diff --git a/bin/documentation.js b/bin/documentation.js
index 73246c2d6..46034d9b6 100755
--- a/bin/documentation.js
+++ b/bin/documentation.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ commands[parsedArgs.command](documentation, parsedArgs);
 function parseArgs() {
   // reset() needs to be called at parse time because the yargs module uses an
   // internal global variable to hold option state
-  var argv = yargs
+  var argv = addCommands(yargs, true)
     .usage('Usage: $0 <command> [options]')
     .version(function () {
       return require('../package').version;
@@ -108,10 +108,14 @@ function parseArgs() {
   };
 }
 
-function addCommands(parser) {
+function addCommands(parser, descriptionOnly) {
   parser = parser.demand(1);
   for (var cmd in commands) {
-    parser = parser.command(cmd, commands[cmd].description, commands[cmd].parseArgs);
+    if (descriptionOnly) {
+      parser = parser.command(cmd, commands[cmd].description);
+    } else {
+      parser = parser.command(cmd, commands[cmd].description, commands[cmd].parseArgs);
+    }
   }
   return parser.help('help');
 }
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0dc256d77..d873ecf12 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -183,5 +183,6 @@ module.exports.expandInputs = expandInputs;
 module.exports.formats = {
   html: require('./lib/output/html'),
   md: require('./lib/output/markdown'),
+  mdast: require('./lib/output/markdown_ast'),
   json: require('./lib/output/json')
 };
diff --git a/lib/commands/index.js b/lib/commands/index.js
index edda87ed1..3bce6d3ae 100644
--- a/lib/commands/index.js
+++ b/lib/commands/index.js
@@ -12,5 +12,6 @@
 module.exports = {
   'build': require('./build'),
   'serve': require('./serve'),
-  'lint': require('./lint')
+  'lint': require('./lint'),
+  'readme': require('./readme')
 };
diff --git a/lib/commands/readme.js b/lib/commands/readme.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed29bcbfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/commands/readme.js
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+'use strict';
+
+var fs = require('fs');
+var mdast = require('mdast');
+var inject = require('mdast-util-inject');
+var chalk = require('chalk');
+var disparity = require('disparity');
+var build = require('./build');
+
+module.exports = readme;
+module.exports.description = 'inject documentation into your README.md';
+module.exports.parseArgs = function (yargs) {
+  yargs.usage('Usage: $0 readme [--readme-file=README.md] --section "API"' +
+    ' [--compare-only] [other documentationjs options]')
+  .option('readme-file', {
+    describe: 'The markdown file into which to inject documentation',
+    default: 'README.md'
+  })
+  .option('section', {
+    alias: 's',
+    describe: 'The section heading after which to inject generated documentation',
+    required: true
+  })
+  .option('diff-only', {
+    alias: 'd',
+    describe: 'Instead of updating the given README with the generated documentation,' +
+      ' just check if its contents match, exiting nonzero if not.',
+    default: false
+  })
+  .option('quiet', {
+    alias: 'q',
+    describe: 'Quiet mode: do not print messages or README diff to stdout.',
+    default: false
+  })
+  .help('help')
+  .example('$0 readme index.js -s "API Docs" --github');
+};
+
+function readme(documentation, parsedArgs) {
+  var readmeOptions = parsedArgs.commandOptions;
+  readmeOptions.format = 'mdast';
+  /* eslint no-console: 0 */
+  var log = readmeOptions.q ? function () {}
+  : console.log.bind(console, '[documentation-readme] ');
+  var readmeFile = readmeOptions['readme-file'];
+
+  build(documentation, parsedArgs, onAst);
+
+  function onAst(err, docsAst) {
+    if (err) {
+      throw err;
+    }
+    var readmeContent = fs.readFileSync(readmeFile, 'utf8');
+    mdast.use(plugin, {
+      section: readmeOptions.section,
+      toInject: docsAst
+    }).process(readmeContent, onInjected.bind(null, readmeContent));
+  }
+
+  function onInjected(readmeContent, err, file, content) {
+    if (err) {
+      throw err;
+    }
+
+    var diffOutput = disparity.unified(readmeContent, content, {
+      paths: [readmeFile, readmeFile]
+    });
+    if (!diffOutput.length) {
+      log(readmeFile + ' is up to date.');
+      process.exit(0);
+    }
+
+    if (readmeOptions.d) {
+      log(chalk.bold(readmeFile + ' needs the following updates:'), '\n' + diffOutput);
+      process.exit(1);
+    } else {
+      log(chalk.bold('Updating ' + readmeFile), '\n' + diffOutput);
+    }
+
+    fs.writeFileSync(readmeFile, content);
+  }
+}
+
+// wrap the inject utility as an mdast plugin
+function plugin(mdast, options) {
+  return function transform(targetAst, file, next) {
+    if (!inject(options.section, targetAst, options.toInject)) {
+      return next(new Error('Heading ' + options.section + ' not found.'));
+    }
+    next();
+  };
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ab05f4ad7..86b927d37 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
     "ast-types": "^0.8.12",
     "babel-core": "^5.0.0",
     "babelify": "^6.3.0",
+    "chalk": "^1.1.1",
     "chokidar": "^1.2.0",
     "concat-stream": "^1.5.0",
     "debounce": "^1.0.0",
+    "disparity": "^2.0.0",
     "doctrine": "^0.7.1",
     "documentation-theme-default": "2.1.1",
     "documentation-theme-utils": "^1.0.1",
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@
     "jsdoc-inline-lex": "^1.0.1",
     "mdast": "^2.0.0",
     "mdast-toc": "^1.1.0",
+    "mdast-util-inject": "^1.1.0",
     "micromatch": "^2.1.6",
     "mime": "^1.3.4",
     "module-deps": "^4.0.2",
@@ -46,10 +49,12 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "chdir": "0.0.0",
