diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 92ee32c..d557dcd 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,24 @@ if ! command -v make &> /dev/null; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# Check if pkg-config is installed
+if ! command -v pkg-config &> /dev/null; then
+    print_error "pkg-config is not installed. Please install pkg-config first."
+    print_warning "On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install pkg-config"
+    print_warning "On Fedora: sudo dnf install pkg-config"
+    print_warning "On Arch: sudo pacman -S pkg-config"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check if ncurses is installed
+if ! pkg-config --exists ncurses; then
+    print_error "ncurses is not installed. Please install ncurses first."
+    print_warning "On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install libncurses-dev"
+    print_warning "On Fedora: sudo dnf install ncurses-devel"
+    print_warning "On Arch: sudo pacman -S ncurses"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 # Configure with CMake
 print_status "Configuring with CMake..."
 cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
diff --git a/src/autocomplete.cpp b/src/autocomplete.cpp
index e3ae70c..3a4c9e7 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete.cpp
+++ b/src/autocomplete.cpp
@@ -63,17 +63,6 @@ std::vector<std::string> autocomplete_list_commands() {
     std::vector<std::string> commands;
     std::set<std::string> unique_commands; // To ensure deduplication
     
-    // System templates directory
-    const std::string system_templates_dir = "/opt/dropshell/templates";
-    
-    // User templates directory
-    std::string user_templates_dir;
-    if (!get_user_directory(user_templates_dir)) {
-        std::cerr << "Error: User directory not set" << std::endl;
-        return commands;
-    }
-    user_templates_dir += "/usertemplates";
-    
     // Helper function to add commands from a directory
     auto add_commands_from_dir = [&unique_commands](const std::string& dir_path) {
         if (!fs::exists(dir_path)) {
@@ -96,11 +85,17 @@ std::vector<std::string> autocomplete_list_commands() {
             }
         }
     };
-    
-    // Add commands from both template locations
+
+    // System templates directory
+    const std::string system_templates_dir = "/opt/dropshell/templates";
     add_commands_from_dir(system_templates_dir);
-    add_commands_from_dir(user_templates_dir);
-    
+
+    std::string user_templates_dir;
+    if (get_user_directory(user_templates_dir)) {
+        // User templates directory
+        user_templates_dir += "/usertemplates";
+        add_commands_from_dir(user_templates_dir);
+    }    
     // Convert set to vector for return
     commands.assign(unique_commands.begin(), unique_commands.end());
     return commands;
diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
index 1f3f96c..8b79874 100644
--- a/src/config.cpp
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
 #include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
 #include <boost/property_tree/ini_parser.hpp>
+#include "config.hpp"
 
 namespace fs = boost::filesystem;
 namespace pt = boost::property_tree;
@@ -18,18 +19,14 @@ bool is_config_loaded() {
     return config_loaded;
 }
 
-bool get_config_path(std::string& path) {
+bool get_config_path(std::string &path)
+{
     // Try ~/.config/dropshell/dropshell.conf
     const char* home = std::getenv("HOME");
     if (home) {
         fs::path user_path = fs::path(home) / ".config" / "dropshell" / "dropshell.conf";
-        if (!fs::exists(user_path)) {
-            // create path
-            fs::create_directories(user_path.parent_path());
-        }
-
         path = user_path.string();
-        return true;
+        return fs::exists(path);
     }
     std::cerr << "Warning: Couldn't determine user directory" << std::endl;
     path = "";
@@ -39,12 +36,7 @@ bool get_config_path(std::string& path) {
 bool load_config() {
     std::string config_path;
     if (!get_config_path(config_path))
-        return true;
-    
-    if (config_path.empty()) {
-        // No config file found, but this is not an error
-        return true;
-    }
+        return false;
 
     try {
         pt::ptree tree;
diff --git a/src/dropshell-completion.bash b/src/dropshell-completion.bash
index a410224..4fc0981 100755
--- a/src/dropshell-completion.bash
+++ b/src/dropshell-completion.bash
@@ -7,9 +7,6 @@ _dropshell_completions() {
     prev="${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD-1]}"
     root="${COMP_WORDS[1]}"
     
-    # List of main commands
-    opts="help version servers templates install backup"
-
     # add all commands to opts
     local commands=($(dropshell autocomplete_list_commands))
     opts="${opts} ${commands[*]}"
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 0c342a8..46c6296 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -63,23 +63,28 @@ std::string safearg(int argc, char *argv[], int index)
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     try {
-        // Load configuration
-        if (!dropshell::load_config()) {
-            std::cerr << "Error: Failed to load configuration" << std::endl;
-            return 1;
-        }
-
-        // No arguments provided
-        if (argc < 2) {
-            dropshell::interactive_mode();
-            return 0;
-        }
 
