diff --git a/internal/cmd/root.go b/internal/cmd/root.go
index 75d4351..3fe87ac 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/root.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/root.go
@@ -1,14 +1,80 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"git.yoresee.cc/nightstar/ry/internal/config"
+	"git.yoresee.cc/nightstar/ry/internal/output"
+	"git.yoresee.cc/nightstar/ry/internal/provider"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
+var (
+	cfg        *config.Config
+	cfgPath    string
+	prov       provider.Provider
+	out        *output.Printer
+	flagProvider string
+	flagOutput   string
+	flagRaw      bool
+	flagDebug    bool
+)
+
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "ry",
-	Short: "Multi-cloud CLI, like gh for cloud providers",
+	Short: "Multi-cloud CLI — manage cloud resources from your terminal",
+	PersistentPreRunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		var err error
+		cfg, err = config.Load(cfgPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("load config: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		providerName := cfg.CurrentProvider
+		if flagProvider != "" {
+			providerName = flagProvider
+		}
+		if env := os.Getenv("RY_PROVIDER"); env != "" {
+			providerName = env
+		}
+
+		if providerName == "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("no provider configured — run 'ry provider add <name>' first")
+		}
+
+		pc := cfg.Providers[providerName]
+		prov, err = provider.New(providerName, provider.ProviderConfig{
+			APIKey:          pc.APIKey,
+			AccessKeyID:     pc.AccessKeyID,
+			AccessKeySecret: pc.AccessKeySecret,
+			Endpoint:        pc.Endpoint,
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		outputFormat := cfg.Output
+		if flagOutput != "" {
+			outputFormat = flagOutput
+		}
+		if flagRaw {
+			outputFormat = "raw"
+		}
+		out = output.New(outputFormat, os.Stdout)
+		return nil
+	},
 }
 
 func Execute() error {
 	return rootCmd.Execute()
 }
+
+func init() {
+	cfgPath = config.DefaultPath()
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&flagProvider, "provider", "p", "", "Cloud provider to use")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&flagOutput, "output", "o", "", "Output format: table, json, yaml, raw")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&flagRaw, "raw", false, "Output raw API response")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&flagDebug, "debug", false, "Enable debug output")
+}