diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+Copyright (c) 2022 Torsten Schmits
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the
+following conditions are met:
+
+  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+  disclaimer.
+  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+  disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+
+Subject to the terms and conditions of this license, each copyright holder and contributor hereby grants to those
+receiving rights under this license a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except
+for failure to satisfy the conditions of this license) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell,
+import, and otherwise transfer this software, where such license applies only to those patent claims, already acquired
+or hereafter acquired, licensable by such copyright holder or contributor that are necessarily infringed by:
+
+  (a) their Contribution(s) (the licensed copyrights of copyright holders and non-copyrightable additions of
+  contributors, in source or binary form) alone; or
+  (b) combination of their Contribution(s) with the work of authorship to which such Contribution(s) was added by such
+  copyright holder or contributor, if, at the time the Contribution is added, such addition causes such combination to
+  be necessarily infringed. The patent license shall not apply to any other combinations which include the Contribution.
+
+Except as expressly stated above, no rights or licenses from any copyright holder or contributor is granted under this
+license, whether expressly, by implication, estoppel or otherwise.
+
+DISCLAIMER
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
+INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
+DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
+SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
+WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
+THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.md
diff --git a/incipit-core.cabal b/incipit-core.cabal
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/incipit-core.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+cabal-version: 2.2
+
+-- This file has been generated from package.yaml by hpack version 0.34.6.
+--
+-- see: https://github.com/sol/hpack
+
+name:           incipit-core
+version:        0.1.0.0
+synopsis:       A Prelude for Polysemy
+description:    See <https://hackage.haskell.org/package/incipit/docs/Prelude.html>
+category:       Prelude
+homepage:       https://github.com/tek/incipit#readme
+bug-reports:    https://github.com/tek/incipit/issues
+author:         Torsten Schmits
+maintainer:     haskell@tryp.io
+copyright:      2022 Torsten Schmits
+license:        BSD-2-Clause-Patent
+license-file:   LICENSE
+build-type:     Simple
+extra-source-files:
+    readme.md
+    changelog.md
+
+source-repository head
+  type: git
+  location: https://github.com/tek/incipit
+
+library
+  exposed-modules:
+      Incipit
+      Prelude
+  reexported-modules:
+      Data.ByteString
+    , Data.ByteString.Builder
+    , Data.ByteString.Lazy
+    , Data.ByteString.Short
+    , Data.IntMap.Lazy
+    , Data.IntMap.Strict
+    , Data.IntSet
+    , Data.Map.Lazy
+    , Data.Map.Strict
+    , Data.Sequence
+    , Data.Set
+    , Data.Text
+    , Data.Text.IO
+    , Data.Text.Lazy
+    , Data.Text.Lazy.IO
+    , Data.Text.Read
+    , Data.Tree
+  hs-source-dirs:
+      lib
+  default-extensions:
+      AllowAmbiguousTypes
+      ApplicativeDo
+      BangPatterns
+      BinaryLiterals
+      BlockArguments
+      ConstraintKinds
+      DataKinds
+      DefaultSignatures
+      DeriveAnyClass
+      DeriveDataTypeable
+      DeriveFoldable
+      DeriveFunctor
+      DeriveGeneric
+      DeriveTraversable
+      DerivingStrategies
+      DerivingVia
+      DisambiguateRecordFields
+      DoAndIfThenElse
+      DuplicateRecordFields
+      EmptyDataDecls
+      ExistentialQuantification
+      FlexibleContexts
+      FlexibleInstances
+      FunctionalDependencies
+      GADTs
+      GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving
+      InstanceSigs
+      KindSignatures
+      LambdaCase
+      LiberalTypeSynonyms
+      MultiParamTypeClasses
+      MultiWayIf
+      NamedFieldPuns
+      NoImplicitPrelude
+      OverloadedStrings
+      OverloadedLists
+      PackageImports
+      PartialTypeSignatures
+      PatternGuards
+      PatternSynonyms
+      PolyKinds
+      QuantifiedConstraints
+      QuasiQuotes
+      RankNTypes
+      RecordWildCards
+      RecursiveDo
+      ScopedTypeVariables
+      StandaloneDeriving
+      TemplateHaskell
+      TupleSections
+      TypeApplications
+      TypeFamilies
+      TypeFamilyDependencies
+      TypeOperators
+      TypeSynonymInstances
+      UndecidableInstances
+      UnicodeSyntax
+      ViewPatterns
+  ghc-options: -Wall -Wredundant-constraints -Wincomplete-uni-patterns -Wmissing-deriving-strategies -Widentities
+  build-depends:
+      base ==4.*
+    , incipit-base
+    , polysemy >=1.6
+  mixins:
+      base hiding (Prelude)
+  if impl(ghc >= 8.10)
+    ghc-options: -Wunused-packages
+  default-language: Haskell2010
diff --git a/lib/Incipit.hs b/lib/Incipit.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Incipit.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+-- |This is the central module on which to build upon when constructing Preludes for Polysemy libraries.
