diff --git a/CorePrelude.hs b/CorePrelude.hs
--- a/CorePrelude.hs
+++ b/CorePrelude.hs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     , Prelude.const
     , Prelude.error
     , Data.Text.IO.putStrLn
+    , getArgs
     , Prelude.odd
     , Prelude.even
     , Prelude.uncurry
@@ -128,6 +129,8 @@
     , F.filename
       -- ** Print
     , Prelude.print
+      -- ** Command line args
+    , readArgs
     ) where
 
 import qualified Prelude
@@ -138,7 +141,7 @@
 
 import Data.Monoid (Monoid (..))
 import qualified Control.Arrow
-import qualified Control.Applicative
+import Control.Applicative
 import qualified Control.Category
 import qualified Control.Monad
 import qualified Control.Exception
@@ -169,7 +172,12 @@
 import Data.Set (Set)
 import Data.HashMap.Strict (HashMap)
 import Data.HashSet (HashSet)
+import ReadArgs (readArgs)
 
+import qualified System.Environment
+import qualified Data.Text
+import qualified Data.List
+
 #if MIN_VERSION_base(4,5,0)
 import Data.Monoid ((<>))
 #endif
@@ -191,3 +199,6 @@
 equating :: Eq a => (b -> a) -> b -> b -> Bool
 equating = Data.Function.on (Prelude.==)
 
+
+getArgs :: Prelude.IO [Text]
+getArgs = Data.List.map Data.Text.pack <$> System.Environment.getArgs
diff --git a/basic-prelude.cabal b/basic-prelude.cabal
--- a/basic-prelude.cabal
+++ b/basic-prelude.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                basic-prelude
-version:             0.3.0.0
+version:             0.3.1.0
 synopsis:            An enhanced core prelude; a common foundation for alternate preludes.
 description:
     The premise of @basic-prelude@ is that there are a lot of very commonly desired features missing from the standard @Prelude@, such as commonly used operators (@\<$\>@ and @>=>@, for instance) and imports for common datatypes (e.g., @ByteString@ and @Vector@). At the same time, there are lots of other components which are more debatable, such as providing polymorphic versions of common functions.
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 author:              Michael Snoyman, Dan Burton
 maintainer:          michael@snoyman.com
 
-category:            Control
+category:            Control, Prelude
 build-type:          Simple
 cabal-version:       >=1.8
 
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
                      , unordered-containers
                      , vector
                      , system-filepath          >= 0.4     && < 0.5
+                     , ReadArgs                 >= 1.2     && < 1.3
 
 source-repository head
   type:     git