diff --git a/iris.rb b/iris.rb
index c47be75..8d92153 100755
--- a/iris.rb
+++ b/iris.rb
@@ -63,7 +63,60 @@ class Config
   AUTHOR       = "#{USER}@#{HOSTNAME}"
 
   def self.find_files
-    @@message_corpus ||= (`ls /home/**/.iris.messages`).split("\n")
+    (`ls /home/**/.iris.messages`).split("\n")
+  end
+end
+
+class Corpus
+  def self.load
+    @@corpus    = Config.find_files.map { |filepath| IrisFile.load_messages(filepath) }.flatten.sort_by(&:timestamp)
+    @@topics    = @@corpus.select{ |m| m.parent == nil }
+    @@my_corpus = IrisFile.load_messages.sort_by(&:timestamp)
+    @@all_hash_to_index = @@corpus.reduce({}) { |agg, msg| agg[msg.hash] = @@corpus.index(msg); agg }
+    @@all_parent_hash_to_index = @@corpus.reduce({}) do |agg, msg|
+      agg[msg.parent] ||= []
+      agg[msg.parent] << @@corpus.index(msg)
+      agg
+    end
+  end
+
+  def self.all
+    @@corpus
+  end
+
+  def self.topics
+    @@topics
+  end
+
+  def self.mine
+    @@my_corpus
+  end
+
+  def self.find_message_by_hash(hash)
+    return nil unless hash
+    index = @@all_hash_to_index[hash]
+    return nil unless index
+    all[index]
+  end
+
+  def self.find_all_by_parent_hash(hash)
+    return [] unless hash
+    indexes = @@all_parent_hash_to_index[hash]
+    return [] unless indexes
+    indexes.map{ |idx| all[idx] }
+  end
+
+  def self.find_topic(topic_lookup)
+    return nil unless topic_lookup
+    if topic_id.to_i == 0
+      # This must be a hash, handle appropriately
+      msg = find_message_by_hash(topic_id)
+      msg
+    else
+      # This must be an index, handle appropriately
+      index = topic_id.to_i - 1
+      return topics[index] if index >= 0 && index < topics.length
+    end
   end
 end
 
@@ -125,59 +178,6 @@ class IrisFile
   end
 end
 
-class Corpus
-  def self.load
-    @@corpus    = Config.find_files.map { |filepath| IrisFile.load_messages(filepath) }.flatten.sort_by(&:timestamp)
-    @@topics    = @@corpus.select{ |m| m.parent == nil }
-    @@my_corpus = IrisFile.load_messages.sort_by(&:timestamp)
-    @@all_hash_to_index = @@corpus.reduce({}) { |agg, msg| agg[msg.hash] = @@corpus.index(msg); agg }
-    @@all_parent_hash_to_index = @@corpus.reduce({}) do |agg, msg|
-      agg[msg.parent] ||= []
-      agg[msg.parent] << @@corpus.index(msg)
-      agg
-    end
-  end
-
-  def self.all
-    @@corpus
-  end
-
-  def self.topics
-    @@topics
-  end
-
-  def self.mine
-    @@my_corpus
-  end
-
-  def self.find_message_by_hash(hash)
-    return nil unless hash
-    index = @@all_hash_to_index[hash]
-    return nil unless index
-    all[index]
-  end
-
-  def self.find_all_by_parent_hash(hash)
-    return [] unless hash
-    indexes = @@all_parent_hash_to_index[hash]
-    return [] unless indexes
-    indexes.map{ |idx| all[idx] }
-  end
-
-  def self.find_topic(topic_id)
-    if topic_id.to_i == 0
-      # This must be a hash, handle appropriately
-      msg = find_message_by_hash(topic_id)
-      puts 'WARNING: Expected a topic but got a reply!' unless msg.is_topic?
-      msg
-    else
-      # This must be an index, handle appropriately
-      index = topic_id.to_i - 1
-      return topics[index] if index >= 0 && index < topics.length
-    end
-  end
-end
-
 class Message
   FILE_FORMAT = 'v2'
 
@@ -223,6 +223,10 @@ class Message
     @errors.empty?
   end
 
+  def topic?
+    parent.nil?
+  end
+
   def save!
     new_corpus = Corpus.mine << self
     IrisFile.write_corpus(new_corpus.to_json)
@@ -250,14 +254,6 @@ class Message
     [head, message_stub].join(' | ')
   end
 
