diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4f52390..c5dfc4a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 lapisdeploy
+config.json
 sites/
diff --git a/config.json b/config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b23d7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+	"sites_dir": "./sites"
+}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 9acc727..6a93906 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gogs/git-module"
 )
 
-const sites_dir = "./sites"
+type Configuration struct {
+	sites_dir string
+}
+var configuration = Configuration{}
 
 type DeployError struct {
 	code int
@@ -39,7 +42,7 @@ func restartServer(name string) DeployError {
 
 	old_cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
 	defer syscall.Chdir(old_cwd)
-	syscall.Chdir(sites_dir+"/"+name)
+	syscall.Chdir(configuration.sites_dir+"/"+name)
 
 	out, err := exec.Command("lapis", "build").CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -54,19 +57,19 @@ func restartServer(name string) DeployError {
 
 // pullRepo attempts to pull or clone a repository using the given name and url
 func pullRepo(url string, name string) DeployError  {	
-	exists, err := fileExists(sites_dir+"/"+name)
+	exists, err := fileExists(configuration.sites_dir+"/"+name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return newDeployError(1, "fileExists",
 			fmt.Sprintf("Failed to check whether folder '%s' exists while pulling down repository '%s'!", name, name), "")
 	}
 	if !exists {
 		log.Printf("Cloning repository %s...", name)
-		if err = git.Clone(url, sites_dir+"/"+name); err != nil {
+		if err = git.Clone(url, configuration.sites_dir+"/"+name); err != nil {
 			return newDeployError(1, "pullRepo", fmt.Sprintf("Failed to pull down repository '%s'", name), "")
 		}
 	} else {
 		log.Printf("Pulling down repository %s...", name)
-		repo,err := git.Open(sites_dir+"/"+name)
+		repo,err := git.Open(configuration.sites_dir+"/"+name)
 		if err != nil {
 			return newDeployError(1, "pullRepo", fmt.Sprintf("Failed to open git repository '%s'", name), "")
 		}
@@ -75,6 +78,18 @@ func pullRepo(url string, name string) DeployError  {
 	return DeployError{}
 }
 
+// parseConfig parses the JSON configuration file at 'path' and stores the contents in 'config'
+func parseConfig(path string, config *Configuration) {
+	file, _ := os.Open(path)
+	var data map[string]interface{}
+	err := json.NewDecoder(file).Decode(&data)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Panic("Failed to parse config:", err)
+	}
+	file.Close()
+	config.sites_dir = data["sites_dir"].(string)
+}
+
 func handler(data map[string]interface{}) {
 	repository := data["repository"].(map[string]interface{})
 	log.Default().Printf("Repo: %s", repository["full_name"])
@@ -91,6 +106,7 @@ func handler(data map[string]interface{}) {
 }
 
 func main()  {
+	parseConfig("config.json", &configuration)
 	http.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request){
 		var data map[string]interface{}
 		err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&data)