diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 48d5b0c4..0e49bfe7 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export(make_script)
 export(remake_verbose)
 export(remodel)
 export(source_character)
+export(use_remake)
 importFrom(R6,R6Class)
 importFrom(crayon,make_style)
 importFrom(storr,storr_rds)
diff --git a/R/use_remake.R b/R/use_remake.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0909f88d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/use_remake.R
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+##' Add a remake file template
+##' 
+##' This function adds a simple remake file template to a 
+##' target directory.
+##' 
+##' @param dir directory in which to create. Defaults to
+##'   current directory.
+##' @return This function is primarily useful for its side 
+##'   effect, which is to add a template remake.yml file to 
+##'   the home directory.
+##' @export
+use_remake <- function(dir = ".") {
+  remake_filename <- "remake"
+  path <- file.path(dir, paste0(remake_filename, ".yml"))
+  if (file.exists(path)) {
+    stop(remake_filename, ".yml already exists", call. = FALSE)
+  }
+  message("Adding remake.yaml file")
+  
+  template_path <- system.file("doc/remake.yml", package = "remake")
+  file.copy(template_path, path)
+
+  invisible(TRUE)
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/man/use_remake.Rd b/man/use_remake.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72ac28df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/use_remake.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2 (4.1.1): do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/use_remake.R
+\name{use_remake}
+\alias{use_remake}
+\title{Add a remake file template}
+\usage{
+use_remake(dir = ".")
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{dir}{directory in which to create. Defaults to
+current directory.}
+}
+\value{
+This function is primarily useful for its side
+  effect, which is to add a template remake.yml file to
+  the home directory.
+}
+\description{
+This function adds a simple remake file template to a
+target directory.
+}
+