diff --git a/campaign/campaign.go b/campaign/campaign.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f5a27a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/campaign/campaign.go
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package campaign
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+
+	"git.ctrlz.es/mgdelacroix/campaigner/model"
+)
+
+func Save(campaign *model.Campaign) error {
+	marshaledCampaign, err := json.MarshalIndent(campaign, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile("./campaign.json", marshaledCampaign, 0600); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot save campaign: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/init.go b/cmd/init.go
index a2eebf1..5069c6c 100644
--- a/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/init.go
@@ -1,21 +1,29 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"git.ctrlz.es/mgdelacroix/campaigner/campaign"
+	"git.ctrlz.es/mgdelacroix/campaigner/model"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 func InitCmd() *cobra.Command {
-	return &cobra.Command{
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "init",
 		Short: "Creates a new campaign in the current directory",
 		Args:  cobra.NoArgs,
-		RunE:  initCmdF,
+		Run:   initCmdF,
 	}
 
-	// add mandatory flags for epic, tags, etc
+	cmd.Flags().StringP("epic", "e", "", "the epic id to associate this campaign with")
+	cmd.MarkFlagRequired("epic")
+
+	return cmd
 }
 
-func initCmdF(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
-	// creates the campaign.json file
-	return nil
+func initCmdF(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
+	epic, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("epic")
+	if err := campaign.Save(&model.Campaign{Epic: epic}); err != nil {
+		ErrorAndExit(cmd, err)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/cmd/token.go b/cmd/token.go
index 2bfff0d..6d511d2 100644
--- a/cmd/token.go
+++ b/cmd/token.go
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ import (
 
 func TokenSetJiraCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	return &cobra.Command{
-		Use:     "jira USERNAME TOKEN",
-		Short:   "Sets the value of the jira token",
-		Args:    cobra.ExactArgs(2),
-		RunE:    tokenSetJiraCmdF,
+		Use:   "jira USERNAME TOKEN",
+		Short: "Sets the value of the jira token",
+		Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(2),
+		RunE:  tokenSetJiraCmdF,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/model/campaign.go b/model/campaign.go
index 369f4dd..b0c2267 100644
--- a/model/campaign.go
+++ b/model/campaign.go
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ package model
 
 type Campaign struct {
 	Epic    string    `json:"epic"`
-	Tickets []*Ticket `json:"tickets"`
+	Tickets []*Ticket `json:"tickets,omitempty"`
 }