diff --git a/src/commands/init.command.ts b/src/commands/init.command.ts
index a81d82d..2c109aa 100644
--- a/src/commands/init.command.ts
+++ b/src/commands/init.command.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Command, ParsedArguments } from 'ts-commands';
 import { createConfigFile } from '../config/create-config-file';
 import { gitInit } from '../git/git-init';
+import { npmInit, npmInstall } from '../npm';
 
 /**
  * Initialize a new SDLC project
@@ -13,5 +14,10 @@ export class InitCommand extends Command {
 	public async handle(args: ParsedArguments): Promise<void> {
 		await gitInit();
 		await createConfigFile();
+		await npmInit();
+		await npmInstall({
+			package: 'sdlc@^1.0.0',
+			isDev: true,
+		});
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/git/git.ts b/src/git/git.ts
index 0dac180..91f8283 100644
--- a/src/git/git.ts
+++ b/src/git/git.ts
@@ -1,37 +1,3 @@
-import { spawn, SpawnOptionsWithoutStdio } from 'child_process';
+import { syscall } from '../syscall';
 
-export async function git(
-	command: string,
-	args: string[] = [],
-	options: SpawnOptionsWithoutStdio = {}
-): Promise<string> {
-	return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-		const git = spawn('git', [command, ...args], options);
-
-		let stdout = '';
-		let stderr = '';
-
-		git.stdout.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
-			stdout += data.toString();
-		});
-
-		git.stderr.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
-			stderr += data.toString();
-		});
-
-		git.on('close', (code: number) => {
-			if (code === 0) {
-				resolve(stdout.trim());
-			}
-			else {
-				reject(
-					new Error(`Git command failed with code ${code}: ${stderr}`)
-				);
-			}
-		});
-
-		git.on('error', (error: Error) => {
-			reject(error);
-		});
-	});
-}
+export const git = syscall('git');
diff --git a/src/npm/index.ts b/src/npm/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a7cef0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/npm/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export { npmInit } from './npm-init';
+export { npmInstall } from './npm-install';
+export { npm } from './npm';
diff --git a/src/npm/npm-init.ts b/src/npm/npm-init.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db91b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/npm/npm-init.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import { npm } from './npm';
+
+export async function npmInit(): Promise<void> {
+	await npm('init', ['-y']);
+}
diff --git a/src/npm/npm-install.ts b/src/npm/npm-install.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..076a7be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/npm/npm-install.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { npm } from './npm';
+
+export async function npmInstall(options: {
+	package: string;
+	isDev?: boolean;
+}): Promise<void> {
+	const args = [options.package];
+
+	if (options.isDev) {
+		args.push('--save-dev');
+	}
+
+	await npm('install', args);
+}
diff --git a/src/npm/npm.ts b/src/npm/npm.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ffa60ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/npm/npm.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+import { syscall } from '../syscall';
+
+export const npm = syscall('npm');
diff --git a/src/syscall.ts b/src/syscall.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b85ca9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import { execSync } from 'child_process';
+
+export function syscall(command: string) {
+	return async function (
+		subcommand: string,
+		args: string[] = [],
+		options: { cwd?: string } = {}
+	): Promise<string> {
+		try {
+			const cwd = options.cwd || process.cwd();
+			args = args.map((arg) => `"${arg.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`);
+			const cmd = [command, subcommand, ...args].join(' ');
+			const stdout = execSync(cmd, {
+				cwd,
+				encoding: 'utf8',
+				stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+			});
+			return stdout.trim();
+		}
+		catch (error) {
+			const exitCode =
+				error && typeof error === 'object' && 'status' in error
+					? (error as { status?: number }).status
+					: undefined;
+			const stderr =
+				error &&
+				typeof error === 'object' &&
+				'stderr' in error &&
+				error.stderr
+					? String((error as { stderr?: Buffer }).stderr)
+					: (error as Error).message;
+			const errMsg =
+				`${command} ${subcommand} failed` +
+				(exitCode !== undefined ? ` (exit code: ${exitCode})` : '') +
+				`: ${stderr}`;
+			throw new Error(errMsg);
+		}
+	};
+}
diff --git a/test/spec/commands/init-command.spec.ts b/test/spec/commands/init-command.spec.ts
index 25b6eea..1d35653 100644
--- a/test/spec/commands/init-command.spec.ts
+++ b/test/spec/commands/init-command.spec.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,21 @@ describe('InitCommand', () => {
 
