diff --git a/src/config/args.ts b/src/config/args.ts
index be9ef45..55c83fc 100644
--- a/src/config/args.ts
+++ b/src/config/args.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,17 @@
 import { Options, showCompletionScript, usage } from 'yargs';
 
-import { RuleSelector } from '../rule';
+import { RuleSelector, RuleSources } from '../rule';
 import { VERSION_INFO } from '../version';
 
+export enum MODE {
+  check = 'check',
+  complete = 'complete',
+  fix = 'fix',
+  list = 'list',
+}
+
+export const VALID_MODES = new Set([MODE.check, MODE.fix, MODE.list]);
+
 /* tslint:disable:no-any */
 
 export const CONFIG_ARGS_NAME = 'config-name';
@@ -19,7 +28,7 @@ export interface Args {
   mode: string;
 }
 
-export interface ParsedArgs extends RuleSelector {
+export interface ParsedArgs extends RuleSelector, RuleSources {
   [CONFIG_ARGS_NAME]: string;
   [CONFIG_ARGS_PATH]: string;
   coerce: boolean;
@@ -33,7 +42,7 @@ export interface ParsedArgs extends RuleSelector {
 
 export interface ParseResults {
   args: ParsedArgs;
-  mode: string;
+  mode: MODE;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -42,14 +51,14 @@ export interface ParseResults {
  * @TODO: fix it to use argv, not sure if yargs can do that
  */
 export function parseArgs(argv: Array<string>): ParseResults {
-  let mode = 'check';
+  let mode: MODE = MODE.check;
 
   const parser = usage(`Usage: salty-dog <mode> [options]`)
     .command({
       command: ['check', '*'],
       describe: 'validate the source documents',
       handler: (argi: any) => {
-        mode = 'check';
+        mode = MODE.check;
       },
     })
     .command({
@@ -67,21 +76,21 @@ export function parseArgs(argv: Array<string>): ParseResults {
       command: ['fix'],
       describe: 'validate the source document and insert defaults',
       handler: (argi: any) => {
-        mode = 'fix';
+        mode = MODE.fix;
       },
     })
     .command({
       command: ['list'],
       describe: 'list active rules',
       handler: (argi: any) => {
-        mode = 'list';
+        mode = MODE.list;
       },
     })
     .command({
       command: ['complete'],
       describe: 'generate tab completion script for bash or zsh',
       handler: (argi: any) => {
-        mode = 'complete';
+        mode = MODE.complete;
       },
     })
     .option(CONFIG_ARGS_NAME, {
@@ -110,12 +119,24 @@ export function parseArgs(argv: Array<string>): ParseResults {
       default: 'yaml',
       type: 'string',
     })
-    .option('rules', {
-      alias: ['r'],
+    .option('rule-file', {
+      alias: ['r', 'rule', 'rules'],
       default: [],
       desc: 'Rules file',
       type: 'array',
     })
+    .option('rule-module', {
+      alias: ['m'],
+      default: [],
+      desc: 'Rules module',
+      type: 'array',
+    })
+    .option('rule-path', {
+      alias: ['p'],
+      default: [],
+      desc: 'Rules path',
+      type: 'array',
+    })
     .option('source', {
       alias: ['s'],
       default: '-',
@@ -138,7 +159,9 @@ export function parseArgs(argv: Array<string>): ParseResults {
   // @tslint:disable-next-line:no-any
   const args = parser.argv as any;
 
-  if (mode === 'complete') {
+  // this should not need a cast either, but something here allows TS to narrow MODE into
+  // MODE.check, which is much _too_ specific
+  if (mode as MODE === MODE.complete) {
     showCompletionScript();
     process.exit(0);
   }
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 32ffd64..002cb0b 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -1,21 +1,13 @@
 import { createLogger } from 'bunyan';
 
 import { loadConfig } from './config';
-import { CONFIG_ARGS_NAME, CONFIG_ARGS_PATH, parseArgs } from './config/args';
+import { CONFIG_ARGS_NAME, CONFIG_ARGS_PATH, MODE, parseArgs, VALID_MODES } from './config/args';
 import { YamlParser } from './parser/YamlParser';
-import { createRuleSelector, loadRules, resolveRules, visitRules } from './rule';
+import { createRuleSelector, createRuleSources, loadRules, resolveRules, visitRules } from './rule';
 import { loadSource, writeSource } from './source';
 import { VERSION_INFO } from './version';
 import { VisitorContext } from './visitor/VisitorContext';
 