-  def leader_text
-    is_topic? ? '***' : '    === REPLY==='
-  end
-
-  def verb_text
-    is_topic? ? 'posted' : 'replied'
-  end
-
   def to_display
     error_marker =   valid? ? nil : '### THIS MESSAGE HAS THE FOLLOWING ERRORS ###'
     error_follower = valid? ? nil : '### THIS MESSAGE MAY BE CORRUPT OR TAMPERED WITH ###'
@@ -277,14 +273,6 @@ class Message
     [to_display] + replies.map(&:to_display)
   end
 
-  def replies
-    Corpus.find_all_by_parent_hash(hash)
-  end
-
-  def is_topic?
-    parent.nil?
-  end
-
   def to_json(*args)
     {
       hash: hash,
@@ -293,6 +281,20 @@ class Message
     }.to_json
   end
 
+  private
+
+  def leader_text
+    topic? ? '***' : '    === REPLY==='
+  end
+
+  def verb_text
+    topic? ? 'posted' : 'replied'
+  end
+
+  def replies
+    Corpus.find_all_by_parent_hash(hash)
+  end
+
   def unconfirmed_payload
     {
       author: author,
@@ -312,7 +314,7 @@ class Display
   end
 
   def self.topic_author_width
-    Corpus.topics.map(&:author).map(&:length).max
+    Corpus.topics.map(&:author).map(&:length).max || 1
   end
 