 			// Verify console output
 			expect(mockConsole.stdout).toEqual('');
+
+			// Verify package.json was created and sdlc dependency added
+			const packageJsonPath = testDir + '/package.json';
+			const packageJsonExists =
+				await TestUtils.assertExists(packageJsonPath);
+			expect(packageJsonExists).toBe(true);
+
+			const packageJsonContent = JSON.parse(
+				await TestUtils.getFileContent(packageJsonPath)
+			);
+			expect(packageJsonContent.devDependencies).toBeDefined();
+			expect(packageJsonContent.devDependencies['sdlc']).toBeDefined();
+			expect(packageJsonContent.devDependencies['sdlc']).toMatch(
+				/^\^\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/
+			);
 		});
 	});
 
diff --git a/test/spec/git/git.spec.ts b/test/spec/git/git.spec.ts
index d3840fe..a765742 100644
--- a/test/spec/git/git.spec.ts
+++ b/test/spec/git/git.spec.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ describe('git', () => {
 		await expectAsync(
 			git('invalidcmd', [], { cwd: testDir })
 		).toBeRejectedWithError(
-			'Git command failed with code 1: git: \'invalidcmd\' ' +
+			'git invalidcmd failed (exit code: 1): git: \'invalidcmd\' ' +
 				'is not a git command. See \'git --help\'.\n'
 		);
 	});
diff --git a/test/spec/index.spec.ts b/test/spec/index.spec.ts
index 20c1a6b..0f8529e 100644
--- a/test/spec/index.spec.ts
+++ b/test/spec/index.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import 'jasmine';
 import { TestUtils } from '../utilities';
 
+jasmine.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL = 60000;
+
 beforeAll(async () => {
 	await TestUtils.cleanupTestDirectories();
 });
diff --git a/test/spec/npm/npm-init.spec.ts b/test/spec/npm/npm-init.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..adf515e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/spec/npm/npm-init.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { npmInit } from '../../../src/npm';
+import { TestUtils } from '../../utilities';
+
+describe('npm init', () => {
+	it('can initialize an npm package', async () => {
+		await TestUtils.useDirectory('npm-init-basic');
+		await npmInit();
+
+		await TestUtils.assertExists('package.json');
+	});
+});
diff --git a/test/spec/npm/npm-install.spec.ts b/test/spec/npm/npm-install.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4cfee6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/spec/npm/npm-install.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { npmInit, npmInstall } from '../../../src/npm';
+import { TestUtils } from '../../utilities';
+
+describe('npm install', () => {
+	it('can install a package', async () => {
+		await TestUtils.useDirectory('npm-install-basic');
+		await npmInit();
+		await npmInstall({ package: 'ts-tiny-log' });
+
+		await TestUtils.assertExists('node_modules/ts-tiny-log');
+	});
+
+	it('can install dev dependencies', async () => {
+		await TestUtils.useDirectory('npm-install-dev');
+		await npmInit();
+		await npmInstall({ package: 'ts-tiny-log', isDev: true });
+
+		await TestUtils.assertExists('node_modules/ts-tiny-log');
+	});
+});
diff --git a/test/spec/npm/npm.spec.ts b/test/spec/npm/npm.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2645b49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/spec/npm/npm.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { TestUtils } from '../../utilities/test-utilities';
+import { npm } from '../../../src/npm';
+
+describe('npm', () => {
+	let testDir: string;
+
+	it('should return stdout when npm command succeeds', async () => {
+		testDir = await TestUtils.useDirectory('npm-status');
+		const result = await npm('info', ['ts-tiny-log'], { cwd: testDir });
+
+		expect(typeof result).toBe('string');
+		expect(result).toBeDefined();
+	});
+});