::dir_monitor_event::event_type event_type)
+    {
+        boost::asio::dir_monitor_event monitored_event;
+        do {
+            monitored_event = _monitor.monitor();
+        } while (
+          !std::regex_match(monitored_event.path.filename().generic_string(),
+                            search_pattern) ||
+          monitored_event.type != event_type);
+        return monitored_event;
+    }
+
+    const auto& get_root_path() const { return _root_path; }
+    virtual ~Monitor() = default;
+
+    Monitor() = delete;
+    Monitor(Monitor&& other) = delete;
+    Monitor(const Monitor& other) = delete;
+    Monitor& operator=(Monitor&& other) = delete;
+    Monitor& operator=(const Monitor& other) = delete;
+};
+}
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..855370c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+cmakelang[yaml]~=0.6.13
diff --git a/test.cpp b/test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f1a286
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/**
+ * @file test.cpp
+ *  The unit test executable
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Schmidl
+ * @copyright Copyright © 2022, Tobias Schmidl
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+ */
+
+#include "collector.hpp"
+#include "monitor.hpp"
+#include "version.hpp"
+#define BOOST_TEST_MODULE Collector test
+#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <future>
+#include <thread>
+
+using namespace collector::monitor;
+using namespace collector::collector;
+using namespace std::chrono_literals;
+
+boost::asio::io_service service;
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(monitor_test)
+{
+    BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("Test version " << VERSION);
+    const std::filesystem::path test_file{ "test_file" };
+    std::filesystem::remove(test_file);
+    const auto create_file_result = std::async([&test_file]() {
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(2s);
+        std::ofstream{ test_file };
+    });
+    Monitor monitor(service, std::filesystem::current_path());
+    const auto& watch_result =
+      monitor.watch(std::regex(test_file.generic_string()),
+                    boost::asio::dir_monitor_event::event_type::added);
+    BOOST_TEST(std::filesystem::equivalent(test_file,
+                                           watch_result.path.generic_string()));
+    std::filesystem::remove(test_file);
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(collector_test)
+{
+    BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("Test version " << VERSION);
+    const std::filesystem::path target_file{ "test.tar" },
+      test_input_dir{ "test_input" };
+    std::filesystem::remove(target_file);
+    std::filesystem::remove_all(test_input_dir);
+    std::filesystem::create_directory(test_input_dir);
+    const auto create_file_result = std::async([&test_input_dir]() {
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(5s);
+        std::ofstream test_file{ test_input_dir / "should_be_in_it" };
+        test_file << "Hello World." << std::endl;
+        test_file.flush();
+
+        std::ofstream{ test_input_dir / "Core.TEST.00.lz4" };
+        std::ofstream{ test_input_dir / "might_not_be_in_it" };
+    });
+    Collector collector(service, test_input_dir, target_file);
+    BOOST_TEST(collector());
+    BOOST_TEST(std::filesystem::is_regular_file(target_file));
+    std::filesystem::remove(target_file);
+    std::filesystem::remove_all(test_input_dir);
+}
diff --git a/version.hpp.in b/version.hpp.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c206a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.hpp.in
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#define VERSION_MAJOR @PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR@
+#define VERSION_MINOR @PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR@
+#define VERSION_PATCH @PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH@
+#define VERSION_TWEAK @PROJECT_VERSION_TWEAK@
+#define VERSION "@PROJECT_VERSION@"