diff --git a/src/cmd/check.rs b/src/cmd/check.rs
index 3f2193e..532fb89 100644
--- a/src/cmd/check.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/check.rs
@@ -86,8 +86,6 @@ pub enum OsedaProjectStatus {
 /// * `OsedaProjectStatus::DeployReady` if the project passes all checks
 /// * `OsedaProjectStatus::NotDeploymentReady(err)` if something fails that is commonly seen
 fn verify_project(port_num: u16) -> OsedaProjectStatus {
-    // TODO: document me -> assumes working directory is the project folder
-
     let _conf = match config::read_and_validate_config() {
         Ok(conf) => conf,
         Err(err) => return OsedaProjectStatus::NotDeploymentReady(err),
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 301a275..a528d62 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ use strum::IntoEnumIterator;
 use crate::cmd::check::OsedaCheckError;
 use crate::cmd::init::InitOptions;
 use crate::color::Color;
-use crate::github;
+use crate::license::License;
 use crate::tags::DefinedTag;
+use crate::{github, license};
 
 pub fn read_config_file<P: AsRef<std::path::Path>>(
     path: P,
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ pub struct OsedaConfig {
     pub color: String,
     // description must not be empty for check/deploy
     pub description: String,
+    pub license: License,
 }
 
 pub fn prompt_for_title() -> Result<String, Box<dyn Error>> {
@@ -169,6 +171,8 @@ pub fn create_conf(options: InitOptions) -> Result<OsedaConfig, Box<dyn Error>>
     let user_name = github::get_config_from_user_git("user.name")
         .ok_or("Could not get github username. Please ensure you are signed into github")?;
 
+    let license = prompt_for_license()?;
+
     Ok(OsedaConfig {
         title: title.trim().to_owned(),
         author: user_name,
@@ -178,11 +182,24 @@ pub fn create_conf(options: InitOptions) -> Result<OsedaConfig, Box<dyn Error>>
             .collect(),
         last_updated: get_time(),
         color: color.into_hex(),
+        license,
         // start them with empty description
         description: String::new(),
     })
 }
 
+fn prompt_for_license() -> Result<License, Box<dyn Error>> {
+    let options: Vec<String> = license::License::iter()
+        .map(|lic: License| license::License::spdx_id(&lic))
+        .map(|lic_str| lic_str.into())
+        .collect();
+
+    let selected_license =
+        inquire::Select::new("Select license: (type to search):", options).prompt()?;
+
+    Ok(License::try_from(selected_license)?)
+}
+
 /// Prompts user for categories associated with their Oseda project
 ///
 /// # Returns
@@ -195,7 +212,7 @@ fn prompt_for_tags() -> Result<Vec<DefinedTag>, Box<dyn Error>> {
         inquire::MultiSelect::new("Select categories (type to search):", options.clone())
             .prompt()?;
 
-    println!("You selected:");
+    println!("Selected Tags:");
     for tags in selected_tags.iter() {
         println!("- {:?}", tags);
     }
@@ -212,7 +229,7 @@ fn prompt_for_color() -> Result<Color, Box<dyn Error>> {
     )
     .prompt()?;
 
-    println!("You selected: {:?}", selected_color);
+    println!("Selected Color: {:?}", selected_color);
 
     Ok(selected_color)
 }
@@ -297,6 +314,7 @@ mod test {
             author: "JaneDoe".to_string(),
             tags: vec![DefinedTag::ComputerScience.to_string()],
             last_updated: chrono::Utc::now(),
+            license: License::Apache2_0,
             color: Color::Black.into_hex(),
             description: String::from("Test Description"),
         };
@@ -315,6 +333,7 @@ mod test {
             author: "JaneDoe".to_string(),
             tags: vec![DefinedTag::ComputerScience.to_string()],
             last_updated: chrono::Utc::now(),
+            license: License::Mit,
             color: Color::Black.into_hex(),
             description: String::from("Test Description"),
         };
@@ -333,6 +352,7 @@ mod test {
             author: "JaneDoe".to_string(),
             tags: vec![DefinedTag::ComputerScience.to_string()],
             last_updated: chrono::Utc::now(),
+            license: License::Bsd3Clause,
             color: Color::Black.into_hex(),
             description: String::new(),
         };
@@ -354,6 +374,7 @@ mod test {
             tags: vec![DefinedTag::ComputerScience.to_string()],
             last_updated: chrono::Utc::now(),
             color: Color::Black.into_hex(),
+            license: License::Gpl3_0,
             description: String::from("Test Description"),
         };
 
