diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 07cbc29..7e61e4a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Perusing the cli options will show much of the intended functionality.
 
 ### What's already working
 - [x] initializing a package specs file on the command line
-- [ ] creating a package archive from a directory of files
+- [x] creating a package archive from a directory of files
 - [ ] installing local packages
 - [ ] installing remote packages
 - [ ] resolving dependencies
diff --git a/cli/src/lib.rs b/cli/src/lib.rs
index 6726c74..74276c0 100644
--- a/cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,15 @@ fn create() -> Command {
         .about("Create a new package from a directory of files")
         .args([
             Arg::new("directory")
-                .help("the directory where the files are located [default: current working directory]")
+                .help("the directory where the files are located")
+                .required(true)
+                .num_args(1),
+            Arg::new("output")
+                .help("the location to save the package archive and package.ron [default: current working directory]")
+                .short('o')
+                .long("output")
+                .value_name("directory")
+                .value_hint(ValueHint::DirPath)
                 .num_args(1),
             Arg::new("specs")
                 .help("path to the package specs file in `ron` format")
diff --git a/src/hpk.rs b/src/hpk.rs
index f9a81a3..231074d 100644
--- a/src/hpk.rs
+++ b/src/hpk.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 use {
     clap::ArgMatches,
     cli::cli,
-    hpk::Specs,
+    hpk::{Dependency, Specs, Version},
     ron::ser::{to_writer_pretty, PrettyConfig},
-    std::{error::Error, fs::File, io::BufWriter, path::PathBuf},
+    std::{error::Error, env, fs::File, io::BufWriter, path::PathBuf},
 };
 
 fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
@@ -23,8 +23,41 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn create(_matches: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
-    unimplemented!();
+fn create(matches: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
+    let dir = PathBuf::from(matches.get_one::<String>("directory").unwrap().to_string());
+    let outdir = if let Some(d) = matches.get_one::<String>("output") {
+        PathBuf::from(&d.to_string())
+    } else {
+        env::current_dir()?
+    };
+    let mut specs = if let Some(s) = matches.get_one::<String>("specs") {
+        let path = PathBuf::from(s.to_string());
+        let fd = File::open(path)?;
+        let specs = ron::de::from_reader(fd)?;
+        specs
+    } else {
+        Specs::default()
+    };
+    if let Some(n) = matches.get_one::<String>("name") {
+        specs.name = n.to_string();
+    }
+    if let Some(v) = matches.get_one::<String>("package-version") {
+        specs.version = v.to_string().parse::<Version>()?;
+    }
+    if let Some(r) = matches.get_one::<u8>("release") {
+        specs.release = *r;
+    }
+    if let Some(deps) = matches.get_many::<String>("dependencies") {
+        for d in deps {
+            let d = Dependency {
+                name: d.to_string(),
+                version: (None, None),
+            };
+            specs.dependencies.push(d);
+        }
+    }
+    hpk::create_package(&dir, specs, &outdir)?;
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 fn init(matches: &ArgMatches) -> Result<PathBuf, Box<dyn Error>> {
diff --git a/src/item/mod.rs b/src/item/mod.rs
index c25460c..5ed1f33 100644
--- a/src/item/mod.rs
+++ b/src/item/mod.rs
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ impl Item {
 }
 
 fn fix_path(path: &Path) -> PathBuf {
+    let path = if let Ok(p) = path.strip_prefix("./") {
+        &p
+    } else {
+        path
+    };
     if path.is_file() || path.is_symlink() {
         match path.ancestors().last().and_then(Path::to_str) {
             Some("etc" | "var") => {
diff --git a/src/package/mod.rs b/src/package/mod.rs
index 972064a..9d3cc33 100644
--- a/src/package/mod.rs
+++ b/src/package/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use crate::Item;
-use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::{path::PathBuf, fs};
 use zstd::Encoder;
 
 mod dependency;
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use {
     ron::ser::{to_string_pretty, PrettyConfig},
     serde::{Deserialize, Serialize},
     std::{
+        env,
         error::Error,
         fs::File,
         io::{BufWriter, Write},
@@ -88,13 +89,22 @@ impl Package {
         to_string_pretty(self, cfg)
     }
 
