diff --git a/cmd/config/config.go b/cmd/config/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6625bea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/config/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package config
+
+import "github.com/kelseyhightower/envconfig"
+
+type (
+	// Config provides the system configuration.
+	Config struct {
+		Logging Logging
+	}
+)
+
+type Logging struct {
+	Debug   bool   `envconfig:"APP_LOGS_DEBUG"`
+	Level   string `envconfig:"APP_LOGS_LEVEL" default:"info"`
+	NoColor bool   `envconfig:"APP_LOGS_COLOR"`
+	Pretty  bool   `envconfig:"APP_LOGS_PRETTY"`
+	Text    bool   `envconfig:"APP_LOGS_TEXT"`
+}
+
+// Environ returns the settings from the environment.
+func Environ() (Config, error) {
+	cfg := Config{}
+	err := envconfig.Process("", &cfg)
+	return cfg, err
+}
diff --git a/cmd/damon.go b/cmd/damon.go
index 331299b..d7380b1 100644
--- a/cmd/damon.go
+++ b/cmd/damon.go
@@ -127,9 +127,8 @@ func handleMessage(ctx context.Context, conn *websocket.Conn, message []byte) er
 }
 
 func runDaemon(ctx context.Context, input *Input) func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	log.Info().Msgf("Starting runner daemon")
-
 	return func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		log.Info().Msg("Starting runner daemon")
 		var conn *websocket.Conn
 		var err error
 		ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second)
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index a15b5c5..e079c1c 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -5,10 +5,16 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
+	"gitea.com/gitea/act_runner/cmd/config"
+
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
+	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
 	"github.com/nektos/act/pkg/artifacts"
 	"github.com/nektos/act/pkg/model"
 	"github.com/nektos/act/pkg/runner"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -59,7 +65,40 @@ func (i *Input) newPlatforms() map[string]string {
 	}
 }
 
+// helper function cfgures the logging.
+func initLogging(cfg config.Config) {
+	isTerm := isatty.IsTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd())
+
+	switch strings.ToLower(cfg.Logging.Level) {
+	case "panic":
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.PanicLevel)
+	case "fatal":
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.FatalLevel)
+	case "error":
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.ErrorLevel)
+	case "warn":
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.WarnLevel)
+	case "info":
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.InfoLevel)
+	case "debug":
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.DebugLevel)
+	default:
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.InfoLevel)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.Logging.Pretty || isTerm {
+		log.Logger = log.Output(
+			zerolog.ConsoleWriter{
+				Out:     os.Stderr,
+				NoColor: cfg.Logging.NoColor || !isTerm,
+			},
+		)
+	}
+}
+
 func Execute(ctx context.Context) {
+	var envfile string
+
 	input := Input{
 		reuseContainers: true,
 		forgeInstance:   "gitea.com",
@@ -83,6 +122,17 @@ func Execute(ctx context.Context) {
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolP("run", "r", false, "run workflows")
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringP("job", "j", "", "run job")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.forgeInstance, "forge-instance", "", "github.com", "Forge instance to use.")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&envfile, "env-file", "", ".env", "Read in a file of environment variables.")
+
+	_ = godotenv.Load(envfile)
+	cfg, err := config.Environ()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal().
+			Err(err).
+			Msg("invalid cfguration")
+	}
+
+	initLogging(cfg)
 
 	if err := rootCmd.Execute(); err != nil {
 		os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 61c56c3..7d39b10 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ go 1.18
 
 require (
 	github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.4.2
+	github.com/kelseyhightower/envconfig v1.4.0
 	github.com/nektos/act v0.2.26
 	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.26.1
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.4.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5da7b86..2ca9797 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -847,6 +847,8 @@ github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.3.0 h1:U0609e9tgbseu3rBINet9P48AI/D3oJs4d
 github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.3.0/go.mod h1:JR6WtHb+2LUe8TCKY3cZOxFyyO8IZAc4RVcycCCAKdM=
 github.com/kballard/go-shellquote v0.0.0-20180428030007-95032a82bc51 h1:Z9n2FFNUXsshfwJMBgNA0RU6/i7WVaAegv3PtuIHPMs=
 github.com/kballard/go-shellquote v0.0.0-20180428030007-95032a82bc51/go.mod h1:CzGEWj7cYgsdH8dAjBGEr58BoE7ScuLd+fwFZ44+/x8=
+github.com/kelseyhightower/envconfig v1.4.0 h1:Im6hONhd3pLkfDFsbRgu68RDNkGF1r3dvMUtDTo2cv8=
+github.com/kelseyhightower/envconfig v1.4.0/go.mod h1:cccZRl6mQpaq41TPp5QxidR+Sa3axMbJDNb//FQX6Gg=
 github.com/kevinburke/ssh_config v0.0.0-20201106050909-4977a11b4351/go.mod h1:CT57kijsi8u/K/BOFA39wgDQJ9CxiF4nAY/ojJ6r6mM=
 github.com/kevinburke/ssh_config v1.1.0 h1:pH/t1WS9NzT8go394IqZeJTMHVm6Cr6ZJ6AQ+mdNo/o=
 github.com/kevinburke/ssh_config v1.1.0/go.mod h1:CT57kijsi8u/K/BOFA39wgDQJ9CxiF4nAY/ojJ6r6mM=