diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8faf514e6..e6701b564 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -41,3 +41,5 @@ endif()
 option(BUILD_DOC "Build documentation with doxygen" OFF)
 
 add_subdirectory(docs)
+
+add_subdirectory(apps)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..928a20444
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+file(GLOB INIT_SRCS CONFIGURE_DEPENDS "initializer/*.cpp")
+
+add_executable(poet_initializer ${INIT_SRCS})
+target_link_libraries(poet_initializer RRuntime tug)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/initializer/main.cpp b/apps/initializer/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5297158c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/initializer/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#include <Rcpp.h>
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv) {}
\ No newline at end of file