-    pub fn save_ron_and_create_tar_node(&self) -> Result<Node, Box<dyn Error>> {
-        let buf = File::open("package.ron")?;
-        let meta = buf.metadata()?;
+    pub fn save_ron_and_create_tar_node(&self, outdir: &Path) -> Result<Node, Box<dyn Error>> {
+        if !outdir.exists() {
+            fs::create_dir_all(outdir)?;
+        }
+        let mut outfile = outdir.to_path_buf();
+        outfile.push("package.ron");
+        let fd = File::create(&outfile)?;
         let s = self.as_ron()?;
-        let mut writer = BufWriter::new(buf);
+        let mut writer = BufWriter::new(&fd);
         writer.write_all(s.as_bytes())?;
-        let node = Node::read_data_to_tar(s.as_bytes(), "package.ron", &meta, None)?;
+        writer.flush()?;
+        println!("{} written", outfile.display());
+        let dir = env::current_dir()?;
+        env::set_current_dir(outdir)?;
+        let node = Node::read_file_to_tar("package.ron")?;
+        env::set_current_dir(dir)?;
         Ok(node)
     }
 
@@ -103,8 +113,13 @@ impl Package {
     }
 }
 
-pub fn create(path: &Path, specs: Specs) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
-    let mut items = WalkDir::new(path)
+pub fn create(path: &Path, specs: Specs, outdir: &Path) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
+    if !outdir.exists() {
+        fs::create_dir_all(outdir)?;
+    }
+    let outdir = outdir.canonicalize()?;
+    env::set_current_dir(path)?;
+    let mut items = WalkDir::new(".")
         .into_iter()
         .collect::<Vec<_>>()
         .par_iter()
@@ -132,15 +147,19 @@ pub fn create(path: &Path, specs: Specs) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
     let mut package: Package = specs.into();
     package.plist = plist;
     package.size = totalsize;
-    let node = package.save_ron_and_create_tar_node()?.to_vec()?;
+    println!("creating package.ron");
+    let node = package.save_ron_and_create_tar_node(&outdir)?.to_vec()?;
     archive.extend(node);
-    archive.write_all(&[0; 9216])?;
+    //archive.write_all(&[0; 9216])?;
     let name = package.fullname();
     let mut path = PathBuf::from(&name);
     path.set_extension("tar.zst");
-    let fd = File::open(&path)?;
+    let mut outfile = outdir.to_path_buf();
+    outfile.push(path);
+    let fd = File::create(&outfile)?;
     let mut writer = Encoder::new(fd, 0)?;
     writer.write_all(&archive)?;
     let _fd = writer.finish()?;
+    println!("{} saved", outfile.display());
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/tar/src/header.rs b/tar/src/header.rs
index e56475d..a323c71 100644
--- a/tar/src/header.rs
+++ b/tar/src/header.rs
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ where
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct Owner {
     pub uid: u32,
     pub gid: u32,
@@ -281,8 +282,7 @@ impl Header {
             header.device_minor[..minor.len()].copy_from_slice(minor.as_bytes());
         }
         header.username[..owner.username.len()].copy_from_slice(owner.username.as_bytes());
-        let group = "root";
-        header.groupname[..group.len()].copy_from_slice(owner.groupname.as_bytes());
+        header.groupname[..owner.groupname.len()].copy_from_slice(owner.groupname.as_bytes());
         header.update_checksum()?;
         Ok(header)
     }
diff --git a/tar/src/lib.rs b/tar/src/lib.rs
index d6c2752..a5d6b95 100644
--- a/tar/src/lib.rs
+++ b/tar/src/lib.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ impl Archive {
     ///
     /// let data = Archive::new("test/1.txt".to_string()).unwrap();
     /// ```
-    pub fn new(filename: String) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+    pub fn new(filename: &str) -> Result<Self, Error> {
         Ok(Self {
             nodes: vec![Node::read_file_to_tar(filename)?],
         })
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ impl Archive {
     /// let mut data = Archive::new("test/1.txt".to_string()).unwrap();
     /// data.append("test/1.txt".to_string()).unwrap();
     /// ```
-    pub fn append(&mut self, filename: String) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    pub fn append(&mut self, filename: &str) -> Result<(), Error> {
         self.nodes.push(Node::read_file_to_tar(filename)?);
 
         Ok(())
diff --git a/tar/src/node.rs b/tar/src/node.rs
index eb1b6c2..81356be 100644
--- a/tar/src/node.rs
+++ b/tar/src/node.rs
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ impl Node {
     }
 
     /// Open and read a file from the ``filename`` argument to a TarNode.
-    pub fn read_file_to_tar(filename: String) -> Result<Self, Error> {
-        let header = Header::new(&filename)?;
+    pub fn read_file_to_tar(filename: &str) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let header = Header::new(filename)?;
         if header.link_indicator[0] != FileType::Normal as u8 {
             return Ok(Node {
                 header,
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ impl Node {
             });
         }
 
-        let file = File::open(&filename)?;
+        let file = File::open(filename)?;
         let mut reader = BufReader::new(file);
         Ok(Node {
             header,