diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 38013dd..75bcca3 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -328,6 +328,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "subtle",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "equivalent"
+version = "1.0.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "877a4ace8713b0bcf2a4e7eec82529c029f1d0619886d18145fea96c3ffe5c0f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "errno"
 version = "0.3.12"
@@ -400,6 +406,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "version_check",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hashbrown"
+version = "0.15.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5971ac85611da7067dbfcabef3c70ebb5606018acd9e2a3903a0da507521e0d5"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "heck"
 version = "0.5.0"
@@ -421,6 +433,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "digest",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "indexmap"
+version = "2.9.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cea70ddb795996207ad57735b50c5982d8844f38ba9ee5f1aedcfb708a2aa11e"
+dependencies = [
+ "equivalent",
+ "hashbrown",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "is_terminal_polyfill"
 version = "1.70.1"
@@ -500,6 +522,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "autocfg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "microxdg"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cd0ba94daabea2c803df477d4dc1d37a6f15726e4bed53be7067022ddb89328e"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "niri-ipc"
 version = "25.5.1"
@@ -515,11 +543,13 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "clap",
  "libsystemd",
+ "microxdg",
  "niri-ipc",
  "nix 0.30.1",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "smol",
+ "toml",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-subscriber",
 ]
@@ -699,6 +729,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_spanned"
+version = "0.6.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bf41e0cfaf7226dca15e8197172c295a782857fcb97fad1808a166870dee75a3"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sha2"
 version = "0.10.9"
@@ -809,6 +848,47 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "toml"
+version = "0.8.23"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dc1beb996b9d83529a9e75c17a1686767d148d70663143c7854d8b4a09ced362"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+ "serde_spanned",
+ "toml_datetime",
+ "toml_edit",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "toml_datetime"
+version = "0.6.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "22cddaf88f4fbc13c51aebbf5f8eceb5c7c5a9da2ac40a13519eb5b0a0e8f11c"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "toml_edit"
+version = "0.22.27"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "41fe8c660ae4257887cf66394862d21dbca4a6ddd26f04a3560410406a2f819a"
+dependencies = [
+ "indexmap",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_spanned",
+ "toml_datetime",
+ "toml_write",
+ "winnow",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "toml_write"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5d99f8c9a7727884afe522e9bd5edbfc91a3312b36a77b5fb8926e4c31a41801"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tracing"
 version = "0.1.41"
@@ -1059,3 +1139,12 @@ name = "windows_x86_64_msvc"
 version = "0.52.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "589f6da84c646204747d1270a2a5661ea66ed1cced2631d546fdfb155959f9ec"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "winnow"
+version = "0.7.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "74c7b26e3480b707944fc872477815d29a8e429d2f93a1ce000f5fa84a15cbcd"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 356fc7f..b9dce92 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -26,4 +26,6 @@ serde_json = "1.0"
 smol = "2.0"
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }
+microxdg = "0.2.0"
+toml = "0.8.23"
 
diff --git a/daemon/main.rs b/daemon/main.rs
index 9db94e2..dd9dba8 100644
--- a/daemon/main.rs
+++ b/daemon/main.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,29 @@ mod ipc;
 mod manager;
 mod socket;
 
-use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use std::io::Read;
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow};
+use microxdg::Xdg;
+use niri_tag::Config;
 
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    // try to read a config
+    let xdg = Xdg::new()?;
+    let mut config_dir = xdg.config()?;
+    config_dir.push("niri-tag");
+    config_dir.push("config.toml");
+
+    let config = std::fs::File::open(config_dir)
+        .map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))
+        .and_then(|mut f| {
+            let mut buf = String::new();
+            f.read_to_string(&mut buf).map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))?;
+            Ok(buf)
+        })
+        .and_then(|buf| toml::from_str::<Config>(&buf).map_err(|e| anyhow!(e)))
+        .inspect_err(|e| tracing::error!("Using default config due to: {}", e))
+        .unwrap_or_default();
     // let systemd know we're ready
     let _ = libsystemd::daemon::notify(false, &[libsystemd::daemon::NotifyState::Ready])?;
     // debug stuff
@@ -25,7 +45,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
     smol::spawn(ipc::event_provider(event_rx, fullstate_tx)).detach();
     // begin managing niri tags
     smol::block_on(async {
-        let niri_tag = manager::NiriTag::new(event_tx)
+        let niri_tag = manager::NiriTag::new(config, event_tx)
             .await
             .context("Initialising niri tag manager")
             .unwrap();
diff --git a/daemon/manager.rs b/daemon/manager.rs
index 7facf90..e6f5366 100644
--- a/daemon/manager.rs
+++ b/daemon/manager.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use niri_ipc::{
     Action, Event, Reply, Request, Response, Window, Workspace, WorkspaceReferenceArg,
     state::{EventStreamState, EventStreamStatePart},
 };
-use niri_tag::{TagCmd, TagEvent, TagState};
+use niri_tag::{Config, TagCmd, TagEvent, TagState};
 use smol::{
     channel::{self, Sender},
     future,
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use smol::{
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 pub struct NiriTag {
+    config: Config,
     tags: HashMap<u8, bool>,
     windows: HashMap<u64, u8>,
     active_ws: Vec<u64>,
@@ -28,13 +29,14 @@ enum TagAction {
 }
 
 impl NiriTag {
-    pub async fn new(ev_tx: channel::Sender<TagEvent>) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub async fn new(config: Config, ev_tx: channel::Sender<TagEvent>) -> Result<Self> {
         Ok(Self {
+            config,
             tags: HashMap::new(),
             windows: HashMap::new(),
+            active_ws: Vec::new(),
             state: EventStreamState::default(),
             socket: create_niri_socket().await?,
-            active_ws: Vec::new(),
             ev_tx,
         })
     }
diff --git a/lib/main.rs b/lib/main.rs
index dac2312..1035f97 100644
--- a/lib/main.rs
+++ b/lib/main.rs
@@ -30,3 +30,8 @@ pub struct TagState {
     pub occupied: bool,
     pub urgent: bool,
 }
+
+#[derive(Default, Deserialize)]
+pub struct Config {
+    pub prepopulate: u8,
+}