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index ddb94b3..2d616c7 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ pub mod cmd;
 pub mod color;
 pub mod config;
 pub mod github;
+pub mod license;
 pub mod net;
 pub mod puppeteer;
 pub mod tags;
diff --git a/src/license.rs b/src/license.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32220e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/license.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use strum_macros::{EnumIter, EnumString, IntoStaticStr};
+
+/// OSI approved license categorized as (popular / strong community)
+#[derive(
+    Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, EnumIter, IntoStaticStr, EnumString, Serialize, Deserialize,
+)]
+#[serde(into = "&'static str", try_from = "String")]
+pub enum License {
+    // strum serialize is compatible with serde trait here
+    // this will basically allow a complex internal license representation
+    // but with ease of de/serialization with just the spdx id
+    #[strum(serialize = "Apache-2.0")]
+    Apache2_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "MIT")]
+    Mit,
+    #[strum(serialize = "CDDL-1.0")]
+    Cddl1_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "EPL-2.0")]
+    Epl2_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "GPL-2.0")]
+    Gpl2_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "GPL-3.0")]
+    Gpl3_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "LGPL-2.1")]
+    Lgpl2_1,
+    #[strum(serialize = "LGPL-3.0")]
+    Lgpl3_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "LGPL-2.0")]
+    Lgpl2_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "MPL-2.0")]
+    Mpl2_0,
+    #[strum(serialize = "BSD-2-Clause")]
+    Bsd2Clause,
+    #[strum(serialize = "BSD-3-Clause")]
+    Bsd3Clause,
+}
+
+impl License {
+    /// Get the full name of license. I'm not sure if this really ever be useful, but i figured its best to include it
+    pub const fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        match self {
+            Self::Apache2_0 => "Apache License, Version 2.0",
+            Self::Mit => "The MIT License",
+            Self::Cddl1_0 => "Common Development and Distribution License 1.0",
+            Self::Epl2_0 => "Eclipse Public License version 2.0",
+            Self::Gpl2_0 => "GNU General Public License version 2",
+            Self::Gpl3_0 => "GNU General Public License version 3",
+            Self::Lgpl2_1 => "GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1",
+            Self::Lgpl3_0 => "GNU Lesser General Public License version 3",
+            Self::Lgpl2_0 => "GNU Library General Public License version 2",
+            Self::Mpl2_0 => "Mozilla Public License 2.0",
+            Self::Bsd2Clause => "The 2-Clause BSD License",
+            Self::Bsd3Clause => "The 3-Clause BSD License",
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Get the SPDX id associated with a license.
+    /// Internally, `oseda check` will recognize one of these strings
+    pub const fn spdx_id(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Self::Apache2_0 => "Apache-2.0",
+            Self::Mit => "MIT",
+            Self::Cddl1_0 => "CDDL-1.0",
+            Self::Epl2_0 => "EPL-2.0",
+            Self::Gpl2_0 => "GPL-2.0",
+            Self::Gpl3_0 => "GPL-3.0",
+            Self::Lgpl2_1 => "LGPL-2.1",
+            Self::Lgpl3_0 => "LGPL-3.0",
+            Self::Lgpl2_0 => "LGPL-2.0",
+            Self::Mpl2_0 => "MPL-2.0",
+            Self::Bsd2Clause => "BSD-2-Clause",
+            Self::Bsd3Clause => "BSD-3-Clause",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Display for License {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{}", self.spdx_id())
+    }
+}
+
+// useful for oseda check attempting to parse a license spdx id
+impl TryFrom<String> for License {
+    type Error = strum::ParseError;
+
+    fn try_from(s: String) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        s.parse()
+    }
+}