diff --git a/ruby/.rubocop.yml b/ruby/.rubocop.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb4c688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/.rubocop.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+AllCops:
+  NewCops: enable
+
+Layout/EmptyLineAfterGuardClause:
+  Enabled: false
+
+Layout/FirstHashElementIndentation:
+  EnforcedStyle: consistent
+
+Metrics/AbcSize:
+  Max: 25
+
+Metrics/MethodLength:
+  Max: 20
+
+Style/Documentation:
+  Enabled: false
+
+Style/FrozenStringLiteralComment:
+  Enabled: false
+
+Style/HashSyntax:
+  EnforcedShorthandSyntax: never
+
+Style/TrailingCommaInHashLiteral:
+  EnforcedStyleForMultiline: consistent_comma
diff --git a/ruby/Gemfile b/ruby/Gemfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60f3b06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/Gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+source 'https://rubygems.org'
+ruby '3.1.0'
diff --git a/ruby/Gemfile.lock b/ruby/Gemfile.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..395f44b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/Gemfile.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+GEM
+  remote: https://rubygems.org/
+  specs:
+
+PLATFORMS
+  arm64-darwin-21
+
+DEPENDENCIES
+
+RUBY VERSION
+   ruby 3.1.0p0
+
+BUNDLED WITH
+   2.3.3
diff --git a/ruby/builtins.rb b/ruby/builtins.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0881e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/builtins.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+class Shell
+  def exec_builtin(name, args)
+    send(:"builtin_#{name}", args)
+  end
+
+  def builtin?(name)
+    respond_to?(:"builtin_#{name}")
+  end
+
+  #################
+  ### Built-ins ###
+  #################
+
+  def builtin_cd(args)
+    Dir.chdir args.first
+  end
+
+  def builtin_export(args)
+    # only supports one variable and doesn't support quoting
+    name, *value_parts = args.first.strip.split('=')
+    if name.nil? || name.empty?
+      logger.warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} Invalid export command"
+    else
+      ENV[name] = value_parts.join('=').gsub(/\$\w+/) { |m| ENV[m[1..]] || '' }
+    end
+  end
+
+  def bulitin_pwd(_args)
+    puts Dir.pwd
+  end
+end
diff --git a/ruby/colours.rb b/ruby/colours.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a48cbbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/colours.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+class Shell
+  # These colours should be safe on dark and light backgrounds.
+  BLUE = "\033[1;34m".freeze
+  GREEN = "\033[1;32m".freeze
+  YELLOW = "\033[1;33m".freeze
+  RED = "\033[1;31m".freeze
+  WHITE = "\033[1;37m".freeze
+  CLEAR = "\033[0;m".freeze
+end
diff --git a/ruby/job.rb b/ruby/job.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..682f37b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/job.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+class Shell
+  Job = Struct.new(:id, :cmd)
+end
diff --git a/ruby/main.rb b/ruby/main.rb
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..28e3e96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/main.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby -w
+
+require 'English'
+require 'open3'
+
+require './builtins'
+require './colours'
+require './shell_logger'
+require './job'
+
+class Shell
+  attr_reader :logger, :options
+
+  def initialize(args)
+    @logger = ShellLogger.new
+    @options = parse_options(args)
+    @jobs_by_pid = {}
+    logger.verbose "options: #{options.inspect}"
+  end
+
+  def main
+    # this breaks Open3.capture3 so hold off until we fork + exec
+    # trap_sigchld
+    if options[:command]
+      logger.verbose "Executing command: #{options[:command]}"
+      print_logs
+      exit exec_command(options[:command])
+    elsif $stdin.isatty
+      loop do
+        # TODO: use readline instead
+        print_logs
+        print prompt(Dir.pwd)
+        process_command(gets&.chomp)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Looks like this: /path/to/somewhere%
+  def prompt(pwd)
+    "#{BLUE}#{pwd}#{WHITE}% #{CLEAR}"
+  end
+
+  def parse_options(args)
+    options = {
+      verbose: false,
+    }
+    while (arg = args.shift)
+      case arg
+      when '-c'
+        options[:command] = args.shift
+      when '-v', '--verbose'
+        options[:verbose] = true
+      else
+        logger.warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} Unknown argument: #{arg}"
+        exit 1
+      end
+    end
+    options
+  end
+
+  def trap_sigchld
+    # handler for SIGCHLD when a child's state changes
+    Signal.trap('CHLD') do |signo|
+      logger.info "SIGCHLD #{signo}"
+      pid = Process.waitpid(-1, Process::WNOHANG)
+      if (job = @jobs_by_pid[pid])
+        logger.info "#{YELLOW}#{job.id}#{CLEAR}: #{WHITE}(pid #{pid})#{CLEAR} #{job.cmd}"
+      else
+        logger.warn "No job found for child with PID #{pid}"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def print_logs
+    logger.logs.each do |log|
+      message = "#{log.message}#{CLEAR}"
+      case log.level
+      when :verbose
+        puts message if options[:verbose]
+      when :warning
+        warn message
+      else
+        puts message
+      end
+    end
+    logger.clear
+  end
+
+  def process_command(cmd)
+    # TODO: proper word splitting, pass arrays to built-ins
+    args = cmd&.split
+    argv0 = args&.first
+    case argv0
+    when nil, 'exit'
+      exit 0
+    when ''
+      # noop
+    when builtin?(argv0)
+      args.shift
+      exec_builtin(argv0, args)
+    else
+      status = exec_command(cmd)
+      print "#{RED}-#{status}-#{CLEAR} " unless status.zero?
+    end
+    # TODO: add to readline history
+  end
+
+  def exec_command(cmd)
+    # TODO: background execution using fork + exec, streaming output
+    out, err, status = Open3.capture3(cmd)
+    puts out.chomp unless out.empty?
+    warn err.chomp unless err.empty?
+    status.exitstatus
+  rescue StandardError => e
+    logger.warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{e.message}"
+    1
+  end
+end
+
+Shell.new(ARGV).main if $PROGRAM_NAME == __FILE__
diff --git a/ruby/shell_logger.rb b/ruby/shell_logger.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84ef5b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/shell_logger.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Queues up messages to be printed out when readline is waiting for input, to prevent
+# mixing shell output with command output.
+class ShellLogger
+  Log = Struct.new(:level, :message)
+
+  attr_reader :logs
+
+  def self.instance
+    @instance ||= new
+  end
+
+  def initialize
+    clear
+  end
+
+  def log(message)
+    @logs << Log.new(:info, message)
+  end
+  alias info log
+
+  def warn(message)
+    @logs << Log.new(:warning, message)
+  end
+
+  def verbose(message)
+    @logs << Log.new(:verbose, message)
+  end
+
+  def clear
+    @logs = []
+    nil
+  end
+end