diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b7d41a14..e7cf5b6f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ for a home-manager installation, `inputs.nixvim.nixosModules.nixvim`, for NixOS,
 and `inputs.nixvim.nixDarwinModules.nixvim` for nix-darwin.
 
 ## Usage
-NixVim can be used in four ways: through the home-manager, nix-darwin, and NixOS modules,
-and through the `makeNixvim` function. To use the modules, just import the
+NixVim can be used in four ways: through the home-manager, nix-darwin, NixOS modules,
+and standalone through the `makeNixvim` function. To use the modules, just import the
 `nixvim.homeManagerModules.nixvim`, `nixvim.nixDarwinModules.nixvim`, and
 `nixvim.nixosModules.nixvim` modules, depending on which system
 you're using.
@@ -100,9 +100,18 @@ If you want to use it standalone, you can use the `makeNixvim` function:
 }
 ```
 
+To get started with a standalone configuration you can use the template by running the following command in an empty directory (recommended):
+
+```
+nix flake init --template github:pta2002/nixvim
+```
+
 Alternatively if you want a minimal flake to allow building a custom neovim you
 can use the following:
 
+<details>
+  <summary>Minimal flake configuration</summary>
+
 ```nix
 {
   description = "A very basic flake";
@@ -132,6 +141,8 @@ can use the following:
 }
 ```
 
+</details>
+
 You can then run neovim using `nix run .# -- <file>`. This can be useful to test
 config changes easily.
 
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index df441ca5..8c6be371 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@
               };
           };
           formatter = pkgs.alejandra;
+
+          lib = import ./lib {
+            inherit pkgs;
+            inherit (pkgs) lib;
+          };
         });
     in
       flakeOutput
@@ -114,5 +119,14 @@
         nixosModules.nixvim = import ./wrappers/nixos.nix modules;
         homeManagerModules.nixvim = import ./wrappers/hm.nix modules;
         nixDarwinModules.nixvim = import ./wrappers/darwin.nix modules;
+
+        templates = let
+          simple = {
+            path = ./templates/simple;
+            description = "A simple nix flake template for getting started with nixvim";
+          };
+        in {
+          default = simple;
+        };
       };
 }
diff --git a/lib/check.nix b/lib/check.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..34bed49f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/check.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{pkgs, ...}: {
+  checkNvim = {
+    name,
+    nvim,
+    ...
+  }:
+    pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
+      name = name;
+
+      nativeBuildInputs = [nvim];
+
+      dontUnpack = true;
+      # We need to set HOME because neovim will try to create some files
+      #
+      # Because neovim does not return an exitcode when quitting we need to check if there are
+      # errors on stderr
+      buildPhase = ''
+        output=$(HOME=$(realpath .) nvim -mn --headless "+q" 2>&1 >/dev/null)
+        if [[ -n $output ]]; then
+        	echo "ERROR: $output"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+      '';
+
+      # If we don't do this nix is not happy
+      installPhase = ''
+        mkdir $out
+      '';
+    };
+}
diff --git a/lib/default.nix b/lib/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..015775f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Args probably only needs pkgs and lib
+args: {
+  # Add all exported modules here
+  check = import ./check.nix args;
+  helpers = import ./helpers.nix args;
+}
diff --git a/templates/simple/README.md b/templates/simple/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..610d78d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/simple/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Nixvim template
+
+This template gives you a good starting point for configuring nixvim standalone.
+
+## Configuring
+
+To start configuring, just add or modify the nix files in `./config`. If you add a new configuration file, remember to add it to the [`congig/default.nix`](./config/default.nix) file
+
+## Testing your new configuration
+
+To test your configuration simply run the following command
+
+```
+nix run .
+```
+
diff --git a/templates/simple/config/bufferline.nix b/templates/simple/config/bufferline.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fe5cf058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/simple/config/bufferline.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  plugins.bufferline = {
+    enable = true;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/templates/simple/config/default.nix b/templates/simple/config/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9a64549
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/simple/config/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  # Import all your configuration modules here
+  imports = [
+    ./bufferline.nix
+  ];
+}
diff --git a/templates/simple/flake.nix b/templates/simple/flake.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..55aa8557
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/simple/flake.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+  description = "A nixvim configuration";
+
+  inputs = {
+    nixvim.url = "github:pta2002/nixvim";
+    flake-utils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
+  };
+
+  outputs = {
+    nixpkgs,
+    nixvim,
+    flake-utils,
+    ...
+  } @ inputs: let
+    nixvimLib = nixvim.lib;
+    config = import ./config; # import the module directly
+  in
+    flake-utils.lib.eachDefaultSystem (system: let
+      pkgs = import nixpkgs {inherit system;};
+      nixvim' = nixvim.legacyPackages.${system};
+      nvim = nixvim'.makeNixvimWithModule {
+        inherit pkgs;
+        module = config;
+      };
+    in {
+      checks = {
+        # Run `nix check .` to verify that your config is not broken
+        default = nixvim.lib.${system}.check.checkNvim {
+          inherit nvim;
+          name = "A nixvim configuration";
+        };
+      };
+
+      packages = {
+        # Lets you run `nix run .` to start nixvim
+        default = nvim;
+      };
+    });
+}
diff --git a/tests/checks.nix b/tests/checks.nix
index 3c127d7a..72b33c19 100644
--- a/tests/checks.nix
+++ b/tests/checks.nix
@@ -1,36 +1,16 @@
 {
   makeNixvim,
   pkgs,
-}: let
+} @ args: let
   tests = import ./plugins {inherit (pkgs) lib;};
+  check = import ../lib/check.nix args;
+  checkConfig = check.checkNvim;
 in
   # We attempt to build & execute all configurations
   builtins.mapAttrs (
     name: config: let
       nvim = makeNixvim config;
     in
-      pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
-        name = name;
-
-        nativeBuildInputs = [nvim];
-
-        dontUnpack = true;
-        # We need to set HOME because neovim will try to create some files
-        #
-        # Because neovim does not return an exitcode when quitting we need to check if there are
-        # errors on stderr
-        buildPhase = ''
-          output=$(HOME=$(realpath .) nvim -mn --headless "+q" 2>&1 >/dev/null)
-          if [[ -n $output ]]; then
-          	echo "ERROR: $output"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-        '';
-
-        # If we don't do this nix is not happy
-        installPhase = ''
-          mkdir $out
-        '';
-      }
+      checkConfig {inherit name nvim;}
   )
   tests