+-- It reexports most core effects.
+module Incipit (
+  module Incipit.Prelude,
+  module Polysemy,
+  module Polysemy.Async,
+  module Polysemy.AtomicState,
+  module Polysemy.Error,
+  module Polysemy.Fail,
+  module Polysemy.Input,
+  module Polysemy.Output,
+  module Polysemy.Reader,
+  module Polysemy.Resource,
+  module Polysemy.State,
+  module Polysemy.Tagged,
+  module Polysemy.Writer,
+  module Incipit,
+  send,
+) where
+
+import qualified Control.Exception as Base
+import Control.Exception (SomeException)
+import Polysemy
+import Polysemy.Async
+import Polysemy.AtomicState
+import Polysemy.Error
+import Polysemy.Fail
+import Polysemy.Input
+import Polysemy.Internal (send)
+import Polysemy.Internal.Kind (Append)
+import Polysemy.Output
+import Polysemy.Reader
+import Polysemy.Resource
+import Polysemy.State
+import Polysemy.Tagged
+import Polysemy.Writer
+
+import Incipit.Prelude
+
+-- |Run an 'IO' via 'Embed' and catch all exceptions, returning 'Either'.
+tryAny ::
+  Member (Embed IO) r =>
+  IO a ->
+  Sem r (Either Text a)
+tryAny =
+  embed @IO . fmap (first show) . Base.try @SomeException
+{-# inline tryAny #-}
+
+-- |Run an 'IO' via 'Embed' and catch all exceptions, returning 'Maybe'.
+tryMaybe ::
+  Member (Embed IO) r =>
+  IO a ->
+  Sem r (Maybe a)
+tryMaybe =
+  embed @IO . fmap rightToMaybe . Base.try @SomeException
+{-# inline tryMaybe #-}
+
+-- |Run an 'IO' via 'Embed' and catch and ignore all exceptions.
+ignoreException ::
+  Member (Embed IO) r =>
+  IO () ->
+  Sem r ()
+ignoreException =
+  void . embed @IO . Base.try @SomeException
+{-# inline ignoreException #-}
+
+-- |Convenience type alias for concatenating two effect rows.
+type a ++ b =
+  Append a b
+
+infixr 5 ++
diff --git a/lib/Prelude.hs b/lib/Prelude.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Prelude.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+module Prelude (
+  module Incipit
+) where
+
+import Incipit
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+This library provides a `Prelude` for [Polysemy] libraries, building upon [incipit-base] and exporting most of
+Polysemy's core modules.
+For a more comprehensive variant that includes some basic libraries, consider [incipit].
+# Usage
+
+`incipit-core` exports `Prelude`, so in order to use it you only have to hide `Prelude` from `base`:
+
+For `hpack`:
+```yaml
+dependencies:
+  - name: base
+    version: '>= 4 && < 5'
+    mixin:
+      - hiding (Prelude)
+  - incipit-core >= 0.1
+```
+
+For `cabal`:
+```cabal
+build-depends:
+    base >=4 && <5, incipit-core >= 0.1
+mixins:
+    base hiding (Prelude)
+```
+
+# Custom Prelude
+
+In order to extend `incipit-core` with a local `Prelude`, the module `Incipit` has to be reexported and `incipit-core`'s
+`Prelude` needs to be hidden:
+
+```yaml
+dependencies:
+  - name: base
+    version: '>= 4 && < 5'
+    mixin:
+      - hiding (Prelude)
+  - name: incipit-core
+    version: >= 0.1
+    mixin:
+      - hiding (Prelude)
+```
+
+```haskell
+module Prelude (
+  module Prelude,
+  module Incipit,
+) where
+
+import Incipit
+
+projectName :: Text
+projectName =
+  "spaceship"
+```
+
+[incipit-base]: https://hackage.haskell.org/package/incipit-base
+[incipit]: https://hackage.haskell.org/package/incipit
+[Polysemy]: https://hackage.haskell.org/package/polysemy