diff --git a/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py b/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py
index 6f72632..cc20164 100644
--- a/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py
+++ b/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py
@@ -17,11 +17,20 @@ except ImportError:
     from setuptools_scm import get_version
     __version__ = get_version(root='..', relative_to=__file__)
 
+# configure basic logging and logger for this module
+root = logging.getLogger()
+root.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
+formatter = logging.Formatter('%(asctime)s %(levelname)8s [%(name)s] %(message)s')
+handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+root.addHandler(handler)
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # parse flags that are common to many tools (e.g. adding paths for finding .proto files)
 core_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
 core_parser.add_argument('-v', '--version', action='version', version=f"%(prog)s {__version__}")
+core_parser.add_argument('-d', '--debug', action='store_true', help="enable debug logging")
 core_parser.add_argument('-P', '--proto-files-path', type=pathlib.Path, default=list(), action='append',
                          help="path to .proto files to read, including dependencies; you will likely need "
                               "to supply this twice, once for GP2040-CE's .proto files and once for nanopb's")
@@ -29,6 +38,11 @@ args, _ = core_parser.parse_known_args()
 for path in args.proto_files_path:
     sys.path.append(os.path.abspath(os.path.expanduser(path)))
 
+if args.debug:
+    handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+else:
+    handler.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+
 
 def get_config_pb2():
     """Retrieve prebuilt _pb2 file or attempt to compile it live."""