         // Handle commands
-        std::string cmd = argv[1];
+        std::string cmd;
+        if (argc > 1) {
+            cmd = argv[1];
+        }
+
+        // don't load old config if we're initializing
+        if (cmd == "init") {
+            if (argc < 3) {
+                std::cerr << "Error: init command requires a directory argument" << std::endl;
+                return 1;
+            }
+            try {
+                dropshell::init_user_directory(argv[2]);
+                return 0;
+            } catch (const std::exception& e) {
+                std::cerr << "Error: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+                return 1;
+            }
+        }
 
-        auto commands = dropshell::autocomplete_list_commands();
-        
         if (cmd == "help" || cmd == "-h" || cmd == "--help") {
             dropshell::print_help();
             return 0;
@@ -90,6 +95,70 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
             return 0;
         }
 
+        // silently attempt to load the config file.
+        dropshell::load_config();
+
+
+        // auto compeltion stuff.
+        auto commands = dropshell::autocomplete_list_commands();
+        if (cmd == "autocomplete_list_commands") { 
+            // add in standard commands.
+            commands.insert(commands.end(), {
+                "help",
+                "version",
+                "init"
+            });
+            if (dropshell::is_config_loaded()) { // these only work if the config is loaded.
+                commands.insert(commands.end(), {
+                    "servers",
+                    "templates",
+                    "install",
+                    "backup"
+                });
+            }
+
+            for (const auto& command : commands) {
+                std::cout << command << std::endl;
+            }
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        if (cmd == "autocomplete_list_servers") {
+            if (dropshell::is_config_loaded()) 
+            {
+                auto servers = dropshell::autocomplete_list_servers();
+                for (const auto& server : servers) 
+                    std::cout << server << std::endl;
+            }
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        if (cmd == "autocomplete_list_services") {
+            if (argc < 3) {
+                std::cerr << "Error: autocomplete_list_services requires a server name" << std::endl;
+                return 1;
+            }
+            if (dropshell::is_config_loaded())  {
+                auto services = dropshell::autocomplete_list_services(argv[2]);
+                for (const auto& service : services) 
+                    std::cout << service << std::endl;
+            }
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        // ------------------------------------------------------------
+        // from here we require the config file to be loaded.
+        if (!dropshell::is_config_loaded()) {
+            std::cerr << "Error: Failed to load configuration." << std::endl << "Please run 'dropshell init <path>' to initialise the user directory and create a configuration file." << std::endl;
+            return 1;
+        }
+
+        // No arguments provided
+        if (argc < 2) {
+            dropshell::interactive_mode();
+            return 0;
+        }
+
         if (cmd == "servers") {
             if (argc > 2) {
                 // Show details for specific server
@@ -106,47 +175,6 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
             return 0;
         }
 
-        if (cmd == "init") {
-            if (argc < 3) {
-                std::cerr << "Error: init command requires a directory argument" << std::endl;
-                return 1;
-            }
-            try {
-                dropshell::init_user_directory(argv[2]);
-                return 0;
-            } catch (const std::exception& e) {
-                std::cerr << "Error: " << e.what() << std::endl;
-                return 1;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (cmd == "autocomplete_list_servers") {
-            auto servers = dropshell::autocomplete_list_servers();
-            for (const auto& server : servers) {
-                std::cout << server << std::endl;
-            }
-            return 0;
-        }
-
-        if (cmd == "autocomplete_list_services") {
-            if (argc < 3) {
-                std::cerr << "Error: autocomplete_list_services requires a server name" << std::endl;
-                return 1;
-            }
-            auto services = dropshell::autocomplete_list_services(argv[2]);
-            for (const auto& service : services) {
-                std::cout << service << std::endl;
-            }
-            return 0;
-        }
-
-        if (cmd == "autocomplete_list_commands") {
-            for (const auto& command : commands) {
-                std::cout << command << std::endl;
-            }
-            return 0;
-        }
-
         if (cmd == "install") {
             std::string server_name;
             std::vector<std::string> servicelist;
@@ -191,6 +219,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
             return 0;
         }
 
+
+        // handle running a command. 
         for (const auto& command : commands) {
             if (cmd == command) {
                 std::string server_name;
diff --git a/templates/squashkiwi/example.env b/templates/squashkiwi/example/example.env
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/squashkiwi/example.env
rename to templates/squashkiwi/example/example.env