   def self.print_index(index)
@@ -604,4 +606,4 @@ class Startupper
   end
 end
 
-Startupper.new(ARGV)
+Startupper.new(ARGV) if __FILE__==$0
diff --git a/iris_test.rb b/iris_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a2f3db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/iris_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+require 'minitest/autorun'
+require 'mocha/mini_test'
+
+# Setting this before loading the main code file so that the Config contants
+# load correctly.  This will allows the test to pretend that user "jerryberry"
+# is logged in.
+ENV.stubs(:[]).returns('jerryberry')
+
+require './iris.rb'
+
+describe Config do
+  it 'has the Iris semantic version number' do
+    Config::VERSION.must_match /^\d\.\d\.\d$/
+  end
+
+  it 'has the message file location' do
+    Config::MESSAGE_FILE.must_match /\/\.iris\.messages$/
+  end
+
+  it 'has the readline history file location' do
+    Config::HISTORY_FILE.must_match /\/\.iris\.history$/
+  end
+
+  it 'has the username' do
+    Config::USER.must_equal 'jerryberry'
+  end
+
+  it 'has a hostname' do
+    Config::HOSTNAME.wont_be_nil
+  end
+
+  it 'has the author' do
+    Config::AUTHOR.must_equal "#{Config::USER}@#{Config::HOSTNAME}"
+  end
+
+  describe '.find_files' do
+    it 'looks up all the Iris message files on the system' do
+      # I am so sorry
+      Config.expects(:`).with('ls /home/**/.iris.messages').returns('')
+      Config.find_files
+    end
+
+    it 'returns a list of Iris message files' do
+      Config.stubs(:`).returns("foo\nbar\n")
+      Config.find_files.must_equal ['foo', 'bar']
+    end
+
+    it 'returns an empty array if no Iris message files are found' do
+      Config.stubs(:`).returns('')
+      Config.find_files.must_equal []
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+describe Corpus do
+  describe '.load' do
+    it 'loads all the message files'
+    it 'sets the corpus class variable'
+    it 'sets the topics class variable'
+    it 'creates a hash index'
+    it 'creates parent-hash-to-child-indexes index'
+  end
+
+  describe '.all' do
+    it 'returns the entire corpus of messages'
+  end
+
+  describe '.topics' do
+    it 'returns all the messages which are topics'
+    it 'does not return reply messages'
+  end
+
+  describe '.mine' do
+    it 'returns all messages composed by the current user'
+    it 'does not return any messages not composed by the current user'
+  end
+
+  describe '.find_message_by_hash' do
+    it 'returns nil if a nil is passed in' do
+      Corpus.find_message_by_hash(nil).must_equal nil
+    end
+
+    it 'returns nil if the hash is not found in the corpus' do
+      skip
+      Corpus.find_message_by_hash('NoofMcGoof').must_equal nil
+    end
+
+    it 'returns the message associated with the hash if it is found'
+  end
+
+  describe '.find_all_by_parent_hash' do
+    it 'returns an empty array if a nil is passed in' do
+      Corpus.find_all_by_parent_hash(nil).must_equal []
+    end
+
+    it 'returns an empty array if the hash is not a parent of any other messages' do
+      skip
+      Corpus.find_all_by_parent_hash('GoofMcDoof').must_equal []
+    end
+
+    it 'returns an empty array if the hash is not found in the corpus'
+    it 'returns the messages associated with the parent hash'
+  end
+
+  describe '.find_topic' do
+    it 'returns nil if a nil is passed in' do
+      Corpus.find_topic(nil).must_equal nil
+    end
+
+    describe 'when a hash string is passed in' do
+      it 'returns nil if the topic is not found'
+      it 'returns the associated topic'
+    end
+
+    describe 'when an index string is passed in' do
+      it 'returns nil if the topic is not found'
+      it 'returns the associated topic'
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+describe IrisFile do
+  describe '.load_messages' do; end
+  describe '.create_message_file' do; end
+end
+
+describe Message do
+  it 'has a file version' do
+    Message::FILE_FORMAT.must_match /v\d/
+  end
+
+  it 'exposes all its data attributes for reading'
+
+  it 'is #valid? if it has no errors'
+  it 'is #topic? if it has no parent'
+
+  describe 'creation' do; end
+  describe 'validation' do; end
+
+  describe '#save!' do
+    it 'adds itself to the user\'s corpus'
+    it 'writes out the user\'s message file'
+    it 'reloads all message files'
+  end
+
+  describe '#hash' do; end
+  describe '#truncated_message' do; end
+  describe '#to_topic_line' do; end
+  describe '#to_display' do; end
+  describe '#to_topic_display' do; end
+  describe '#to_json' do; end
+end
+
+describe Display do
+  it 'has a setting for a minimum width of 80' do
+    Display::MIN_WIDTH.must_equal 80
+  end
+
+  it 'has a setting for the calculated screen width'
+
+  describe '#topic_index_width' do
+    it 'returns the length in characters of the longest topic index' do
+      Corpus.stubs(:topics).returns(%w{a bc def})
+      Display.topic_index_width.must_equal 1
+
+      Corpus.stubs(:topics).returns(%w{a b c d e f g h i j k})
+      Display.topic_index_width.must_equal 2
+    end
+
+    it 'returns 1 if there are no topics' do
+      Corpus.stubs(:topics).returns([])
+      Display.topic_index_width.must_equal 1
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#topic_author_width' do
+    it 'returns the length in characters of the longest author\'s name'
+    it 'returns 1 if there are no topics' do
+      Corpus.stubs(:topics).returns([])
+      Display.topic_author_width.must_equal 1
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '.print_index' do; end
+  describe '.print_author' do; end
+end
+
+describe Interface do
+  it 'has a map of all single-word commands'
+  it 'has a map of all shortcuts and commands'
+
+  describe '#start' do; end
+  describe 'creation' do; end
+
+  describe '#reset_display' do; end
+  describe '#reply' do; end
+  describe '#show_topic' do; end
+  describe '#quit' do; end
+  describe '.start' do; end
+  describe '#compose' do; end
+  describe '#topics' do; end
+  describe '#help' do; end
+  describe '#freshen' do; end
+  describe '#readline (maybe?)' do; end
+end
+
+describe CLI do
+  describe '#start' do; end
+  describe 'creation' do; end
+  describe '--version or -v' do; end
+  describe '--stats or -s' do; end
+  describe '--help or -h' do; end
+  describe 'junk parameters' do; end
+end
+
+describe Startupper do
+  describe 'creation' do; end
+  describe 'perform_startup_checks' do; end
+end
diff --git a/test_watch b/test_watch
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4fe2914
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_watch
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+echo "Watching..."
+find . -name "*.rb" | entr sh -c 'clear; ruby iris_test.rb'
+
+# while inotifywait -r -e modify ./spec; do
+  # SKIP_PRECOMPILE=TRUE SKIP_LINT=TRUE ./test.sh $1
+  # done