diff --git a/cmd/serve.go b/cmd/serve.go
index e824d10..6435362 100644
--- a/cmd/serve.go
+++ b/cmd/serve.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright © 2020 Vulcanize, Inc
+// Copyright © 2019 Vulcanize, Inc
 //
 // This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 // it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
@@ -17,35 +17,130 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/signal"
+	"sync"
 
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/params"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/statediff"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+
+	sd "github.com/vulcanize/eth-statediff-service/pkg"
 )
 
 // serveCmd represents the serve command
 var serveCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "serve",
-	Short: "A brief description of your command",
-	Long: `A longer description that spans multiple lines and likely contains examples
-and usage of using your command. For example:
+	Short: "Standup a standalone statediffing RPC service on top of leveldb",
+	Long: `Usage
 
-Cobra is a CLI library for Go that empowers applications.
-This application is a tool to generate the needed files
-to quickly create a Cobra application.`,
+./eth-statediff-service serve --config={path to toml config file}`,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-		fmt.Println("serve called")
+		subCommand = cmd.CalledAs()
+		logWithCommand = *logrus.WithField("SubCommand", subCommand)
+		serve()
 	},
 }
 
+func serve() {
+	logWithCommand.Info("starting statediff RPC service")
+
+	// load params
+	path := viper.GetString("leveldb.path")
+	ancientPath := viper.GetString("leveldb.ancient")
+	if path == "" || ancientPath == "" {
+		logWithCommand.Fatal("require a valid eth leveldb primary datastore path and ancient datastore path")
+	}
+	chainID := viper.GetUint64("eth.chainID")
+	config, err := chainConfig(chainID)
+	if err != nil {
+		logWithCommand.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// create leveldb reader
+	logWithCommand.Info("creating leveldb reader")
+	lvlDBReader, err := sd.NewLvlDBReader(path, ancientPath, config)
+	if err != nil {
+		logWithCommand.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// create statediff service
+	logWithCommand.Info("creating statediff service")
+	statediffService, err := sd.NewStateDiffService(lvlDBReader)
+	if err != nil {
+		logWithCommand.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// start service and servers
+	logWithCommand.Info("starting statediff service")
+	wg := new(sync.WaitGroup)
+	go statediffService.Loop(wg)
+	logWithCommand.Info("starting rpc servers")
+	if err := startServers(statediffService); err != nil {
+		logWithCommand.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// clean shutdown
+	shutdown := make(chan os.Signal)
+	signal.Notify(shutdown, os.Interrupt)
+	<-shutdown
+	logWithCommand.Info("received interrupt signal, shutting down")
+	statediffService.Stop()
+	wg.Wait()
+}
+
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(serveCmd)
 
-	// Here you will define your flags and configuration settings.
+	serveCmd.PersistentFlags().String("leveldb-path", "", "path to primary datastore")
+	serveCmd.PersistentFlags().String("ancient-path", "", "path to ancient datastore")
+	serveCmd.PersistentFlags().Uint("chain-id", 1, "ethereum chain id (mainnet = 1)")
+	serveCmd.PersistentFlags().String("http-path", "", "vdb server http path")
+	serveCmd.PersistentFlags().String("ipc-path", "", "vdb server ipc path")
 
-	// Cobra supports Persistent Flags which will work for this command
-	// and all subcommands, e.g.:
-	// serveCmd.PersistentFlags().String("foo", "", "A help for foo")
-
-	// Cobra supports local flags which will only run when this command
-	// is called directly, e.g.:
-	// serveCmd.Flags().BoolP("toggle", "t", false, "Help message for toggle")
+	viper.BindPFlag("leveldb.path", serveCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("leveldb-path"))
+	viper.BindPFlag("leveldb.ancient", serveCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("ancient-path"))
+	viper.BindPFlag("eth.chainID", serveCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("chain-id"))
+	viper.BindPFlag("server.httpPath", serveCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("http-path"))
+	viper.BindPFlag("server.ipcPath", serveCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("ipc-path"))
+}
+
+func startServers(serv sd.IService) error {
+	ipcPath := viper.GetString("server.ipcPath")
+	httpPath := viper.GetString("server.httpPath")
+	if ipcPath == "" && httpPath == "" {
+		logWithCommand.Fatal("need an ipc path and/or an http path")
+	}
+	if ipcPath != "" {
+		logWithCommand.Debug("starting up IPC server")
+		_, _, err := rpc.StartIPCEndpoint(ipcPath, serv.APIs())
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	if httpPath != "" {
+		logWithCommand.Debug("starting up HTTP server")
+		if _, _, err := rpc.StartHTTPEndpoint(httpPath, serv.APIs(), []string{statediff.APIName}, nil, nil, rpc.HTTPTimeouts{}); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func chainConfig(chainID uint64) (*params.ChainConfig, error) {
+	switch chainID {
+	case 1:
+		return params.MainnetChainConfig, nil
+	case 3:
+		return params.TestnetChainConfig, nil // Ropsten
+	case 4:
+		return params.RinkebyChainConfig, nil
+	case 5:
+		return params.GoerliChainConfig, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("chain config for chainid %d not available", chainID)
+	}
 }