-enum MODES {
-  check = 'check',
-  fix = 'fix',
-  list = 'list',
-}
-
-const MODES_LIST: Array<string> = [MODES.check, MODES.fix, MODES.list];
-
 const STATUS_SUCCESS = 0;
 const STATUS_ERROR = 1;
 const STATUS_MAX = 255;
@@ -29,7 +21,7 @@ export async function main(argv: Array<string>): Promise<number> {
   logger.info({ args }, 'main arguments');
 
   // check mode
-  if (!MODES_LIST.includes(mode)) {
+  if (!VALID_MODES.has(mode)) {
     logger.error({ mode }, 'unsupported mode');
     return STATUS_ERROR;
   }
@@ -38,17 +30,19 @@ export async function main(argv: Array<string>): Promise<number> {
     innerOptions: {
       coerce: args.coerce,
       defaults: args.defaults,
-      mutate: mode === 'fix',
+      mutate: mode === MODE.fix,
     },
     logger,
   });
 
-  const selector = createRuleSelector(args);
-  const loadedRules = await loadRules(args.rules, ctx);
-  const activeRules = await resolveRules(loadedRules, selector);
+  const ruleSelector = createRuleSelector(args);
+  const ruleSources = createRuleSources(args);
 
-  if (mode === 'list') {
-    logger.info({ rules: activeRules, selector }, 'listing active rules');
+  const loadedRules = await loadRules(ruleSources, ctx);
+  const activeRules = await resolveRules(loadedRules, ruleSelector);
+
+  if (mode === MODE.list) {
+    logger.info({ activeRules, loadedRules, ruleSelector, ruleSources }, 'listing active rules');
     return STATUS_SUCCESS;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/rule/index.ts b/src/rule/index.ts
index 8451b9a..ffc4292 100644
--- a/src/rule/index.ts
+++ b/src/rule/index.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import { applyDiff, diff } from 'deep-diff';
 import { cloneDeep, Dictionary, intersection, isNil } from 'lodash';
 import { LogLevel } from 'noicejs';
+import { join } from 'path';
 
 import { YamlParser } from '../parser/YamlParser';
-import { readFile } from '../source';
+import { readDir, readFile } from '../source';
 import { ensureArray, hasItems } from '../utils';
 import { VisitorContext } from '../visitor/VisitorContext';
 import { SchemaRule } from './SchemaRule';
@@ -22,6 +23,11 @@ export interface RuleData {
   select: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Rule selector derived from arguments.
+ *
+ * The `excludeFoo`/`includeFoo`/ names match yargs output structure.
+ */
 export interface RuleSelector {
   excludeLevel: Array<LogLevel>;
   excludeName: Array<string>;
@@ -31,13 +37,30 @@ export interface RuleSelector {
   includeTag: Array<string>;
 }
 
-export interface RuleSource {
+/**
+ * Rule sources derived from arguments.
+ *
+ * The `ruleFoo` names match yargs output structure.
+ */
+export interface RuleSources {
+  ruleFile: Array<string>;
+  ruleModule: Array<string>;
+  rulePath: Array<string>;
+}
+
+export interface RuleSourceData {
   definitions?: Dictionary<any>;
   name: string;
   rules: Array<RuleData>;
 }
 
-export function createRuleSelector(options: Partial<RuleSelector>) {
+export interface RuleSourceModule {
+  definitions?: Dictionary<any>;
+  name: string;
+  rules: Array<SchemaRule>;
+}
+
+export function createRuleSelector(options: Partial<RuleSelector>): RuleSelector {
   return {
     excludeLevel: ensureArray(options.excludeLevel),
     excludeName: ensureArray(options.excludeName),
@@ -48,7 +71,15 @@ export function createRuleSelector(options: Partial<RuleSelector>) {
   };
 }
 
