diff --git a/cmd/char/limitedroot.go b/cmd/char/limitedroot.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a204a62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/char/limitedroot.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package char
+
+import (
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+func NewLimitedCharCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use: "char",
+	}
+
+	return cmd
+}
diff --git a/cmd/char/ls.go b/cmd/char/ls.go
index 505ef87..4f50d44 100644
--- a/cmd/char/ls.go
+++ b/cmd/char/ls.go
@@ -3,48 +3,18 @@ package char
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/plugins/provider"
-	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/register"
-	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/schema"
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/charcontext"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
-func NewLsCommand() *cobra.Command {
-	gpp := provider.NewGitPluginProvider()
+func NewLsCommand(charctx *charcontext.CharContext) *cobra.Command {
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use: "ls",
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			ctx := cmd.Context()
 
-			s, err := schema.ParseFile(ctx, ".char.yml")
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-
-			plugins, err := s.GetPlugins(ctx)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-
-			err = gpp.FetchPlugins(ctx, s.Registry, plugins)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-
-			builder := register.NewPluginRegisterBuilder()
-
-			for name, plugin := range plugins {
-				builder = builder.Add(name.Hash(), plugin.Opts.Path)
-			}
-
-			r, err := builder.Build(ctx)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			defer r.Close()
-
-			about, err := r.About(ctx)
+			about, err := charctx.About(ctx)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -53,6 +23,36 @@ func NewLsCommand() *cobra.Command {
 				fmt.Printf("plugin: %s\n", a.Name)
 				fmt.Printf("\tversion: %s\n", a.Version)
 				fmt.Printf("\tabout: %s\n", a.About)
+				if len(a.Vars) > 0 {
+					fmt.Println("\tVars:")
+					for _, av := range a.Vars {
+						fmt.Printf("\t\t%s\n", av)
+					}
+				}
+				if len(a.Commands) > 0 {
+					fmt.Println("\tCommands:")
+					for _, ac := range a.Commands {
+						fmt.Printf("\t\t%s", ac)
+						if len(ac.Args) == 0 {
+							continue
+						}
+						for _, aca := range ac.Args {
+							isrequired := false
+							for _, acr := range ac.Required {
+								if acr == aca {
+									isrequired = true
+								}
+							}
+							if isrequired {
+								fmt.Printf("\t\t\t%s: required\n", aca)
+							} else {
+								fmt.Printf("\t\t\t%s\n", aca)
+							}
+						}
+					}
+				}
+
+				fmt.Println()
 			}
 
 			return nil
diff --git a/cmd/char/root.go b/cmd/char/root.go
index aff6551..f872cf2 100644
--- a/cmd/char/root.go
+++ b/cmd/char/root.go
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 package char
 
-import "github.com/spf13/cobra"
+import (
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/charcontext"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
 
-func NewCharCmd() *cobra.Command {
+func NewCharCmd(charctx *charcontext.CharContext) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use: "char",
 	}
 
 	cmd.AddCommand(
-		NewLsCommand(),
+		NewLsCommand(charctx),
 	)
 
 	return cmd
diff --git a/examples/basic/benchmark.sh b/examples/basic/benchmark.sh
index 25580e4..bc7ae34 100755
--- a/examples/basic/benchmark.sh
+++ b/examples/basic/benchmark.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+set -e
+
 go build -o char ../../main.go
 
 function devcharls() {
diff --git a/examples/basic/char b/examples/basic/char
index beed416..62d502a 100755
Binary files a/examples/basic/char and b/examples/basic/char differ
diff --git a/examples/basic/test.sh b/examples/basic/test.sh
index 66aab38..81973c9 100755
--- a/examples/basic/test.sh
+++ b/examples/basic/test.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+set -e
+
 go build -o char ../../main.go
 
 CHAR_DEV_MODE=true ./char ls
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 530284b..4eee703 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,13 +1,29 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"log"
 
 	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/cmd/char"
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/charcontext"
 )
 
