diff --git a/lib/pod/cli.rb b/lib/pod/cli.rb
index ea8bc2a..694dc42 100644
--- a/lib/pod/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/pod/cli.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@ def self.exit_on_failure?
       true
     end
 
+    def self.start(given_args = ARGV, config = {})
+      command = given_args.first
+      does_not_require_config = %w[version -V --version init].include?(command)
+      pod_initialized = Dir.exist?(ENV["HOME"] + "/.config/pod")
+      if does_not_require_config || pod_initialized
+        super
+      else
+        puts "Missing config files. Run `pod init` first."
+      end
+    end
+
     desc "version", "Displays the pod version"
     map %w[-V --version] => :version
     def version
diff --git a/spec/pod/cli_spec.rb b/spec/pod/cli_spec.rb
index 8b307f8..ac33384 100644
--- a/spec/pod/cli_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/pod/cli_spec.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 require_relative "../support/test_helpers"
 
 RSpec.describe Pod::CLI do
-  describe "input interpretation" do
+  describe "input interpretation", :init_pod do
     context "when the input is invalid" do
       it "tells the user that the command was not found" do
         result = TestHelpers::CLI.run_cmd("pod invalid")
@@ -13,6 +13,18 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "init ensuring" do
+    it "returns an error message when user tries to run pod without initialization" do
+      expected_output = <<~OUTPUT
+        Missing config files. Run `pod init` first.
+      OUTPUT
+
+      result = TestHelpers::CLI.run_cmd("pod podcasts")
+
+      expect(result).to eq(expected_output.chomp)
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "version command" do
     it "returns the pod version" do
       original_result = TestHelpers::CLI.run_cmd("pod version")