-export async function loadRules(paths: Array<string>, ctx: VisitorContext): Promise<Array<SchemaRule>> {
+export function createRuleSources(options: Partial<RuleSources>): RuleSources {
+  return {
+    ruleFile: ensureArray(options.ruleFile),
+    ruleModule: ensureArray(options.ruleModule),
+    rulePath: ensureArray(options.rulePath),
+  };
+}
+
+export async function loadRuleFiles(paths: Array<string>, ctx: VisitorContext): Promise<Array<SchemaRule>> {
   const parser = new YamlParser();
   const rules = [];
 
@@ -57,7 +88,7 @@ export async function loadRules(paths: Array<string>, ctx: VisitorContext): Prom
       encoding: 'utf-8',
     });
 
-    const docs = parser.parse(contents) as Array<RuleSource>;
+    const docs = parser.parse(contents) as Array<RuleSourceData>;
 
     for (const data of docs) {
       if (!isNil(data.definitions)) {
@@ -71,6 +102,52 @@ export async function loadRules(paths: Array<string>, ctx: VisitorContext): Prom
   return rules;
 }
 
+export async function loadRulePaths(paths: Array<string>, ctx: VisitorContext): Promise<Array<SchemaRule>> {
+  const rules = [];
+
+  for (const path of paths) {
+    const allFiles = await readDir(path);
+    const files = allFiles.filter((name) => {
+      // skip files that start with `.`, limit to yml
+      return name.match(/^[^\.].*\.ya?ml/);
+    }).map((name) => join(path, name));
+
+    const pathRules = await loadRuleFiles(files, ctx);
+    rules.push(...pathRules);
+  }
+
+  return rules;
+}
+
+export async function loadRuleModules(modules: Array<string>, ctx: VisitorContext): Promise<Array<SchemaRule>> {
+  const rules = [];
+
+  for (const name of modules) {
+    try {
+      const module: RuleSourceModule = require(name);
+      // TODO: ensure module has definitions, name, and rules
+
+      if (!isNil(module.definitions)) {
+        ctx.addSchema(module.name, module.definitions);
+      }
+
+      rules.push(...module.rules);
+    } catch (err) {
+      ctx.logger.error(err, 'error requiring rule module');
+    }
+  }
+
+  return rules;
+}
+
+export async function loadRules(sources: RuleSources, ctx: VisitorContext): Promise<Array<SchemaRule>> {
+  return [
+    ...await loadRuleFiles(sources.ruleFile, ctx),
+    ...await loadRulePaths(sources.rulePath, ctx),
+    ...await loadRuleModules(sources.ruleModule, ctx),
+  ];
+}
+
 export async function resolveRules(rules: Array<SchemaRule>, selector: RuleSelector): Promise<Array<SchemaRule>> {
   const activeRules = new Set<SchemaRule>();
 
diff --git a/src/source.ts b/src/source.ts
index 10a319b..2e47a76 100644
--- a/src/source.ts
+++ b/src/source.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
-import { readFile as readBack, writeFile as writeBack } from 'fs';
+import { readdir, readFile as readBack, writeFile as writeBack } from 'fs';
 import { isNil } from 'lodash';
 import { promisify } from 'util';
 
 export const FILE_ENCODING = 'utf-8';
+
+export const readDir = promisify(readdir);
 export const readFile = promisify(readBack);
 export const writeFile = promisify(writeBack);
 
diff --git a/src/utils/index.ts b/src/utils/index.ts
index ac3804a..f4c0fc7 100644
--- a/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { isNil } from 'lodash';
 
-export function hasItems(val: Array<unknown> | null | undefined): val is Array<unknown> {
+export function hasItems<T>(val: Array<T> | null | undefined): val is Array<T> {
   return (Array.isArray(val) && val.length > 0);
 }