     "eslint": "^1.5.1",
+    "fs-extra": "^0.26.2",
     "glob": "^6.0.1",
     "lodash": "^3.10.1",
     "mock-fs": "^3.5.0",
-    "tap": "^2.2.0"
+    "tap": "^2.2.0",
+    "tmp": "0.0.28"
   },
   "keywords": [
     "documentation",
diff --git a/test/bin-readme.js b/test/bin-readme.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94c33a595
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bin-readme.js
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+var test = require('tap').test,
+  path = require('path'),
+  os = require('os'),
+  exec = require('child_process').exec,
+  tmp = require('tmp'),
+  fs = require('fs-extra');
+
+function documentation(args, options, callback, parseJSON) {
+  if (!callback) {
+    callback = options;
+    options = {};
+  }
+
+  if (!options.cwd) {
+    options.cwd = __dirname;
+  }
+
+  options.maxBuffer = 1024 * 1024;
+
+  args.unshift(path.join(__dirname, '../bin/documentation.js'));
+
+  exec(args.join(' '), options, callback);
+}
+
+test('readme command', function (group) {
+  var fixtures = path.join(__dirname, 'fixture/readme');
+  var sourceFile = path.join(fixtures, 'index.js');
+
+  tmp.dir({unsafeCleanup: true}, function (err, d) {
+    group.error(err);
+    fs.copySync(path.join(fixtures, 'README.input.md'), path.join(d, 'README.md'));
+    fs.copySync(path.join(fixtures, 'index.js'), path.join(d, 'index.js'));
+
+    // run tests after setting up temp dir
+
+    group.test('--diff-only: changes needed', function (t) {
+      t.error(err);
+      var before = fs.readFileSync(path.join(d, 'README.md'), 'utf-8');
+      documentation(['readme index.js --diff-only -s API'], {cwd: d}, function (err, stdout, stderr) {
+        var after = fs.readFileSync(path.join(d, 'README.md'), 'utf-8');
+        t.ok(err);
+        t.notEqual(err.code, 0, 'exit nonzero');
+        t.same(after, before, 'readme unchanged');
+        t.end();
+      });
+    });
+
+    var expectedFile = path.join(fixtures, 'README.output.md');
+    var expected = fs.readFileSync(expectedFile, 'utf-8');
+
+    group.test('updates README.md', function (t) {
+      documentation(['readme index.js -s API'], {cwd: d}, function (err, stdout) {
+        t.error(err);
+        var actual = fs.readFileSync(path.join(d, 'README.md'), 'utf-8');
+        t.same(actual, expected, 'generated readme output');
+        t.end();
+      });
+    });
+
+    group.test('--readme-file', function (t) {
+      fs.copySync(path.join(fixtures, 'README.input.md'), path.join(d, 'other.md'));
+      documentation(['readme index.js -s API --readme-file other.md'], {cwd: d}, function (err, stdout) {
+        t.error(err);
+        var actual = fs.readFileSync(path.join(d, 'other.md'), 'utf-8');
+        t.same(actual, expected, 'generated readme output');
+        t.end();
+      });
+    });
+
+    group.test('--diff-only: changes NOT needed', function (t) {
+      t.error(err);
+      fs.copySync(path.join(fixtures, 'README.output.md'), path.join(d, 'uptodate.md'));
+      documentation(['readme index.js --diff-only -s API --readme-file uptodate.md'],
+        {cwd: d}, function (err, stdout, stderr) {
+          t.error(err);
+          t.match(stdout, 'is up to date.');
+          t.end();
+        });
+    });
+
+    group.test('requires -s option', function (t) {
+      documentation(['readme index.js'], {cwd: d}, function (err, stdout, stderr) {
+        t.ok(err);
+        t.ok(err.code !== 0, 'exit nonzero');
+        t.match(stderr, 'Missing required argument: s');
+        t.end();
+      });
+    });
+
+    group.test('errors if specified readme section is missing', function (t) {
+      documentation(['readme index.js -s DUMMY'], {cwd: d}, function (err, stdout, stderr) {
+        t.ok(err);
+        t.ok(err.code !== 0, 'exit nonzero');
+        t.end();
+      });
+    });
+
+    group.end();
+  });
+});
+
diff --git a/test/bin.js b/test/bin.js
index 5f7f09fcb..96a20a86a 100644
--- a/test/bin.js
+++ b/test/bin.js
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ var test = require('tap').test,
   path = require('path'),
   os = require('os'),
   exec = require('child_process').exec,
-  fs = require('fs');
+  tmp = require('tmp'),
+  fs = require('fs-extra');
 
 function documentation(args, options, callback, parseJSON) {
   if (!callback) {
diff --git a/test/fixture/readme/README.input.md b/test/fixture/readme/README.input.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..826a3973f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixture/readme/README.input.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# A title
+
+# API
+
+# Another section
diff --git a/test/fixture/readme/README.output.md b/test/fixture/readme/README.output.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c256723e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixture/readme/README.output.md
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# A title
+
+# API
+
+## bar
+
+A second function with docs
+
+**Parameters**
+
+-   `b`  
+
+## foo
+
+A function with documentation.
+
+**Parameters**
+
+-   `a`  {string} blah
+
+Returns **[number](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Number)** answer
+
+# Another section
diff --git a/test/fixture/readme/index.js b/test/fixture/readme/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b193faee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixture/readme/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+
+/**
+ * A function with documentation.
+ * @param a {string} blah
+ * @return {number} answer
+ */
+function foo(a) {
+
+}
+
+/**
+ * A second function with docs
+ */
+function bar(b) {
+
+}