 func main() {
-	if err := char.NewCharCmd().Execute(); err != nil {
+	charctx, err := charcontext.NewCharContext(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, charcontext.ErrNoContextFound) {
+			log.Print("you are not in a char context, as such you will be presented with limited options")
+			if err := char.NewLimitedCharCmd().Execute(); err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	defer charctx.Close()
+
+	if err := char.NewCharCmd(charctx).Execute(); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/charcontext/char_context.go b/pkg/charcontext/char_context.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddb30c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/charcontext/char_context.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package charcontext
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"log"
+
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/plugins/provider"
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/register"
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/char/pkg/schema"
+)
+
+type CharContext struct {
+	contextPath    string
+	pluginRegister *register.PluginRegister
+	schema         *schema.CharSchema
+}
+
+func NewCharContext(ctx context.Context) (*CharContext, error) {
+	localPath, err := FindLocalRoot(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	gpp := provider.NewGitPluginProvider()
+
+	s, err := schema.ParseFile(ctx, ".char.yml")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	plugins, err := s.GetPlugins(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	err = gpp.FetchPlugins(ctx, s.Registry, plugins)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	builder := register.NewPluginRegisterBuilder()
+
+	for name, plugin := range plugins {
+		builder = builder.Add(name.Hash(), plugin.Opts.Path)
+	}
+
+	r, err := builder.Build(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &CharContext{
+		contextPath:    localPath,
+		pluginRegister: r,
+		schema:         s,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (cc *CharContext) Close() {
+	if err := cc.pluginRegister.Close(); err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func (cc *CharContext) About(ctx context.Context) ([]register.AboutItem, error) {
+	return cc.pluginRegister.About(ctx)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/charcontext/context_root.go b/pkg/charcontext/context_root.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e73ffda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/charcontext/context_root.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package charcontext
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"path"
+)
+
+var ErrNoContextFound = errors.New("could not find project root")
+
+const CharFileName = ".char.yml"
+
+func FindLocalRoot(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	curdir, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return recursiveFindLocalRoot(ctx, curdir)
+
+	//output, err := exec.Command("git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel").CombinedOutput()
+	//if err != nil {
+	//	return "", err
+	//}
+	//if len(output) == 0 {
+	//	return "", errors.New("could not find absolute path")
+	//}
+	//if _, err := os.Stat(string(output)); errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+	//	return "", fmt.Errorf("path does not exist %s", string(output))
+	//}
+
+	//return string(output), nil
+}
+
+func recursiveFindLocalRoot(ctx context.Context, localpath string) (string, error) {
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(localpath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		if entry.Name() == CharFileName {
+			return localpath, nil
+		}
+	}
+
+	if localpath == "/" {
+		return "", ErrNoContextFound
+	}
+
+	return recursiveFindLocalRoot(ctx, path.Dir(localpath))
+}
+
+func ChangeToPath(_ context.Context, path string) error {
+	return os.Chdir(path)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/register/plugin.go b/pkg/register/plugin.go
index 85f5c16..56f6618 100644
--- a/pkg/register/plugin.go
+++ b/pkg/register/plugin.go
@@ -2,10 +2,18 @@ package register
 
 import "context"
 
+type AboutCommand struct {
+	Name     string   `json:"name" yaml:"name"`
+	Args     []string `json:"args" yaml:"args"`
+	Required []string `json:"required" yaml:"required"`
+}
+
 type About struct {
-	Name    string `json:"name"`
-	Version string `json:"version"`
-	About   string `json:"about"`
+	Name     string          `json:"name"`
+	Version  string          `json:"version"`
+	About    string          `json:"about"`
+	Vars     []string        `json:"vars"`
+	Commands []*AboutCommand `json:"commands"`
 }
 
 type Plugin interface {
diff --git a/pkg/register/plugin_register.go b/pkg/register/plugin_register.go
index 11dd724..dd32646 100644
--- a/pkg/register/plugin_register.go
+++ b/pkg/register/plugin_register.go
@@ -164,10 +164,32 @@ func (pr *PluginRegister) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+type CommandAboutItem struct {
+	Name     string
+	Args     []string
+	Required []string
+}
+
+type CommandAboutItems []*CommandAboutItem
+
+func FromAboutCommands(commands []*AboutCommand) CommandAboutItems {
+	cai := make(CommandAboutItems, 0)
+	for _, command := range commands {
+		cai = append(cai, &CommandAboutItem{
+			Name:     command.Name,
+			Args:     command.Args,
+			Required: command.Required,
+		})
+	}
+	return cai
+}
+
 type AboutItem struct {
-	Name    string
-	Version string
-	About   string
+	Name     string
+	Version  string
+	About    string
+	Vars     []string
+	Commands CommandAboutItems
 }
 
 func (pr *PluginRegister) About(ctx context.Context) ([]AboutItem, error) {
@@ -184,9 +206,11 @@ func (pr *PluginRegister) About(ctx context.Context) ([]AboutItem, error) {
 			}
 
 			list = append(list, AboutItem{
-				Name:    about.Name,
-				Version: about.Version,
-				About:   about.About,
+				Name:     about.Name,
+				Version:  about.Version,
+				About:    about.About,
+				Vars:     about.Vars,
+				Commands: FromAboutCommands(about.Commands),
 			})
 			return nil
 		})
diff --git a/pkg/schema/schema_plugin.go b/pkg/schema/schema_plugin.go
index cd359d3..08a55d0 100644
--- a/pkg/schema/schema_plugin.go
+++ b/pkg/schema/schema_plugin.go
@@ -95,7 +95,10 @@ func (cspn CharSchemaPluginName) Get() (*PluginOps, error) {
 }
 
 type CharSchemaPlugins map[CharSchemaPluginName]*CharSchemaPlugin
+type CharSchemaPluginVarName string
+type CharSchemaPluginVars map[CharSchemaPluginVarName]string
 
 type CharSchemaPlugin struct {
 	Opts *PluginOps
+	Vars CharSchemaPluginVars `json:"vars"`
 }
diff --git a/plugins/gocli/main.go b/plugins/gocli/main.go
index 4303811..7da499e 100644
--- a/plugins/gocli/main.go
+++ b/plugins/gocli/main.go
@@ -14,6 +14,16 @@ func (*GoCliPlugin) About(ctx context.Context) (*register.About, error) {
 		Name:    "gocli",
 		Version: "v0.0.1",
 		About:   "golang cli provides a set of actions and presets supporting golang development",
+		Vars: []string{
+			"dev.mode",
+		},
+		Commands: []*register.AboutCommand{
+			{
+				Name:     "local_up",
+				Args:     []string{"fish"},
+				Required: []string{"fish"},
+			},
+		},
 	}, nil
 }